Splendid: It seemed like you felt like you were losing control and wanted to take control of what was going on.

Aaron Perrino: Yeah. Without calling anyone out, it went from, like... the original incarnation of the band was, I would come in with a song, the band would play to it and pick their parts and do it, and it slowly evolved into "I don't like this song," and we were playing the same kinds of songs.

Splendid: You said it was pretty seamless going into Dear Leader. What were you thinking going into that?

Aaron Perrino: I had so many songs that were being denied by the band, or just weren't working out, that I was like, "I'm just going to record some of these," because I had a ton of "Sheila Divine didn't want those" songs. I didn't really have a plan going into it, just "the band's over, I'm going to make a record."

Splendid: Were you evolving as a songwriter?

Aaron Perrino: I don't know. You like to think you are, but who knows? Maybe it all sounds the same (laughs).

Splendid: So you went in and produced the EP. A lot of those songs seem like they have a little more vulnerability to them.

Aaron Perrino: Sure. I think that I was a little uncertain... I wouldn't say it was all a fight within the Sheila Divine -- I still talk to those guys -- as much as just like everyone was hitting a certain point in their life where you need to be more responsible and you can't have this 21-year-old, "I'm going to be in a band and make $500 a month and that's OK" mindset. I think, even in the past record, I'm at a point where I don't know what I'm going to do with my life. I know I'm going to continue to write music but what am I really gonna do.

Splendid: How old are you now?

Aaron Perrino: 31.

Splendid: So was that any sort of big, momentous thing, like "oh, you're a rock musician who's 30 and still going out to whatever club at night"?

Aaron Perrino: It's not even an age thing so much as a respect thing for myself personally. I aspire to make over $20,000 a year. You kinda get to a point where you're like, if music's not going to elevate my standard of living then I've got to do something. I'm always going to play music, I know that.

Splendid: What is your songwriting process?

Aaron Perrino: I have a couple of different processes. The way that I usually do it is I just sit in my living room with a guitar and play chords and then sing melodies over the top of it and it's total gibberish and then it slowly turns into a line or something that sticks and then I write based on that line.

Splendid: That's very organic.

Aaron Perrino: Yeah, I definitely don't sit down and write lyrics and then put music to it, I've tried that.

Splendid: You don't score your poetry?

Aaron Perrino: Yeah, I don't. Either it comes to me like magically or that's it. That's all I can say is, it's magic.

Splendid: What song are you proudest of?

Aaron Perrino: I don't know. It's usually the last song I wrote, you know? I think "My Life As A Wrestler" is my favorite, I still like playing that song a lot, and that says a lot I think because we've been playing it for a while.

Splendid: It's quite a statement. And hearing it as the first song on the first EP of a new chapter of your musical career is a very strong statement, so how purposeful were you in positioning it in that way.

Aaron Perrino: Nah, it was just my favorite song so I put it first, really, I don't even think it was purposeful. On the new record, I don't know, I'm trying to think of what I really like. "Billions Served" is really fun, it's like a social commentary song, and "Resurrection Hill" I really like, I was listening to a lot of Johnny Cash and trying to rip one of his gospel songs off in my own way.

Splendid: From where you are now, looking back to where you were at the end of the Sheila Divine, what's changed? How do you feel about where you are?

Aaron Perrino: I'm in a band that's very stable and respectful. I think that that's the main difference -- we do the things we want to do. It's the second time around for most of us, so we know the things we like about music and the things we hate about it, so, you know, we don't go, "Alright, we have to play Cleveland because they want us to play a show there." We're playing New York this weekend, we're playing Los Angeles next week, we're going to London next month, because those are all places I would be excited to just go in general.

Splendid: You're not going to play in Abilene just because they want you in Abilene?

Aaron Perrino: No, I don't want to. I'm over that, unless the band is at a level where it warrants, like, heavy touring. If we were going and people were coming to see us, if we were The Arcade Fire, I would do it nonstop and it would be fun. But there's no way I would do it, like, a local band playing at Stinky MacDougal's on a Tuesday night.

