Benny Horowitz of The Gaslight Anthem

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A couple weeks back, I was able to schedule a Zoom call with Benny Horowitz, the drummer of The Gaslight Anthem, to discuss everything that went into recently remastered/expanded version of History Books. I asked Benny about how the collaboration with Bruce Springsteen came about, the circumstances that led a lengthy hiatus after the band released Get Hurt, as well as how The Gaslight Anthem’s headlining tour has been going.

First of all, thanks so much for your time today, Benny. The Gaslight Anthem recently digitally remastered your incredible new album called History Books that came out last year that features some cover songs and B-sides from those sessions. What was the band’s thought process for digitally remastering the record, and then also for the cover of Billie Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes”?

Yeah, well, I guess first the EP came and the thought of that was kind of really just for fun. It was like an opportunity came up, a good idea came up. We had the time to do it. We were home and Butch Walker’s interested, and all these things. And it just kind of lined up. I think it was a thing for a while. We worried that “Blue Jeans” is a song that’s so far back in the catalog, and it’s an important song, but let’s just redo it, and re-release it. And then with the “Ocean Eyes” idea, that came from Brian’s daughter. They were riding together and enjoying the song, and kind of thinking hey, I think we could do that sort of vibe, and then started kicking it around. And, it’s a really interesting song to record, because it’s got such a different feel, obviously, from her version of ours. And you honestly want to pay respect to a great song, and we think it’s a great song, but that’s how that came about.

And with the remixing and the remastering was really just…it’s a creative thing. We put out the record, and there was no mistake in how we put it out…the way we produced it and the way it sounded was something that was intentional, and it wasn’t a mistake. And Peter did a great job, and you just started listening to it a lot, and after hearing some feedback and wondering what would it sound like with a different mix and what would that vibe be? So one of the things we had the opportunity to get it remixed by somebody really, really talented. And it wasn’t like, we’re gonna see how it sounds, and then we’ll go from there. First it has to get remixed, and we’ve got to make sure it sounds good, it’s cool and worthwhile. And then when we got it back and heard this kind of, I don’t know, it kind of jumped out of the speakers more to us than the other <version>. And I guess it’s almost like a learning curve. And how things were made for vinyl, and how things are made for digital, what’s the difference is in creating those things. And it’s kind of like a new, murky territory in some ways. And I’d say a lot of it was just kind of a fun experiment that kind of worked out.

Yeah, the feedback from our readers has been overwhelmingly positive for the new, remixed versions of the songs digitally, because they kind of heard it on the vinyl version and they heard some discrepancies between that and the early digital version. So they’re really proud of the work that you guys put into that.

I mean, I think one of the tricky things is as you get older, as a band, and even the way you want to stay completely authentic to yourself in the way that if you’re not making music that sounds and performs as something you enjoy, then you’re not able to deliver it authentically. And there’s this kind of learning curve going on. Like we’re this age now. We’re this kind of band. What are we doing? And the thing also is you have a long precedence with your fans, and you have a long precedence of people listening to your music. And when you mix a record and completely kind of pour into the way the other ones sound, I do think there’s kind of an expected tone and an expected thing that’s supposed to come out of it that people were seemingly missing. And we did hear that too…I’m not one of those people who shuts off the internet, I read it all. I take it all in. So I knew at the same time. I’m never the person who’s gonna let a bunch of internet people change my mind. Because I think it was all just an interesting balance and the right time and creative stuff behind it happened in the right way that we were really confident about releasing it.

That’s cool. History Books also features an incredible guest spot that you too are probably amazed to have by “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen on the title track.

I thought you were gonna say Stephen! <Laughter>

<Laughter> Can you explain the circumstances that led to him wanting to work with you guys?

I mean, we have a long history now, which is a funny thing for me to say that I have a long history with Bruce Springsteen…but there were some conversations early on with Brian and Bruce Springsteen about when we were going to get Gaslight back together. And when he met with Brian, they talked a lot about it and stuff, and one of the things that came up in that discussion was apparently Bruce saying, “hey, write me a duet.” So Brian was like <stunned>.

