atural progression. Time and time again this phrase came up during our chat with Anberlin vocalist Stephen Christian and drummer Nathan Young. This is a band that a lot of us have grown up with and will continue to do so once we discover the splendor that is their new release Dark is the Way, Light is A Place. Never shying away from their 80’s influences, this time around Anberlin has delivered a stark contrast, not only in the record as a whole, but from their previous works. For those of you who never quite caught onto their last record New Surrender, you’re in for a treat. And for those of you who have been loyal fans throughout every Anberlin release, you won’t be disappointed. Understanding that a band must progress and age just like everyone else is tough concept to grasp sometimes, especially when you literally have grown up alongside a band such as this. We’re most critical of those we adore and we expect the utmost respect in return for years of loyalty and criticism. The bottom line? I’ve had this album on repeat for weeks and Anberlin will continue to hold that spot in my heart for years to come.
First of all, catch our readers up on what has been going on in your lives since the release of New Surrender at the end of 2008?
Stephen Christian: So much has happened, yet so little. I moved from LA to Nashville which for me was a great move and lead to a lot of opportunities to write with other bands and great writers. As far as the band is concerned we had the opportunity to tour with a lot of great bands (AAR, Taking back Sunday, etc.) and see some beautiful parts of the world we had not yet explored (namely Brazil).
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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
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Being on a major label for these last two records now, has your creative process changed at all? Do you feel added pressure to maybe write differently than when you were on an indie? Or does that just kind of come naturally with getting older?
SC: The creative process has not changed at all to be honest, though Christian (who joined us right before New Surrender) has been vital to the growth and development of the Anberlin sound. I do not feel pressure now being on a major but I did when were
on an indie. More than once our indie asked us to change the name of songs because they sounded “too suggestive”; so yes I have felt pressure to write a certain way, but it has never been from the major.
The major, for the most part, largely cares about numbers, as long as I keep those numbers up my 'job' is secure. No pressure, no grey area, very black and white.
Nathan Young: Surprisingly no, that was one of the biggest worries going into being on a major. We’ve always heard the horror stories of them contacting you and being like “hey we want this writer to write with you or it needs to sound like this” but no we don’t really have that pressure. I think if there is any pressure there, we put it on ourselves. The first one we did on Universal I think we just kind of psyched ourselves out and thought “We’re on a major, it needs to sound like a major label record”, whatever that means. I think that may have choked it a little bit. They really are a great label and they’ve never really hassled us with that. When it comes down it, they signed us for who we were not who we could be, it was what they heard in us. They wanted to sign Anberlin for who we were. So no, there’s not as much pressure. We just kind of do what we do and hope that they’re stoked on it.
As your fans kind of grow up along with you, what do you think they expect from Anberlin?
SC: Better music on every record.
How do you respond to fans who are maybe a bit sad and say that Anberlin has moved away from the rock sound of their first three albums and gone for a bit more of a crooner/indie feel on the new material? Do you feel that’s a true statement?
NY: You really can’t make everyone happy. There will be people that will say “I wish every single song was like a heavy song”. Everyone is going to have a different opinion and from what I’ve seen and read it’s true that some people are saying “Their best record is their first record!” But we think it’s our worst or our least favorite but that’s just kind of the way it goes. I don’t know if we really think about it. We do take note in the sense of like knowing what our fans like. I think that does affect how we write and I think it should. There are a lot of bands who will do a couple records with the same feel then completely make a departure from it, from what their fans like in the first place and I’ve never been a fan of that. I’ve never been stoked when bands do that. I just think “Dude, I loved that record!” And I’ve never wanted them to keep putting out the same record.
A complete departure is never a good idea in my opinion. With this new record, some people hear it as being softer or some hear it as being heavier. In my opinion I think its closer to the darker stuff that we’ve done but again I think everyone has a different opinion on it but I definitely would say that we’ve grown out the super aggressive harder stuff. I don’t know if its because we’re getting older, (laughs) its not like we don’t listen to that stuff anymore but I think we just try and make music that we love and that there is a natural progression. I think it pulls a lot from what we listen to and I think that’s kind of way we kind of completely went away from the poppy side of things because we’re all grown men and we all tend to like stuff that is not that way at all. Not that we’re trying to sound like that but that’s just what comes across from what you’re inspired by and what you look up to.
That makes sense, as someone doing this as a career you want to progress and not be
singing to teenagers about girl problems your whole life. I’ve listened to you since I was 17 and it’s nice to grow up along with one of your favorite bands.
