The MusicNerd Q&A With Jimmy Eat World

It has been 12 years since Arizona’s Jimmy Eat World broke through to the mainstream with their album Bleed American and their hit song The Middle. Fast-forward three full-length records and countless tour dates worldwide, Jimmy Eat World are getting set to release their seventh studio record, Damage, via Canadian indie label Dine Alone on June 11.

Here Magazine spoke with Jimmy Eat World bassist Rick Burch last week about the making of Damage as well as how the band sought out new energy:

How did the band approach finding a new label to release Damage?

We were under contract to Universal for four albums and our deal was simply done. We were free agents, so to speak. We took it upon ourselves to make Damage the record that we wanted it to be and find label partners interested in working with us based on the record we made.

It sounds like a very similar situation to where the band was at before Bleed American. Given the success you’ve had in the last decade, did you give any consideration to being an independent band?

Going it alone certainly was an option and one we took into consideration. We just felt that this wasn’t the right time to do that.

Damage was recorded with Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Chris Cornell) at his studio. Was it important for the band to get out of your comfort zone to make this new record?

Alain is such a great guy. He is one of the best people I have ever met as well as being one of the most musically talented and versatile. We’ve made our last couple of records at our studio in Arizona and wanted get a different sound and vibe for this new record. The best way to do that was to bring the band out of our comfort zone.

Is the band looking forward to getting back on the road?

We are all very excited by it. We will be touring through to the end of summer 2014. It seems like it has been awhile since we have done really extensive touring and are looking forward to getting to play in places that we haven’t played before. It is incredibly rewarding to create something and be able to tour around and perform. We can’t help but appreciate that this is what we do for a living.

Article published in the May 23, 2013 edition of Here Magazine