No pressure there, right? <Laughter>

Clearly you’re gonna service that request, if you get it. So it was just this really beautiful thing. I mean, from the minute we met him and kind of started getting involved, he’s been nothing but supportive and happy to put his name on anything. And this is just another one of those times he was up for it. I think we were a little worried he was on tour and he was sick, and it was a little tough to nail down the actual track…but when I’m sitting in my car listening to the mixes the first time riding down and I’m like, “Holy shit, that’s crazy! Bruce singing over my drums, that’s crazy!” So, yeah, it was a really cool, organic thing like that. Nothing too crazy.

That’s awesome that you got that to work out for you guys! Let’s take a brief step back to when The Gaslight Anthem’s previous hiatus came when the 2014 album Get Hurt came out. It is an incredible record, by the way, and one of my favorites in your discography, and very, very underrated in my opinion, too. Do you think if that record had taken off a little bit more commercially at the get-go, and quickly resonated with the fans, that the Gaslight Anthem wouldn’t have taken as long of a break?

No, I don’t think so. Actually…I think we would have just been a little bit bigger when we stopped. Probably like that was a record for myself that was, and I still am completely confident about it. I put that record out, knowing that it was a little different, and knowing that some people were maybe going to talk shit, and knowing that it was good. I thought it was good. So that’s one of the reasons I’m happy to read reviews and stuff, because if anything leaves the studio and you’re in love with it, then it’s easy to read reviews, because then you just simply don’t agree. But, that’s an interesting question…I’ve never, like, thought about that hypothetical if for some reason one of the songs from Get Hurt was a big single and we were getting those kinds of opportunities. It’s hard to say what would have happened under that scenario, but I have to imagine the same things we needed a break from would still be in place at that point. So I do think it probably still would have happened.

And I think solo projects are very important for bands to kind of flex their creative juices and stuff like that. And Brian’s a very talented songwriter as well, so it kind of made sense at that point, I think, in the break there. So it’s good to hear your perspective on that too. Your discography is filled with so many incredible songs, a bulletproof collection of albums that have stood the test of time, in my opinion. Do you have a personal favorite from your six records?

I mean, as far as the records in their final form, I do feel like it’s a weird thing to say, but I feel like it’s like picking kids or something. With every record you make, you go through this deep process of creation, and then kind of fixing it up and perfecting it, and then getting into the studio and you have such a long relationship with these songs by the time they actually get out, that they feel important to you when it happens. So I think, in those moments, none was better or more important than the other. I think now the unique thing I get to look at is like, how we made the records and the positions we were in when we did. I think about making Sink or Swim. And we were recording half of it in some dude’s studio, half of it in someone’s garage. The producer was getting paid in weed. It was kind of a down home thing. And to us, we were just…we didn’t know. And you know, The ‘59 Sound, I think about how I literally had a breakup in Texas three days before we went out to record that record, and was homeless at home, and, just in this real mid to late 20s, bizarre kind of part of your life that just felt…now I understand that it was kind of a really unique moment in time. And now we all leave our families to go record records, we leave our houses, and it’s just different. The whole thing is different, and that’s kind of what we talked about early on in the interview… I think the trick to maybe getting older as a band is like allowing these differences and being authentic about it, and trying to find out exactly who you are now.

And I think you guys have accomplished that over your career, for sure, the authenticity part.

Thank you! So that long-winded answer, I think, is a way of me going, I don’t think I can pick. I also would hate the idea of picking something that’s someone else’s least favorite or something, and I think it’s better for the feeling of our shows and to be proud of all of them.

That’s a perfect answer as well, too. So, the vinyl collector in me selfishly wants The Gaslight Anthem to do a repress of your 2012 record called Handwritten, which is going for a lot in the secondary market, unfortunately. Are there any plans to reissue this album or others on vinyl or put it all together in one big box set?

Yeah, I mean, I hate to get businessy about it, but there’s a reason Handwritten is hard to find, and it’s because we don’t own it. A big major label owns it, and there you go. We don’t make them any money anymore, and they don’t want to make shit. Some basic, cold, hard fucking business shit is the reason you can’t find Handwritten right now. And I wish we could get it. If they gave it to us, I would take it and repress the vinyl in half a day. But I heard that large businesses don’t run on altruism generally… So I’m not really holding my breath for that one. But, yeah, I would love to. But I think that one is just caught up in music business bullshit, and maybe there’s a day.

All right. Well I’ll keep my fingers crossed! So the last question I have today, I know you’re on tour in support of History Books, how have the show’s been going, and what have you learned from your band’s legacy and music through you reuniting and playing concerts again with the boys?

