Written by Alison Aird
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
The Ghost of a Thousand put on an unexpected live show in Camden’s Purple Turtle to brighten up my Valentine’s Day.
Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category
Feb
27/10
27/10
Interview with The Ghost of a Thousand: 14th Feb 2010
Last Updated on Sunday, 7 March 2010 10:05
Written by Alison Aird
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
Written by Alison Aird
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
Tags: interview, the ghost of a thousand | Posted under Featured, Interviews | 
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Feb
23/10
23/10
August Burns Red Interview
Last Updated on Monday, 22 February 2010 09:04
Written by Alison Aird
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Written by Alison Aird
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
JB (centre) and Dustin (right)
You may have recently read my review of August Burns Red’s opening slot for Lamb Of God at the Brixton 02 Academy. I was fortunate enough to catch up with guitarist JB and bassist Dustin before the show for a quick chat.
AA: How’s 2010 going so far?
DD: I have a bum finger but otherwise…
AA: You slammed in a door right?
DD: Yeah my index finger. It’s weird, it doesn’t really hurt it’s just weird. It’s cold right now so I’m trying to warm it up.
AA: Are you okay playing with it? Is it alright?
DD: Yeah well I played with my middle finger last night. It just feels weird when I move it up and down.
AA: It looks a bit swollen
DD: It’s not bruised though, which is a suprise!
AA: Just keep taking ibuprofen, it should be okay. So what plans have you got for this year, festivals? Headline tours?
JBB: Well after this run with Lamb Of God ends in March we’re home for about 2 weeks and then we’re touring with A Day To Remember in America and Canada for 6 or 7 weeks, it’s a long tour. Then I think we’re doing Download, some festival in Finland, some stuff in Japan, some more American stuff and then we headline in the States and here.
AA: With Constellations, why did you choose to stream it on myspace a week before release?
JBB: I think we actually got the myspace front page thing, and if you get the front page of myspace ad, it’s part of the thing that you stream the record on myspace. You know what, I think our label has found that streaming the whole record is actually beneficial to boosting album sales rather than posting a couple of tracks, that’s what they’ve found out over time with it.
AA: Is there anywhere in the world that you would like to tour that you haven’t already?
DD: I’d like to see New Zealand, I think it’d be a cool place to go
JBB: I’d like to go to Iceland, we fly over it all the time so why don’t we stop and look around?
AA: How would you say that your sound has progressed? The band started when you were in high school so have the inspirations changed too?
JBB: Mhm, for sure! When we started out we were way more into hardcore bands than metal bands, like moshy stuff, Broken Wings, Evergreen Terrace, Bury Your Dead, stuff like that. Then we started getting into more metal stuff like Between The Buried And Me, we just sort of adapted more into a metal band rather than a hardcore band over time. I guess as our ability increased we were able to do more metal.
DD: I think the writing, as we got older we got better and we started writing stuff that would challenge us to play. Plus I think it’s less scatter brained, alot of the old stuff, it’s very different to the new stuff, yeah less scatter brained as we’ve grown up.
AA: What made you get into your respective instrument?
JBB: I had a bunch of friends who were starting to play in bands and stuff in high school and I just went to shows and thought it would be cool to play but didn’t really do anything about it. Then one day I just picked up a guitar, when I graduated I just picked up like a little starter kit and just fiddled around. I definitely didn’t plan on playing guitar for a living, it just worked out that way I guess.
DD: I had always wanted to play guitar for a living….
AA: And you made it happen.
DD: I made it happen! I started playing when I was about 13 cause my friends needed a bass player so I picked it up and started playing in a pop punk band. Then I progressed, broadened my horizons, started playing guitar, bass, drums… saxophone! I’ve been around the block as far as instruments!
AA: Have you been technically trained in them?
DD: No I never took lessons. I was going to take drum lessons but it never worked out. I feel like if I had I could’ve been better. I don’t any more, but I used to be able to read music for saxophone cause I played it in school.
JBB: When did you play?
DD: From 6th grade
JBB: Till?
DD: Till 8th and then I didn’t want to join marching band!
JBB: I played violin 4 through 6
DD: I played flute for a year too in 5th grade! I played till I found out that you were gay if you played flute. I didn’t know what gay was when I was in 5th grade and then I quickly found out by the time I was about to start 6th grade and I though “I guess I can’t play flute anymore because I’m not gay”! I still wish I could read music for guitar though, or piano and stuff like that I think it would really help me out, but I haven’t taken lessons or stuff like that.
JBB: You don’t really think that you’re gay if you play flute right?
DD: I got made fun of
JBB: Yeah well kids are dumb
DD: I was the only boy that played flute!
JBB: You weren’t gay though
AA: Look at Anchorman, jazz flute!
JBB: Yeah!
[DD cackles]
AA: What do you think of bands being made into role models?
JBB: I think its fine, and I think it’s just going to happen. People look up to bands that they respect I guess and you’re put into the role model position whether you want to be or not. You need to be aware of that and that what you’re doing and saying is affecting other people. Whether or not you like it and you’re playing in a band and people are coming out to see you play they are going to care what you say and do.
AA: Overall, what would you like to achieve as a band?
JBB: I’d say my goal at this point in longevity. I think it’d be awesome to continue doing what we’re doing successfully for a long time while continuing to progress as musicians and in our albums, making good music. I think that’s the goal at this moment, just keep doing what we’re doing and keep growing.
AA: Do you want to add anything?
DD: That’s it, I’d like to keep doing it as long as we can do it cause I have fun doing it and I can’t picture myself doing anything else.
AA: Fair enough, so we’ll move onto my research questions. How would you describe a pit at a hardcore show?
JBB: At a hardcore or a metal show?
AA: Either, start with hardcore.
DD: Be careful if you don’t know what it’s all about!
JBB: Yeah, lots of kicking and flailing. It’s not from my experience of a hardcore show it’s not like a push pit it’s like the whole hardcore dancing and spin kicks, that whole vibe, so if people aren’t necessarily trying to hit each other they’re trying to dance I think. When I was going to hardcore shows and stuff people weren’t trying to hurt each other, it wasn’t a meathead mentality, for a lot of people it was just trying to dance and that’s how people dance.
AA: So would you say in metal they’re out to hit each other?
JBB: It’s more barbaric for sure, more meathead.
DD: Really more people that just want to beat kids up.
JBB: Yeah they want to push each other, I guess they love the contact of it. The slam dancing.
AA: Would you say this behaviour is distinctive of the respective scene? For example hardcore pits would be the same everywhere?
JBB: I wouldn’t say that, I’d say somewhere the push pit thing is still going on at hardcore shows. In certain areas some people don’t know any better. In Dubai kids were definitely just pushing, I guess it was more of a metal crowd though. I guess hardcore and metal kids come out to see us. I guess at smaller shows the pit’s more hardcore dancing. At bigger shows because there’s so many people who don’t, I guess know the hardcore mentality they just push. Which is fine, I don’t care.
AA: Would you say the quality of the show is proportionate to the size or intensity of the pit?
JBB: I say kids going nuts in general; it doesn’t have to be the pit. The pit doesn’t have to be brutal, if kids are just moving and jumping or have their hands in the air and bobbing their heads anything is just as exciting to me as seeing a pit go nuts.
DD: I think so long as you’re not that person standing with your arms crossed cause then we’re like “okay, that person’s not here to see us”.
JBB: If they don’t care we don’t care.
AA: At what point does a pit or audience become “out of control”?
JBB: Well if everyone’s getting on stage and the stage is getting cluttered with kids making it hard to play and their screwing you out, that’s out of control for me. That’s when it’s like too much. First and foremost I want to play the songs and I want to play them well and do my best so I don’t like when kids are on stage and run into me and screw me up cause that sucks for everyone who’s not on stage trying to watch the band.
AA: Would you say there are younger (under 21) or older people in your audience?
JBB: I’d say younger.
DD: There’s both I’d say, younger definitely in the States. I’d say around 21.
AA: Is you audience more male or female?
Both: Male
AA: If there are more females in a pit, would you say that affects the behaviour?
JBB: I kind of hope it does because I don’t like the idea of girls getting pounded in the pit, at the same time if they’re going in there I’m sure they know what to expect so… I think people would probably be aware of a girl around them and try not to kick the crap out of her or break her nose
DD: Unless it’s Jersey Shore
AA: What would you say the unspoken rules of being in a pit are?
JBB: Pick someone up if they fall down. If someone’s dancing like an ass… pull them out. If someone’s being a bully I’m sure he’s going to get ganged up on.
DD: True. I guess if someone’s hurt then help them get out if you can.
