#brian warren

[sinceileftyoublog]

Say Anything Interview: Intentional Is My Default

Photo by Nicole Mago

BY JORDAN MAINZER

I'm waiting back stage at Riot Fest for Say Anything's Max Bemis to finish a photoshoot, one that sees him lie in the grass in various positions that make it look like he's stretching after a tough workout. Despite the fact that he hasn't yet gotten his real workout in yet--his newly reformed band would go on stage in a few hours--and that this photoshoot is full of capital-p Poses, I'm taken by how at ease Bemis seems with everything. When we speak, he reveals to me that, yes, while he did in fact feel awkward during the photoshoot--most of us do--he's learning to lean into his feelings much more naturally.

Five years ago, the legendary emo band disbanded, with their 2019 album Oliver Appropriate billed as their final LP for the moment. A purported sequel to their beloved sophomore record ...Is A Real Boy, the album was publicized in conjunction with a nine-page letter from Bemis, in which came out as bisexual and admitted to struggles with drug use. (The frontman has long been open about his diagnosed bipolar disorder, previous self-medication through drugs, and manic episodes.) During the pandemic, Bemis stayed busy, performing livestreams of older material, but there was always lingering doubt the band's hiatus would become permanent.

It wasn't until late last year that Bemis dropped that the band would be reuniting for festivals in 2023. In typical nonchalant fashion, he shared that the reunion would include past members drummer Coby Linder and bassist Alex Kent by replying to someone's comment on a Facebook post. In April, the band released their first new material since Oliver Appropriate, the maximally stream-of-consciousness rant "Psyche!". The song sees Bemis laying out those same struggles for everyone to bear witness to, blaming himself for his personal, marital, and familial problems atop a bevy of references to the band's older material, Titanic, and Riot Fest itself. "By Riot Fest '24, I'll be coughing up corks if you supply the Malörk," he sings, a line that's instantly iconic and bound to be infamous for its satiric misspelling of Chicago's shot of choice. In August, the band followed it up with "Are You (In) There?", which also establishes itself within our emo universe, with mentions of Sunny Day Real Estate and mewithoutYou, but a more personal ode to Bemis' wife and the love they have for each other despite his past actions and shortcomings. And just this morning, Say Anything annouced ...Is Committed (Dine Alone), their new record, along with a single entitled "Carrie & Lowell & Cody (Pendent)", Bemis placing his "mommy issues" in conversation with those of indie folk luminary Sufjan Stevens. The song is musically heavier and more complex and full-throated, while also containing gorgeous choral harmonies from Bemis' wife, Sherri Dupree-Bemis.

At one point, the future of the band was a mystery to everyone, Bemis included. But with some newfound perspectives, the musical and personal influence of new band member Brian Warren of Weatherbox, and therapy, it seemed from just the short conversation I had with Bemis and Kent that they're in a good place, ready to embrace their new chapter. Read my interview below, conducted last month before I knew about their new album, edited for length and clarity. Catch the band three nights next week at The Regent Theater in LA and at When We Were Young in Las Vegas next weekend.

Photo courtesy of Say Anything

Since I Left You: How does it feel to be back?

Max Bemis: It feels great. I don't think I would have decided to write the songs again if I didn't aspire to how this feels now, which is very different than our experience as little kids being in a punk band, which was very intense and an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. But this is comfortable, and it feels like having the best job ever, in the words of Piebald. It could have been a stress fest, anxious, or bad, but the only reason I wanted to write again was to reach for this thing that we never got to settle into, being dads approaching 40. The bands we looked up to were doing it at that age and still making inventive music but still seeming to chill and not base their entire personas and aspirations around being in a band. I think I appreciate it more now that I'm not trying to be "a guy in a band" as hard as I was.

Alex Kent: Something we've been talking about since getting back up and running was the transition from utilizing it as an escape versus a form of healing. Because we've been through so much traumatic shit in our lives, most of the time Max and I talk, we talk about therapy. It's fucking weird going from 18 years old on a tour bus to having that self-awareness and reflection.

MB: I didn't need it like that for many years because our entire life cycle was keyed in to being on tour. I wasn't living a normal person life. I'm not saying I ever have really or ever will--I wrote comic books for five years. That's still weird. We're still weirdo guys. Having a family, coming out of that kind of circus, I feel more like my 14-year-old self who needed this music for that reason.

SILY: The new songs have a self-aware quality.

MB: More than ever.

SILY: How do you include the self-awareness in a set at a festival or concert, where you're literally referring to other songs you're playing in the setlist?

