Breaking The Mold: An Interview With The Format

By: Brett Hickman

Saturday January 22, 2005

Nate Reuss and Sam Means, otherwise known as The Format, the pop-rock band with the unenviable baggage of being a part of the Arizona pop-punk days of the early '00s, are trying their damndest to out-distance their contemporaries and cut out a new identity for themselves.

And distance themselves they do, as evidenced on the band's stunning debut, Interventions + Lullabies (Elektra), featuring 12 instantly catchy and, at times, emotionally stirring songs that showcase the duo's talents.

However, the road has certainly not been paved with gold for them. They got lost in the mix of other, more prestigious albums, and then there was the end of their label, where, unlike other acts ranging from the once-high (Third Eye Blind), and the never-were (The Stratford 4) who were dropped, they managed to get moved to Elektra's sister label, Atlantic. Means, the quiet, introspective multi-instrumentalist put the whole affair the best he could, "It came out at such a bad time. It was one of those things where it was too late to start anything, so wait until next year, and then there were all the label problems...we waited pretty much the entire year for something to happen. We're at the point now where we're picking back up where we were."

What remains of this is one of the most instantly gratifying albums you may never have even heard of, let alone actually heard. Whether it's the spirited stomp of the tongue-in-cheekly titled "The First Single," or the front-porch lazy sway of "Give It Up," the gorgeously rich, pop sing-along "Tune Out," ("I'll tap the brake while you crack the window/The smell of smoke is making my lungs explode") or the heartbreakingly sparse beauty of "Front Porch," this album is loaded front to back with a sound that is as modern as modern gets, but whose spirit echoes back to the true influences of Reuss and Means.

Reuss' influence came primarily from the wide variety of music his father was into. "My dad had a pretty crazy record collection. On family vacations he'd make mix tapes." The musical tastes of his family is what shaped Means' musical influences as well. "My dad's family lived in Oklahoma. We would go to Wal-Mart and my dad would buy about four or five different tapes, like Jim Croce, James Taylor, the Beatles, whatever. I would go with him every summer and buy something new. When I was really young I got super obsessed with the Beatles. I started playing guitar because of the Beatles and my uncles."

When they found that they had outgrown the set molds that they found themselves stuck in during their tenure in pop-punk bands, the two friends decided to strike out and follow their own vision. "In terms of writing the songs, it was just that we weren't in a punk band anymore, so we didn't have any preconceived songs or how they were supposed to sound. They were free from any sort of genre. A lot of the music that we were listening to was so all over the place that being inspired by it made the songs just come out," Reuss said.

He continued, "For the last record, Interventions and Lullabies, Sam would start playing something or he'd already have something and I'd just sing the melody over it. Then we'd work on the basic structure of the song and then what would happen is I would take an instrumental version in my car, and try and write. We usually write songs on piano, or I'll come in with a melody. A lot of the writing was based on the excitement of getting signed and making a record. A lot of it had to do with being in a long relationship and being sort of apathetic and things were changing drastically. Then all of a sudden my heart got broken so I spent the last year writing countless songs about how pissed off I was at her. It got to the point where I had written this whole song with five verses, one bridge and no chorus, I got the chance to write everything about how I feel on the whole subject to the point where that was it, I had written everything I could on the subject and could go back to telling stories."

Reuss and Means have no desire to continue circling their wagons around the same musical themes as before, something that Interventions' "Career Day" would seem to predict. "In with the outro/Out with the old," is sung with ebullient joy as the album begins to draw to a close.

Reuss was adamant about the band's desire to explore new avenues. "It's been a long time since we got signed, we made a record and a lot can happen. We've evolved into something else. It's not like I'm not proud of Interventions, because I'm definitely proud of it. I just think that the next time around we're going to have learned a lot more than just writing catchy songs. I don't know how they're (Atlantic) going to feel about it. I don't particularly care about how they're going to feel about it."

Adding to this, Means says, "...when we were growing up, we would listen to all of the old stuff and that stayed throughout all of the bad punk bands. I was still listening to the Beatles. That's the music that has lasted over time, it'll last forever. It's just us getting in touch with things that initially inspired us." Reuss continues, "A lot of the music we've been writing lately it's been so much easier to agree. We both know what direction we want to go in and how we want it to sound. Last time we wanted to sound like a lot of people and this time we want to be a lot more specific. The piano really helped with that. Some of the stuff now is a little more like Broadway or old-timey jazz. I think that the piano has been a really crucial instrument in that. I think that both of us are trying to stay away from big loud guitars because they're so redundant. I think that we've become comfortable with ourselves as songwriters to the point where the easy way out isn't the way anymore."

With a record industry hell bent on staying the course for fear of running off of the track, Means and Reuss' commitment to themselves as artists is a breath of fresh air. Even if the follow-up to Interventions + Lullabies doesn't have the same sense of sun-kissed pop as its predecessor, the results will at least be uncompromising and heartfelt. They're already miles ahead of their former compatriots in the pop-punk community.

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Breaking The Mold: An Interview With The Format

By: Brett Hickman

Saturday January 22, 2005

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