“I have to really think about what I’m feeding myself, how I’m taking care of myself,” he says. I spend some time commiserating with Horowitz on the subject of getting older, and the things you have to consider that you never did as a carefree teen. I need to make sure I run and get a good sweat in a couple of times a week, and make sure I play drums pretty often, or else the first week of the tour, I just feel slammed.” If there’s one thing I’ve learned, being home in-between tours, it’s that I have to stay in shape. In my life, I’d never played more than half an hour, and honestly, it’s hard. “It’s funny, when half of these songs were written, I couldn’t even conceive playing a two-hour set. “It fucking kills me man, especially these days!” he says. Their live show requires a lot of stamina – for Horowitz, playing a Gaslight gig is the equivalent of a good, sweaty session at the gym. The Gaslight Anthem came out of the punk scene, and their music contains boundless energy. Brian always touches his lyrics with a sense of hope, with a sense that you can always go forward, regardless of how shitty things are.” “Sometimes Brian writes a line where he really captures something, where I feel like somebody else understands – somebody else has seen something I’m going through.
When we hear his lyrics for the first time, it’s no different from when fans of the band hear them – I’m a fan of Gaslight Anthem!” Fans often speak about how Gaslight’s songs help them through troubled times, and Horowitz couldn’t be more proud. “I’m a decent writer, but I fucking suck at lyrics,” he says with a laugh. The band’s singer, Brian Fallon, is also its lyricist, and Horowitz is always moved when he hears the words for the first time. I guess we just convey it all in the music.” I mean, I can’t speak for the other guys in the band and how they’re feeling at any one time, but the four of us don’t go into the studio and have open, emotional discussions about what’s happening in our lives. In March 2022 the band announced a small string of dates around the UK in summer.“We all struggle with our demons in the band,” he says, “but there’s nobody in the world who doesn’t struggle with things. Only a year after the release of their fifth album Get Hurt, The Gaslight Anthem announced an indefinite hiatus - though in 2018 they performed a small bunch of shows to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The '59 Sound. '"45"', the album's cathartic opener, reached No.1 in the UK Rock & Metal charts. In 2011 the band signed a major record deal with Mercury to release their fourth album, Handwritten, released a year later and debuting at No.3 in the Billboard 200. The Boss wasn't the only influence on the New Jersey outfit, with Fallon citing the likes of The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton as influences for their third studio-album, American Slang. Reaching another huge milestone, in 2008 The Gaslight Anthem performed with their idol and major influence Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury and in Hyde Park. The mainstream music media soon cottoned on, and for the release of their sophomore LP The '59 Sound the band made rock history by being the first to grace the Kerrang! cover without having ever featured in the magazine previously - itself indicative of their roaming global popularity.
Their debut full-length, Sink or Swim, featuring the likes of 'We Came To Dance' and 'Boomboxes and Dictionaries', quickly earnt high praise on the blogosphere. Having played together in various bands previously, lead singer and rhythm guitarist Brian Fallon, bassist Alex Levine, drummer Benny Horowitz and lead guitarist Alex Rosamilia began gigging in and around New Brunswick in 2006 as The Gaslight Anthem. The Gaslight Anthem arrived on the scene in 2007 with their debut album Sink or Swim, updating the heartland rock of their native New Jersey with a grittier, punk rock and a strong propensity for anthemic hooks. Ten years on from their Top Ten album Handwritten, The Gaslight Anthem are back, announcing dates in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham for August 2022.