Splendid: I know it began as a solo project then with a revolving cast of characters now it's more of a confirmed band. How did that solidify and can you tell me more about your band dynamic?

Aaron Perrino: Paul (Buckley), the drummer, is the one who was kind of on my ass as soon as I quit Sheila Divine, because we had been friends for a while, Sheila Divine did a bunch of shows with Orbit, and he's always been kind of a mentor figure to me. I mean, the guy's insane. He does publicity for a radio station, he runs a record label, he's a father of twins, he's married, and he was playing in a ton of bands. And the guy's amazing. So anyways, he said I should really put something out. So it really started with him and he's like "we need to make this a band." Jon (Sulkow), who's been one of my friends -- I mean, he's from Buffalo and so am I, so I've know him for a long time, so it's obvious that I would ask him to play since I've known him forever. And he's the one who had suggested Will (Claflin), since they had been playing together and I'd known Will, too. But I didn't know it would work out as well as it did. I think he's probably, guitar-wise, like the closest to me in style than anyone I've ever played with. He really gets my sensibilities.

Splendid: Could you talk a little bit about popularity? I know with Sheila Divine there were always record label issues, so now with Dear Leader, they're not just a Boston band. So how has the band been dealing with label interest and whatnot.

Aaron Perrino: Labels have been calling us, but it's just the same. The music industry is so different than what it used to be, and the way they market bands now, you pretty much either have to be, they want a finished record and they want you to be your own phenomenon, like The Arcade Fire --

Splendid: Or Franz Ferdinand.

Aaron Perrino: Yeah, just like "Oh, this band's already happening without any work. Hey, wanna sign a record deal?" Either that or it's just a total marketed thing, like where we have the Ashlee Simpson show and the Ashlee Simpson this and the whatever. So unfortunately, Dear Leader doesn't really fall into either of those categories yet. I mean, I've been really into the web marketing of the band myself and trying to promote it, but you know, it's pretty much luck at this point that it gets bigger. But we have had labels call, we've played a bunch of showcases. We're going to LA next week to play for labels, but it's usually the same thing, like "Love what you're doin', album's sellin' pretty good, keep us informed" or "You're too old" or whatever. But you just keep doing what you do.

Splendid: So do you feel a little more educated about the whole process now than you did with the Sheila Divine?

Aaron Perrino: You just can't care about it. You can be smart about it and try to get it but at the same point there's only so much you can do, so there's no point in worrying about it, we just play the shows we want to play and totally have a great time doing it. If someone picks up on it, awesome. I don't really have any ideas of grandeur at this point, like as far as I feel like it's a no-brainer that we should have a record deal, just because of what I've done without any help. I think that I deserve a chance, but they don't feel that way, that's okay.

Splendid: You mentioned politics, and some of your songs have a strong political bent. Of course, All I Ever Wanted Was Tonight was released on Election Day. Tell me what was going through your mind on Election Day, with your record coming out and of course you have the election. What was that day like for you?

Aaron Perrino: It started out promising then it just kind of got more depressing. (laugh) Paul was the mastermind behind releasing the record on Election Day, he thought that would be great, and we liked the title, All I Ever Wanted Was Tonight, it was fun. And now, you know, looking back on it, that's all I did want that night, it was perfect. I don't know, it was a weird night.

Splendid: I have a friend is a conservative, and he's like "Man, I love Dear Leader, but I can't stand 'Our Motto' and songs like that." So how do you feel about people like that who can't really swallow your politics?

Aaron Perrino: Honestly, of all the songs I've written, I probably only have two or three songs that are like that, and beyond that everything is, I think, subdued. I know when we did our CD release party, Will makes films and we had like semi-political projections and stuff on the screens, and I got a bunch of hate e-mails. And I'm like, please, it's so stupid. It's not like I'm Rage Against The Machine, I just have fun with it. I feel like it's better to say something and say what you believe than say nothing. So I don't really give a crap what conservatives think. (laughs) I mean, they have a right to their opinions and I have a right to mine, so whatever.