Wow. Well, it’s been going great. I mean that’s one of the things now, I think we’re officially like, at that point where we’ve been playing together again for a while and touring together again for a while. So there’s this kind of natural chemistry that starts to click back in that you would feel some of the really special times of Gaslight’s career, when we were just kind of firing on all cylinders, and things were just clicking. And I feel like we’ve been on the road so much and stuff that it’s kind of happening right now, which is awesome, you feel that just weird, magical sauce, and stuff going on on stage. Things like that, where it’s like, I don’t know why this is cool, but it’s cool.

And as far as the legacy of the band in that way. I mean, it’s interesting. I mean, really for me still at the core is the basic thing of this transformation of feeling between the two of us. And I love music, and I love playing music, and some people love going to shows and hearing it. I mean, I do too. I’m at shows constantly, but I still truly believe in this beautiful power of a live show. I think it’s awesome. I know it sounds corny sometimes, but I do believe that if you put out a great energy and people have this cool experience that maybe something good comes out of it. And it feels important to me, and I haven’t found many things in life that I deem worthwhile and important to use your time. And the cool thing about doing what we do is when I feel like we do a good job, it feels important. And it feels and that’s for not just people listening, but for us too, and for me, I need this too. It’s not just people who are on the other side that need it. I think one of the really cool things about this time is now, the idea that we’ve been gone a while, and if you were 16 years old in 2014 there’s a good chance you really don’t know much about Gaslight. You know what I mean? There were kind of just one of these names you hear and these things. And we’re playing these festivals and playing with bands like Spanish Love Songs and Joyce Manor, who I’m pretty sure are bringing people who have never seen us before, and that’s awesome. The idea that when I see parents with their 16 year old kids, and their kids tell me they’ve been hearing it in the car their whole life, or something like that…nothing means more to me than that, because the idea that you can be part of some weird narrative and fabric of somebody else’s life and family just with music, is so fucking cool. So I think one of the things of stepping back and starting back in is a reminder of two things: It’s how quickly you go away in the way that people die, people get into different shit. And young people come up, and they’re the ones who are kind of spearheading new things. And they are usually spearheading more important stuff.

So being able to find those people again and stuff is great. And I think the one cool thing about Gaslight is that I don’t know how many bands these days are just doing 90 minutes of songs, with no samples, no click track, and they’re just jamming. It might be different one day it might be, and it’s kind of this old school rock and roll experience we’re going for. And I wonder, if a 15 year old sees enough people behind a laptop at shows, maybe they’ll be like,”Oh shit, this is cool!” I forgot people do this, so I’m really into this idea of… I never thought of a band as generational like that, where it can literally go from, and now that we’ve been a band for about 18 years, it’s pretty obvious that that’s happening. And it’s a really cool and crazy thing to watch!

I wish you guys nothing but the best on the road. Stay safe, and hopefully I’ll get to talk to you again when the next album comes out!

Yeah, I appreciate it. Those were some thoughtful questions. You really had me thinking!

Nice meeting you, Benny.

Have a good one, Adam!

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM – HISTORY BOOKS TOUR 2024

JULY

26 – Denver, CO – The Mission Ballroom +

27 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Union +

28 – Boise, ID – Revolution Concert House +

30 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo +

31 – Forest Grove, OR – Grand Lodge Hotel and Property +

AUGUST

2 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield +

3 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues Anaheim +

4 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park +

6 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre +

9 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater +

10 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall +

11 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues Dallas +

13 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern ‡

14 – Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works ‡

16 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony Summerstage ‡

18 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway ‡

20 – Washington, DC – The Anthem ‡

21 – New York, NY – Central Park ‡

23 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia ‡

24 – McKees Rocks, PA – Roxian Theatre ‡

25 – Toronto, ON – History ‡

27 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady Music Center ‡

29 – Chicago, IL – Salt Shed – Indoors ‡

30 – Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore Minneapolis ‡

31 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave/Eagles Club – The Rave Hall ‡

SEPTEMBER

1 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit ‡

15 – Asbury Park, NJ – Sea.Hear.Now † (SOLD OUT)

† Festival Appearance

+ w/ Special Guests Joyce Manor and The Dirty Nil

‡ w/ Special Guests Joyce Manor and Pinkshift

more

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