Like any other teen in America, I had those "I'm sixteen now. I can do whatever I want. You can't tell me what to do. Stay out all night. You don't understand." delusions of grandeur. I have to give them credit for trying, but my parents never understood my music; in fact, my dad used to come in my room spouting the ever-present metal horns, thumb between the middle didgets, shouting, "Don't look up. You might see the antichrist!"
At that time I fantasized that the people in those bands were going through the same things and that they too felt my "pain." While some had their Nirvana and others their Sinead O'Conner I listened to bands like Sensefield, The Smiths and Into Another. It's bands like these that helped me through those times.
I asked John Bunch, frontman for Sensefield to explain some of those songs and what transpired was nothing short of ironic.
One thing that Sensefield is noted for is the fact that you guys have such great lyrics. Are there very arcane motivations for some of the things that are conveyed in your songs?
John: Not really. It might be that I went surfing and I saw a dog on the beach or whatever. It then it bums people out when they hear the true meaning because it didn't mean to us what it meant to them. I like to keep the dialogue in the songs open. I can tell you what might have been going on in my mind as opposed to what the song should be about.
One of my personal favorites is "Good Love All." Is there any sort of deep meaning behind that song?
John: Rodney [Sellars] wrote that one.
So is there any meaning that you take out of that song for yourself?
John: In a way it reminds me of summer time and togetherness.
What about "One From the Other Side?"
John: Rodney and I co-wrote it. What happened was I was at a wedding and my friend Tony, it was Catholic wedding and they say, "Peace be with you," after the service. I included it in the song. [laughter] I haven't listened to these songs in such a long time; I don't remember the words.
I've been exploring the idea of reinvention with some of my interviews. Is Sensefield going through a period of reinvention with the new record?
John: Before we recorded and before we started song writing, the four guys in the band asked me to try to write about different things and not to be so linear. They wanted me to try to expand on ideas. I was little nervous and it put a lot of pressure on me. Rodney and Chris, who write the music, were giving me the songs instrumentally; I felt a lot of pressure to try to match their expectations. Not only that but their songwriting grew so I felt like I had to grow. I didn't know if I was going to be able to elevate my songwriting to their level. I just took one song at a time and it worked out well.
As we're talking about the way that Sensefield used to be and how you are now with the changes in songwriting what initially are you referring to?
John: We wanted to expand on themes. A song called "War of the Worlds" is the opening track and the second song is "Are You Okay?" which is a song about friendships. That song is about making it through adolescence. So many people get hurt with fights and drugs or with violence. It's a plague. It's about trying to live your life in hole, paranoid. The third song is called The Horse is Alive. It's about the relationship between men and women and how men are so much different than women; the fact that we want different things in relationships and that we all have to sacrifice. You have to do a lot of forgiving and letting go.
So what makes it different now as opposed to prior albums?
John: I think it's surprisingly similar. There are still some spiritual themes but it's not as prevalent. The optimism is definitely there. I'm just not a down person.
In reference to songs like Every One I See and Found You there are so many religious overtones like with the constant use of the word "lord." When you put the disclaimer inside of the reissue of Premonitions and the Sensefield ep that "Sensefield's only religion is music"
John: You run into this problem where people expect you to be something that you're not. We're not a religious band. Theology is something I'm interested in and it's been a big part of my life, I don't feel I have to sing about religious themes but you run into these things like being on Revelation. People label us and say, "Oh, you're a Revelation band" but you say the word "Lord" and they think, "Well then you're a Christian band." A lot of my favorite songs will say that in the lyrics like Queen's Find me Somebody to Love and a lot of Rolling Stones songs do. Elton John will sing it in Daniel: "Lord, I miss Daniel. It must be the clouds in my eyes." I think they got that idea from blues singers. That's where I picked that up from.
So it's a subjective term?
John: It can be looked at any way you want. Like when I here Elton John sing it is he speaking to god? I don't want to tell people how to read our music. If a person is listening to it and feels joy for a specific reason I don't want to extinguish that. It's totally open to interpretation. Are we a religious band? No. Am I a religious person? Partly. Are we soldiers for Christ? No, we're just people. We just want to write optimistic music and not music that kids kill themselves to. It's very simple although it can become a very complicated thing when religion gets involved. A lot of kids want you to be this or that. They want you to be straight edge because you're on Revelation or they want you to be hardcore or vegan.
People really want to search for answers. People want to identify with how you are and think, "Well, Sensefield is like thisÖ" People like roll models and they like to put others on pedestals. If they can't identify with you then it's hard for them. When you come out with such subjective lyrics people are forced to think for themselves.
John: And then they come out with a twelve pack! [laughter] We want to do what we want to do without people freaking out. I was talking to Jonah from Far and we both agree that the older you get the more questions you have; the more realize that there is so much you don't know. I don't have the answers. There are a lot of people on this planet that I want to figure out. I want to figure out what makes them tick. Guys in bands, I want to know what they think.
Hence this interview. Back to the new record. Are you more secure now musically than you were before? Not to say that you weren't before but now that you're off Revelation and don't have that label of being that type of band do you feel you've reached a higher level of maturation?
John: I do think we've matured a lot on this record but I don't know how much different we're going to sound to people who know all of our albums but I do think we've taken a step forward. The lyrics are more mature with some adult themes. I don't think I'll ever be completely secure but I think we're on to something good.