Flyleaf

With the release of its self-titled debut album in 2005, Flyleaf has tried to establish a distinct sound that accents crunching guitars with the vocal power of one of rock’s most versatile female singers, Lacey Mosley. On the back of a punishing touring schedule, the “Flyleaf” album was certified platinum earlier this year, a sign of the band’s success in both mainstream rock and the Christian rock market. With a loyal flock waiting, the band has begun writing its follow-up album, but it hasn’t stopped recording entirely. Flyleaf, along with Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Rise Against and other artists all contributed their own versions of songs from the Tim Burton-produced classic “Nightmare Before Christmas” - just in time for Halloween. (Flyleaf’s addition was a re-recording of the song “What’s This.”) We caught up with Flyleaf guitarist Sameer Bhattacharya and managed to gain some insights into his views on “Nightmare” composed Danny Elfman, the progress of Flyeaf’s next record and why you might find him shopping for gold underwear. Click here to buy "Nightmare Revisited."



The Gauntlet: What’s new?

Sameer: I’m staying with our drummer right now and we are practicing and writing some new songs for the new record. It is turning out pretty well.


The Gauntlet: Do you have any studio time booked?

Sameer: It might change, but we are looking at some time in two weeks.


The Gauntlet: How did you select the track ‘What’s This?’

Sameer: We got an email from our manager and they wanted us to pick two songs, it was between “What’s This” and “Kidnap the Sandy Claws.” I really wanted to do “Kidnap the Sandy Claws” but they emailed us back and really wanted us to do “What’s This.” Kidnap would have been really fun, there is a lot going on.


The Gauntlet: Did you have big plans for “Kidnap the Sandy Claws?”

Sameer: Yeah, I think we would have done our own interpretation of it. “What’s This” sounded completely different than how I thought it would. I think it turned out really cool.


The Gauntlet: Will you do a live performance of it?

Sameer: I would love to, but we haven’t been asked to do a live arrangement for it.


The Gauntlet: Where you a fan of “The Nightmare Before Christmas?”

Sameer: I am a big fan of the movie, Tim Burton and Danny Elfman. I was really honored when they asked us to do a track for the release of “Nightmare Revisited.” It’s really fun to dissect a Danny Elfman track to see how it’s made.


The Gauntlet: Is it weird to have free reign to be able to pick apart a Danny Elfman song?

Sameer: Yeah, it is. There is no way to improve a Danny Elfman song. The only thing we can do is make it an interpretation song but still leave as a Danny Elfman song. I think we did a great job doing it. It was really cool to see how the song moves and all the key changes. For me it really helped me as a songwriter to see how it can be done in such a fluid and seamless way.

The Gauntlet: Do you have a greater sense of respect for him?
Sameer: I have always had great respect for him as a songwriter. It did make me respect him even more though.


The Gauntlet: Do you have any plans for Halloween this year?

Sameer: I am not very creative with costumes or characters. I still don’t know where we are going to be this year. We might be in LA or Texas. I thought about being Xerxes from the movie 300.


The Gauntlet: Are you ripped like he was or will you need a prosthetic chest?

Sameer: I will just go skin and bones. Just get some gold underwear and some chains. I also thought about going as Adam from Adam and Eve.


The Gauntlet: In Los Angeles, people might not think you are in costume, you’d fit in. And in some parts of town, you might meet some nice guys.

Sameer: Ouch, I’m going to stay away from that one.


The Gauntlet: What did you wear last year?

Sameer: I haven’t worn anything memorable. One year I was Sid Vicious. It was hard as I am brown and he’s not. Not everyone got it. One year I was Mowgli from the Jungle Book.


The Gauntlet: I am seeing a bizarre theme develop here. Mowgli wore a diaper, Xerxes wore a diaper, Adam was completely naked. Should people be concerned?

Sameer: [laughs] I think I despise clothes in general. I think when I am old and gray I’ll be at a nudist colony.


The Gauntlet: Will it happen before that? Maybe disrobe at a Flyleaf show?

Sameer: I might. The guitarist from the Dwarves is never clothed.


The Gauntlet: You can just cover up with the guitar.

Sameer: I haven’t tried that. Maybe I will some day.


The Gauntlet: I don’t know how well the Flyleaf fans will like that.

Sameer: Probably won’t do well. You never know until you try right? Try, try and try again.


The Gauntlet: Is that something that you need to keep trying?

Sameer: [laughs] probably not. The first few seconds would be enough.


The Gauntlet: Do you share this fascination of being naked on stage with anyone else in the band?
Sameer: Pat has played in his underwear several times before.


The Gauntlet: The movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is about misunderstandings of cultures, have you had any similar experiences?