JBB: Everyone should be there to have fun, not be a bully. No one likes a bully.
AA: Do you have any examples or experiences of a pit that you’d like to share?
DD: Brent got knocked out
JBB: Brent got kicked in the head at a little hardcore show in Maryland, this is back in 2004. Got knocked out cold, couldn’t remember our songs and we were the support that night. I’ve been in many a pit. I used to go all the time, that was why I went to hardcore shows was to dance so I don’t know, I don’t have any particular story that’s standing out. Oh wait, here’s one that goes for the unspoken rules. I was at this show at a little fire hall in Reading, Pennsylvania and there was this drunk kid that was just pushing everyone as soon as they started dancing, he would just come up behind people and just shove them. It was starting to piss everyone off and he shoved a friend of mine at one point, so I pushed him and he came after me and just immediately got swarmed by all the hardcore kids and the cops got called.
DD: What show was that?
JBB: Just some local show, and the cops came and the kid got arrested for being drunk and underage so justice was served.
Tags: august burns red, interview | Posted under Interviews | 3 Comments
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Feb
22/10
22/10
Job for a Cowboy Interview
Last Updated on Monday, 22 February 2010 09:00
Written by Alison Aird
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Written by Alison Aird
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
A few hours before their opening slot for Lamb Of God at Brixton’s O2 Academy I was able to interview Job For A Cowboy’s impressive vocalist Jonny Davy about all things 2010, writing and what’s coming up this year. When it came to asking my research questions, drummer Jon Rice was kind enough to pipe up as well and prompt some great answers. Enjoy!
AA: How’s 2010 so far?
JD: We’ve been doing a lot less touring this year, it’s just worked out like that.
AA: Just chilling out a bit?
JD: Yeah, we’ve been moving a lot slower this year for whatever reason. I think the industry for touring is kind of really shallow and bad at the moment so we’re just picking the right things as much as we can.
AA: Have you got any festivals or headline tours planned at all?
JD: We’re going to a short headline run in America, go to Australia and Japan with Behemoth and then do another US run where we headline. Then we’ll come back to the UK to do a typical festival run.
AA: What made you get into singing?
JD: I don’t know. Originally I wanted to play guitar and I guess it turn out that no one else could sing so I got stuck doing it. It just kind of worked out that way.
AA: Have you had any kind of training to protect your voice?
JD: No. I messed up my voice really bad when I was a little boy. It just took time to really figure it out. I still feel like I’m learning and progressing to do different things.
AA: When you were recording Ruination did you find that Jon & Al, the new members, bought a lot of new ideas to writing and recording?
JD: For sure. Jon, our drummer, is good at anything, any style of drumming, it’s obnoxious! With Al he brought a new technical style to the band. Having new members in a band sparks more fires, gives you a new drive when you start to work with them so it really helped a lot.
AA: When you write do you come up with an idea, like you want to write about something?
JD: No, they come up with the music first and then I write lyrics on top of it. The writing process of the last record we pretty much bought a band house in Phoneix, AZ because everyone lives there and we’d work on it every day and at the end of the day we’d go to the bar and let out all our stress.
AA: Is there anywhere left in the world that you’d like to visit that you haven’t been already?
JD: We have plans to finally go to South America. That’s somewhere I’ve really wanted to go forever so hopefully sometime this year that’ll happen.
AA: How do you see your music progressing in the future?
JD: I feel like every album changed slightly, a little bit. There’s a lot of bands, particularly in the extreme metal genre that keep putting out the same record over and over but we’re going to avoid that at all costs because we want to keep ourselves interested and our fans interested rather than put out the same thing over and over again.
AA: Have you got any plans to write anything new?
JD: Uh no, we don’t really have any legit plans yet. When we’ve finished the European run we’ll probably start thinking about it a lot more, but as of right now we’re not stressing out about it.
AA: When you go to all these different countries do you notice a difference in the fans?
JD: Yes. It’s weird like, some places are a little more behind than other places. Some places are just crazy, like I think Germany is one of the greatest places to play if you’re in a metal band.
AA: Yeah, they love it over there.
JD: Yeah, they respect it and love it. They drink so much and just party and that always makes for good shows.
AA: Overall, what do you hope to achieve by being in a band?
JD: I never really expected much back when we started the band. I find it crazy that I get to travel as much as I do playing shows, people actually coming out and wanting to see you across the world, whatever countries, it’s a mindfuck.
AA: And it’s like the coolest job. At least you’re not a pen pusher behind a desk.
JD: I can’t complain.
AA: Okay so we’ll move onto my research questions. How would you describe a pit at a hardcore show?
JD: It kind of depends what the bill’s like? If we’re headlining it’s a mixture of weird dancing and push mosh. Occasional circle pit, guys putting their arms together and headbanging.
Jon Rice [drummer]: Slayer-esque!
AA: Would you say this behaviour is distinctive of the scene?
JD: Yeah that’s typical of hardcore!
AA: Would you say the quality of the show is proportionate to the size or intensity of the pit?
JD: It really depends. Every show’s different. Sometimes people don’t seem to care almost, but it really depends.
AA: At what point does a pit or audience become “out of control”?
JR: When they start interfering with the band!
JD: Or somebody dies.
JR: Or if there’s a fight.
JD: Just something that causes so much distraction that it takes away from the band.
AA: Would you say there are more younger (under 21) or older people in your audience?
JD: In the US it’s right on the dot at 21 but in Europe maybe a little older. It seems like in the UK maybe a little younger. It seems to depend what country we’re in.
AA: Are your audience more male or female?
JD: Blatantly more male in our audience!
AA: It is a bit of a sausage fest out there I noticed! But if there are more females in a pit, would you say that affects the behaviour?
JD: I don’t know.
JR: I think it depends on the guys in the pit cause some of them just don’t give a shit.
JD: Yeah I guess.
JR: There’s a mutual respect you know, but assholes are going to go for anybody male or female.
AA: What would you say the unspoken rules of being in a pit are?
JR: Pick up people when they fall.
JD: Yeah
JR: Apologise if you knock over somebody’s drink, maybe even buy them a drink!
JD: I’d say that’s it, uuuh, if you see somebody’s shoe, throw it in the complete opposite direction. Any object throw it as far away from where you saw it as you can.
AA: Do you have any examples or experiences of a pit that you would like to share?
JD: When we played in Vegas with Lamb of God some kid died because he had a pacemaker.
JR: I saw him get wheeled out, I saw them put the white cover over him. That was kind of weird.
AA: Do you have any happy ones?
JR: We went to see Slayer at Mayhem in the summer and there was a lot of camaraderie.
JD: What tour was it where they put the kid in the wheelchair up?
JR: Yeah, there’s a picture from a show of a kid in a wheelchair crowdsurfing!
AA: That might have to be the cover of my research proposal.
Tags: job for a cowboy | Posted under Featured, Interviews | No Comments
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Jan
19/10
19/10
Interview: Brendan Murphy of Counterparts
Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 January 2010 09:57
Written by Josh Mahoney
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Written by Josh Mahoney
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
http://www.marklucianiphoto.com/
I first heard about Counterparts when they went on tour with Amnesia Amnesia last year. After hearing them once, there’s always been a craving for more. Now with three tracks on their myspace, and a label to back their new album being released in February, I’d say Counterparts is probably the next big thing this side of Canada. They played a show in my hometown on the weekend, I was able to chat with Brendan Murphy (vocals) and get a few questions about what’s going on answered.
DP: You guys were recently signed to Verona records – how did they first hear about you?
BM: Verona first heard about us through our managers Paul Koehler and Rich Fernandes, and through our good friends in the band I Am Committing A Sin.
DP: The layout and new song were quickly released after the announcement, so I’m guessing this has been in talks for a little while – how much were you itching to share it with your friends?
BM: Yeah we’ve been working at this for a few months now. We wanted to wait until we had everything ready so we can make as big of an impact as possible. I’m pretty sure everyone in the band shared EVERYTHING with their friends haha. It was so hard to keep it to ourselves. We only told people closest to us.
DP: How long have you guys been a band for?
BM: We’ve been a band for about 3 years now. But we’ve only been “Counterparts” for a little over a year.
DP: Your new album (Prophets) comes out on the 23rd of February, where was that recorded?
BM: Prophets was recorded at Sundown Studios in Guelph with Jordan Valeriote.
DP: How long did it take to record?
BM: It took us about 2-3 weeks to record everything.
DP: What should the listeners expect from the rest of the tracks they haven’t heard?
BM: Listeners should expect the rest of the songs to be just as powerful as the one’s that they’ve already heard. We are all happy with every song on the album and we hope everyone else is too.
DP: Where can they buy it?