NY: Yeah I was actually just talking about this in an interview earlier. I was saying the same thing. People who started listening to our records when they were 15 or 16 are now in their mid 20’s. We don’t want to keep trying to write for people who this is going to be their first introduction to us. I think its almost like a respect thing to our fans like saying that we’re not going to keep putting out records that are like our first record because at this point we’re all older and we have all grown up together and that’s a really cool special thing to me that we’ve been around and been blessed to do this for so long and that we have fans that we literally feel like we’ve gone through so much together, it’s a really cool thing for sure.
For those who maybe thought that you went too soft on New Surrender, what do they have to look forward to on this new release?
SC: The same. New Surrender may have not been my proudest moment, but it was my moment. It was me. It was where the band was at in that moment. I do not have any apologies for NS, it got us to where we are today. All I can say is that we are perpetually in a state of forward progression, progress may not always be for the best, but at least it is moving in the right direction.
One of the first songs we’ve all heard so far “We Owe This To Ourselves” is based on some of your thoughts on Ghandi correct? Can you expand on where this song came from?
SC: Actually it was based on one of Ghandi's pupils, his name was Martin Luther King Jr.; the theme of the song came to me after I heard a story about him on NPR. It was talking about his final days and the fact that he felt like he could do no right, and that his “dream” may never be recognized. He even foreshadowed his own death in several sermons. The song is a call to action for the rest of us who believe racism is one of the greatest crimes against humanity in our worlds history.
Talk to me about the name of the new album?
SC: It comes from a poem by the poet Dylan Thomas. I believe it aligns the perfect contradiction between our heavyhearted, “dark”, and sobering moments with our consistent pursuit of hope.
Was the dark/light contrast something you were aiming for from the beginning of the writing process?
NY: I think as it got closer to finishing the record and even more so when the record was done, it kind of felt that way. We were throwing around album titles and we kind of all felt that. It is true that the dark and light has been done a lot in a sense but I think that musically it feels darker and some of the lyrics are lighter. I think it just kind of fit with this album. We threw around that title and we just thought that it really does go together. I think sometimes that people want too much of a literal definition but it really was more of a feeling. I think that’s why we wanted to accomplish the most with this album was because of the feeling of it. It was the artwork and the vibe of the record rather than wanting it to be a concept album or this tying in with that. I think the title really just fit well. If you read the full poem by Dylan Thomas I think it really just ties in with life and everything.
I read constant updates from your drummer Nate that you were doing a fair share of experimenting on this album. What new elements are you most excited about?
SC: One of the first things that Brenden (O’Brien) did when he met with me was to say “I know you can sing, I know it! You just finally need to put it on a record”. At first that was shocking to hear, because as a vocalist you want to think you put everything into each and every album; but he was right. For me the most exciting thing is that for the first time the musicians weaved the music around my vocals and not the other way around.
As music changes and we see more and more waves of auto-tune and “artists” who don’t write their own songs, how do you see Anberlin staying relevant in the years to come?
SC: Those who fight to remain relevant only succeed at looking desperate and outdated. Again, all I can do is stay true to who I am, whose I am, and write & perform the music I am inspired to write. There will always be a new and shiny gadget for the music world to play with... but they will come and go, and be forgotten.
What are Anberlin’s plans for the Fall following this release?
SC: Tour, tour, tour, tour, eat, sleep, repeat.
Nate, I read that you actually wrote the epic album ender “Depraved”, can you tell us a bit about what inspired that?
NY: It was really weird. For one thing I’ve never written a full song for Anberlin. I’ve thrown in some ideas and parts but that’s it. I didn’t write it to be the last song by any means. I wrote it as just more of a heavier rock song because if you heard the demo it’s really different, its just a little bit more straightforward and I guess it wasn’t like this long epic song. I remember Stephen putting vocals and melodies to it and we sent it back and it just had this dark cool feel so then Christian, our guitar player, said that we should try and make it the last song. Immediately, I was like “Oh the last song!” That’s the ones fans are always like stoked on because its longer and we always try to make it this big and epic song. It was really cool, I feel really honored and it’s this special thing for me because none of us are like that, like “Oh I wrote this or that!” It’s just all songs written by Anberlin. It is cool to hear it all finished with everything on it and to think that I have the last song on our record. I think its weird to think of “inspired by” because I was listening so much to that band Editors when I wrote it. I just feel like I listened to that a lot and I like how it’s slick but dark all at the same time. I’m really stoked on it.
I read a quote from Stephen saying that you’re on the brink of something, either world domination or destruction. Can you elaborate on this thought?