MB: We refer to Riot Fest itself!

SILY: And Malörk [sic]

MB: And Malörk. It's incredibly self-referential and ironic, but because the band started that way, it's come full circle and is no longer ironic at the same time. There's still a lot of exaggeration and bullshit, but it's closer to me saying actual things that are happening. As you age, everyone's life becomes a circus, more surreal. The world has been very surreal, with COVID and Trump. You kind of have to say your inner experience now. It's an emotional, crazy, surreal thing anyway. It's not like before, when I said, "I have to think about my ex-girlfriend, but I'm thinking about my wife, and what the fuck is this about?" Now, this is about being at Riot Fest. And I am at Riot Fest.

SILY: There is a song about your wife, though.

MB: Yes. Also quite literal. So many emotions are certainly exaggerated, but the sincerity isn't. The love for my wife is very real. But even there, if you're in any successful relationship, it goes through the most intense rebirths and reformations, and you're adjusting to each other, especially after having kids. It's more potent to me to say what's happening or what my emotions are than do what we did on In Defense of the Genre, where I was literally forcing drama into my life on a regular basis. Now, I have no room. I'm tired. I have children to look after. The drama just happens from kids, life, everything. It's real and heartfelt, but a seasoned emotion and not so adolescent. I still love those songs, and I relate to them, but they all speak to a certain side of me I can't live out anymore.

SILY: Do the new songs more than ever exemplify the idea that the more personal you are, the more universal the songs can be?

MB: Yeah. But probably by being a little too hyper-specific. That's why I fell in love with this kind of music. Saves The Day got me into wanting to be in a band. What wowed me was when he was talking about the names of the other band members in song, like, "Ted's drooling on his sleeve." He's just saying he's in this New Jersey bar and he misses his girlfriend. He's not cloaking anything. Our thing has been a kind of parody of that, but now I don't have to stretch anything for it to be a parody.

Photo by Ben Trivett

SILY: What do you think Brian Warren brings to the table on the new songs?

AK: I've known Brian since we were 9 years old. Our very first band, we were in together.

MB: I wouldn't know about Weatherbox if it wasn't for Alex.

AK: He brings this calming energy. Humble is a weird word to describe him.

MB: It's accurate.

AK: Weatherbox is fucking amazing.

MB: He has more impostor syndrome than even me.

AK: He can play everything, and he writes cool shit.

MB: He's a virtuoso. The cool thing about Brian is that there's always been a connection between our bands. It's similar to me playing music with [Chris] Conley [in Two Tongues] back in the day. It's surreal, but it makes so much sense that you don't have to think about where he fits into the sonic picture or personality picture because we're friends.

AK: It's very cool how much sense it makes.

SILY: Has your relationship changed to your old songs?

MB: I like them more. Over the break from the band, I would listen to Say Anything, with my kids or in my car, alone. The way I severed it was so intentional. I wasn't saying, "The band was over." I was saying, "We're probably going to get back together, but I have to sever this incarnation." I was listening to [old Say Anything songs] and thinking, "I like Alex's bass part. I like the production. I even like my voice." It was like listening to another band, because of the space. I've grown to like them. I definitely know people in bands that are not what they listen to, but Say Anything has always been a conglomeration of the type of thing we listen to. If I'm going to listen to The Get Up Kids, I might as well listen to Say Anything.

SILY: Moving forward, are you trying to continue to be more intentional, or do what feels best?

MB: Both. I know that's cliché to say, and it does and doesn't make sense. I find that intentional is my default, and before, I would second-guess myself constantly. Now, I allow myself to make mistakes, and I let other people give me advice that before were such cerebral trips. There was a lot that weighed on me. If the lyrics are super intentional and literal, I'm just going to do it. If I feel awkward in a photo shoot like right now, I'm just going to be awkward in the photo shoot. That is, of course, my safe and happy place in life.

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Angry Blackmen

Photo by Joseph Torres

Since joining forces in late 2016, Chicago rappers Quentin Branch and Brian Warren have become more lyrically pointed and sonically experimental with each new release. Their 2017 debut Ok! sounds positively poppy despite the self-lacerating lyrics. By 2019 on the EP Talkshit!, the music is darker, drawing from Detroit techno and industrial music as much as underground acts like Clipping and Dälek. On their latest album, The Legend of ABM, the pair combine ferocious dexterity and radical truth-telling with the coruscating sonic architecture of producer Formants. As Andrew Forell noted in his recent review, “Rapping from within the belly of a diseased beast, the pair rely on human rhythms that dodge and weave the noise of the city ricocheting around them.”

