Restaurants, Rest Stops & Red Bulls: Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem

I think we learn a lot about people by the food that they eat. When I was a kid I was kind of obsessed with McDonalds, so much so that I applied to work there when I was 13 and they told me I wasn’t what they were looking for. But I think food—especially fast food, or food we eat on the go—is important and an integral part of our lives. The simple pleasures and the easy urges and the decisions we make when time is short and need is urgent.

It’s something I think about a lot with bands on the road. How do they eat, what are their habits, how does eating on the road factor into their lives. It’s not on the internet anymore, but I wrote a piece once titled What Your McDonald’s Main Says About You, where I replaced the astrological signs with McDonald’s burgers and it was surprising to me just how many people felt seen and read by that post.

The food we eat, even the stuff we order in value meals or off the rack at a gas station, defines us in strange, funny and surprising ways. So when I thought about this series, I thought back to the time when I read a burger chart for my friend Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem in a green room in Toronto—there was no better choice for the first edition in this series than him. The Gaslight Anthem have a new record dropping October 27th, called History Books, their first since Get Hurt in 2014. You can pre-order it here. Brian and I talked over FaceTime one sunny morning in early September. This interview has been edited for clarity and space. —Niko Stratis

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Paste Magazine: So if we’re (Toronto) Canada’s New York, what’s Canada’s Jersey?

Brian Fallon: What’s that little island where Matt Mays is from?

Paste: Halifax?

Brian Fallon: Exactly. Halifax is it and then and obviously Vancouver is Los Angeles. But Halifax, yeah, that’s Jersey.

Paste: I feel like I just stumbled upon the perfect lead into whatever this is. I said I want to do a series where I talk to musicians and we don’t have to talk about their albums, I only want to talk to them about eating food—especially fast food—and I feel like it’s fitting to start with you, because I read your burger chart backstage.

Brian Fallon: You sure did!

Paste: And I forgot what you are, a Quarter Pounder?

Brian Fallon: Maybe? I forget now.

Paste: Thinking fresh, thinking clean: What is your McDonald’s main?

Brian Fallon: I would probably order the Western one. What’s the difference between the Quarter Pounder and the Big Mac?

Paste: Big Mac has Big Mac sauce. And the Big Mac also has an extra bun layer—which feels unnecessary, but it’s there, you know?

Brian Fallon: That’s not me. So it’s the one—it’s like a cheeseburger, pickles, ketchup, maybe lettuce. I don’t even know.

Paste: It’s a Quarter Pounder you can sometimes get here. Maybe it’s different in America, but in Canada we get it on occasion with lettuce, but, like, hot lettuce [Brian grimaces and shakes his head] the idea of hot lettuce really sent you into a bad place.

Brian Fallon: I mean, the Quarter Pounder sans hot lettuce would be my order. And then I get fries right?

Paste: I feel like, if you get a burger in McDonald’s and you don’t get fries, I have a lot of follow up questions.

Brian Fallon: Well, I can’t do it anyway, this is all hypothetical right now because I don’t eat that. I eat Keto.

Paste: Oh, this is new!

Brian Fallon: It is both a health thing and a preference for managing expansion. I would do that and then maybe a fountain drink.

Paste: What’s your fountain drink?

Brian Fallon: Coke. American Coca-Cola.

Paste: It used to be medicine, right?

Brian Fallon: Well, it used to be cocaine and soda.

Paste: Look, cocaine is just nature’s medicine. As a sober person that doesn’t do drugs anymore, I can safely say that. You don’t eat this kind of food anymore, but when you were younger on the road did you eat fast food?

Brian Fallon: I would always eat the hash browns for breakfast and I would eat the chicken strips and fries. I wouldn’t really go for the burger, it was too messy and tour is a game of tricking the bathroom. You have to be very careful what you eat at night. Because when you’re home, if you wake up in the night and you’re like I have one bathroom, no problem. And when you wake up, barreling down the highway or in an airport, there’s not always a bathroom or there’s a bathroom you don’t want to use.