Splendid: Are you politically involved in the community at all, or does it just come out occasionally in your songwriting?

Aaron Perrino: It just comes out occasionally. I'm not, like, part of any left-wing group, I just write about current events and how I'm feeling, and when I think things are wrong I write about them. I can honestly say I don't think the next record is going to be quite as political.

Splendid: Different environment?

Aaron Perrino: The time leading up to the election was like a really spirited time for everybody on both sides. So I just think, look at Green Day, they're as big as they've ever been and they wrote their liberal record or whatever, so obviously there's an appeal. So now I'm trying to write the most optimistic album ever created by man. That's going to be my next attempt.

Splendid: Helicopter Helicopter, who were your labelmates on Lunch, left for LA. So they're gone, off to find the big time.

Aaron Perrino: I'll see them next week.

Splendid: Oh, cool. Would your band ever do something like that, chase the dream?

Aaron Perrino: Never. I feel like the places where people in this band are at in their lives, it would never happen. Would I move to LA? Yeah, I definitely would. But I wouldn't move to be a rock star, I would move there for a change or to have some sun, but I would never. I feel like I've done enough musically in this town at least to get to a certain point where labels know about me, so me moving to LA is not going to change anything. I've played for every label, so it's just where the industry is. They want 20 year-old kids who are willing to live in a van and work for nothing.

Splendid: What do you think of the bands that have been thrown out there by the hype machine?

Aaron Perrino: They're lucky. It's great. I wish I could be an Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes, whatever, or the Bloc Party that comes out of nowhere and everyone talks about it. I like all those bands, so there's probably a reason why they're all hyped. Some bands that are hyped aren't good, but whatever.

Splendid: Those are bands that took off by word of mouth. What about agents of the label?

Aaron Perrino: Again, the music business is timing and luck or a little of both, so a band like Interpol, I own both those records, I bought them. They told me to, and I did. And I like them. So, I don't know, obviously you can complain about the Good Charlottes of the world, but I don't see that stuff as much as the entertainment business. There's a big difference. Those kinds of bands, they'll do Burger King commercials, to me that's not even the same category as people who write songs. So you can only get mad about songwriters that are big, if you're at where I'm at, I think. The Ashlee Simpsons, that's something totally different, that's multi-conglomerate, mass-marketing to teens everywhere with as many different things as she can do.

Splendid: Do you have any of those mass-marketed bands in your record collection?

Aaron Perrino: I might have the new Gwen Stefani record, but I didn't pay for it. But those people get the best songwriters writing their stuff, so even if they don't have talent, they have talented people pulling the strings, so they're lucky. So I don't wanna do that. But I'd like to write music for them some day.

Splendid: That'd be a reason to move to LA.

Aaron Perrino: Seriously, I would love to be Good Charlotte's ghostwriter.

Splendid: If someone called you and said, "We want you to write the next Ashlee Simpson hit song..."

Aaron Perrino: I would totally do it in a second.

Splendid: What would it be?

Aaron Perrino: Who knows? "Pieces Of You?" I have no idea, but it'd be fun to try.

Splendid: Talking about the Boston scene, how do you feel about the way Boston has treated you and Dear Leader?

Aaron Perrino: The Boston scene's always been great to me. We didn't get to the place we got without the help of other bands who put us on their bills and gave us good placement in clubs and stuff. And now, I feel a little bit out of touch with the Boston music scene because I don't go out as much to see a lot of the stuff because I'm angry and jaded and every time I make an attempt, I'm usually, when you reach a certain point, you seen bands and you don't see them as original because you've already seen it somewhere else, so that's how I compare a band, "Oh, it reminds me of this band." But I like some of the bands in town, and it is what it is.

Splendid: Who are you really digging right now?

Aaron Perrino: I like the Taxpayer, and I like the Good North, and I saw the December Sound -- they were kind of interesting.