Quentin

Philip K. Dick — Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

A lot of Dick’s novels inspired some of the writing for The Legend of ABM, especially the themes that deal with existential struggles with technology, authoritarian governments, paranoia, and consumerism. A lot of those core themes are explored in his book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Wu-Tang Clan — Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

One of the most influential albums in music history. This album taught us how to channel some of the most traumatic aspects of being Black in America with humor and charisma while being accessible to people unfamiliar with said aspects.

Charles Bukowski — Women and Factotum

Most of his poems came from the perspective of the dying working class: working while pursuing art, alcoholism, suicide, and the American dream. His books, most notably Women and Factotum heavily influenced the writing on this album.

Public Enemy — Fear of a Black Planet

This group is very significant to us. The way they infused political messages critiquing American racism and the media have had a profound effect on our own music. One project that has had a huge influence on our style is Fear of a Black Planet.

Paul Thomas Anderson — There Will Be Blood

2007 American classic directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film explores the dark side of capitalism and the American dream in late 19th and early 20th centuries. Similar themes are exposed in The Legend of ABM.

Brian

OutKast — Stankonia

The duo perfected the art of juggling themes of self-inflicted struggles and interpersonal relationships. They also helped me with my approach towards some of the writing process on The Legend Of ABM, especially the album Stankonia.

Kendrick Lamar — Damn

This project taught me the art of balancing the flaws within oneself and keeping a level head in a crazy world.

Safdie Brothers — Uncut Gems

A movie directed by the Safdie bros with its unique and unsettling camera speed and turbulent atmosphere gave me the inspiration to rap as chaotic as the feeling you get when watching this film.

Earl Sweatshirt — Some Rap Songs

An artist that has a profound Influence on my lyrical content as well as my approach to the artistry. His ability to step out of the box while pushing his artistic integrity to new levels is unmatched.

Coen Brothers — No Country for Old Men

A huge theme that stuck out to me was the passing of time and generational change. I wanted to make lyrics that made the listener feel as uncomfortable as Anton Chigur's cold but calculated nihilism.

[adoringyouhxney]

[ffverr]

HELLFIRE GALA X MET GALA 2024 part 1 (with the help of the discord!)

Mystique in her colors as always!

Laura Kinney looking good

Brian Braddock and Megan are matching!

Shadow king?? What are you doing here?

Lourdes Chantelle owning the color brown

One thousand Emma Frosts!

I see that kilt reference you're making Banshee!

Sage referencing some data graphics! Lovely!

Warren warren warren!

[braddocklegacy]

X-Force #8 (2011)

[freddie-mercury-rising]

I still can’t believe I saw

QUEEN + Adam Lambert

In NYC at Madison Square Garden.

And we were so close. And on the side of the catwalk where they played to the most.

And it felt like a dream.

I still haven’t processed it.

One day I will go through all the photos and videos properly. I enjoyed the show a lot more than I paid attention to taking perfect photos.

The memories will stay with me forever.

[damn-asuras]

Sorry, but I found this moment funny during MC's Dad Funeral 😂😂😂 I just realized that MC and Dominic are in a secret situationship

[fantastickkay]

From Bop, November 1999.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Whether you call it “tattleware,” “bossware,” or “surveillance capitalism,” Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) has had enough of exploitative workplace monitoring technologies. Late last week, Casey and a handful of other Senate Democrats introduced the Stop Spying Bosses Act, which would help protect workers from intrusive employer surveillance both on and off the clock.

The legislation would require “timely and public” disclosures by companies about the data they’re collecting on employees, prohibit businesses from using surveillance practices that obstruct union organizing or monitor workers while they’re off the clock, and create a new division of the Department of Labor to regulate workplace surveillance. Sens. Cory Booker, John Fetterman, Elizabeth Warren, and Brian Schatz are cosponsoring the bill, which has also garnered support from some major labor groups.

Workplace surveillance has been a growing area of concern for Democrats in the past few years, as the shift to remote work during the pandemic has prompted increased use of employee monitoring technologies. Since the onset of the pandemic, the percentage of large companies that digitally monitor their workers has doubled, to more than 60%. At a time when managers can no longer keep an eye on workers in the office, they’ve increasingly relied on technologies such as keylogger software, geolocation tools that track workers’ physical movements, and even software that monitors worker attentiveness with webcams, using biometric data to scrutinize minute body movements and facial expressions.

