Looking Up From the Bottom
Smile Empty Soul are on the ‘Road to Voodoo’

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>> Sean Danielsen leads Smile Empty Soul's attack. >>

>> September 30, 2003, Anaheim, CA >> Sean Danielsen, lead singer for Smile Empty Soul, grins from behind the long hair that has fallen into his face.  The roar of approval coming from the House of Blues crowd triggers the quick smile.  It’s obvious that most of those here have come to see Fuel, the headliner tonight, but they quickly embraced Danielsen and his band mates.

It’s one of the few times Danielsen cracks a smile, but he, along with bassist Ryan Martin and drummer Derek Gledhill, have plenty to be happy about.   Their self-titled debut has hit as high as number two on Billboard’s “Heatseeker” charts, and lead single “Bottom of the Bottle” has been as high as number seven on the “Modern Rock Tracks” chart.  The video has been in heavy rotation on music television – even though one of the key parts of the chorus has been edited out – and they’re getting major support at radio.

The Santa Clarita-based trio has been touring relentlessly, and now they’re on “The Road to Voodoo” tour, in support of Fuel.  This tour takes them all over the country, ending up at the Voodoo Music Experience, which takes place October 31st through November 2nd in New Orleans.  It’s a great chance to take their angst-ridden post-grunge to the masses, and the exposure this tour brings, along with the Voodoo music experience and their subsequent tour with Puddle of Mudd, should bring the trio plenty of new fans.

This evening is no different, as the crowd gets into Smile Empty Soul’s groove-laden rock.  By the time the trio plays their second song, “Nowhere Kids,” which will also be their second single, everyone is into it, fists pumping along in time.  With Gledhill and Martin keeping the bottom end tight and thick, Danielsen is free to let it all out.

>> Bassist Ryan Martin works the bottom end. >>

With the half hour or so allotted them, Smile Empty Soul make the most of the opportunity.  Danielsen sounds as good or better than their record, with him having the freedom live to throw in even more emotion.

Near the end of their set, they finally get to their current radio hit, “Bottom of the Bottle,” and the crowd goes off, screaming along to every word, nothing edited out, no censors.  The scene rivals the song’s video, with the fans completely into the moment, feeding off of Danielsen’s emotion.

And once the song is over, Danielsen cracks that cunning smile, aware that he’s performed that bit of magic all musicians long for – he’s connected with this crowd, and he knows it.

As Smile Empty Soul prepped to embark on this tour with Fuel, Sean Danielsen gave us a call to talk about censors and success.

VOX: So, how are the guys from Fuel treating you?
Sean Danielsen: You know, we haven’t even met them yet.  I’m guessing we will pretty soon, this evening.  We flew in from Boston today, and tonight is the first night of the tour.  I’ve heard they’re cool guys, which I hope is the truth.  There’s nothing worse than being on the road and not getting along with the other band.  If the headliners are dicks, then they can use their pull to screw you over.  We had been out with Seether and Trapt and then just Trapt, and now we’re heading out on this tour.  We did some radio stuff in between and we did another video…
VOX: For which song?  What’s the next single going to be?
Sean: “Nowhere Kids.”  We shot it a week ago today in Van Nuys.

