A Conversation with Scars On 45’s Danny Bemrose – 9.28.11
Mike Ragogna: Danny, how are you?
Danny Bemrose: Doing well. How are you, buddy?
MR: Doing very well, thanks. Where are you on the globe right now?
DB: Well, we just recently left Chicago for Milwaukee, and we were there for a bit. I actually spent my birthday traveling to Milwaukee.
MR: Happy Belated Birthday, Danny!
DB: I actually wasn’t in a grand mood on my birthday. (laughs) I’m just in a bad mood because I got a year older. That’s all it is.
MR: (laughs) Oh, you’re still young…you turned like 22. (laughs)
DB: Happy to be celebrating my 17th birthday, thanks. (laughs) Just kidding.
MR: Nice. Now, let’s chat about your newest single, “Heart On Fire,” which is a featured song on the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack that was just recently released.
DB: Yeah, that’s right. “Heart On Fire” is considered the lead single for the album, I guess. We just recently made a video for it in Los Angeles. We filmed the video in this burning building and the entire thing was spliced with clips from the upcoming season of Grey’s Anatomy. It was a kind of strange scenario for filming that video, but one that we embraced with open arms because an opportunity like this doesn’t come around every day, you know? It’s been going really well with us recently, and we’ve just been having the time of our lives.
MR: Did any of the cast come to the set while you were filming the video?
DB: Well, we all hoped that that would be the case, but as it turns out, the biggest star there was our bass player, Stew’s girlfriend, who starred in the video, and she’s never really acted in anything. (laughs) But there were a lot of people there from ABC–the director and some of the producers. It was nice to get to work with everyone. I mean, our video for the song is very similar to the one that we filmed for ABC, but it obviously doesn’t have the Grey’s Anatomy clips in it. It circles around the same themes, though. The single will actually be released in the middle of October and that’s when our video will be released as well. For the time being, ABC made this one for the upcoming season of the show and it looks really cool.
MR: Yeah, it looks great. Sometimes, when you’re making a video of that nature, it can seem kind of choppy with the shows clips flashing throughout.
DB: True. I’ve seen a few videos like that for television programs and it tends to come out pretty bad. Luckily, when we saw ours, we were really surprised at how it turned out. It has our full support, so to speak.
MR: Nice. Is this your first television placement?
DB: We’ve had a few placements on other TV shows and they’ve always been kind of small and some of the music isn’t really recognizable under the dialogue. But this is the first big push that we’ve had on a major show like this. Like I said, we really are just over the moon about the song being on the show and all you have to do is look at some of the other acts on that album, like Cee Lo Green and The Boxer Rebellion. Just to be in the same category with some of those acts is great. It kind of just proves the point that all of the efforts that we put forth in the past are paying off, so to speak. We’re just thrilled.
MR: Can you go into the Give Me Something EP a little?
DB: We released that one about six months ago and it kind of went far beyond our wildest expectations as far as the radio charts. It has kind of enabled us to tour this amazing country and meet all of these amazing people and play in some incredible venues. That kind of turned our entire world upside down. We’re just a little band from a little place called Bradford in England. We sang for Chop Shop and Atlantic, then, within about six months, we were touring the world and seeing places that we’d only dreamed of. I’ve got a constant smile on my face now. (laughs)
MR: Danny, can you tell us the story of how the band got the name Scars On 45?
DB: Well, I think that every band goes through the same kind of scenario over looking for a band name and they all tend to be absolutely awful. (laughs) We certainly went through that stage ourselves. We just wound up reading an interview with Emmylou Harris, and she used to listen to her Dad’s old records and she would scratch them to bits. She said she was always accused of getting scars on his 45s, so it was one of those names that kind of stuck with us. We didn’t think it would last that long, but it did.
MR: What is the creative process like for the band?
DB: It tends to work on the basis of my constantly playing the acoustic guitar if I have any spare time whatsoever. Usually, I kind of sit around with a guitar and a Dictaphone, and whenever anything pops up that you think is decent, you just hit record and eventually you unmask this huge recording of all of the nonsense songs you’ve recorded. When I listen back to it, some things pop out that really kind of resonate with me while some of it is just rubbish. (laughs) But when you do hear something that you like, I tend to work on it for a while and get a nearly finished song together and deliver it to the rest of the guys and girls so we can put the band around it and make it work. That’s the kind of process that we used for this past album. Who knows, it’ll probably change for the next one.