Splendid: What about nationally? Who are you really into right now?

Aaron Perrino: Hmm, I'm trying to think of who I spin at my DJ night. I do like the Bloc Party CD a lot. I like that band, Interpol?

Splendid: Inter-who? (laughs)

Aaron Perrino: That Louis XIV band is kind of fun, actually. I kinda dig it.

Splendid: Where's your DJ night?

Aaron Perrino: Here, on Saturday nights.

Splendid: What do you spin?

Aaron Perrino: Indie, new indie rock and shoegazer stuff and lots of My Bloody Valentine and new Britpop stuff.

Splendid: The whole emo phenomenon... did you ever fear the Sheila Divine getting pigeonholed into some sort of catchy genre?

Aaron Perrino: We defined the emo genre. That's what Rolling Stone called us. They were like, "emo legends that transcend the genre", or something like that.

Splendid: So you didn't care?

Aaron Perrino: Whatever. Call it whatever it is. I wanna be a Britpop/Goth, that's what I wanna be. I'm in a closet Goth band.

Splendid: I was thinking about the song "Culture Vultures". Do you ever feel like there's some weird divide between indie culture and the MTV culture?

Aaron Perrino: I watch all that stuff, and I think I'm a sponge when it comes to that stuff, and it makes me feel awful. I feel like I'm losing brain cells by the second every time I watch it, but I can't stop watching it. I've seen every reality program you can name. Project Runway? Love it! Oh man! It's so sad, but it's what I do.

Splendid: The only one I got sucked into was Joe Millionaire.

Aaron Perrino: I watched that.

Splendid: That was a good one.

Aaron Perrino: I'm on a new kick -- I'm trying not to watch TV so I'm trying to go out as much as possible. That's my new promise to myself for this year because it got dark. (laughs)

Splendid: Well, reality TV, if it can, it got worse.

Aaron Perrino: It's awful, sometimes I'll watch and I'm like, "What am I doing?"

Splendid: So what are the next immediate plans for the band and yourself?

Aaron Perrino: We're going to London to play for this label, and try to do it over there a little bit. I've been writing new songs, so I assume we'll start recording at some point in the summer or something.

Splendid: If a label said they wanted to sign you, would you be like "sure, whatever" or is there a certain situation you'd want to get into before making that commitment?

Aaron Perrino: They'd have to just be into it where they're going to support it -- either that or understand that I'm only going to do as much as they're willing to do. That's kind of my attitude. I'll do what I want to do and if someone wants to get on board, then I'll work as hard as they're gonna work. If they're just gonna put it out and see what happens, then I'm going to sit and see what happens also. I'm not going to go starve to death trying to do it. That sounds really negative, actually. But you reach a point... I'm just looking for a career right now, that's my big thing.

Splendid: If you were to have a career outside of music, what would you want to do?

Aaron Perrino: Me and my fiancée are talking about opening a restaurant. We're both foodies. So that's what we're talking about, seeing if it's something we'd really want to do or not. She works in a restaurant, so she doesn't know if I could hack it.

Splendid: What kind of restaurant would you open?

Aaron Perrino: A cool place that Boston doesn't have, more like New York style dark bar with cool music and good food. A place you could go more than once a week if you wanted.

Splendid: Do you have a favorite recipe to share?

Aaron Perrino: Nope. Not really.

Splendid: Are they all secret or just not that good?

Aaron Perrino: They're not secret. We cook a lot of Greek and Italian stuff. She'll make like a grilled flank steak gyro with tomato brown butter and sumac shallots with Greek yogurt.

Splendid: What's your specialty?

Aaron Perrino: Well, meatballs are my specialty. If I were to make the Sunday sauce, that would be my specialty, I guess. I make everything, from fish to pork tenderloins.

Splendid: Oh, man, I haven't had dinner yet. I'm getting hungry.

Aaron Perrino: Yeah. Then I think about working for an ad agency or something. I don't know.

Splendid: Who does?

Aaron Perrino: Exactly.