NY: I think what he’s saying is just that we’re at a point of this is our fifth album and with Anberlin its always been a very slow and steady build which we’re very thankful for like I said we’ve brought so many fans with us. But at this point it is kind of a weird spot because with it being our fifth album, and our second on a major label, its kind of like make or break time. You either go straight up and it ends up being like this record does really well and kills it, which is what we all hope for or, just with the way the industry is and the way people are, it could totally bomb. It could totally be it for us and I think a lot of fans get bummed when we talk about it and not to be depressing but it’s just the honest truth. It could either be the biggest thing we’ve ever done or it could be total destruction for us, it could be the end.
There’s just a lot of time and a lot of people and money that goes into bands, I don’t know if people realize that, it’s a big thing. When you go for it, you really go for it. If you put it all out there and it doesn’t do well, that’s kind of the end. Not to say that if this record doesn’t do well we’re just going to peace out and never do another record but we’ve kind of all said that like this is what we love to do and we’ll do it until it makes sense not to do it. At this point if the record doesn’t do well we could very possibly be done but none of us think that we’re done for but it’s just a true statement, it’s honest. 
The Devil Wears Prada | Walking Dead Chaos
hen their last album landed at #11 on the Billboard top 200 Chart and #1 on the Indie Chart, it was obvious that The Devil Wears Prada were not messing around anymore. Or so we thought. While grabbing lunch in Baltimore TDWP front-man Mike Hranica took some time to answer his phone and chat with us for a while about the band’s release of the Zombie EP. Hranica was more than modest, making sure not to take credit for anything that is not originally his, and questioning the originality of things that were. Amidst all this humility comes a product that is innovative to our music scene. And though the topic may be fictional, this story is not one to be read before bed. Proving Hranica’s knack for fiction writing and that TDWP is Thrash, the new Zombie EP is exactly what we were hoping for from Prada.
Mike, thank you for talking with us! You guys have been at this for a while now, and you have obviously aged and grown since Dear Love, what have the years taught you that you hoped to do differently on this EP?
Mike Hranica: Everything with the EP felt really natural to the band in general. It felt really natural to me especially. When we did the EP it wasn’t like reinventing or creating something new for me as I wrote parts. It was already there. It was just a different way. I focused on the songs. I felt like everything on the EP we already had in us but it was just something we didn’t do; it was something we wanted to do now obviously.
So along those same lines was there any particular element you purposefully kept, or went back to, from previous releases?
MH: Everything about it was a lot like our releases because we are still the same band. It just kind of flowed I guess. When we came up with all the songs it was very central toward hitting harder. This time it was just what we focused on and it just kind of came naturally.
Let me say that this EP is sick. We have had Zombie cinema and literature and now we have music. And reading through the lyrics you really paint a very vivid picture of what this sort of take-over would look like. What inspired you guys to do this Zombie EP? And what are some Zombie pieces that you pulled from?
MH: It was just an idea to have some fun and come up with a zombie song. It was something fun and something to enjoy doing. We just kind of went with it. As far as inspiration, for me writing the lyrics it was pretty primarily the Romero zombies, the slow clumsy zombies, the fever and gray skin. I wanted the zombies throughout the EP to be pretty stereotypical. I read a lot while writing the EP to try and come up with ideas and be as creative as possible with everything. I think that there’s a lot of zombies you can come up with and I encountered that as I read. Some zombies are totally different than others but I really wanted to keep it very ordinary and original.
Is there any meaning that we as listeners are supposed to take from it or is it just for kicks?
MH: I don’t know if you would say there’s specific meaning to it. It’s not really meant to send a message. It’s something that was different than our full length and it’s not meant to be taken as seriously which makes it kind of fun for us and the fans. We wanted to give people something that isn’t overwhelming. We do love to come up with full lengths and we love talking about the message we have and putting that throughout the music. But the EP is just meant to be more music, well it’s kind of hard to explain, it’s always music. The EP is meant to be heavy, I kind of describe it as dumb because it’s not the same intelligence that I would put into a full length but it’s meant for the fans to enjoy and to have some new Prada to listen to.
The pre-orders come with a comic book; can you tell us more about that?
MH: We actually got some of them today for the first time to see them. Its sweet, it’s a full fledged comic book, full size with nice glossy pages. It just goes through the story of us killing zombies with us having an ultimate mission which you don’t find out until the end of the book. I think its fourteen pages. It’s full fledged. No one really gets it because we didn’t describe it much but it’s not a joke or just something to make money. It was kind of like the perfect idea to make a pre-order package for fans. We’re really stoked for how it’s looking to be.
What are your plans for a full-length album in the near future?
MH: We’re working on talking to producers right now but we’re shooting for January/February which is tentative. We have some other tour offers that are kind of interfering with that but we’re shooting for early next year to be in the studio.