MR: Do you think you’ll gain a lot of inspiration from being on the road?
DB: Yeah. I think our next album is probably going to be inspired by the IHOP menu. (laughs)
MR: Nothing wrong with that. (laughs) Speaking of touring, what is it like touring with Marc Broussard and his band?
DB: We’re just absolutely loving it. Marc and his crew are the nicest bunch of people. We call them the American version of us. We just have the best time and we’re so similar. If there’s ever an opportunity for us to do more gigs or play with those guys again we would in a heartbeat. We just have the best time. This is the first big tour that we’ve ever been on and we didn’t really know what to expect, but thankfully, it’s been such a blast. We’re looking forward to joining Matt Nathanson’s tour after this, and we’ve heard such great things about him, so we’re just really excited to be able to get out and meet all of these new people.
MR: Very nice. Both guys are no strangers to HuffPost, by the way. Now, I know that you guys played at South By Southwest. So, how was that experience for you?
DB: Well, that has just been a place that we’ve wanted to play since we were teenagers. It’s one of those events that we could never really afford to visit or even dream of playing, but it was just incredible. It’s the type of place that we would always try to play if we get the opportunity. It’s the kind of place that any musician should want to visit because it’s such a wide spectrum of musicians and venues. We absolutely loved it.
MR: Great. I’ve heard you love playing soccer. Do you get any practice time on the road?
DB: Actually, Marc Broussard is a soccer player as well, so every night after a gig, we’ll have a bit of kick-around. It tends to keep us fit. (laughs) It’s nice to finally have a bit of a soccer game, as you Americans call it. We like to squeeze in a few games here and there, but we don’t play anywhere near like we used to do.
MR: Soccer was actually your first career choice, wasn’t it?
DB: Yeah, it was, but I unfortunately broke my foot and so that put a bit of a premature end to my career. Luckily, there was an acoustic guitar around the house and it seemed the better route for me than what all of my friends did–going out and practicing underage drinking. (laughs) So, I sort of just sat myself down and taught myself to play guitar. It’s something that I’m really thankful for.
MR: Do you have any advice that you would give to new artists?
DB: Well, first, I would say that you should never let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. People used to say to me that if I wanted something bad enough, I would get it and I used to think that was complete and utter nonsense, especially during the dark times when things aren’t really going your way. But we stuck to it regardless and, granted, we haven’t really achieved that much, but we’re so thankful for what we’re getting to do now. We managed to get a record deal and we’re touring around the US and having the time of our lives. That is proof that you should never, ever give in. The other piece of advice I would give is for the young people in bands with childhood friends and such. Don’t take that for granted because later on in life, it’s very hard to find like-minded people that like the same kinds of music and have the same sense of humor as you, and all of these things are essential in a band when you’re spending 24 hours a day, seven days a week with the same people. We are just lucky in the sense that we found five equal people that we consider brothers and sisters. That’s the advice that I would give to new bands. But primarily I would say, if you think you can do it, never give up.
MR: Great advice. It’s so important to find and work with people that are like family.
DB: Yeah, exactly. It’s also great because we’re a little bit older than we were when we started all this. A lot of us are in our late twenties now, so we’ve just got older heads on our shoulders and we understand that this takes a lot of hard work, you know? If people can go through the effort to send us a Facebook message or even buy our EP, then to us, driving 15 hours to play a gig and meet those same people is not a big deal for us. We’ll stay after every gig until the last person leaves so that we can meet everyone who came out to support us. Our fans are the reason that we are able to be and we don’t take that for granted at all.
MR: That’s so great. And you’ll be touring for a while longer, right?
DB: Yeah. We’ll be touring around the US until the end of the year, and then back home for Christmas then back on tour again. So, if people want to see where we are or where we’re going they can just check out www.Scarson45.com and come and see us. We’ll spend a great night together.
MR: Well, well, well! (laughs)
DB: (laughs) No, not like that! My girlfriend would kill me. (laughs)
MR: (laughs) I’m sure. (laughs) Well, Danny, I want to thank you once again for stopping by, this has been great fun.
DB: Thank you so much, Mike. And so much love to everyone out there reading.
Transcribed by Evan Martin