Circa Survive: "Whether you're playing in front of fifty kids or five thousand, that's where the magic is"

In their homeland, the United States, Circa Survive are titans of emo and have toured extensively alongside peers such as Thrice, AFI, and Coheed & Cambria. They even nearly had a Top 10 record with 2010’s ‘Blue Sky Noise’ (which came in at, erm, Number 11). Over here in the UK however, the story is a little bit different - not that frontman Anthony Green minds. "We go from playing over here [in the US] where we've been able to tour rigorously over the last ten years, to the UK where we haven't been able to,” he begins. “We play much smaller shows for a much more intimate audience. It's very much like how the band was when we started playing in America." What he and his bandmates have found is that as time passes - thirteen years, in fact - life can get in the way. "It's so hard for us, now we've got our kids, and with the band just being older it's tough to get over there to tour. We're always trying; it's not like we're not going to come over, it's just something that's hard what with being a smaller band over there." Their rare trips to the UK are a change of pace when they’re regularly playing to thousands of fans a night on their home turf. "There's a cathartic release in playing a large venue,” he ponders. “On a big stage for lots of people - that is amazing, and for a lot of musicians, that's the end goal. “For a long time for me that's was an end goal, and honestly I still love that idea. It gives me chills to think about it - but I get chills just thinking about playing music. When you quantify it down to that, to just be grateful, you can't really ever miss the mark. “Whether you're playing in front of fifty kids who really care about what you're doing, or five thousand kids, the most important thing is that you're engaged, and it's honest. You're all in the moment. That's where the magic happens. There's no magic in the grandeur, you know?” he enthuses. “The realness of it, no matter what it is - that's where the magic is.”