I want to switch gears a bit... Talk to me for a second about fame. We all know that it has it pluses and minuses. For you what would you say is that best part of being in TDWP? And what would you say is the biggest misconception?
MH: My favorite part of playing in the band is definitely playing shows and coming up with new music. Before I joined the band I was already writing lyrics and what not, well I guess they were just poetry because I didn’t have songs to put it to so when I got the offer to join the band it seemed to work out perfectly because it was something I was already accustomed to doing. I still love finishing a song and sitting back and enjoying what you came up with.
When you come up with a new song and play it for the first time it’s always nerve-racking but I always loved playing shows. The more I have toured the last couple years the more I enjoy being at home. But I love being up on stage and playing the songs you came up with and saying what you have to say, putting the visual expressing behind what you came up with. I’ve always thought of our band as more of a live band than a recorded band.
As far as misconceptions, I guess anything heroic or famous. I hate to think of us that way, like our band having famous members or something, that sounds like total BS to me, I don’t like that. I’m not trying to sell myself by being in a band, I’m not trying to be popular myself, I’m trying to work for the band and make the band stand out. I’m not trying to be famous or any sort of hero or perfect or anybody’s idol, I’m trying to talk about what the band talks about and make the music that we make.
I think a lot of people kind of get mixed up. You see other bands and other guys trying to make themselves gods and trying to push their own name rather than their band’s name. They’re trying to make themselves these…I don’t even know. I hate that, I bands that do that. I know people see that in our band but it’s something that I hate to look at and I’d hate for our band to be like that.
You guys started this thing at a young age, and it kind of took off quickly, is there anything you would rather do with your life, or something you hope to transition into in the future?
MH: For me, before I joined the band I was in high school, I was just planning on going to college and doing English literature, whether it was journalism or trying to write just anything-that was something I’ve always loved. Even now that I’ve been doing this for a few years, someday I’ll move on, I know I won’t be able to play shows forever. I’ll always be writing but I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else but playing in a band at this point in my life. Especially in the last couple months I’ve really been disciplining myself into writing more than just band lyrics so that’s something I’d like to concentrate on.
I have seen you guys being ragged on in the past for the type of music that you play. And I feel that really styles and genres are all very relative. What does your music and the style that you play mean to you? And what DID you hope to do with TDWP when you guys started?
MH: What it means to me is the message. We’ve always talked about God and the lyrics have always been about God. If you were to call our band successful, which I’d be reluctant to, any sort of success we’ve had as far as playing shows and selling CDs is because of God and God wanting to work through us. That’s what the band needs to be and I know I get far from it sometimes and my mind wanders off to other things. I think about trying to do more for me than for God but that’s just one of my million imperfections and that’s one of the misconceptions we talked about earlier. If the band one day was saying they don’t want to talk about God anymore, that would change everything and I doubt I’d want to do it anymore.
When the band first started it was really just to play shows. You always see these band now days that come up with a nice MySpace before they even have songs, it’s stupid. For us and everyone else before the Internet was so popular, you made music to show people and because you wanted to play shows. We were all going to the same shows, the same local bands but we were never like well we want to get signed to Rise and played Warped. We never expected any of that to happen. We just wanted to play the shows on the weekends that we were going to. I didn’t know how a record deal or touring worked, we never would have wished for it or expected it and we just wanted to play shows. That’s what we wanted when we first got rolling.
I know a few Cinephiles that were pretty stoked when they heard you were doing a Zombie EP, so this question is for all of them out there. What is your favorite Zombie movie and why?
MH: I get this question a lot but we don’t have one. If it were anything current I guess it’d be Dawn of the Dead and Zombieland for me. When we named it the Zombie EP, I was reading a lot and not really watching movies. I’m not really a zombie movie buff and I feel funny to say Zombieland because it’s so new and popular and not an old classic.
It was all the books I was reading and trying to get my mind in the state of zombies and see what other authors did to give it a creative twist to an already creative scene.
Well the Final product is incredible! Be sure to pick up the new TDWP Zombie EP available now in stores and online everywhere!
The Showdown | Low Down Dirty
'll be honest, I haven't followed The Showdown since the very beginning. I don't know what their gnar demo shreds sounded like when they played in their garage or living room or recorded their EP in their bathroom or whatever they did, and I couldn't tell you any hometown history. I first saw The Showdown in some small, nothing-of-a-state named after an old dead guy named "Texas" awhile back. Backbreaker had just come out, brutal and metal - a prime soundtrack for killing people with bows and arrows - but they all wore their own shirts on stage and I was convinced that they were going to be the lamest, dudebro brodown band ever... And then, they started playing. Let me put it this way... Most bands shouldn't wear their own shirts on stage. The Showdown, however, PWNS so freakin' hard live that they could print onesies with their name on the chest and "I am metal" on the buttflap and still get away with being one of the most entertaining, bang-your-head bands on the Solid State roster...