Sameer: Wars are waged over this every day. As long as people are people, there will be differences and confrontations. As human beings, we are naturally not understanding of one another. Too many people think their way is the right way. There are too many people living in this world to not get along.


The Gauntlet: When was the last time you were truly terrified?

Sameer: We were on a ferry going from Sweden to Estonia. We were taking the fairy to Estonia to hop on a bus or a van to take us into Russia for a show. So we were on our way on this ferry and this guy comes up to me and grabs my shirt from behind and turns me around. He pulled me in close to him and was saying all this stuff in Russian I think. Then he said ‘I am going to kill you.’ I said ok. He went on to tell me how much he hates me. I am not a confrontational guy and we are all going to die one day and that was my attitude, if it is going to happen it is going to happen. I guess my attitude towards it freaked him out. He just broke down and started crying and told me this whole story. He was exiled from his country and can’t see his family. It was a pretty weird experience having a guy tell me he was going to kill me.


The Gauntlet: Jeez!

Sameer: In Russia, we were walking down the street and this guy spits on me and says “we’re Russian.” I guess that’s what the Russians think of me. It is a very different culture with a different mindset.


The Gauntlet: I think I’d stay out of Russia if I were you.

Sameer: That stuff can happen anywhere. There are always cultural differences and social differences no matter where you are. These things just make people think less of others. We are all humans. We all deal with the same things and none of us is any better than the other.


The Gauntlet: How long are you planning to record the album?

Sameer: However long it takes. With our last record, we got there in January and left in March. So around two months, but we will see how long this one will take. We really learned a lot making the first album and talking with the bands we toured with. We are further into our craft now, haven’t mastered it yet.


The Gauntlet: I was initially shocked to learn that you selected Howard Benson to produce again. The more I spoke with Lacey about the album, the more unhappy she was.

Sameer: Howard is really good with what he does. The tracking of the album went really well. After we recorded everything, we went in to hear a rough mix and it was phenomenal. It is not what you hear on the record and that is what upset us. What was recorded and mixed while we were there was amazing and I am sad no one will hear any evidence of it. It was so epic. I hate to use the word organic as it is such a buzz word, but it was very natural. The music breathed very well and you could feel the soul in it. Then the compromises came in from the label and they wanted it to be more marketable. They wanted this and we wanted that and the studio wanted something else. It ended up being sterile or more than it should have been.


The Gauntlet: Lacey told me that you guys heard the final mix and had the option of having an album for you guys or something for everyone else and the band picked an album that everyone else would like. Maybe the album wouldn’t have been as successful if it was your way.

Sameer: I don’t think it was in a bad way, things just came out in a different way. It wasn’t the way I heard it in my head. There is no way I could predict what would happen if the mix ended up the way we wanted. I feel like I would have been happier if the record sounded the way it did in the studio before I flew home. I would have been a lot happier personally. But maybe the guy on the street would have though the guitars were too loud or they can’t understand what Lacey was saying. Howard wants to get the story and the message of the song across. He doesn’t care about the tone of the high hat or if the guitars have a glassy brittle sound.


The Gauntlet: Are you better prepared this time around to be more assertive?

Sameer: To fight…is it worth fighting about? The songs we are writing will be there. We have learned a lot though. We have talked to other bands while touring and we have learned a lot about music in general. We will ask to hear different things now and have more control over how it will sound. We are open to suggestion and learning new techniques. I want our songs to be for everyone. I think that is really important. What good is art if no one gets it? How great is that? Making a record that people will buy, the fans need to get it. But we won’t let it be watered down either. It is such a broad question. So much goes into it and so much thought and afterthought.


The Gauntlet: How many songs are you planning to record?

Sameer: I think we want twelve songs on the record. We might have more, but we want around twelve. We have thirty to choose from and we just wrote more last week so we will see how it goes.


The Gauntlet: Because the band came up in popularity so quickly, you began playing headlining sets of 90 mins with a 40 min album. Due to this, Flyleaf began playing new songs on the road for the last couple years. Will any of those songs that fans might already know make it to the album?

Sameer: I don’t know. I would like to hear a few of those songs again on the record. I would like to hear Justice and Mercy on the record even though that was release on an EP. We have enough songs so we don’t have to repeat songs we have been playing but we will see how it goes. The label will have some input and so will the producer. We will take everyone’s suggestions with a grain of salt.


The Gauntlet: When will you and Lacey go out on an acoustic tour?

Sameer: I don’t know if we will ever do a tour. We are really not an acoustic band. Lacey wants to hear heavy guitars. I don’t know, we might.


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Tags:  Flyleaf, Sameer, Sameer Bhattacharya, Sameer Bhattacharya, interviews

Jason Fisher    October 20, 2008