That’s probably what makes these films so timeless. Everybody can relate.
Exactly. In every generation we all face those things and I think those movies have a great take on it. Like, The Breakfast Club is a genius movie, it’s so timeless. You put all those different people in the same room, they’re trapped there, and they find out all these amazing things about themselves. At the same time, they’re just cruising by in the halls and not having any idea of what’s right in front of them or who everyone really is. It’s such a statement of the world. We’re all living in our own little dramas full of our own experiences that are really amazing, but which we don’t end up sharing because everyone’s so consumed with themselves. But if you just trap people in a room for a day, just one day, all that was so real, like what could happen if people just opened up and let go of their identities, and their image, and all the bullshit they try to hold on to for whatever reason.
If you were to be a character from The Breakfast Club, who would you be?
Although I have some slight characteristics of all of them, which I think everybody does, when I was in high school I was definitely some sort of combination between the Geek and the Jock guy.
The Jock? Really? I didn’t see that one coming.
Well, I never had the jock mentality, but I was good at sports. I played soccer and I hung out with those people because I was on the team, but I didn’t really hang out. I always kind of floated around because I never really fit in with them, but because I was good at soccer and was very athletic, people who were jocks were like, “He’s cool. He’s good.” And I enjoyed it, I enjoyed playing sports, I don’t like that whole other mentality about it, the super-idiot competitive mentality, but I think playing sports can be very fun. But I was also a total geek, and rebellious too, because the geek was kind of afraid to rebel, but I think that was definitely part of me, though it came out later because in high school I didn’t really cut loose so much. Back then, I’d say those were the ones I was closest to.
So how do these movies find their way into your songs?
Well, it’s like I guess any good song or good movie, it gets out into the world and gets in people’s heads and it helps them find their way. It’s almost like a kick-start. You watch The Breakfast Club and you walk away from it and you’re like, “Duh, of course! I’m here to live and not be afraid to share who I am and talk about stupid shit that I’ve done.” I find that even now I’m always like, “Why didn’t I say what I really felt? Why am I holding back? Who am I trying to please?” In the end, that’s all we have, the ability to express how we feel about what’s happening.
