Rock Revolt Magazine interviewed the three members of Breaking Laces last month at their stop in Greensboro, North Carolina while on tour. Due to technical difficulties, many interviews were (and still are) backlogged while the site was revamped.
On October 10, 2013 the Brooklyn, NY-based band announced via their Facebook page, “Unable to cite musical differences, drug abuse or psychotic meltdowns, Breaking Laces is simply amicably moving on to pursue new endeavors.”
So, it is with great sadness that we are now running the last interview with Breaking Laces as it was from that night…
THE FINAL INTERVIEW: Breaking Laces
Are they comedians who play music or musicians who are comedians? Well, anyway that you slice it, the indie rock trio Breaking Laces are very talented and very entertaining. They bring an interesting mix of influences ranging from REM to Cat Stevens to Radiohead to the table and that, combined with their comedic side, make for a unique and very interesting sound. Indie rock may seem like a too vague of a description for some people, but these guys are very hard to put in a box as far as their sound goes and that’s a good thing.
Breaking Laces consists of Willem Hartong on guitar and vocals, Rob Chojnacki on bass/keys and Seth Marsarsky on drums/programming. Their latest album Come Get Some was released in October of last year and the guys quickly hit the road to promote it. I caught up with the sweaty guys shortly after their set while on tour with The Dangerous Summer, Tommy and the High Pilots and Rare Monk. Let’s see what these wild and crazy guys had to say.
Johnny/Rock Revolt: Hey guys, that was an awesome set that you just ran through in there. Is this the first time you’ve been here?
Willem Hartong/Breaking Laces: It’s the first time that we’ve been to this particular venue, but we’ve been in this town a few times.
(At this point a group of people walk by and yell out, “You guys were great tonight, you’re so awesome!”)
Willem: Thank you so much, we appreciate that! Well, that’s the best review we’ve gotten in a while; I’ll take that (laughs).
Johnny/RR: You definitely seem to have a great chemistry together. How did all of this come together?
Seth Masarsky/Breaking Laces: Well, there’s no real fun answer. It was just a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away; we met each other through this person and that person. We weeded out a few people who really weren’t working out and here we are.
Willem: We lie a lot and say things like we met through personal ads or at a Renaissance Fair to make it sound more interesting, but now it is what it is.
Rob Chojnacki/Breaking Laces: Yeah, we usually ended up offending someone with those stories whether it was someone in the military or a racecar driver or whoever.
Johnny/RR: So, is 2003 when the science experiment went amuck and Breaking Laces was created?
Willem: Yeah, I think 2003 was the year that the three of us solidified as a band and started touring. We’ve been touring the country every year since then and even a couple of UK tours as well.
Watch “Mr. Curry Is A Cop” Video:
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Johnny/RR: You’re a part of a killer package right now with The Dangerous Summer, Tommy and The High Pilots and Rare Monk. How has this tour been treating you? (Note: This interview was conducted before the tour ended.)
Seth: It’s been pretty awesome and the camaraderie has been great with the four other bands.
Willem: It’s really nice when you’re travelling like this and everyone gets along.
Rob: They refer to this tour as “The Package,” so you’ll have an opening band and other things, but they always refer to all of us as the “so and so package.” It makes you feel like you are part of something really cool.
Johnny/RR: Ok, so that’s nothing like a sexual metaphor is it?
Willem: (laughs) Nobody is admitting anything, although there are rumors.
Johnny/RR: What’s been the most rewarding part of being on such a great package?
Rob: It’s great to be around so many talented musicians each and every night and it’s actually inspirational to us. You see them on 
their good nights and their bad. Some nights, the sound just totally sucks, but you get to see exactly how they handle it. Sometimes the sound on stage is awesome and sometimes it isn’t, but you get to see how each band handles it.
Johnny/RR: What are the memorable nights that stand out, whether good or bad?
Willem: Chicago and New York were fantastic! You know, I was just talking to my family and my wife and it’s really a grab bag out here. You don’t really know what to expect from night to night. I mean, you do know what to expect as far as what you have to do each night, but each show has just been all over the map. I mean, the bad nights on this tour really haven’t been bad. Trust me; we’ve had way worst nights on tour than any of these (laughs).
