Gaslight Anthem Avoid Mixing Religion and Music

Posted on Jul 26th 2010 4:00PM by Dan Reilly
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Tim Mosenfelder, Getty Images

Don't be fooled by the title of the Gaslight Anthem's 'The Diamond Street Church Choir,' a standout track on the band's latest album, 'American Slang': it's not about religion. Even though frontman and main songwriter Brian Fallon is a devout Christian, he has no interest in bringing that aspect of his life into his music.

"There are no religious songs and there never would be because the four of us, we all have different views, completely different religions," Fallon tells Spinner. "I'm very cautious not to push that on the band. I don't really know what I'm talking about with religious themes enough to think I could write like a whole record about that."

Though he's not overt about his religious views, Fallon has been a believer all his life and never indulged in alcohol or drugs. "I was raised like a really wooden shack kind of Christian," he says of his childhood church. "Everything was made of wood and there was no air conditioning. It's like those old ones where you see people stomping on the floor, clapping and singing all the old-school songs. It was like a breakaway church -- I don't think it was part of a bigger denomination. The women didn't wear makeup. It was real serious. Now it's not like that."

Though he doesn't listen to much Gospel, Fallon does admit to having some religious influences in his songwriting. "I haven't been exposed to too much religious music other than the hymns," he says. "I think they play a huge part on the way I write songs. The chord progressions are very hymn-ish."

And while 'American Slang' is much more autobiographical than Gaslight Anthem's previous albums, Fallon still avoided discussing his religious upbringing in the way Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn does throughout his songs.

"One thing that I love about listening to Hold Steady records is I appreciate the struggle he goes through," Fallon says. "I get what he's talking about a lot of the times because I've done that and I've seen that. But with me now, I know where that fits in my life. I know what I think of God and Jesus and church and hellfire and damnation, and I'm OK with that. That's what I do outside the band. I got a lot of other stuff that banged me up when I was a kid that I need to kind of work out. I was borne out of a different conflict, a more familial conflict."

'American Slang' is out now, and Gaslight Anthem are touring North America and Europe through November.