If you take a minute to self-examine your life, maybe compare and contrast the person that you are, individually and outside of The Showdown, just living life, now, as opposed to where you were when you first started getting into this music thing we call industry and touring and shows and labels, what is the most drastic change you see in yourself? Surely, as with any life choice, you have learned valuable lessons along the way that are applicable to more than just the music. Think about it another way: as a kid, you grow up to be a man, and learn about who you are as you go along. What have you learned about yourself throughout your time in the band, and has anything about it changed the way you see the world, whether it has anything to do with The Showdown or not?
Josh Childers: I have learned that a good fitting pair of pants can make you feel at home just about anywhere. Water out of the tap in the Midwest sucks. Driving a van and trailer in New York City is even worse than it sounds. Nobody likes the guy that takes ten minutes to get his gear offstage. Generally speaking, homeless guys have more cash on them than you do. Most importantly, if she's into band dudes, she's trouble.
Maybe I’m wrong, but album trailers always get me to thinking that there might be a specific concept for the release as a whole… is there? Regardless, are there any underlying (or overt) themes to Blood In The Gears in its entirety?
JC: The underlying theme is basically dissent and rebellion. I don't mean blame the republicans, or get involved in the "green movement" or PETA or any of that crap. I mean to consider that there is a reason thousands of kids die of starvation every day when we have all the resources we need for every one of us to be healthy and happy. The power structure of society is set up to keep it that way. We are all the blood in the gears of that machine.
I’m going to go ahead and say that you guys are one of the most enjoyable bands to watch live. Were you as obnoxious (a compliment) in the beginning, as a local band, as you are now? What is the worst injury you’ve sustained during a set?
JC: We try to give people something to see. Venue sound is notoriously sketchy and we weren't always the tightest band in the world so the visual element has always been important. I've not ever been hurt too bad but I'm murder on headstocks. I cracked Dave on the head and knocked him out once, and broke a headstock on Eric's chest one time.
You’ve been part of the Solid State family for a while now. What are some of your favorite bands that you’ve seen become a part of that same roster in your time with them? Did you grow up as one of the “T&N” kids (like I did)?
JC: I used to buy every Solid State release without fail, total fanboy (laughs). Embodyment, Zao, and Living Sacrifice in particular really changed the way I looked at music and made me think it was possible for me to do it full time.
Regardless of my love for the beastliness of Backbreaker, if I were to compare a song like, say, “Achilles” to the more recent “Bring It Down” – it is my humble opinion that the ferocity and speed of the latter blows “Achilles” out of the water. It’s pissed and furious and immediately drops with this million-mile-an-hour-tempo-punkish-thing that goes into this two-million-mile-an-hour-blastbeat-I’m-planning-on-killing-you-with-my-shreds-thing and it’s dirty and clean all at once. I love it. When you wrote and recorded this album, what were some specific components that you wanted – needed – to have take place within the songs. What kind of a mindset do you have to be in to continue to create art that is unique from what you’ve done in the past?
all of us."
JC: We struggled to find ourselves for a long time and felt like Backbreaker was a good middle ground for all of us. This record is just us trying to distill it all down to its essence then crank everything up to ten.
Do people ever make fun of you for wearing your own shirts on stage? If I, hypothetically, of course, might have maybe made fun of you two years ago when you played (hypothetically) at the White Rabbit in San Antonio, Texas when I came to see you play, do you think you’d be able to nod and smile, or do you think you’d choke me with your jersey (hypothetically)?
JC: (Laughs) I remember that show, pretty sure I heard you. It's totally tongue in cheek, we'd look pretty stupid not being able to take a joke because of it.
I have a question, but it’s a sticky question, and I’m not sure if it’ll come across the way I want it to, but here she goes: You know how a lot of bands are like, “We do this for no other reason than to glorify Jesus Christ and we want you to know that if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t be doing this…” and all that jazz? What do you think about that? Because I recently heard an artist play a show, and he was a Christian, who was an artist, but he told everybody that he wasn’t a “Christian Artist” – and that he didn’t wear a “Christian Baseball Cap” while on stage, and then take it off and turn into a different person when he walked off the stage. I like that. I’d like to think that it’s alright to make art for art’s sake, and to play music because you love it, that it can be glorifying to God because you love it, and not because you’re making it sound like he’s forcing your hand. Granted, maybe God does specifically ask a lot of people to do what they do and that’s fine. What do you think? I suppose I ask because you’re in a genre that is claiming revival while others are saying it’s a popularity bandwagon.
certain thing."
