The Men

Think you know The Men? Think again. Creators of five studio albums that are as different as they are great, they’ve never been afraid to stand up for what they believe in and plough their own furrow – the traditional hallmarks of punk’s roots. Fiercely independent, singer and guitarist Nick Chiericozzi talked us through the band’s latest musical metamorphosis, saying no and holding on to your ideals in a cut-throat industry.

Phone interview by Derek Robertson, photos shot by Harry Harvey in New York, USA

“Sometimes you do things you don’t want to, like handing out flyers for a strip club”

The new album is, once again, different from your previous material. How would you describe it?

I really like the drum sounds. The fidelity of the record is the clearest , and the guitars mix well with the rhythm section; that’s the technical side. But the feeling I get is good, and I’m real happy with the sound of it. I like how concise it is as well; it’s just 35 minutes, and our shortest record aside from EPs and singles. That was definitely a conscious effort.

Not many bands go from punk, to acoustic campfire songs, to Tom Petty, Springsteen-esque Americana. It’s a pretty ballsy evolution.

The journey is what it’s all about. As a band, you’re always in transition; we’ve had different members, people coming and going, and we’ve changed so much since our first demo. I think that’s a strong point, being able to make something totally different each time. That’s what records should be.

Don’t you worry that some fans will turn around and go, ‘What is this?’

I welcome that attitude, to be honest, because it seems like with every record we’ve released, we’ve lost a certain group of people. But then it gets spread out among others, and brings a wide variety of people out to shows. Ultimately, if something is good, it will transcend any boundaries or classifications that you put on it.

“I like to be liked – people do – but I’ve always been a bit 
of an outsider, and I don’t mean in a romantic way”

It can’t be easy for artists and musicians these days to stick up for themselves and take charge.

Even for us, as an independent band, where everything we do is homemade, there have been times where we really had to sit down and think, to ask, ‘What direction are we going in?’ Not looking at it from an outside perspective, but from inside, and if we felt comfortable doing certain things. Compromise is, in some way, how you get your music out there. Even the most hardcore band does it, because you have to to get noticed. It’s a fine line though, and even Iggy is doing Carnival Cruise ads…

John Lydon did a butter advert and justified it by saying it paid for a new PiL album.

That’s cool! There’s money to be had doing things that are organic and interesting. If the record company doesn’t give you money, you have to hustle your ass and work. Sometimes you do things you don’t want to, like handing out flyers for a strip club.

Do people often try to tell the band what to do?

It used to happen quite a bit at shows, with the soundman, but at a strategic level it hasn’t happened for a while. With our label, Sacred Bones, there’s a lot of leeway with certain situations – they get offers that I don’t even see, ’cos they know we’re not gonna want to do certain things. They don’t push us to do anything, they just say: ‘You might wanna look at this, this is a cool thing.’

Are you the assertive, independent type in general?

Sometimes. I like to be liked – people do – but I’ve always been a bit of an outsider, and I don’t mean in a romantic way. I’ve lived a lot of different places so I feel a little detached – not devoid of emotion, but just, like, a roamer. If that’s independence, then maybe; but at the same time you need people for ideas, for strength, for love, so I embrace that too. I was pretty shy as a kid, a bit of a loner really. But you find your group of friends, find some commonality and go from there.

The Men play on 16 March at DOKA in Amsterdam. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members. Check out their website for more info.