A brief chat with Neon Trees

Yellow Scene: The band is ten years old now – how do you think you’ve grown?

Branden Campbell: I think it’s twofold. It’s one part learning how to get along. Number two, learning how to write and produce music that we like, that is progressive for us. It allows us to do those things. I always remember, a long time ago, I met Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine and I asked him, “What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being in a band?” He said that the best thing is making the music, and the worst thing is trying to get along because if we’re not getting along, then we can’t make music. I always took that as a lesson of making sure we’re getting along so that we can make the music.

YS: Pop Psychology is an awesome record – have you been working on the next one?

BC: Yeah. Yesterday, we released our new single “Songs I Can’t Listen To.” It’s going back to the alt-rock style of the band. We’ve never been afraid to go through phases and try different sounds or even different looks. We’ve always taken leads from a lot of glam artists like David Bowie or Elton John. Even the Stones dipped into disco but then could go back into country & western – not being afraid to try on different hats. We did that with Picture Show and Pop Psychology, and this bring it back to a more rocking side. Tyler wrote some really great lyrics for this one – I think a lot of people are relating to it. The feedback’s just been great.

YS: Do you like playing Colorado?

BC: My family’s from there – my dad and his dad were born there. My aunt still lives there and a bunch of cousins. I have a bunch of friends there. I live in Utah, in a neighboring state. There are a lot of like-minded people there. I have a lot of fond memories. The first I saw mountains, driving to Colorado from Iowa to see family, it blew my mind.

YS: What can we expect from the set?

BC: A bunch of everything. We’re purposefully playing smaller rooms than we did last time. We didn’t even plan on touring this year – we were going to take the year off but we decided to do some shows for the fans. Those are always the best shows, so we’re building it as, “An intimate night with Neon Trees.” So a whole list of songs from all the albums, and even some deep cuts. There’s a song called “Calling My Name” that was an unofficial release even before we put out the first album, and it ended up on the b-side of the vinyl release of “Animal” in 2010. A lot of people have been asking for that song, so I think we might be sneaking that one in there.

YS: When this tour’s done, what’s next?

BC: We’re gonna play it by ear. Everyone’s working on a lot of music, so we’ll see what comes up. Right now, we’re stoked for the new single and so far the feedback has been great. We’re excited to put that into the set list, and have fun doing our thing.