JC: Honestly I don't know that I could put it any better. We try really hard not to put ourselves on some pedestal just because we play instruments and believe a certain thing. We're not role models. I look at a lot of super Christcore bands out now and just cringe, its idolatry. I don't know most of them and would rather not, so I'm not going to pass judgment. I'm sure they look at us and aren't all that pleased with what they see either. All I know is that from my perspective it looks like they're just stroking themselves.
Where do you foresee The Showdown going from here? Ya’ll gonna be around for awhile? If the band was done tomorrow, would you be satisfied with what you’ve been able to do? What will you do when it’s over? Or, if you could do anything in the world without any limitations whatsoever, what would you do?
JC: We'll keep doing this as long as people still care. We're honored to have been able to do it for as long as we have, and this kind of music has given a lot to me. Whatever I can give back I will.
Texas In July | Staring Into The Horizon
A young guns, Texas In July, laid some pretty stable foundation to build off of while still attending High School. That foundation included a deal with CI Records, an EP, a full-length, and a very heavy-hitting single. Now graduated and staring at nothing but free time on the horizon TIJ has transitioned to Equal Vision Records and will be hitting the road hard this Fall, then sitting down to record a full-length which we can expect this Spring. Here is a name you can get used to hearing.
What have the last two years looked like for you guys?
Ben Witkowski: We were in high school still, balancing doing homework and weekend shows. But since June 2010, all of our members are officially out of High School. So now we are taking on full time touring. It’s definitely a change from the past two years, because while attending high school we weren’t able to do too much, but we tried as much as
we could during the summertime.
You guys have a clip up on your page right now of a track that will come out on your full-length sometime this spring correct? Tell us a bit about what we can expect from that record.
BW: Our new track “Uncivilized” is actually not going to go on the full length that we are preparing to record. But what I can say is that the sound of the song is what we are aiming for. We are trying to accomplish a more melodic, big, heavy sound, while sticking with our original Texas In July roots.
What is most important to you when you sit down to write new music? What is foremost in your minds?
BW: We really try to capture and maintain a certain emotion throughout the song, so that everything flows together. Whether the song is happy, sad, or angry we try to maintain consistence of the natural feel for everything we write.
How did the name Texas In July Originate? You are from PA right?
BW: Yes we are from Pennsylvania, so sometimes our name throws people off. What we wanted to do with the name was have something very original that no one would have. During the process of picking a name for the band, our lead guitar player Christian went to visit family in Texas, In July. So when he came back, it got brought into conversation and we came to a consensus that it should be our bands name.
There is so much music out these days and especially in the heavy scene it is so easy to sound like everyone else. What do you feel sets you guys apart in this scene?
BW: I guess it can be easy for bands to sound alike, but in my opinion there is always someone in the band or something about the band’s appearance or sound, that can make them unique. When we write our music, we write exactly what we would want to hear. We also have a good amount of melodic leads and rhythms, and our vocalist has an angry lower range of vocals, this could set us apart from other bands? But you never know, it’s always someone’s opinion on what your band sounds like.
So far what has your favorite memory with the band been?
BW: The best memory of the band has to probably be going to Europe for a month with each other. It was generally just a great experience for us, setting aside playing shows everyday we saw things together that we have only ever dreamed of seeing; it was a great bonding experience and brought us closer together.
In your opinion, who is coming up that we should keep our eye on right now?
BW: Our good friends With Life In Mind, they just got signed to our first record label CI records. They are a bunch of great dudes and they put out awesome jams.
What are your plans for the next several months?
BW: Well, we leave September 3rd for a US tour with This Or The Apocalypse, and we get home October 17th. Then after that we are taking a little time off to finish writing our record. Then we are heading into the studio sometime in mid November, till around the holidays. Then after the ball drops and 2011 is in gear, we plan to hit the road almost immediately, and start off the New Year right!
I Am Alpha And Omega | Tangles And Triumphs
Am Alpha and Omega is the real deal, a brotherhood of believers on their way to reaching many more. Through a tumultuous summer of touring, festivals, a near label deal and ultimately, a disaster, IAAAO have successfully made it through to the other side to finally give us their full length record The Roar and The Whisper. The record is a ferocious and endearing work with nothing but passion at its roots. The concept of the title refers to how sometimes life's messages sneak into your ears gently and how other times they are blatantly screamed into your conscious. No one has more harshly learned that lesson this year than IAAAO. Vocalist Donny Hardy, and brother Peach are two of the most stand-up guys we've ever had the pleasure of chatting with. The brothers spoke with us earlier this summer before the record label tangles ensued and once again just days ago to catch us up on their band's endurance as well as what we the fans have to look forward to now.