BM: People should be able to pick up our album at shows, iTunes, and at local CD retail stores in Canada.
DP: What were some of your inspirations/influences in writing this record?
BM: We have a wide variety of influences on the album. We draw our main influence from Metal, Hardcore/Punk, Metalcore, and even some progressive metal as well. We like to think that there’s something for everyone on our album.
DP: What does the future hold? Any big tours being talked about?
BM: A CD release tour is in the works right now. We plan to visit all the major cities of Ontario where we have created a small following, and we plan to visit other parts of Canada as soon as possible.
DP: Any advice for bands who want to start talking to labels?
BM: The only advice I can offer is to know the right people, put all your effort into the music itself (not just the “being in a band” aspect), and take risks. No one will hear you if you don’t try.
DP: Any other comments?
BM: I’d just like to say that we thank everyone who has supported us for the past few years. Without you guys we’d be nothing. Thank you.
DP: I appreciate your time!
BM: Hey, no problem dude!
Their new album drops February 23rd/2010, and it’s definitely on my list of things to buy. Check them out over at http://www.myspace.com/counterparts
Tags: brendan murphy, Counterparts | Posted under Featured, Interviews, New Music | No Comments
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Jan
06/10
06/10
Interview with Jake Duncan of Maylene & the Sons of Disaster
Last Updated on Wednesday, 6 January 2010 11:23
Written by Alison Aird
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
Written by Alison Aird
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
Here’s my short but sweet interview with Jake Duncan, guitarist of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. I was fortunate enough to get to interview Jake before their opening slot on the Taste Of Chaos show at the Hammersmith Apollo back in the beginning of December. Look out for my follow up interview with Kelly Scott Nunn from MATSOD which will be up soon!
AA: How did the whole WWE thing come about?
JD: We were on tour with a band called Emery. We were staying at some folks house, just relative of our guitar player Kelly, his uncle’s house and we got a phone call from the guy at our label and he told us the WWE was interested in our sound and they asked us to write a song for the Big Show and Chris Jericho for their tag team entrance music and that’s how it started. They got in touch with our label and our label got in touch with us, thats how it happened.
AA: Has having your music played on the WWE made a major difference to the demographic of the audience at your shows?
JD: I don’t think we’ve seen a big difference as in the attendance of shows. After we wrote that song for the Big Show and Chris Jericho they started using our song “Step Up” for a few different things and they promoted it on TV and we saw a big increase in digital sales, like itunes and all that, for the single “Step Up”. I’m sure there’s a lot of folks who know about us now because they’re wrestling fans and stuff that would probably buy our music but might not necessarily come to our shows, so we haven’t really seen a big increase in the attendance of shows but I’m sure there is somewhat of an increase.
AA: What plans do you have for 2010?
JD: We’ve had some tour proposals but I think at this point everything is still very up in the air. As far as tours go there’s a handful of tours we’re still negotiating about but I think in the summer time or late spring we might be getting together to write some new stuff because we’ll be recording at the end of the year, about a year from now.
AA: What do you think about bands being made into role models?
JD: Well, I mean kids they look up to whatever they’re into. I mean when I was 5, Peter Pan was my role model. Do I think it’s a good thing? The thing that people don’t understand, I mean it doesn’t matter who your role model it, your role model could be the Pope, but nobody’s perfect. Everybody makes mistakes and does things they shouldn’t do. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily a bad thing for band members to be considered role models but at the same time, like, y’know everybody has role models. I wouldn’t discourage someone from looking up to someone in a band. Nobody’s perfect, and everybody has role models.
AA: Do you think the sound of the band will change in the future?
JD: Well you know it changed a little bit when the guys changed, we went through a line up change before I joined the band, I’m the newest member, I joined about a year and a half ago. Yeah, whenever the new guys came in, Matt, Chad, Kelly, they replaced the drummer and two guitar players, and whenever they joined I guess they wanted to go for more of a rock sound rather than be one of those bands that gets lumped in with metal bands. Our lead singer Dallas was in Underoath and stuff like that, and plus the first and second Maylene records were a lot heavier, but I think that the main focus as far as music wise once the new guys came in and when I joined the band about 6 months after, maybe 7, we just wanted to play loud instead of heavy you know? We’re all big like, rock guys and we have kind of heavy background so we’ve played in metal bands, but now we’re into now is a little bit less heavy a little bit more loud. We’re happy with our last record, we wanted to write a solid rock album and we feel we achieved that. As far as our next album, we’ll try to continue to evolve as a rock band, I mean all bands need to evolve and I personally get bored if a band brings out the same record every time, and I don’t want to be one of those bands. You know, I hear it a lot “you guys used to be heavier” “you guys were better heavier” and stuff, and everybody’s entitled to their opinion but they need to get over the whole “if it ain’t heavy, it ain’t good”. We want to write good music, period, and use our brains to do it.
Tags: Jake Duncan, Maylene and the sons of disaster | Posted under Featured, Interviews | No Comments
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Jan
05/10
05/10
Interview with Kelly Scott Nunn of Maylene & the Sons of Disaster
Last Updated on Saturday, 9 January 2010 05:06
Written by Alison Aird
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Written by Alison Aird
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
My second interview with a MATSOD was with the ever so charming guitarist Kelly before their opening slot for Every Time I Die at the Borderline. I was interested in some follow up questions from my interview with Jake, and also asked my research questions which gave me some of my most interesting answers yet. Enjoy!
AA: How have you enjoyed the European shows with Every Time I Die? They were much smaller than Taste of Chaos right?
KSN: Well I mean they’ve been really fun but the only downer side of it I guess has been weather conditions so the turnout has been smaller than we expected. I mean last night they had an overnight snow storm that dropped like 2 feet of snow and the roads weren’t cleared, so they had a really high presale but I think like 30 or 40 people just from presale couldn’t come and then people who didn’t have presale that couldn’t come as well. That was a little dampner but we had a good time, it’s been great, it’s been our first time outside the UK playing Europe so I can’t really complain!
AA: Have you noticed a difference in the crowd? Taste of Chaos just seem to be a lot of people very into their metal, so have you found people are more into you?
KSN: It’s been interesting, when we left here for Europe, Scandinavia first and then Germany I think, we started seeing a lot of a different base. It was still metal, but there were still a lot of kids there bopping their heads and having a good time. We still see that now, but on a smaller scale of our fan base who have not yet been able to see us outside the UK, and they can come see a show and hang out with us and stuff, we’re excited. We’re going to try and come back another time, maybe the summer or later to try and do a headlining tour or with another group to see where the whole Taste of Chaos thing helped us out.
AA: Do you reckon you guys will do festivals in the summer?
KSN: I would love to, I would love to do as many festivals over here as we can. I love festivals, so it’s all a matter of booking it, it’s all a matter of time if they like it and stuff.
AA: Have you ever personally done the British festival thing of three days in a tent?
KSN: No I haven’t, I would do it in a heartbeat, I’d love to do it, I love that whole thing. I grew up in the States and there’s this big festival called Cornerstone, a big Christian festival that’s like 3 or 4 days long and it’s like 20 thousand people, and when you go there as an artist you have the option of camping out or getting a hotel and I’ve done both and it was just an incredible experience. I don’t care either way!
AA: Okay we’ll move onto my dissertation stuff now. How would you describe a pit at a hardcore show?
KSN: Oh gosh, a lot of pissed off individuals. It’s kind of weird because it depends on where you’re going to how bad the pit is. In the States if you go to the northern states like New York, Jersey and Boston the pits are a lot of pissed off individuals, very aggressive, things of that nature. But when you get to the south it’s not that bad. I would say it’s a lot of kids wanting to have a good time, and sometimes they don’t know how to do that and someone gets hurt or tempers get in the way of trying to have a good time. I guess it depends where you’re at for how bad the pit is!
AA: Would you say the behaviour seen in a pit is distinctive of the scene?
KSN: Some yes. Some areas I would say absolutely because, again, culturally speaking there’s a lot of kids that are involved in the new hardcore gangs and things of that nature and all they live and breathe for is to go to shows and to get into a pit and prove how tough they are. For me I think it’s idiotic but to each their own. I just don’t see any value in it for me. But I was that young kid once doing that same thing and pit and things of that nature, and it’s just a time in my life where I grew up in my life and then the violence subsided and it wasn’t something I wanted to be a part of anymore. I think generally it can go hand in hand.
AA: Would you say the quality of the show is proportionate to the size or intensity of the pit?
