Brian Fallon admits that he was relieved when The Gaslight Anthem went on hiatus.
The Gaslight Anthem singer says the prospect of making another record after the band’s divisive last album Get Hurt was more daunting than the launch of his solo career.
He tells Kerrang: “There was definitely a lot of relief because of the pressure. It was always like, ‘Gaslight Anthem is gonna be the next Bruce Springsteen, or the next Foo Fighters, or the next Pearl Jam – the next big rock’n’roll band’. And it kind of never happened.
“We got big, which was cool with us, but we didn’t need to be the next big rock’n’roll band. We didn’t expect to be millionaires. We just wanted to play, and it was awesome that we could pay our bills.
“But the pressure of, I don’t know, ‘saving’ rock’n’roll… that bothered me. ‘The Saviours Of Rock’N’Roll’ always killed me. Because we were just like, ‘Dude, we’re not saving anything.’
He continues: “The pressure was gnarly and it got weird. I knew I was going to do this solo record, but you know what? That’s not as much pressure as if we did the next Gaslight record. Especially after Get Hurt, which was kind of a weird record. It was little bit of a departure, and some people liked it and some people didn’t like it.”
The band revealed they were going on hiatus last year after a nine year run to pursue other projects.
Fallon is currently touring the US. He’ll hit Europe next month in support of his debut solo record, Painkillers, which was released last week.
Brian Fallon tour dates 2016
Mar 18: Milwaukee Turner Hall Ballroom, WI
Mar 19: Minneapolis Varsity Theater, MN
Mar 22: Kansas City Riot Room, MO
Mar 23: Denver Summit Music Hall, CO
Mar 25: San Francisco Great American Music Hall, CA
Mar 26: San Diego House Of Blues, CA
Apr 05: Manchester The Ritz, UK
Apr 06: Glasgow O2 ABC, UK
Apr 07: Birmingham The Institute, UK
Apr 08: London Koko, UK
Apr 09: Nottingham Rock City, UK
Apr 10: Bristol O2 Academy, UK
Apr 12: Brussels AB Hall, Belgium
Apr 13: Amsterdam Melkweg, Netherlands
Apr 14: Berlin Postbahnhof, Germany
Apr 15: Munich Muffathalle, Germany
Apr 17: Vienna Arena, Austria
Apr 19: Cologne Gloria, Germany
Apr 20: Hamburg Fabrik, Germany