Firstly, its no secret that there has been some controversy surrounding IAAAO regarding your album being released ahead of schedule. What was the issue and what is happening with it now?
Donny Hardy: Basically, we were talking to to
several labels about releasing the record. The talks were initially extremely positive, leading us to making the decision to hold back the release. One label we weren't able to come to an agreement with, and they actually released the record early without a contract. The other label we had great talks with and are still on great terms, they just aren't able to sign anyone at the moment. We wanted to get this record out to those who have supported us and patiently waited. We are proud to release this with Come and Live! Our supporters are so incredible, through it all, they never doubted us.
So for now, IAAAO is done with the label search?
DH: For now, we want to focus on playing the record out and making the right decisions. When the time comes for new music, we will see what happens.
I know this isn't the ideal way to have your album come out but is there just a sense of relief that the music is finally going to be out there and given to so many who have been waiting awhile?
DH: There is, in a huge way. The worst part about the whole thing was feeling terrible for making people wait. We’re just glad we can get it to everyone. The label mess up and album leak really were upsetting, but we know we have to trust in Lord and move forward.
You went out with Greeley Estates and Oh Sleeper earlier this summer. How was your new stuff received by kids who may have never heard you?
Peach Hardy: That's the one thing, we've had great crowd response on this tour. As far as on a professional level, Greeley and Sleeper have loved it so much they mention it to their labels even. they just want to see us succeed after becoming great friends with them. we're up over 250 pre orders for the new record now, God's blessings are just amazing right now. We kind of went into this with little expectations because you go in with your plan and then God just kind of takes over and blows your mind so its been amazing.
What did you want to accomplish with this new record musically, spiritually and lyrically?
PH: Musically, I think Donny and the guitars make the record. On this record I feel like God was really calling me to scale back on my drum stuff. I just think that its still good but on a musical level-you do your best and its hard to critique your own music but I think people will enjoy it and feel the intensity and passion that the Lord instilled in us. I was definitely going through a lot of changes in my walk with the Lord and just feeling His spirit every morning was such a blessing. I just kind of stepped back away from the band at a business level and guys had sensed that. It just gave me time to really be intimate with the Lord and i think you'll feel that in the drums and the music. I think we were all just going through this awesome transition with the Lord so I think that our music and our spirit really connect on the record. Donny's lyrics were dead on, he put in a lot of thought and prayer, he has a very unique way of doing that. Lyrically...that is more of a question for Donny but I know that he goes and prays and it definitely comes from the spirit and we want to make sure that those lyrics stand out as a form of worship.
DH: Lyrically, it was an interesting time for me because when the bus broke down last year I got really bitter. I just felt like God wasn't there. I used it for a period of about 7 or 8 months as a vehicle to question my faith. I didn't know if God was really there because there I was doing ministry work and it felt like He didn't care about me. I couldn't understand how or why He would do that. long story short, through that period was when we were writing the record and I had to wake up every day kind of fighting for my faith and beliefs and I felt lost and abandoned and trying to regain the ground spiritually. I just feel like God used that time to fuel the record. The vein of worship that runs through this record is kind of me crying out to God as a lost child. There is a track called "Wolves" that I wrote at about 7 in the morning at the studio. It really just kind of encompasses how I feel. Lyrically, it was just kind of me in one of the darkest spiritual times of my life just kind of grasping at straws just kind of looking for the Lord again and trying to reconnect with him. I think he explicitly used that dark time in my walk to fuel the record.
How did the title come about?
the record."
PH: Donny came up with it and I loved it. Our bus broke down on June 1st about a year ago in Florida and we are currently broken down again in Florida. That was such a miserable time for us but we thought it was kind of a time of God roaring in our lives and connecting. Now that I look back on it, it was kind of Him putting me in check and saying I want you to be spiritually sound and intimate with me and I love you and I'm a jealous God. That is kind of what I got from it. I had a lot of bitterness toward the Lord at that time just because our bus was broken down, I thought our whole touring year was shot. But we just thought of how God whispers in your life too. It really just hit us all that there are two dimensions of the Lord and they are amazing. That was a heavy experience we had at the time so we wanted to dedicate the record toward that.
In a video on your page, you talk about just heavily feeling God’s presence while recording, tell us about this feeling and a bit about how recording went?