Paste: The tour bus bathroom is probably not as glamorous as we think it’s going to be.

Brian Fallon: Well, you can’t use that for the secondary. It’s a one-function-only guy. You have to be very careful, and you don’t want to be the person who’s like “Can we pull over?”

Paste: You’re the head guy! You’re the head of the band you should be able to say whatever you want whenever you want.

Brian Fallon: I can say it, I just don’t want to! I don’t like to stop, so fast food is very restrictive. You try to stay with safe, non-combustible substances.

Paste: Do you ever like to treat yourself though?

Brian Fallon: No, I’ll think it’s going to be Oh, I’m at the hotel for the whole day—this is my day. No, because it’ll happen the next day.

Paste: Sure, right, it hits you when you least expect it.

Brian Fallon: I’ve never solved this problem.

Paste: Do you have food rituals on tour? You probably eat differently when you’re on tour, right?

Brian Fallon: Not really anymore. We still get—there’s a place called CAVA around, and it’s mostly salad and chicken—so we just do that. I eat a lot of salads, and a lot of meat, and that’s really it.

Paste: What’s your go-to salad? What are you looking for?

Brian Fallon: I like chicken, a cucumber, maybe a carrot and maybe a spinach? I like a spinach salad. I don’t like Romaine.

Paste: You’re no Hail Caesar out there.

Brian Fallon: I like a Caesar, I’ll do a Caesar. You know what I like? A Caesar with salmon.

Paste: Oh, someone’s fancy!

Brian Fallon: No croutons, though.

Paste: Because of the bread thing or because of the crunch factor?

Brian Fallon: Both. I see it as senseless wear on the teeth, too much for the gums. I’m not even sure it does anything for you.

Paste: It doesn’t add anything, there’s no flavor. It just tastes like crunch.

Brian Fallon: If I was going to go crunch, I’d go Cap’n.

Paste: Do you think anybody ever thanks Cap’n Crunch for his service?

Brian Fallon: Probably. They should.

Paste: Do you have a treat, though? Like—you’re on the bus, you’re driving for the day, you’re stopping at a gas station that has a candy and chips section.

Brian Fallon: If I was allowed to eat that stuff, I love salted chips. I love it. There’s nothing I like more

Paste: What’s your go-to flavor?

Brian Fallon: Wise. Blue Wise chips.

Paste: Just bare-bones, the Joe Six-Pack of potato chips.

Brian Fallon: Yeah, I love it. Give me that and a Kit Kat and a Reese’s Pieces—little tiny ones, not the cups.

Paste: I’m glad you say Kit Kat because like I feel like, when people talk about chocolate bars, Mars and Snickers eats up a lot of space in the room—and I feel like people forget about a Kit Kat. Break off a little snack, have a little Coca-Cola and then you’re set.

Brian Fallon: And then you’re buzzing for an hour.

Paste: Thinking about this idea of you can’t do your business on the bus—do you drink a lot of coffee on the road?

Brian Fallon: I’m a one cup in the morning guy. It went out with the cigarettes. Cigarettes were gone, so was the coffee. I was just like “I can’t be doing this.” They made a movie about how much they go together (Jim Jarmusch’s Cigarettes and Coffee).

Paste: If I’m drinking a lot of coffee, I think about smoking a lot more. I’ve been pretty good about quitting, but especially if I’m out somewhere having coffee. That’s a part of my brain that turns back on for sure.

Brian Fallon: It never goes away.

Paste: Welcome to the life!

Brian Fallon: The life of former addicts.

Paste: Okay so, in a perfect world where you have all the money, food and resources at your disposal, what’s your perfect meal?

Brian Fallon: There’s this thing in Germany and it’s called Jägerschnitzel. It has nothing to do with Jägermeister, I believe that the word means mushroom and schnitzel. They ask you to get chicken or veal; I get chicken because veal feels gross. They put a brown gravy on it with mushrooms. And then, you usually get french fries on the side—which also go in the gravy. I love that, I would eat that all the time.