Rob: Each night is memorable for different reasons such as the first time that we’ve played a particular town and some nights it’s because of the crowd. I’ll give you an example of one; we played a town outside of Boise, Idaho where maybe twelve people came to the show and every band played the same as if they were in front of 200-300 people.
Seth: You know, nights like that one tends to be more memorable and more fun because the bands find a different gear on those shows. It’s almost like you’re playing for a few of your good friends. It would be easy to just go out there and mail it in, but none of these bands did that and I gained a ton of respect for them for doing so.
Johnny: I have heard more than one story as to the meaning of the band’s name. Care to set the story straight for us?
Willem: The band name is a really simple one. I used to live in Boston and I had these girlfriends who liked to take me to the clubs, which is not my place to be. Apparently, I didn’t know how to dress for the clubs and I used to show up with my Sketcher sneakers because I dance really well in them. The bouncers had a problem with me wearing sneakers and one time I almost got in and the guy stopped me and said, “What about your breaking laces?” So, I told him to go fondue himself and I went down the street to a fun bar and got in. So, if that’s what keeps a person from getting into a place like that, then I am honored to name our band after that.
Rob: It’s turned out to be a great analogy for the band because we don’t fit any molds at all and we kind of just do our own thing.
Johnny/RR: Are you sure he didn’t let you in because he was intimidated by your dancing skills?
Willem: Yeah, that was probably the real reason. I don’t know how people can wear these leather shoes that are all laced up and dance. I need some mobility and movement because I am not very good but I give it 100% and I need flexibility to be able to do that. You just have to lose your inhibitions and have fun. Once you start thinking ‘do I look cool’, then you miss out.
Johnny/RR: Just like Elaine on Seinfeld!
Willem: (laughs) Yeah, her friends had to pull her aside and tell her.
Johnny/RR: Now, as for your sound, you guys are quite unique. Your sound is kind of tough to put in a box.
Seth: A lot of people say that we sound like a 90s power-pop band and if someone told us that ten years ago, we thought that was horrible, but when you hear it now it’s actually a huge compliment. I mean, just look at some of those bands that toured in the 90s.
Willem: I usually just say thank you when someone compliments the band, especially if they confuse me. The last thing you want to do is make someone feel bad for being excited about your band.
Johnny/RR: Can we talk a little bit about your latest album Come Get Some? I read that you guys recorded it in Nashville? I know a
lot of people think country when they hear Nashville, but a lot of other genres of music are being created there as of late.
Willem: I don’t know for certain, but I think when the Black Keys moved in that things really started to change there. I think there are a lot of producers down there, who do country, but they also have other interests and they invite that. Country can be pretty conservative and there are producers down there who want to break out the guitars every now and then and do something dirty and nasty. We met a producer just like that when we went down there, he was actually the first one we talked to, and we knew we really didn’t need to talk to anyone else.
Rob: There were other factors as well; we had just did an album in big old New York and sometimes it’s just good to get out of town. Nashville has always been kind of like a second musical home to us and we met some other crazy producers there years ago.
Johnny/RR: Nashville is definitely not your grand mama’s Nashville anymore. So, what’s up next for you guys when this run’s over?
Willem: We’re all going to the playoffs; well, probably not (laughs).
Rob: I’m getting a massage, maybe two.
Seth: I’m going to evaluate things and also get an evaluator.
Johnny/RR: Well, I can’t think of a better way to end this interview (laughs). Thanks for a great set tonight and for talking to me guys.
Willem: We appreciate it a lot. Let’s so we go back inside and listen to the rest of these great bands.
By: Johnny Price, Senior Journalist
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Rock Revolt Magazine wishes the very best to Willem, Rob and Seth.
You can still purchase Come Get Some at the following links:
iTunes: http://bit.ly/CGSiTunes
Amazon physical: http://bit.ly/CGS-Amazon
Amazon digital: http://bit.ly/