KSN: I don’t know about that. I would say it depends on the individuals who are there. I’ve played some really small shows when I was early on in my career and where there were 25 or 30 kids there just going bazonkers. I’ve played in front of 2000, 3000 people and there’s only a select group going bonkers. I’d say it’s more up to the crowd and the people who are there because you can make it as intense as you want it to be. If you see a whole crowd going crazy and the floor’s going nuts then yeah, but I’ve seen it both ways.
AA: At what point does a pit or audience become “out of control”?
KSN: The moment someone gets hurt. The moment someone gets hurt it’s completely out of line, cause everyone’s there to have a good time, everyone’s paid money to go and enjoy their evening. The moment it becomes personal, the moment it becomes violent, I mean in a sense of someone getting hurt. We’ve had a few instances in the past when we were on tour with Clutch and a guy got side punched in the face and fell on the ground and stopped breathing and we stopped playing and you, the fan whose paid money don’t get to see the show. At that point it becomes not what you’re there for, but the simple fact of being assholes and I don’t understand it and I don’t agree with it at all, I think it’s completely out of line.
AA: Would you say there are more younger, say under 21 or older people in your audience?
KSN: I would say before III and before touring with Clutch it was 23 and under. Because of the tour with Clutch and their fan base being alot older, it’s 40 year olds all the way down to 15 year olds so it’s kind of interesting to see.
AA: And kind of aside, have you noticed a difference in the age of your audience because of the WWE stuff?
KSN: Well we haven’t had a chance to tour the States yet with it. We toured with Harddrive Live and All That Remains and the WWE stuff was just coming out so we didn’t really get to see it, I mean we saw a little bit, but it’ll be interesting to go back and see how that transcended.
AA: More male or female people in your audience?
KSN: Male, for sure. I mean it’s funny though, the last tour we did was more females because it was with Lacuna Coil being out and Christina [vocalist of Lacuna Coil] being there and that had a lot to do with it. I would say about 70:30 though.
AA: If there are more females in a pit, would you say that affects the behaviour?
KSN: Unfortunately yes, and I don’t mean it in a positive way, I mean it in a negative way. I know guys that get hyped up about a girl being in a pit because they want to hit a girl and that’s the kind of stuff again that’s really irritating because it’s like “really? Is that really what you want to do?” I mean it’s not that I’m anti dancing or anything like that, it’s just that I don’t want people to get hurt. That reflects fully on us as a band, we pay as a band. I mean there’s a kid in Boston who during the very last song “Caution” got blindsided in the face just because he was singing into the microphone, gets blindsided, falls back, hits his head and goes into a seizure. We have to stop the show again, he’s rushed to the ER, he’s got no health insurance so we’re paying for it. You’ve got to understand that those ramifications don’t reflect on you, they reflect on us and comes out of our pockets and that sort of stuff just irritates the living crap out of us because we’re all here to enjoy ourselves, don’t make it personal.
AA: What would you say the unspoken rules of being in a pit are?
KSN: Respect. Respect the people that are around you, respect the bands that you’re on tour with, even if you don’t like them, because they’re doing a job. Here’s my thing, there’s not many bands that I don’t like, and it’s not because I don’t like them musically or personally, if I don’t like somebody it’s because they don’t give me the same respect that I give them. Respect is given and respect is earned and I haven’t done anything for you to disrespect me so give me that courtesy. I think that mutual respect is a huge thing of ours, being a Christian band as well…
AA: It’s treating others as you want to be treated
KSN: Yeah! Treat others that way. There are times when I don’t even agree with someone and I’m like “hey, they’re disrespecting me so I’m going to disrespect them”. There are some boundaries that I won’t cross to let that friendship nuture and I’ll do my utmost, I’m not going to treat them poorly, but at the same time I don’t have that common respect for them and that’s the biggest thing for us.
AA: Do you have any examples or experiences of a pit that you would like to share?
KSN: I can think of one pretty brutal one. It was a festival and Sick Of It All were playing, there were probably 2 or 3 thousand people there. It was the worst attack I’ve seen. Some skinheads showed up, Sick Of It All just seem to bring some of them with them, and so these skinheads show up and some kids took it personal, went outside, took off their socks and filled them with rocks, came inside and as soon as they started they started whipping those socks around and hitting them in the face. It was a brutal attack, more than I’ve ever seen. I mean yes, I’m all about respect and I don’t agree with what some skinheads stand for or how they live their life but if they’re not hurting me or anyone around them then I can’t justify someone attacking them. It all boils back down to respect. I mean I’ve seen fights and people getting into little altercations but that was the first time I’ve seen such violence, something with that extreme hatred. I mean I come from a bi-racial family so I’m against racism of any kind so I understand it, but violence doesn’t solve it, violence doesn’t solve violence.
AA: Do you have any cool things you’ve seen in a pit?
KSN: Oh yeah! I remember growing up and there was a crew growing up in Florida and I remember guys doing back flips in the pit, jumping on each others’ backs to do back flips, you know cool stuff like that. I think it changed in around 2003/2004 and the early 90s, when I grew up in the scene where kids would just dance and you’d enjoy watching. Now it’s like how many people can dance at once, then you’re stepping on peoples’ toes, then someone makes it personal. It’s kind of weird now. But those are some of the coolest experiences and things I’ve seen, I mean guys just doing back flips and it was great to see because I could never do it!
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Dec
14/09
14/09
Interview: Andy Williams of ETID
Last Updated on Monday, 14 December 2009 09:54
Written by Alison Aird
Monday, December 14th, 2009
Written by Alison Aird
Monday, December 14th, 2009
Interview with Andy Williams of Every Time I Die
You may have the opportunity to read my recent review of the Taste of Chaos show in London a few weeks ago. Well fortunately enough for me I was also allowed a quick interview with guitarist Andy Williams. Due to time restrictions I was only given the opportunity to ask him my research topic questions, but being the legend he is Andy gave me some of the best answers yet. Enjoy!
Alison A: How would you describe a pit at a hardcore show?
Andy W: I don’t know, it’s a way for people to get it out, for people that work all week long, go there, just get their frustrations out, people that are masochists I guess.
AA: Would you say this behaviour is distinctive of the scene?
AW: I don’t necessarily think it’s a scene thing. There’s a whole different types of trends. Philadelphia in the 90s was very violent but if you went to Canada they didn’t. I don’t think it’s a hardcore thing, I think it was based in metal and then just crossed over into hardcore. We do it a little different though I guess to hardcore.
AA: Would you say the quality of the show is proportionate to the size or intensity of the pit?
AW: Yeah, as a whole, I mean if you look out and the whole crowd’s moving its better you know? That’s how I look at it, for sure. So I would say yeah, the bigger the pit the better the show.
AA: At what point does a pit or audience become “out of control”?
AW: Never. Not with me, you’re asking the wrong person! I want to see as much shit going on as possible.
AA: You want to see some blood?
AW: Oh yeah!
AA: Would you say there are younger or older people in your audience?
AW: We’ve got a very eclectic crowd. You could definitely look out there and see some 40 year old dude moshing with some 14 year old dude, you know what I mean? So we have like, a very eclectic crowd. It’s awesome.
AA: More male or female people in your audience?
AW: Oh hardcore in just general has always been more male oriented. We like to beat our chests so… It’s the easiest way to get stuff out. I was just talking about this upstairs about metal dude. I mean all metal dudes are fucking nerds, so they come to shows and they get to bop a couple of 14 year old kids in the head and that makes them feel like they’re something. But as soon as they leave the show they’re going to go home and play World of Warcraft or whatever they do. That’s how it is with hardcore too, they’re all dorks. They go home on the internet, talk shit, you know, it gives them a pedestal to talk.
AA: If there are more females in a pit, would you say that affects the behaviour?
AW: Not with me and my friends it never did! We still just went nuts when I was a kid. But yeah, I think so, I think it definitely dictates it. It’s funny, some people are like “Oh you’ve got to be timid” but it’s like, she’s in there, that’s how we always looked at it.
AA: What would you say are the unspoken rules of being in a pit?
AW: Oh god, I don’t know. Like I said, I mean if you were talking to someone else in the band maybe, but there was one point in time, this is a no bullshit story, that website lambgoat did the 5 most violent dancers in the United States and I was number 2.
AA: That’s actually amazing.
AW: This was like at the time, like ‘98 or something.
AA: That’s sick.
AW: So it like, there were no rules. Like me and my friends in Buffalo would just straight fist fight. It was just like, not a jock thing, but like a matter of just… we just went off you know?
AA: Do you have any examples or experiences of a pit that you would like to share?