Currently, federal law gives workers few protections from these kinds of surveillance practices. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 does have some safeguards against workplace monitoring, but it has wide-ranging exceptions that allow employers to keep tabs on virtually all communications for “legitimate business purposes.” Currently, no federal law requires employers to disclose that they are monitoring workers, though individual states are increasingly taking steps to protect workers’ rights. In May 2022, for example, New York passed a law requiring private companies to publicly disclose whether employees will be electronically monitored, following similar legislation in Delaware and Connecticut. In California, a bill introduced last year would eliminate tools like facial recognition and emotion recognition technologies from the workplace.

The National Labor Relations Board is beginning to address the issue at the federal level, too. Last fall, the agency’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, issued a memo indicating that companies have overreached with their aggressive surveillance. She recommended that the NLRB impose a requirement that employers tell workers about the surveillance tools they use to monitor them, the justifications for those tools, and how they use the information they collect from workers.

In the memo, Abruzzo also acknowledged “abusive electronic monitoring” could interfere with employees’ right to organize a union or engage in other protected labor activities. As I’ve written before, unions around the country are currently in the middle of negotiating how data collected on workers can be used by employers. At companies like Amazon, unionization efforts are being driven partly by a culture of relentless workplace surveillance—and in some cases employers are responding to unionization efforts by doubling down on digital monitoring. Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, used heat maps to identify its stores at risk of unionization, according to Insider.

While the bill isn’t likely to pass in a divided Congress, it’s a sign that the proliferation of workplace surveillance during the pandemic is finally getting more national attention. “As the power imbalance in workplaces continues to grow, employers are increasingly using invasive surveillance technologies that allow them to track their workers like pieces of equipment,” Casey said in a statement introducing the legislation. “The Stop Spying Bosses Act is a first step to level the playing field for workers by holding their bosses accountable.”

[donamarocas]

give credits if you repost, please

like/reblog if you save

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Xoxo ❤️✨

[softspaceboibrian]

softspaceboibrian MASTERLIST

hello, lovelies! this is everything I've ever published here on tumblr, or at least it should be. enjoy! <3

Ted Lasso

Jamie Tartt

The Heart Wants What It Wants

Fell in Love with the Fire Long Ago || A Jamie Tartt Story

Prologue

Chapter 1

Stranger Things

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy || Eddie Munson I have a taglist for this, so if you would like to be added, please let me know!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

more to come....

Marvel

Eternals

He would never admit it || Druig

X-Men

Nightmares || Warren Worthington III (Angel)

You Over Everything Else || Warren Worthington III (Angel)

Queen & Bohemian Rhapsody cast

Journeys End in Lovers Meeting (Professor!Gwilym Lee x student)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Kisses Series

Gwilym Lee: Unspoken Feelings

Ben Hardy: A Goddess Among Men 

John Deacon: Reading Session

Ben Hardy

My Girl

Long Enough

Private After After Party (smut)

Golden Slumber

One More Present

Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way

With A Little Help From My Friends

Gwilym Lee

Roll With It

The Rest of My Life

Roger Taylor

Bad Habit (song fic)

Rog and the Flying TVs

Our Castle

Brian May

You Need to Relax (smut)

Headcanons

Valentine’s day 

Imagine being the daughter of a Queen member

BoRhap boys’ as dads

[dhropmazz]

BIBI, Warren Hue, NIKI and Rich Chigga photographed by Zhong Lin

[blizzard-of-ozz]

QUEEN CONCERT IN SF WAS AMAZINGGGGGG

[arklayasylum]

— the ghost survivors gifset

⤷ resident evil 2 remake (2019): the ghost survivors dlc

[geekcavepodcast]

Venomverse Is Reborn at Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics has announced the return of the Venomverse with Venomverse Reborn, a four issue series in which creators will "put unique spins on the symbiote mythos and unleash bold developments on established symbiote heroes and villains. Ranging from horror to fantasy and everything in between."

Each issue of the Venomverse Reborn miniseries will be framed by a new Venom story from writer Al Ewing and artist Danilo S. Beyruth. In addition to Ewing and Beyruth, Venomverse Reborn #1 contains stories from creators Benjamin Percy, Christos Gage, Greg Land, and Brian Level and Venomverse Reborn #2 contains tales from Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Adam Warren, Chris Giarrusso, John McCrea, Danilo S. Beyruth, and more. Covers are by Tony Daniel.

Venomverse Reborn #1 (of 4) goes on sale on June 19, 2024.

(Image via Marvel Comics - Tony Daniel's Cover of Venomverse Reborn #1)

[cinematic-literature]

Greetings (1968) by Brian De Palma

Book title: Whitewash: The Report on the Warren Report (1965) by Harold Weisberg