Blessthefall | Back On The Road
By Jameson Ketchum

No stranger to controversy and the insanely overused question of “Are you a Christian band?”, Beau Bokan, the powerful and commanding vocalist of Blessthefall, spoke with Hopecore.com recently to plug the new record Awakening and to clear up any misconceptions when it comes to his personal faith. Bokan will be hitting the road this month on the Fearless Friends Tour alongside label mates Motionless in White and The Word Alive.

Its been awhile since we’ve caught up with you guys and awhile since we’ve heard some new tunes. Was Awakening being written on the road these past few years?

Beau Bokan: Yeah, in fact Awakening was released EXACTLY two years after Witness. We definitely wrote a lot while we were on the road as we’ve been on tour for what seems like forever! Then we had a couple months off right before we went into the studio to really buckle down and make sure we had all the songs we needed for the album.

The intro is such a powerful proclamation. Tell our readers what inspired this and what it says about the record as a whole?

BB: We wanted to really set up the album by making a statement. We want everyone to know that we’re here to deliver a message, a positive message. In a scene where positivity is so scarce, we want to stand above all of that.

So much can change in such a short amount of time in this scene. What did you know you wanted to do differently on this record? Any fears or surprises during the process?

BB: Well you know it seems like new bands are popping up by the dozen every single day. These bands are taking what is trendy and cool in the scene at the moment and re-hashing it and watering it down. We on the other hand wanted to keep doing what we did with Witness. We found OUR own sound without conforming to what everyone else was doing. We wanted to build off what we had created ourselves. We wanted to make our own sound bigger and better and add even more passion into our songs. We take pride in bringing forth good musicianship as well as meaningful lyrics.

You’re out on the Fearless Friends Tour this winter. Firstly Beau, you get to be Ryu! Dream come true or what?

BB: HAAADUUUKKEENNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What are you looking forward to with this tour? Stoked to see reactions to the new stuff?

BB: You know, we have such an amazing tour package and it’s so diverse. I’m looking forward to seeing lots and lots of new faces and new fans. Definitely excited to see the reaction to the new songs. The album would have been out for about month when the tour starts so it will be cool to see which songs everyone likes the most.

What makes a tour like this with all your label mates different or more special than other tours?

BB: It makes it more like a family event. Like we all got the same dad and we want to make him proud! So we’re all super excited.

You made a statement months back in regards to your faith. It was really encouraging to hear. Could you elaborate on that a bit here? What sparked that statement and how are things going with that process?

BB: Yeah, I was brought up Catholic and some years back I kind of fell away from the church and from some of my convictions I had made as a believer in God. I fell into a lot of temptation out on the road. It’s so easy when girls are being thrown at you and when you’re lonely and don’t really have anything to lose so to speak. Then about a year ago my grandfather had passed away and he was my role model, my father figure. He was what I always wanted to grow up to be. He was also the perfect example of how a Christian should live their life. He never shoved Christianity down anyone’s throat, he just led by example. Anyhow, when he passed something totally switched in my mind and in my heart. I invited God back into my life to take control. Ever since that day I’ve been on the right track and I even met my beautiful fiancee who has also had a huge positive impact on my life. It’s so hard these days with everyone wanting to be “anti-belief” and everyone thinks its super hip to wear an upside down cross. That lifestyle is SO damn easy, trust me. It’s harder to have faith and live your life with convictions but it’s so worth it in the end.

Wow, that’s amazing. What’s the plan for Blessthefall after the FF tour?

BB: Continue…to…take over…the wooooorrrlllldddddd (said in robot voice)