AW: Oh in fact it happened with Killswitch in the States last time they played, the city was Fort Wayne, Indiana, it was will Killswitch and Dillenger Escape Plan, this is so weird cause it’s not hardcore related at all but it’s fucking great! It was an ETID over 18s show, so we were all worried like “fuck ETID in over 18s in Fort Wayne, Indiana” – the worst city ever, and believe me if anyone from Fort Wayne’s reading this, it’s my favourite city after this show – so yeah, it’s like hick city, blah blah blah. So it’s a college town and we played a place that held like, 2300 people or something like that? It was sold out, 18 and over, every single person in there was just drunk, wasted and horny, and for some reason none of the other bands got a good reaction at all, except for us. As soon as we got out there girls were showing their boobs, it was fucking retarded, and then while we were playing people were uprooting shit out of the ground and like, crowd riding mad, and the pit was enormous. I saw a girl crowd riding and a garbage can crowd riding and the can fell and the girl fell into the garbage can, no joke. Right in front of me. It just blew me away. That was it for me. I couldn’t believe it. That was great, it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen at a show. They came from opposite directions! That was cool.
Tags: die, ETID, every, hardcore, I, id, time | Posted under Featured, Interviews | No Comments
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Dec
13/09
13/09
Interview: Tyler from Amnesia Amnesia *EXCLUSIVE*
Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 December 2009 11:00
Written by Josh Mahoney
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
Written by Josh Mahoney
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
If there’s any band bound to put Belleville, Ontario on the map, it’s Amnesia Amnesia. They’ve already released their first EP, VS Bear, and the second one is to shortly follow. I had the fortune to interview Tyler Randall, the vocalist, and the newest addition to the band.
DP: Amnesia Amnesia’s original album (vs Bear) featured Todd on vocals. How did you get involved with the band, and eventually become the frontman?
AA: Well, I had known Jordan for years because he used to promote my old bands shows in Belleville, and helped us out whenever we needed it. Prior to his offer I contacted them about recording some of my solo stuff and it was his first instinct to ask me knowing that I was bandless. He sent me a text offering the spot. At first I was very reluctant because I wasn’t fond of the direction that they had gone in, but I loved the band name and was jealous of it prior to the conversations we’d had. I told him that I was into heavier stuff and he said it’s what they were aiming for and that was it, I was sold.
DP: Pretty cool, and good timing for sure!
The thing I’m sure most of our readers are interested in is your upcoming EP, The Eating Disease. What inspired this name, as well as the other gruesome gross names on the album? (Bones, Lidnless Eyes, Skin, Hangnails)
AA: I’m not positive as to where The Eating Disease came from actually. Jordan texted it to me in the summer to see if I wanted to use it for lyrics and I absolutely hated it at first. I suggested it later for the ep name and everyone was down so that’s how it came to be. As for the song names, I wanted to grab people’s attention right away. We already had Hangnails because it was on “Vs The Bear” but it was called “I’ve Got A Hangnail, Let’s Get A Room At The Ramada”.. don’t ask, I had no part in it! Though lame, it set a good stage for the rest of the song names. The other’s were just a play off of that besides Lidless Eyes, that one is taken from a horrible accident that I saw on youtube that involved a young girl and a drunk driver. It’s gruesome and horrifying so that’s as far as I’ll go with that. I personally just wanted song names that fit really well with The Eating Disease.
DP: Well it certainly flows together… disgustingly. Ha.
So the EP drops on December 17th, what exactly should readers/listeners expect?
AA: What you hear, is what you get live. Period. We did nothing on The Eating Disease, easy or technical, that we can’t do live. That was very important to us as it should be to anyone paying to see a band they enjoy. Expect pure honesty in every word and every riff.
DP: That’s the worst, is when you hear something amazing recorded, and live it’s nothing the same, a real let down.
Are there any guest vocalists found on the tracks?
AA: In my last band I got the chance to do a tour with the band From Man In Ghost and I absolutely loved that band. When recording with Mike Alsop, formerly of that band, we asked if he would be able to contact Pat and Jordan to do vocals and we were lucky enough to have those guys come in and work with us on two songs. Pat sings on Bones and Jordan sings on Counterparts. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!
DP: Awesome, is there a way for the readers to help spread the news about the free release?
AA: Tell your friends, tell your brother and sister, tell your pasture, tell your parents, myspace, facebook, twitter. If you visit www.myspace.com/amnesiaamnesia we will have all of our information there on the day of the release!
DP: Great!
Anything else you’d like to add?
AA: It’s free! If you love it, tell us! If you hate it, delete it and it’s no skin off your back. We want everyone to get it, that’s why it’s free. Paying for music sucks, having your music downloaded when you’re trying to sell it, sucks more. We didn’t put this one in stores for a reason. It’s a new start, a change, a new beginning and we want everyone to share that with us!
DP: Awesome! Thanks for your time!
AA: Always a pleasure sir!
Tags: amnesia, charlebois, from, ghost, in, man, randall, tyler | Posted under Interviews | No Comments
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Dec
08/09
08/09
Interview with The Amity Affliction’s Joel & Ahren
Last Updated on Thursday, 10 December 2009 02:01
Written by Alison Aird
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
Written by Alison Aird
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
Joel (right centre) & Ahren (far right). If you're wondering.
Last week I was lucky enough to interview one of my favourite new bands, The Amity Affliction. Screamer Joel Birch and bassist and vocalist Ahren Stringer were kind enough to take some time out before their Brighton show to chat about the tour so far, plans for 2010 and they also helped out with my research project.
Alison A: How are you enjoying the UK so far, how’s the weather?
Ahren S: I love the weather personally. Not even sarcastically cause it’s hot all year round, it’s summer all year in Australia.
Joel B: See, he works outdoors and I work indoors. In Australia I live in air conditioned comfort and don’t experience it while he has to work in it. I like it, it’s a nice change.
AS: Going to sleep with the rain on the roof every night is amazing.
JB: Yeah, amazing. We pray for rain in Australia.
AA: And do you guys like the food? Most American bands say the food is terrible.
JB: Really?
AS: I mean I just get up at 12 o’clock and try to find some all day breakfasts and it’s all so cheap here.
JB: They all eat meat…
AS: Is it a hard to find stuff?
JB: Yeah it was hard up north, particularly Glasgow, places like that for me. But London is incredible. There’s stuff everywhere.
AS: We love Wetherspoons too.
JB: Wetherspoons is fucking amazing, I wish someone would bring that too Australia.
AA: You guys have come in contact with chavs right? I saw your tour video with that girl…
JB: Oh yeah, well there were a bunch of them and they ended up throwing stones and shit at the window.
AS: Yeah they smashed a little hole in the door on the old bus that broke down.
AA: How did that all kick off? Did you literally just look at them?
AS: It was out manager
JB: Yeah it was our manager that did it, he was filming them
AS: She was spewing up
JB: Yeah and her mate said “film her film her” and we did and she just went fucking crazy
AA: I loved that she was about 14 as well
AS: Yeah she was skulling beers, throwing up, throwing rocks
AA: How would you describe your home town? What’s it called?
AS: Brisbane
AA: Yeah? Wikipedia says it’s Gympie
AS: Ah the sunshine coast, but we all live in Brisbane now
JB: I’ve been there for 10 years
AS: I call Brisbane home now, Gympie’s horrible.
JB: I grew up near a beach and now I live in Brisbane. It’s like, if you do anything with your life you move to Brisbane first
AS: It’s the closest thing, the closest city.
JB: Yeah and then you can move to Melbourne or Sydney. But if you’re anywhere within 4 or 5 hour you gravitate towards it.
AS: It’s like another country really.
AA: How’s this tour been for you guys? We Are The Ocean supported you in Australia and that’s swapped now.
JB: It’s a lot different for us to be honest, but they were our support slot over there, and then we’re here and we’re not on any of the posters and we play second every night.
AA: I heard you’ve been going down really well though?
JB: Yeah
AS: When people know who we are its awesome
JB: It’s worked out really well for us anyway because we’ve met Flood Of Red and those guys are fucking amazing dudes. I think so far we get along way better with the Scottish than we do with the English.
AA: Yeah…
JB: It’s not that we don’t get along with the English
AA: I’m actually Scottish so it’s cool, no problem. With your misheard lyrics, that’s one of the greatest things I’ve found on Youtube, have you ever sung them live?
AS: When we first heard the first one we thought it was so funny that we just kept watching it and whenever I’d sing the song I’d sing the misheard lyrics and somehow just forgot the real ones. But not so much with the second one, not so much anymore and we don’t really play that song anymore anyway.
AA: Do you have any plans to go to Europe in the future?
JB: Yeah, we’re recording our album next year, in March/April over in New York, so we’ll do an album tour of Australia and then jump on a plane and head straight back over here, so that’s July/August and then do Europe on the back of that. If we can get a UK release that is.
AS: Don’t we already?
