Bayside's Anthony Raneri:
Unprofessionally Yours
Words: Scott Harrell
Photo: Keith Kiroja  

Bayside frontman Anthony Raneri is wedging some rare solo performances into his band's packed summer schedule, in order to visit some longtime Florida fans and road-work some new tunes. He spoke to REAX about the old-school kick he gets out of acoustic gigs, as well as his band's longtime association with the Sunshine State.

REAX: So you're going to Europe, then right into these acoustic shows, then straight on to the Warped Tour?
AR: I get home from Europe, I've got five days off, then we do a couple of Bayside shows around here, like upstate New York, then another five days, then I do these solo shows, then two weeks off, then it's Warped for eight weeks. It never ends. 

REAX: What made you decide to do this string of acoustic shows in there, instead of taking the time off?
AR: I just have a lot of fun doing it, you know? I hate to sound cliché, but it kinda makes me feel young to do these shows, it makes me feel like I did when I was 13 and playing my first shows. If I mess up, if I don't know what to say, or what to play, it's this exciting nervous energy that I don't get anymore form Bayside, because the set is what it is, and we spend weeks preparing and have techs and lights and buses, you know what I mean? I don't know how many people are gonna come - it's that whole kind of excitement that made being in a band cool when I was just starting. 

REAX: I imagine doing stuff like this helps recharge your enthusiasm for going back to Bayside too, gives you a little different perspective.
AR: Yeah, for sure. 

REAX: What can fans expect as far as material Do you even know what you're going to play?
AR: I usually play a good amount of Bayside songs, and I usually play a bunch of covers. But this is actually gonna be the first time I play a bunch of new songs that I'm writing. I'm working on a solo record, that I'm planning on putting out in the fall. I'm demoing the songs now, they're finally ready to play for people, so those Florida shows are gonna be the first time I've played 'em for anybody. 

REAX: There seems to be a pretty tight connection between Bayside and Florida. A lot of my friends have been seeing you for years, they know the guys, and you work with some Florida bands. What's the connection?
AR: Our roots run pretty deep there. We've been a band for nine years and have been touring since three weeks after we met each other, and Florida is always one of the places were able to get shows, from day one. We've only been playing L.A. for six years because we never made it out that way, and these major cities - we probably played 50 shows in Florida before we ever played Philadelphia, which is two hours down the road. We used to go down there and play anywhere. Especially back when we just started, you could do shows everywhere, Daytona, Melbourne, Pensacola, Tallahassee, all these places. And as we got bigger and got signd, we started going to Tampa and Orlando more often. I guess the answer would be because we've been playing there forever. 

You know anti-depression/self-injury non-profit To Write Love On Her Arms? Jamie, who started it, is from Melbourne, and he told me when we first met that one or his friends called us the biggest band to come out of Melbourne. We played there so much that people thought we were from there. 

REAX: Bayside, especially in recent albums, has showcased some classic sounds and styles that obviously come from outside of punk rock. Have you always been a fan of singer-songwriters and more classic pop stuff?
AR: Oh yeah, for sure. Especially pop stuff. It's hard to say I'm a fan, but when it comes time to write a record, I listen to a lot of music for inspiration and research. There's a song on The Walking Wounded, the title track, it has this kind of klezmer part, and I knew I wanted to include that, but if I want to write it, I have to know about it. So I was listening to a lot of Jewish music, and stuff like Fiddler on the Roof for inspiration. I listen to country, to singer-songwriter stuff. Some of it I love, and some of it is kind of like research. 

REAX: One of the side effects of some elements of punk becoming so mainstream is that it's also become more acceptable for musicians from that scene, particularly more established guys, to dabble in other areas, try different styles.
AR: I think there's good and bad to come from that. One, for people who are gonna use those outside influences well, like for instance My Chemical Romance, they modeled themselves after Queen for The Black Parade, and it was cool that they were able to do that. In that instance, it's a cool thing. But at the same time, the pop element that's come into the scene, and even something of an urban or rap element that's come into the scene, the fact that bands are able to get away with that now? Top 40? It's totally not cool. It's kind of exploitative, it's ruining the scene to an extent, you've got bands on the Warped Tour that are basically highjacking the scene, they're no different than the Jonas Brothers or something. That that's become acceptable is kind of gross, actually, that the fans aren't calling bullshit on that. It's kind of our job, to call bullshit on stuff like that. 

REAX: So we'll be seeing an Anthony Raneri solo release in the near future. You going to get Victory to put it out, or do a smaller, self-release thing?
AR: Our newest record was our last for Victory. We're free agents right now, which is  pretty exciting. But yeah, something small. Like I said, what makes it fun for me is the unprofessional aspect of it, you know? So to sign the traditional deal, and have all those things that go with that, would kind of take away from why I do it for in the first place. 

Anthony Raneri plays Tampa's Crowbar June 19, Gainesville's 1982 June 20, and Orlando's Backbooth June 21. 

myspace.com/bayside