Paste: Have you ever had currywurst before?

Brian Fallon: No!

Paste: Next time you’re in Germany get Currywurst. You’re not eating this every day, obviously, but if you have a good show or something you say Let’s celebrate…

Brian Fallon: You know, I try to do it when I’m on the road. I try to do one day every two weeks where I’m not doing the keto. At home, I’m a little more stringent about it—but I also can control the environment much more at home. We’re not at the level where we can have catering or whatever every day, so it’s a little bit tougher.

Paste: Does it help to give yourself those cheat days—or whatever you want to call them? Does it help the stress of the road a little bit knowing that Okay, I’m gonna be able to give myself a little break?

Brian Fallon: Yeah, because you can time it and know that you’re gonna be in a cool place. It’s like, if we’re going to England we’ll get these pies—they’re steak pies, steak and ale—and it’s the same level of awesome as the Jägerschnitzel in Germany. But you give yourself things to look forward to.

Paste: What’s the best meal you’ve ever had on the road?

Brian Fallon: Well, I’ll tell you that it probably was definitely in Europe. There’s some stuff that I’ve had in Europe that’s incredible. I couldn’t say one thing specifically, but there is this company called Sunnyside Catering. They do these festivals and they’re all punk rockers, so all the chefs are punks and they cook this cherry tomato pasta thing with chicken. So good. It’s my favorite. I look forward to it every festival season.

Paste: Do you have this when you go out on the road, this idea of “Oh, we’re going out on the road and I’m going to get to eat ______?”

Brian Fallon: Occasionally when we go to the West Coast, there’s really good pizza out in Portland. And I like that. You wouldn’t think so, but there is. Sometimes, we look forward to different things that we’re gonna get, but I wouldn’t classify myself as a foodie. Some people love this kind of thing.

Paste: Who is the most foodie musician you’ve ever toured with?

Brian Fallon: By far, currently in my solo band, the drummer Kurt [Leon], he loves it and he goes and finds the best spots on tour. That guy ate like a king every time and he puts research into it. He was key, as a master of finding places. He lives in Connecticut, which is not a culinary destination. However, every time I’ve been to Connecticut, I’ve had some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life—and that is directly because of Kurt’s recommendations.

Paste: Do you have any places that you want to give a shout out to?

Brian Fallon: There’s a place called Guacamole, which has an incredible burrito. It’s just out of this world and you gotta love it. Then there’s Fire Engine Pizza. We love that. The Tasty Yolk.

Paste: Oh, I love the name of that place.

Brian Fallon: The Tasty Yolk is a beautiful place. We even have a shirt from there.

Paste: My last official question. If you were to be sponsored by a food or beverage brand, who would it be?

Brian Fallon: Beverage brand—I mean there’s so many. It would have to be Coca-Cola. I know the punks don’t like it, but I don’t know what to do.

Paste: The punks don’t like anything, first of all. Do you like Coke in a glass bottle?

Brian Fallon: I like a can.

Paste: Coke Zero?

[Brian holds a can of Coke Zero up to the camera]

Brian Fallon: Drinking one right now, in the morning even.

Paste: I hope by the time this goes up, within 24 hours you have secured a Coke Zero sponsorship and you, Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem, are the official face and voice of Coke Zero.

Brian Fallon: You know, it would be a good balance—because they have Kate Moss as the Diet Coke face. I feel like I could be, because I am in-between Kate Moss and Coca-Cola. So now I’m Coke Zero.

Paste: Yeah, you’re the perfect balance between Kate Moss and Coca-Cola. I hope this happens.

Brian Fallon: I could just do a bunch of ads—with my arm around her real tough like [imitates a tough older brother type] Heyyyyy.

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Niko Stratis is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in outlets like SPIN, Bitch, Autostraddle, Catapult and more. Her work primarily focuses on culture, the 1990s, queer/trans topics and as often as possible where all those ideas intersect. Niko lives in downtown Toronto with her fiancé and their dog and 2 cats. She is a cancer.