Senses Fail - Buddy Nielsen

Senses Fail - Buddy Nielsen


Senses Fail is the hot new band. Sales of their album, Let It Enfold You, have been boosted by their recent appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Now that they’ve been interviewed by a small fry I figured it was time for SuicideGirls to throw their hat in the ring. I got a chance to talk with their lead singer, Buddy Nielsen.

Check out the official site of Senses Fail

Daniel Robert Epstein: Who did the artwork for the album cover?
Buddy Nielsen: His name is James Rheem Davis. He does a lot of show posters and stuff. He does posters for us every time we go to his hometown of Phoenix. We found out about him from a show poster we saw of his. I really like artwork and I think it’s important to have an image which draws you to the CD and also ties in to the music.
DRE:
I love Amsterdam and you guys are going there soon, are you psyched?
BN:
Yeah we’ve never been there before. Can you get every different kind of weed there?
DRE:
Any kind you want. They have menus they give you in the coffeehouses. Will you guys be eating mushrooms, smoking weed and running around the city?
BN:
I don’t know. I can’t really do that stuff anymore because my brain freaks out now. I might do it but I’m not planning on it.
DRE:
You’re only 21 years old, how did you burn yourself out already?
BN:
High school [laughs]. I did a bunch of good stuff there.
DRE:
You guys get a lot of shit from some critics. Why do you think they’re going after you?
BN:
Maybe it’s because we’re young or maybe it’s that we don’t give a shit. We’ve done lots of stupid things where we really haven’t been consciously thinking that we might give our band a bad name. When you’re on tour and young you don’t really think about that shit. Also when you are put in a situation where it’s a free for all you don’t think about that shit. I think we’ve calmed down and been a bit more mature.

Music wise everyone is always going to talk shit. I think it’s funny. We recently got a thing in Rolling Stone which called us new faces and kids were telling us that they thought that sucked. I like making people unhappy with our success. All these people can talk shit but we will still have kids come to our shows and really like it. I don’t have to sit around listening to people who have bad things to say because they’re jealous of us.
DRE:
You think critics are mad that they’re not playing music?
BN:
Yeah and that’s why they’re critics.
DRE:
Do you read the message boards on your site?
BN:
I used to a lot just because I was bored but now I really don’t care. I would really just not deal with that stuff because I don’t want to see any negativity.
DRE:
You’re going to Japan as well.
BN:
Yeah that’s going to be really great. I heard it’s intense over there and they treat anything American like it’s the greatest thing in the world. It’s probably the only country left in the world that still loves America. I like America but I don’t like certain things about it.
DRE:
How did growing up in New Jersey influence you?
BN:
I find that people from New Jersey have a bit of a different sense of humor. I know that because our senses of humor have gotten us in trouble. The northeast has this pessimistic humorous outlook on life that’s like live fast and don’t give a fuck about anything. We’re miserable in the most happy of happiest ways.

Musically we came up listening to a lot of local bands which got big like Saves the Day and Thursday. It’s such a good local scene.
DRE:
I read you have a tattoo of the words New Jersey.
BN:
Yeah on my hand. It’s a winged bomb with skull and crossbones.
DRE:
What other ones you got?
BN:
I have about 22. I got my whole chest with skull and crossbones with daggers. One of my favorite ones is a gravestone that says FUCK YOU with a zombie hand coming out of it. I got a pinup girl and a martini glass with a girl’s legs coming out of it then a snake eating out the girl. My neck has a girl’s face with a crossbones behind it.
DRE:
I read that Charles Bukowski was a big influence on you.
BN:
He was huge influence on my lyrics, my attitude and everything. I always liked his pessimistic romanticism while living this lifestyle of being an asshole alcoholic slob. I like that idea of finding complete fulfillment in your life through a miserable lifestyle. The successes you have are so much sweeter because you have such a hard life. I was always into the beat writers’ lifestyle of traveling and living out of your suitcase.
DRE:
Are you as depressed as those guys?
BN:
I find Bukowski to be less depressing and more realistic. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind about anything but at the same time he also had these little hints of happiness in these poems he wrote. I felt that if this guy could write something with that feeling in it then I could as well.
DRE:
Are you a fan of SuicideGirls?
BN:
Those girls are awesome. I’ve only met one and her name was Autumn. I’d definitely like to hang out with some SuicideGirls and I think the rest of the band would feel the same way.
DRE:
Don’t you have a girlfriend?
BN:
Yeah I’m just messing with you but if I didn’t have a girlfriend I’d be trying to hang with SuicideGirls. Even though SuicideGirls is tasteful, I just love porn, it’s my hobby. I know a lot about porn. It’s like collecting baseball cards.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

SG Username: AndersWolleck
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