Chicago – Back in 2010 when drummer John Bradley and guitarist Scott Scharinger formed Dads, the New Jersey duo thought it nothing more than a side project, but the band blossomed into much more with help from the recent emo resurgence. Four years later and now Dads has a new album, a more mature sound, and a new band member, making them a touring trio. They also now call the Midwest home.
This week the Michigan transplants released I’ll Be The Tornado through 6131 Records. Last month at Riot Fest, Best New Bands caught up with Bradley, Scharinger, and their new bassist, Ryan Azada. We talked about their new album, coming into adulthood, being a touring band, and their turbulent relationship with the beach.
Sarah Hess: Whoa, are there three of you now? I thought there were just two of you!
John Bradley: Three of us now. Two of us on the record, third in real life.
SH: And you are?
Ryan Azada: I’m Ryan. I play bass.
SH: So are you officially a three piece?
Scott Scharinger: Probably.
JB: I guess we are now. (laughs)
SS: Well, he almost got kicked out like three seconds ago. (laughs)
RA: Yeah.
SH: Oh man, don’t fuck it up! (laughs)
RA: No, no! (laughs)
Sarah Hess: I’ll Be The Tornado is your latest album. Tell our readers about it!
JB: It is ten, eleven songs. I forget. 15, maybe 30. (laughs) It is coming out on 6131 Records, and it is my favorite thing we’ve ever done. Which is cool because I feel like sometimes you’re in a band and you make a thing that isn’t your favorite thing that you’ve ever done. And you’re like, “Why am I working on this now?” But it’s my favorite thing we’ve ever done since we’ve been a band.
SH: You recorded the album here in Chicago.
JB: Yes, at MinBal Studio, just down the street!
SH: What was the recording process like?
JB: It was awesome!
SS: Super easy.
JB: We worked with Neil Strauch, who has done a bunch of crazy cool stuff in Chicago, and it was easy. It was the easiest process we’ve ever done.
SH: What inspired the album?
JB: We got older and realized that everybody was writing break-up songs, and we didn’t really care about that anymore. It’s kind of like we realized that there are a lot more important things than relationships and being in relationships. Like family and just being a grown-up and human being. A lot of the songs and a lot of the themes, I guess for lack of a better word, were just about being an adult and growing up. And just not being worried about your girlfriend or boyfriend or ex anymore because it doesn’t really matter a couple years later. But family does! And always will.
RA: A good mid-twenties record.
SS: I mean, I’ve met people who are thirty, forty, and they are like, “This record hit home!”
SH: How old are you guys?
JB: Twenty-five.
SS: Twenty-five.
RA: Twenty-two.
JB: But [Ryan] didn’t write the record, so his views aren’t on it… yet. (laughs)
SH: What is “But” about?
JB: This is actually funny because we just talked about how we didn’t write relationship songs, but it’s an “adult” relationship song. I met somebody. When you’re in a touring band that tours as much as we do, and you’re in a career that takes you on the road all the time – and I think the same thing goes for my dad, where he was always traveling like crazy for business – it’s kind of like you want this easy love. This love where it’s like we’ll see each other every morning and every single night, but I’ve never been in a lifestyle where that’s where I am. My dad wasn’t either in his job. It’s this crazy lifestyle where you know people, where their struggles are. We live together and we have fights, and my struggles and our struggles as a band in relationships and friendships is like I’m going to see you everyday for three weeks and then won’t see you for six months. You know, a lot of it is meeting somebody and knowing I want to love you, I want to be your best friend, but I’m not going to see you for five or six months out of a year. It’s like hopefully we can make this work, but I wish that you didn’t have to worry about that.
SH: What did your dad do that he was away from home so much?
JB: My dad was in the military, and then he was also a contractor so he would be flying around for business a lot.
SH: You guys are from New Jersey? What was it like growing up in Jersey?
SS: I didn’t move there till I was in high school, so I don’t count.
JB: I moved there from Guam when I was seven, and grew up from seven till when we moved recently. I liked it. It wasn’t as rough as a lot of people think it is. It’s not as bad as a lot of people think it is. It’s kind of like if you wanna talk trash on Jersey, you have to be from Jersey, I think. And whenever you hear people talk trash on Jersey, who aren’t from Jersey, you get mad. And you get really annoyed because it sucks, but it’s your piece of “thing” that sucks. I’m being really PG right now. (laughs)
SH: Where did you guys move to?
JB: We relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
SH: As Jersey boys, did you listen to Bruce Springsteen?
JB: I did, but not really growing up. I kind of found it when I got a job at fifteen or sixteen. It never really hit me until then, and I was like, “I get what he’s mad at!”
RA: Take a sip of water for the working class!
SS: There’s this thing called the Steve Austin podcast where he says, “Take a sip of water for the working man!”
SH: Favorite Springsteen album?
JB: Born to Run.
SH: On American Radass (this is important), there’s a song titled “If Your Song Has the Word Beach In It, I’m Not Listening.” But then you wrote another song titled “Get to the Beach.” What’s that all about?
SS: Yeah they came out at the same time. That’s track one and then literally, “Get to the Beach” is number two. When we wrote that record and we were writing those songs, there was this huge surf wave type of thing going on, and to me all the bands kind of sounded similar. Not that they were bad, but it was like we had so many friends who wrote whatever beforehand, then the surf-rock thing came back into resurgence, and they were like we are gonna skip what we are doing now and jump on this new wave! No pun intended. (laughs) We were just kind of like, every single person we know is putting out a song with beach in the title. I was just like, “I don’t wanna do that,” and then we did.
JB: And then we did another.
SS: (laughs) Because we did the jab, and then we were like we don’t want anyone to think that we’re that angry and that serious about anything ever. So let’s do a jab at ourselves, as well.
SH: So you write a song with the word beach in it, but is it even about a beach?
SS: No, it’s not about the beach at all. It has literally nothing to do with the song. We hate the beach.
JB: Oh, I hate the beach. Love the ocean.
SS: The ocean’s cool. Ocean could be cool. Beach sucks. If there can just be grass with no sand, perfect!
RA: Like a lake!
SH: You have a song titled “Groin Twerk.” I know this isn’t being video taped, but can you show me how exactly one does a groin twerk?
JB: How do you do a groin twerk?
(Scott Scharinger does a groin twerk and then grunts.)
JB: Let’s just make grunting noises and then everyone will think we’re doing something! (grunts and laughs)
Dads are hitting the road with Tiny Moving Parts. Go see Dads on tour and ask them to show you a groin twerk in person! Click HERE for tour dates. You can purchase I’ll Be The Tornado on iTunes.
Photo credit: Carly Hoskins
Sarah Hess
After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.
You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.
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