JB: No, it’s just itunes
AS: It that all?
AA: Okay. What made you start singing/screaming/playing your instrument? Was there a person that inspired you?
JB: I started screaming because I couldn’t play and instrument. Couldn’t sing, couldn’t play an instrument so scream.
AS: Yeah, well. I don’t know. Dad bought me a guitar one day so I thought I’d do it.
AA: When did you start singing?
AS: Singing? I’ve always just sung along to songs and I guess when I joined the band they discovered I could sing so I was kind of forced into it without really wanting to.
AA: Alright…
JB: Haha “begrudgingly I sing for this band”
AA: And overall what would you like to achieve as a band? Like what would you tell your grandkids?
JB: I would like to live off it. Make a comfortable living. I don’t want to be rich or anything. I’d like to be able to pay my rent, pay my bills, do that kind of stuff with it.
AS: Just make it our day job really.
JB: I mean for me and I know for Ahren as well, most of us, all of us, music has been a goal since we were fucking 12/13 years old. So, we’re on the way, hopefully.
AA: If you weren’t doing this would you’ve gone to uni or anything like that?
JB: I went to uni
AA: What did you do?
JB: Creative writing, then graphic design and I did communication design, and I quit all 3.
AA: Fair enough!
JB: Three years in a row
AS: I just put all my eggs in this basket, said “Fuck you mum and dad, I’ll be a rockstar, you’ll see”.
JB: Trad went to uni, started a law degree and quit. Troy quit high school. Ryan got kicked out in grade 9. Chris, don’t know. That’s our band.
AA: I love it.
JB: If this falls through I think we’re all fucked.
AA: No, I’ve done 3 years of event management and that’s got me fuck all. Okay, what do you think of the pressure put on bands to be role models?
AS: I think it’s ridiculous
JB: I think to a certain extent there are some things that maybe we can be role models about, but then you’re being asked to live a separate life to what you actually live, and why should you? Why should you have to?
AS: The media’s just fucking rabid beasts. When they find out you’ve done wrong…
JB: Yes. It’s like as soon as you fuck up it’s all over the paper
AS: All over the internet. Nothing like that’s ever happened to us though, because we’re not big enough.
AA: I only ask because I hear you guys are a party band, you drink quite a bit
AS: Well, we drink quite a bit
AA: What, just you two?
AS: There’s like three of us.
AA: Okay, well, I’ve seen people posting online all “my parents don’t like that you guys drink” and it’s like “well, get over it” it’s just stupid. Okay, which bands would you like to tour with in the future?
JB: Still Alexisonfire for me. Bring Me The Horizon probably. I’d love to tour with Bring Me, just cause our friend Jona’s in the band as well, so we’d like to tour with those guys, probably Australia. I don’t know if there’s that many big bands that we give a fuck about. We get to tour with our friends in Deez Nuts quite a bit, which is great.
AS: I don’t know. Personally I don’t listen to that much music that we’re in the same scene as
JB: I listen to pretty much hardcore and indie folk music and then just instrumental metal and we couldn’t tour with any of them.
AA: You should look into the Bring Me one cause they should have an album coming out about the same time as you next year
AS: Yeah
JB: Yeah, well we’ll call our mate JJ, call Deez, call our other mates and do it
AA: Make sure you do it here, cause there’s nothing worse than there being an amazing tour and it being overseas. What are the plans for next year, festivals or just recording and then touring?
JB: Festivals in January/February , then recording, the states, maybe SXSW, then tour for the remainder of the year.
Part 2: Dissertation Questions
AA: How would you describe a pit at a hardcore show?
AS: I don’t know
JB: Fun.
AA: That’s the best answer so far!
JB: Dangerous
AS: I’m sure we’ve all been in one before and got hurt before
JB: It’s just part and parcel
AA: Would you say this behaviour, the pit is distinctive of the hardcore scene?
AS: It used to be
JB: Yeah used to be
AS: Not anymore really
JB: Over here especially, kids are back into the pushing
AS: And pogoing
AA: Would you say the quality of the show is proportionate to the size or intensity of the pit?
JB: I don’t think the pit’s got fuck all to do with any of it to be honest, but it depends on the band. It’s more fun for me personally if we’ve got the crowd going nuts and the pit back a bit.
AA: At what point does a pit or audience become “out of control”?
JB: Fights
AS: When a girl passes out, that happened on tour. This girl just collapsed and Joel sort of jumped in, she just got crushed, crushed against the barrier. Then we had to just rip her out and she was just out, just lifeless and we’re looking at her. People were just going over the top of her and didn’t even know she was there. Its lucky Joel saw her, or whoever saw her, and got her out.
JB: I just stopped. We just stopped and got her out.
AS: I guess that’s the point where people just need to make sure they’re taking care of each other
JB: Be aware of the people around you
AS: She could’ve died easily. That would’ve been fucked to have on our conscience – someone dying at our show. I don’t know if we would’ve kept on going.
JB: As a band? We would be too depressed.
AS: Definitely bummed.
AA: She’s okay though?
AS: Oh yeah she’s okay, she’s alright.
AA: Would you say there are more younger or older people in your audience?
AS: These days I would say more younger. I think you tend to lose fans as you get further and further and progress. I guess people do as well, they start liking different types of music , different stuff, as we do. Right now Australia all age shows are way bigger than over 18 shows. I guess that’s pretty much everywhere though.
AA: More male or female people in your audience?
JB: Male
AS: You reckon?
JB: It’s a fact.
AA: Well that’s you told.
JB: On myspace there’s a thing now where you can look at the age groups and see everything.
AS: What about strippers?
JB: What do you mean?
AS: People that just add you.
JB: Oh what spammers yeah.
AA: So what are we saying, more male or female?
Both: Male
AS: More female up the front
AA: Oh okay, are you the poster boy?
JB: Yeah he is
AS: I am not, maybe after a shower
JB: He actually just got voted the second hottest male behind Oli Sykes in Australia’s music magazine
AA: Oh, wow. You must be pleased.
AS: Oh very pleased. More embarrassed. It’s quite embarrassing.
AA: If you tour with Bring Me you and Oli can compare notes.
AS: “Oh what did you do to your hair today?”
JB: “How’s your pout looking?” *laughter*
AA: If there are more women in a pit, or girls I should say, would you say that affects the behaviour?
Both: Nah
AS: If guys want to party they’ll just do it and they don’t care about girls getting hurt or anything
JB: And the girls that do get involved back in Australia anyway (Hayley, Violet, Courtney) they don’t give a fuck anyway.
AS: I guess when I used to mosh, whenever there was a girl I’d try to steer clear of them cause I’d feel too bad if I hit a tiny little girl
JB: I have this friend who used to go around the whole outside of the pit, and this dude’s like 6 foot 10, and he’d just swing his arms at everyone on the edge. I think you just get used to it.
AA: What would you say the unspoken rules of being in a pit are?
JB: If someone’s hurt pick them up.
AS: Definitely. If someone falls, pick them up.
AA: Do you have any examples or experiences of a pit that you would like to share?
JB: I jumped into a crowd and landed on my coccyx
AA: That sucks
AS: Bloody nose, that’s it
AA: The example I give is Gallows getting the audience to build an 8 person high pyramid
AS: No we don’t have anything like that
JB: Other than the typical wall of death
AA: Okay, well that’s it, thank you very much guys.
AS: These days I would say more younger. I think you tend to lose fans as you get further and further and progress. I guess people do as well, they start liking different types of music , different stuff, as we do. Right now Australia all age shows are way bigger than over 18 shows. I guess that’s pretty much everywhere though.
AA: More male or female people in your audience?
JB: Male
AS: You reckon?
JB: It’s a fact.
AA: Well that’s you told.
JB: On myspace there’s a thing now where you can look at the age groups and see everything.
AS: What about strippers?
JB: What do you mean?
AS: People that just add you.
JB: Oh what spammers yeah.
AA: So what are we saying, more male or female?
Both: Male
AS: More female up the front
AA: Oh okay, are you the poster boy?
JB: Yeah he is
AS: I am not, maybe after a shower
JB: He actually just got voted the second hottest male behind Oli Sykes in Australia’s music magazine
AA: Oh, wow. You must be please.
AS: Oh very pleased. More embarrassed. It’s quite embarrassing.
AA: If you tour with Bring Me you and Oli can compare notes.
AS: “Oh what did you do to your hair today?”
JB: “How’s your pout looking?” *laughter*
AA: If there are more women in a pit, or girls I should say, would you say that affects the behaviour?