>> Sean is in there somwhere... >>

VOX: The current video is getting lots of airtime.
Sean: Yeah, it’s kept us having to push back the release of “Nowhere Kids.”   “Bottom of the Bottle” was released on April 1st…or was it March 1st…no, wait, it was April 1st.  Yeah, ‘cause it went out 5 months ago for adds [to rotation].  We expected to be well into the second single by now, but it’s really taken off, and we don’t want to fuck it up.  We want to let it go as long as it’s working.  The new video will be out in October – it was going to be October 6th, but now it’s going to be the end of October.
VOX: How do you feel about music television censoring the hell out of it?
Sean: Oh, yeah, they did.  You know, I don’t get down on them – they have their standards and they have to abide by them.  Supposedly there is a double standard out there though.  You have Marilyn Manson stroking his strap on and rappers talking about guns and drugs and all that, but I guess it’s different for a new rock band.  I’ve seen some of the rap videos were it’s like, “I’ll fuckin’ shoot you with my nine” and shit like that, and they censor some of it out, but you know what’s going on.
VOX: I think it’s just weird because it’s at such a critical point in the song, in the chorus, and the word is ‘drugs,’ not profanity.
Sean: I wondered the same thing.  The label was on me for a while to replace the word with something else that went with it, but I’ve said they can censor me, but I’m not going to censor myself.  If they’re going to censor shit, they’re going to do it.  I mean, there is no way I’m going to change it to “I do it for the hugs” or some shit like that.  I can’t even imagine that.
VOX: That means there’ll be some more censoring with “Nowhere Kids.”
Sean: Yeah, the f-word will get bleeped out, and so is “shit.”  There’s a “shit” in there as well, but I think we’re going to get away with “bastards.”
VOX: Did you think the lyrical content would be an issue and is it something you think about when you write?
Sean: Never, never.  When I’m writing, I don’t consider what anyone is going to think or any of that shit.  Man, it comes out the way it comes out, and that’s it.  I’m not going to go back and edit it later to satisfy other people.   It’s all I can do.  What comes out, comes out.

VOX: Is “Bottom of the Bottle” based on personal experience?
Sean: Yeah, I think every song I write is based on personal experience.  I can’t really see writing any other way.  Sometimes I guess I can write about other things, but even then it’s because of the way it affects me and how I feel about it.

>> Danielsen tears up the HOB. >>

VOX: What does ‘MRA’ stand for?
Sean: Actually, it’s a secret.  It’s between me and my friends, the people who know about it.  You would be amazed at how many time I have been asked about it.   There have been hundreds of letters every week on the Lava thing, and I get asked at least ten times a night about it.  Honestly, if I told you, you would be line, “Aw, who cares?”  But it’s just between me and my friends, and I’m going to keep it that way.  Sometimes, it seems to get under people’s skin that I won’t tell them, but that’s just the way it is.

VOX: You guys worked with Keb’ Mo’ on one song – what was it like working with him?
Sean: Man, he’s great.  He’s fucking amazing.  That guy is great at everything he does.  He’s an amazing guitar player, songwriter and singer.   He’s just incredible and he was really great to work with.  He had his old steel guitar, he came in and just basically soloed over the whole song [“The Other Side”] and then we picked the parts that worked best.  It was that easy.   The guy doesn’t come in with an ego or anything about it.  He just came in and hung out.  We said just fucking fuck around with the song and we’ll see what happens, and we all really liked what came out.
VOX: So how did it end up being him?  What made you pick Keb’ Mo’?
Sean: Our producer [John Lewis Parker] is really good friends with him, and even co-produced a couple of his records, so they’ve known each other for some time.   The song had acoustic, almost country, element to it, so the idea came up, and when our producer put the idea of having him come in a do something, we were all like, fuck yeah!  I had been at parties at our producers house when Keb’ would come in and sit with the guitar, no mikes, and just play and sing, and he always sounded amazing.   There was no way we could pass up the chance.

VOX: You guys are booked up through the New Orleans blowout – what’s up for you after that?
Sean: Actually, we’re booked after than as well.  We get one day off between that and our next tour, which is with Puddle of Mudd.  That just got inked, and I don’t think the word is officially out there yet.  We’ll be out with Puddle of Mudd until December, then we’ll be doing radio shows and Christmas fests for most of December, and I think we get a week off around Christmas.  Then we’ll see what’s up after that.  I’m sure we’ll have something lined up.

VOX: Is there anyone you’re looking forward to seeing in New Orleans?
Sean: Fuck, yeah!  Pretty much everyone, but especially A Perfect Circle and Audioslave.  We’re all, well, first we were all Tool fans, then A Perfect Circle fans, and we’re just as big of Soundgarden and Rage fans, so Audioslave is a band we really want to see, too.  It’s like the best of both worlds.

VOX: For many of the people seeing you, this will be their first taste of Smile Empty Soul – what should they expect from you live?
Sean: Um, not really a lot of shenanigans, that’s for sure.  We’re three dudes playing our asses off, and we put as much heart as we can into it.  You won’t get tons of lighting effects or pyrotechnics, because we can’t afford it.  We just turn off our brains and let it come out.