Interview: Greg Horbal of The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die…
I threw this interview together in about ten minutes. Hopefully we’ll have another interview with Greg soon after the big LP is released. Here’s little tidbits about his personal life to last you until then. (Did you know: Greg Horbal started the Twinkle Daddies term?)
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No Silence!: You’re probably the most hard working musician in our scene, based on conversations we’ve had in the past. Do you have any tips or anything for musicians wanting to do something with their music?
Greg Horbal: Thanks! The best tip that I can offer is just to put your time in. Some bands get everything handed to them without much effort, but most work really hard to get there. It’s funny to think about how long I’ve gone from knowing nothing to probably knowing way too much about everything. Just go into everything with an open mind and some hard work. Things might work out, they might not, but as long are you’re having fun it’s all worth it.
NS: How does it feel being in such successful bands, starting with My Heart to Joy and going into The world Is.?
GH: I don’t like to think that all of the things that My Heart to Joy or the World is… are going to fall under a blanket term like “success”. There are certinly things that went well for both bands, but there’s always room for improvement in everything you do. I think it’s important to always be looking for whatever your personal definition of success is, but never to be content. You can always do better, write a better song, play a better set; you can always be a better person. Being content makes things stale. Success on one day should be your failure the next.
NS: What do you like to do when you’re not playing music?
GH: Really not much. I work as an engineer right now for the state of Connecticut. It’s a 40-hour-a-week gig. It’s weird being an adult. When I come home I spend a lot of time booking tours for a few bands as Hope This Helps Booking. Right now I’m really only working with Xerxes, Code Orange Kids and Daylight, but I think a few more will be with me in a month or two. It’s still weird to me to have a free night—I have felt that way forever. It’s funny, I was just talking to my girlfriend last night about how much of a one-track mind I have, and I seriously spend so little time doing anything else.
NS: What does the future hold for The World is a A Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die?
GH: We’ve been writing for an LP and a few other smaller releases ever since we finished our split with Deer Leap. I’m really excited. We still have a lot of work to do but I’m really happy with all the songs we have demo’d out at this point. Besides that I think we’re going to be doing an extensive midwest tour in late March and will hopefully be going to Europe in July with a band I really, really respect. Can’t talk about that yet though.
NS: What got you started playing music?
GH: My childhood friend Ethan taught me to play the bass guitar so we could start a band together. We spent all of high school playing in this really bad pop punk band called London Classics. I think what kept me in it though was the sense of adventure. Although we mostly played in Connecticut, we spent every weekend away from home, in these different towns meeting different people because of our band. It was a ton of fun and I loved it more then anything. When we went to college that band kinda fell apart and I took a lot of the things I learned and applied them to My Heart to Joy when I was asked to play second guitar.
Ethan and I actually play together now in a band called Summit that doesn’t do much often. We had an EP called Small Talk that I love but i don’t think too many people actually heard. (http://summitfromct.bandcamp.com/)
NS: My mom wants to know, if you were a donut, what kind of donut would you be?
GH:Boston Cream, DUH.
NS: What are your views on “straight edge”?
GH: Most people my age give up the straight edge term, but I’ve held on to it. I like using the term, I think it kept me out of a lot of dumb shit when I was younger and I’m continue to live happy and focsued without having to turn to drugs to have fun. Chris Teti and I have been X’ing up way more often at shows because we have the mentality of 12 year olds.
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Check out the world is…on bandcamp here: www.theworldis.bandcamp.com