Both: Nah
AS: If guys want to party they’ll just do it and they don’t care about girls getting hurt or anything
JB: And the girls that do get involved back in Australia anyway (Hayley, Violet, Courtney) they don’t give a fuck anyway.
AS: I guess when I used to mosh, whenever there was a girl I’d try to steer clear of them cause I’d feel too bad if I hit a tiny little girl
JB: I have this friend who used to go around the whole outside of the pit, and this dude’s like 6 foot 10, and he’d just swing his arms at everyone on the edge. I think you just get used to it.
AA: What would you say the unspoken rules of being in a pit are?
JB: If someone’s hurt pick them up.
AS: Definitely. If someone falls, pick them up.
AA: Do you have any examples or experiences of a pit that you would like to share?
JB: I jumped into a crowd and landed on my coccyx
AA: That sucks
AS: Bloody nose, that’s it
AA: The example I give is Gallows getting the audience to build an 8 person high pyramid
AS: No we don’t have anything like that
JB: Other than the typical wall of death
AA: Okay, well that’s it, thank you very much guys.
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Dec
03/09
03/09
The Fall Of Troy: Interview
Last Updated on Thursday, 3 December 2009 11:55
Written by Alison Aird
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Written by Alison Aird
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
For the second interview as part of my research project I had the chance to chat with The Fall Of Troy’s drummer Andrew Forsman and the newest addition to the band, bassist and back up vocalist Frank Ene. We had a great talk about their musical backgrounds and recommendations for people just getting into the more experimental prog rock scene like myself. On top of that, they had some pretty epic answers for my research proposal. Enjoy!
Alison A: Your music seems really technical. Have you guys been self taught or have you had professional training?
Frank E: I was self taught
Andrew F: I took drum lessons for a few years but that didn’t help me much. It was like jazz and how to read music and with this band we don’t play jazz or read music. Rick Stenzlen [apologies Rick, if this isn’t your surname, but congrats on teaching a great drummer] was my drum teacher.
AA: When did you start writing music? Were you pretty young when you just though “hey, I’m going to try writing music”?
FE: About 15 and a half, I started with a little riffage.
AF: Yeah I was probably about the same.
FE: It was about the time I was in my first band.
AA: Where are your favourite places to play? Do you like shows at home?
FE: Even though it’s hectic I like LA and the Hollywood area, that’s fun. Chicago. I’d love to play New York City.
AF: Yeah, I like Austin.
FE: I like Austin too.
AF: I like over here a lot too, it’s always a lot of fun. Like Germany…
FE: I’ve never played in Germany, but like festivals.
AA: Have you managed to sort out the Europe dates after this?
AF: We’ll probably be back in about 4 months.
AA: You were calling it “The Weak Tour” on the website, come on, it’s short but sweet right?
AF: Yeah, my passport was all messed up so it’s all my fault. But we shall be back, promise!
AA: As you started writing so young has your inspiration changed? Or the things you write about?
FE: Oh man, when I write stuff I’m always like “okay dude, it should sound like this” and it never sounds like you want it to and it’s like, okay, I’m stuck with this.
AF: I mean there not always, I mean there’s never an inspiration when I’m writing drum parts. I just want to make the song as good as possible.
FE: When you started writing your parts did you ever steal other elements?
AF: Oh yeah dude! I totally ripped off a part from Sparta!
FE: Really?
AF: *demonstrates* But I changed it a little bit! It was a little cut and paste at first!
AA: I read that you guys don’t have set lists. Who decides what comes next?
AF: It could be anyone. Sometimes it’s Tom, he just knows what he wants to play, or some nights he’ll be like what shall we play? Or maybe some kid in the crowd shouts out so we’ll do that.
FE: Since I’ve joined the band it seems like every tour we’ll have a block of songs that we’ll play, we might change it up.
AF: Yeah we have like 15 or 16 songs that we’ll pick from on each tour. It just depends on the tour.
AA: And you can do your whole catalogue? I mean you’ve got a lot of albums.
AF: Yeah, we try to get something off of every album.
FE: I’m still trying to get them all. I’ve got four more songs and then I’ll be all caught up. I’ll be ready next tour.
AF: You’ve got a couple of long ones, loooong ones to go.
FE: Yeah, god, ball busters!
AA: Overall what would you want to achieve as a band? Like what would you want to say to your grandkids about it?
AF: Uuuuh, I played in a band for my whole life, I built my family on this band, it has sustained me forever
FE: My mum’s taken care of
AF: Yeah, my parents are taken care of, my family’s taken care of. That’s about it. I don’t need to be famous or rich, I just need to have everyone taken care of and be happy.
AA: That’s a good way to go into it
FE: And obviously to make the fans feel good!
AF: Oh yeah! But I think if you’re taken care of then that’s a result. So like the overall goal for me would be that everybody’s happy and I don’t have to work a 9 to 5!
AA: So I’ve just got into your music, shamefully, I just reviewed your album last week and was like “oh man, I’m really into this”, so are there any other bands you recommend I listen to that are more that kind of experimental style?
AF: Have you heard Minus The Bear?
AA: That one I have, any others?
FE: Yo La Tengo
AF: I knew you were going to say that one! Have you heard that one?
AA: No!
AF: Yo La Tengo, TV on the Radio, we don’t listen to a lot of it…
FE: Do you mean experimental rock?
AA: Yeah
AF: Tera Melos
FE: That’s a great band
AF: And a great band name
FE: I would say a band called Law Dispute, they’re from Grand Rapids. They’re experimental
AF: Would you say Touche Amores is experimental?
FE: Nah
AF: Yeah they’re pretty straight forward like, rock LA punk band. Law Dispute for sure though. If you haven’t heard them, they’re a band from over here that aren’t a band anymore and they’re called Second Smile. They’re probably one of my favourite bands.
AA: Was it right you started recording the first album when you were 17?
AF: Well he [Frank] didn’t
AA: Yeah cause you joined later, but you did, was there loads of pressure when you were 17?
AF: I was so excited, I was like “sweet, I get to record now?”. Spring break! So I wasn’t too nervous.
AA: Do you reckon you would’ve gone to university?
FE: He was at university
AF: I was at the university of Washington
AA: How’d your parents take that?
AF: Me dropping out?
AA: Yeah
AF: Not well… uh they were a little cooler after they saw us play to 3000 people in Seattle. They were kind of nervous at first, but they have since realised that this is what I love doing and I can always go back to school.
AA: You should’ve pulled that card on your parents, the “why don’t you have faith in me?”
FE: Aaaw naaah!
AF: They always had faith in me, they just didn’t think it was the best decision
FE: They’re parents
AA: Yeah
AF: They wanted me to go the 9 to 5 route and I just don’t want to do that at all. I love my parents and they’ve supported me without question. They were just a little bit… “I don’t know if that’s the best choice, but if it’s your choice it’s your choice”.
AA: Aaaaaw
AF: They get it now, they understand, it’s all good!
AA: Were you going to go to school Frank?
AF: He was bored at school. He just wants to be doing music
FE: Yeah, I just want to be playing
AA: Fair enough!
AF: Music’s the best! It’s my favourite thing on earth.
FE: I’m kind of too stubborn for back up plans. That may irritate me later
AF: Oh I definitely have plans. You don’t have the escape pod?
FE: No
AF: Oh man I do. I have it all planned out. I’m good to go!
FE: Can you let me know? Can you tell me?
AF: Well, it’s a secret. It’s not anything crazy, it’s like take it real back down low, go to school, get a job. I have like the technical details down.
FE: That’s good
AA: You know like the school you’ll go to…
AF: Oh yeah, what bus routes I’ll take. The escape pod is fully stocked but I’m hoping it never comes to that.
AA: Okay, do you guys ever get writers block, it seems like you’ve been constantly writing?
AF: There are long periods where we just don’t write anything. I guess they’re only like two or three months but they seem like a long time to me.
FE: What like two or three months not writing?
AF: Yeah, usually we can write pretty quick, like a good three or four in a good session. You’ve just got to harness that thing.
AA: Do you usually write on the road?
AF: Not usually, we save it
AA: Which of the albums is your favourite?
FE: What me personally?
AA: Yeah
AF: For me it’s the last two
FE: I can’t say the record I’m on
AF & AA: Yeah you can!
AF: I played on all of them! You’re going to have to get over that buddy!
AA: It’s a good record, be proud of it!
FE: Oh yeah, I’m very proud of it!
AF: But for you, you were like a fan of it before.
FE: Yeah
AF: So which one Frank, come on, answer the question!
FE: I’m sorry! My brain’s gone dry. I like Ghostship and Phantom on the Horizon, the original stuff, and this new record is obviously awesome, but that old stuff’s nice.
AA: So you worked with Terry Date on this record?
