Washington, D.C.’s own American Television have long balanced sharp punk hooks with a sense of heart and community, and their new EP You Are Not Alone might be their most resonant statement yet. We caught up with vocalist/bassist Steve to talk about late-night comfort albums, building a stronger scene, and finding hope (and humor) in the face of anxiety.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Congrats on the success of the new EP You Are Not Alone. The record nods to Rancid, Frank Turner, and Bouncing Souls. Which albums are you most likely to actually call on for emotional support at 3 a.m.?
Of those three artists, at 3am, I’m probably going to go with Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart. It has some soft acoustic tracks that’d help me mellow out.
Some other chill ones not in the aforementioned list:
Maxwell Stern – Impossible Sum
John K. Samson – Winter Wheat
Violent Femmes – Self-Titled
If someone walks away from this EP with just one lyric or idea stuck in their head… what do you hope it is?
It’s not one particular line as much as it’s the concept of the record. We’re all feeling this sense of dread about the world. The anxiety is palpable. Music has the power to pull us up out of the dumps, even if it’s just for a moment. So the message is – You’re not alone in feeling the anxiety, and you’re not alone when you’ve got a song in your heart to take you to a better place.
The band is originally from the D.C. area; home of Minor Threat, Origami Angel and C-SPAN. Which one do you think has had the bigger influence on your sound?
Haha. This is a fun one. Minor Threat is probably closest to who we are – Our songs are angsty, we have a political pov (perhaps C-SPAN comes into play there), and similar receding hairlines to Ian.
You talk about building community and connection through punk. What’s something the scene could do better right now, besides remembering deodorant and tipping bartenders?
Community thrives on involvement. We can all pay to get into a show, but what can we do to sustain and grow a community?
* Evangelize the bands in your scene
* Get involved with booking, sound, or volunteering at a diy space
* Take photos, write about shows and bands for blogs or zines, make flyers
* Learn how to silk-screen merch
Involvement is about giving back to it, not just taking from it. A real scene is built from within.
On a more serious note — you previously worked with AF Records, but have since moved to Smartpunk following the serious allegations that surfaced about that label. How did that experience shape your outlook as a band, and what has it been like finding a new creative home with Smartpunk?
To be clear, the allegations were against the singer of Anti-Flag, and the Rolling Stone article exposed them to be more than allegations. A-F Records was run by a good-hearted person from the scene, not anyone in the band. Unfortunately, Anti-Flag’s name and finances were tied up in the label’s existence. The person running it was quick to shut it down and do right by the bands impacted in the fallout and sever ties with Anti-Flag.
We’ve been in the punk rock scene a long time– Unfortunately, it’s not immune to scumbags. We took that terrible moment and channeled it into something positive. We donated proceeds from SCARS album sales to DASH DC, who help house victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse.
As far as our time with Smartpunk, they give us all the space we need to be creative, we still operate very much as a DIY band. They have helped us get some amazing opportunities on festivals, comps, and radio play. Those are things that are harder as an independent artist and they’ve made that possible.
All in, it’s been a breeze, really. They also help with distribution. That means record shops can get our album more easily, our closets at home aren’t filled with merch, and nights aren’t spent filling orders.
What’s next for American Television? Was there anything we missed or that you’d like to put more focus on?
We’ll be down at FEST from October 24-26 and we have a great end-of-year show 12/12 in Northern Virginia with our buddies Kill Lincoln and Thirteen Towers. Details on all those shows are below!
10/24 FEST: 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM Heartwood (Indoors) American Television Set
10/25 FEST: 1:40 PM – 2:10 PM University Club American Television as Green Day Set
12/12 Tysons, VA The Vault: Kill Lincoln, American Television, Thirteen Towers – Tix
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/