Anthony Green: Balancing the act

In the upstairs of the cozy Paradise Rock Club in Boston, Massachusetts, singer/songwriter Anthony Green relaxes on a loveseat awaiting his final interview of the night, prior to his fourth show of the Beautiful Things Tour. The crowd downstairs is starting to accumulate in order to take in The Dear Hunter’s set, openers for Green on the tour in support of his recently released record, Beautiful Things. A welcoming and friendly guy, he motions to take a seat in the dimly-lit dressing room in order to chat. On the wall sits a rather out-of-place 50-plus inch plasma television which remains untouched. The day has been a busy one for Green; there hasn’t been time for television. He has had to say goodbye to his recently pregnant wife, Meredith, and young son, James in order to come to Boston. The trip was shortly followed by an in-store performance at Newbury Comics in Fanuiel Hall to celebrate the release of Beautiful Things. Next up came a full schedule of press duties, all without even doing what he came to do: play a show. As much as all of those responsibilities may be draining, it is very clear that the departure from his family took the biggest toll on him of the day. He explains that due to the routing of the tour, he ends up having to say goodbye to his home life three to four separate times. “It sucks ’cause this tour I revolve around the area for a week and a half before we actually go to Virginia and down south.” It is completely apparent that not being home is constantly weighing on his mind, just from how he explains everything having to do with Meredith, the new baby they have on the way, and James. “That’s the other thing that sucks about leaving right now is that she’s pregnant and has to take care of a kid. Her mom’s hanging out and my mom’s hanging out, but,” he pauses and trails off. “I should be there.”

A brief history lesson: Anthony Green broke into the music scene with the band Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer, but the majority of fans would refer to his stay with the all-but-dead post-hardcore act Saosin as what landed him on the radar. When asked how he feels his life would be different had he never left Saosin, he chuckles about how he could have been “the Justin Bieber of metalcore.” “I’m really grateful of all the decisions that I’ve made in the past, even the shitty ones,” he says in the most sincere tone possible, reflecting on his life in a matter of seconds. The seasoned veteran of a musician comes off as having many more years worth of maturity under his belt than he really does, drawing inspiration from those around him who are far less fortunate. “I know a dude that is fuckin’ 80 pounds and in a wheelchair. Every night he goes to bed, the dude could die. He’s got [spinal] muscular [atrophy] and all types of shit from that.” He emphasizes how he [Shane] (you can check out his blog, Laughing At My Nightmare) manages to make every day of his life a good day and how he tries to do the same. “I try not to complain about anything. I have it so good,” something a large majority of musicians tend to forget. Green shows his humbleness better than anyone throughout the scene.

 With his heavy touring schedule, he could easily still be living a stereotypical rock and roll lifestyle; one that doesn’t suit being a father and husband. Instead, Green lives every day for his family. Over the past few years, he has changed drastically, from his lyrics to his outlook on life. “I think that James just being alive has helped me put lots of shit into perspective. When you have somebody in your life that you care about that much, you don’t have time to go through the motions of caring about the bullshit that really doesn’t matter.” This realization is just one of the pieces that helped him while writing Beautiful Things, and allowed him to write more clearly about personal matters. “I worry a lot less about most things, and a lot more about very particular things,” he adds. As much as he worries and misses his family while on the road, he outlines his upcoming musical plans which show no signs of slowing down; Green will continue to do what he loves. He explains his plans for a new project, Casey Anthony (with The Dear Hunter frontman Casey Crescenzo), more solo work, and a new Circa Survive record. “Circa shit should be out next year, we’re recording that in or March and April.” These plans escape his mouth with nearly the same amount of passion as when he is discussing his family.

Passion. A word that goes quite far to sum up Anthony Green. From his emotionally laced vocals on multiple albums over the past 10 years, to his superb lyrical work, to his energy-filled live performances, passion is just something that is constantly flowing through Green’s blood. When asked to compare Avalon to Beautiful Things, he even uses the word himself while describing how it makes writing a record far easier. “[Beautiful Things] was easy to write, because every song had something really passionate behind it, driving it, like an event or a moment. It’s easy to put something together when you have something that happened that you want to lament.” Taking something out of every record is also a very important part for him. When asked if he sees Beautiful Things as a turning point, he quickly responds saying how he sees every record as a turning point. “If you’re not realizing something really important about yourself while you’re doing this process, you’re not doing it right.”

If anybody does things right in the scene, it’s Anthony Green. He is one of the most honest, genuine people around, and he has really made himself into a solid role model for those younger than him. One dollar from every ticket sold on the solo tour will be going straight to the Keep A Breast Foundation, for which Green is a major supporter of. His work ethic when it comes to playing and writing music is second to none, and above all, he is down to earth. The fact that he can balance his family and music and be successful with both is impressive all in itself. With 10 plus years in music, he has an abundance of experience that carries him further and further forward in his career. He insists that he’s “not trying to be Bruce Springsteen,” and that he just loves playing music. “If I can keep doing this for a little while, that’ll be fucking awesome.”