AF: Yeah
AA: Was he the one take guy?
AF: No, I mean with drums we’d do like 7 or 8 takes at least and we’d pick the best from that. I mean there’s no way you’re going to get it in the first take.
FE: I mean tracking my bass and vocals we’d do it and he’d be like “Frank I think we got it” but I’d be like “let’s go again”
AF: Yeah, he knows when it’s right, but he indulges you to see if you can do it better.
AA: Yeah, that’s a good producer. So, are there any big bands that you haven’t toured with yet that you would like to tour with?
FE: I’ve always wanted to tour with like, Incubus or something.
AF: I’d love that. All my favourite bands are too big or dead. I mean, we’re not going to tour with Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Beatles. I respect a lot of bands. I mean Muse would be fun. Muse would be great. Uh Rise Against?
FE: Yeah?
AF: Yeah I’ve toured with them before. I wish we did the Eastpak tour with Alexisonfire and Anti Flag, that would’ve been fun. Any of those, I mean I’m not sure about you, but as far as bigger bands go I think they all have the credibility.
FE: Yeah.
AA: I think it’d be good for you guys to do something like that, I mean so often you go to shows and you hear basically the same sounding stuff.
AF: Yeah, we try to do that a lot of times, but sometimes…
AA: You just have to…
AF: Yeah it’s just the bands you’re booked with.
AA: Is there anything you couldn’t survive without on tour?
AF: Cigarettes. In America, Taco Bell. Here…
AA: Do you hate the food here? Most American bands tend to.
AF: Here? You have great stuff and you have horrible stuff.
FE: It’s just easier to get greasy bad stuff in America.
AF: I mean, I know where to go in America and over here I’m not quite so knowledgeable.
FE: I mean it’s the same if you went over there. But if you went to Jack O Box you would know it’s great.
AF: Yeah you would know you get jalapenos poppers, some cheesy macaroni bites.
FE: When you’re from a place you just figure out what’s better.
AF: I know where the best teriyaki place in Seattle is.
Part 2: Dissertation Questions
AA: Right, you can talk about shows you’ve been to or your owns shows, anything. How would you describe a pit at a hardcore show?
AF: It depends what kind of hardcore show you’re going to.
FE: Yeah, cause I don’t want to say anything bad
AF: Well, thrasy hardcore is just people bumping into each other and pushing each other, but then when you get into hardcore with breakdowns it’s more like a bunch of ninjas training on the same floor, but not together at all. It’s just them doing their own exercises, like swinging their arms in windmills, or picking up chain off the ground.
AA: I was pulling both those at Bring Me The Horizon on Thursday.
FE: I would describe it as me standing behind the pit thinking “dear god, what is wrong with these people?”
AF: Yeah but she’s asking about the actual pit.
FE: Yeah but I’m saying what I do…
AF: But she’s not asking about the dude outside the pit she’s asking what goes on inside. If you’re in the pit…
FE: You’ve been in a pit before?!
AF: Frank, come on dude, I’ve done everything.
FE: You were in there pulling that?
AF: Nah I did this *demonstrates across the room* Well it was for fun. I never thought till we started touring…
FE: Oh man, like when you guys were touring with Hates The Day(?)
AF: Ooooh, yeah, but I was on stage, so I wasn’t in there. I’ve been to their shows, it was pretty funny.
FE: But you like got in there?
AF: Yeah, like, as a joke!
FE: But you moshed with people?
AF: Oh yeah, like Warped Tour. But that wasn’t a pit at a hardcore show, that’s at Warped Tour, it’s a festival.
FE: Yeah you could go to a gospel show and they’d still mosh.
AF: Yeah, like Christian rock.
AA: Would you say that that behaviour is distinctive of the scene?
AF: Yes. I don’t know how much these days, I haven’t seen a lot of hardcore dancing lately but…
FE: Well when we get to somewhere like Colorado or something like that they do it.
AF: Do they? See I’m always just looking at my drums so I don’t see. But it’s definitely like, you’re not going to see that at the Red Wine concert. You’ll probably see a little moshing.
FE: I think I saw a dude doing that at the Purple Turtle last night.
AF: I saw a few people!
AA: At Purple Turtle? Definitely.
FE: There wasn’t even a band playing.
AA: Oh no, they just go there to do it.
FE: Why would you do that?
AF: Hey dude, it’s chugga chugga man.
FE: Chugga chugga!
AA: Would you say that the quality of the show is proportionate to the size or intensity of the pit? So, is it a better show if there are more people going nuts?
FE: Well it looks pretty crazy.
AF: I would say the size of the show doesn’t matter so much as how crazy at the show are. I mean we’ve played shows to like 400 people but they don’t move much.
AA: Arms crossed?
AF: Not really arms crossed, just more like they’re paying attention, and it’s hard to play for a bunch of people that aren’t moving because you don’t know if they like you or not. Like why should I go all out? At least it’s like that for me. I mean I try to, but it’s an inevitable thing if people are bumming me out a little bit you can’t give it your all. I mean it’s like, I put my heart out there and you guys don’t really care. Which is not always true, but sometimes it feels that way.
FE: I mean for me, if people don’t leave that’s good, it means we’re doing really really well. I mean I’m amazed.
AF: But I mean like, it’s hard when you can’t see a physical reaction.
FE: Oh yeah
AF: It’s like you don’t know, they’re just judging you so hard.
FE: It’s like, “mum did I do good?”
AF: Yeah, if you’re mum’s standing there like “yeah, you did fine, I had a good time” or if she’s like hugging you and all “you did great!!!!” there’s a difference. I would say it matters, yes.
AA: At what point would you say a pit or an audience becomes out of control?
FE: When people get hurt.
AF: Yeah. We had a guy that did a stage dive in Knoxville, Tennessee like 3 weeks ago and he landed straight on his head.
FE: And arm.
AF: And he was just out, a little drunk too
FE: It was the Bay area
AF: But basically the show had to end. Whenever the show has to end because someone in the crowd took it too far, that’s when it’s out of control.
AA: Would you say there are younger of older people in your audience?
AF & FE: Younger
AA: Would you say they are more male or female?
AF & FE: Male
AA: If you do see girls in the pit do you reckon that affects the behaviour and makes them more conscious?
FE: I don’t know. I don’t think so.
AF: Well most of the pits, dudes you’d think they’d look out a bit more which is kind of weird, but in a pit you should be looking out for everyone anyway. I don’t know, if I see people in a pit I take care of them.
FE: At the same time I guess a girl going into that, knowing it could be dangerous
AF: Yeah, it’s not like she’s going in oblivious to the fact that it’s not the most safe environment. Unless she’s wasted and just wandered in there. But then she’s not throwing her arms around, so you can be like “hey get out of here or you’ll get hurt!”
FE: Yeah, it’s like going in a shark tank, you don’t know that that shark’s not going to touch you.
AA: Yeah with me on Thursday at BMTH, it was like me and 50 dudes and they just did not give a shit. But I’d rather that.
FE: Yeah, you know what you’re getting into. I’d never do that.
AF: I mean I used to go in there when I was 16 and didn’t care but after getting hit in the face a few times I was like “dude, I’ll just watch from the back”. I don’t want to get pushed around, I want to listen to the music.
AA: Yeah literally I came out and was like “I’m not 17 anymore, I can’t do this now”. Okay, what would you say the unspoken rules of a pit are?
FE: Don’t punch anyone.
AF: Yeah, don’t hurt anyone and if someone does go down help them up
FE: That’s a golden rule
AF: Yeah some people know but don’t care though. I mean basically, don’t hit anyone on purpose and if someone goes down pick them up. It’s called courtesy. I mean we’re all here to enjoy the show, and if your way of enjoying it is by flailing your arms around then by all means do it, but try not to hit anybody, and once again if anyone goes down, pick them up.
FE: Pick them up.
AF: We’re all here together so we might as well get along.
AA: Do you have any examples or experiences that you would like to share. Say something really epic or something you’ve seen?
AF: I mean it’s always just the same.
FE: Yeah, one, I saw Gallows play
AA: Oh yeah, they make a pyramid?
FE: They do a wall of death, but it was way more epic because it was Gallows. I was like “this is pretty cool”.
AF: That’s not really pit though.
AA: My example I give is Gallows built an 8 person high pyramid in the pit when I saw them.
AF: Did anyone get hit?
AA: No
FE: Wall of death isn’t a pit?
AA: I would say it is.
AF: Ok, I would say it’s like a war
*laughter*
FE: But what do the sides represent?
AA: Nothing usually
AF: What are we getting rhetorical here? What do each side represent? Good and bad? I don’t know! Everyone’s right on some level!