PH: I was definitely going through a time of transition with the Lord and He was just showing me new personalities of Him, it was kind of a spiritual milk like Paul talks about in Hebrews about it signifying spiritual maturity. I was really overwhelmed by the spirit in a big way. All throughout the studio I was just so sensitive, my ears, my thought process, were just so sensitive to the spirit so any time I felt it I would just start breaking down, I couldn't help it. I think there are seasons where we are really tuned in to the spirit and love of God. My brother having the gift the just being so loving toward people, I really felt the spirit of the Lord in that realm. So when he would scream and put his passion and love and gifts into his vocals it was just amazing. I just remember seeing Donny step up to the mic and I was in the other room and I just said wow. That was happening hourly. I would get up and pray over the rooms every morning and the whole studio. We just kicked the devil out and made sure it was the Lord. He just blessed us so much in that time with his spirit. In the word it talks about how the spirit comes and goes like wind but I think He stuck around awhile for sure.
The record comes out on September 5th and you're having your release party at Revelation Generation in New Jersey. For those out there not attending, where will be the album be available after the release day?
DH: Absolutely, physical copies will be available through our online merch store, as well as digital copies on itunes,amazon and a number of other online outlets.
11:11 A.M. | Awareness For Cancer Treatment & Research
ith all the long running and just blossoming non-profits out there on Warped Tour and beyond, its hard to keep them all straight. But one that has been catching my eye for the past several years is 11:11 A.M. which aims to raise awareness and funds for cancer treatment and research. The charity was formed by Adam DeAngelis and friends after Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin frontman Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with leukemia back in 2005. The name itself stems from the classic SoCo song “Konstantine” and the belief of making a wish every time you see the clock at 11:11 A.M. We caught up with founder DeAngelis while he juggled the gauntlet that is Warped Tour. Thank you for your time Adam.
You guys were out on Warped Tour all summer for your third year in a row. How was this summer for you guys?
Adam DeAngelis: Summer has been extremely busy. Going out on Warped Tour under a new name like Dear Jack, we didn’t know what to expect. Though, after a few dates, we started to gain some momentum. We sold out of a lot of merchandise items which then led us to ordering more and exploring new designs.
With the rising popularity of non profits among this music scene in the last five years or so, how do you continue to be original and grab people’s attention? There must be more and more non profits out on tours like this every year.
AD: Research. Research. Research. You almost need to be a step ahead of the market when it comes to merchandise designs or unique ideas. I truly believe the non-profits we travel with come up with some of the greatest merchandise designs. Every year, new non-profits join the tour so an organization must make their message to kids unique and attention grabbing.
How did this cause come about? If you don’t mind us asking, was there something personal in your life that sparked 11:11 A.M.?
AD: Jenny, Melly, and I started 11:11 A.M. around five years ago after Andrew McMahon of Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin was diagnosed with leukemia. It was a way to bring awareness to the importance of cancer research. Since its inception, we have grown into a much larger staff.
Personally, I have had loved ones pass away from cancer. When you’re young, you don’t really understand what cancer is. You just know it takes away those you love. When I was in college and witnessed more friends and family getting sick, I knew that this cause was going to help.
You’ve worked alongside the Dear Jack Foundation to help raise donations for young adult cancer research. How has working alongside Andrew helped or changed your charity?
AD: Well, when it comes to tour, we had more items available to help raise money for the cause. With Andrew’s backing, we were able to set up more signings, acoustic sets, and kids knew the Dear Jack name more. It was also great to be able to sell the Dear Jack documentary on tour.
What role has the music scene played in the charity gaining exposure?
AD: Everything. We started in the music scene and it is what’s made us who we are today. If it weren’t for music, I would not have made this charity. It was through Andrew’s music that I met some of my best friends who work on staff for 11:11 A.M. Bands are always looking to get involved and help spread the word which helps with our exposure.
What can we do and where can we go to donate through 11:11 A.M.?
AD: Easiest place to go is www.1111am.com and click on “Store”. We have some cool merch items up. We also have two collab shirts out with www.snakesandsuits.com and www.workisnotajob.com.
Sovereign Strength | The Scene Was Built On This
ecent Mediaskare Records addition Sovereign Strength have put in some time and tour hours to get where they are today. Where they are, however, is not sold out shows or tour buses; it is glorified house shows and a full-length album. But they seem just fine with that. In-fact they could really care less. They are doing what they are doing because they believe in it. This scene has been built on bands like Sovereign Strength and will continue because of bands like this. Hailing from California and just getting off tour, guitarist Nelson Flores took a few minutes to talk to us about his band, their vision and their debut release, Reflections.
Hey, thank you for talking with us! How did getting on to Mediaskare Records come about?
Nelson Flores: Hey dudes, no problem at all! Thanks for having us.
Well getting on Mediaskare was kind of a long process for us. We basically caught the attention of them through playing a lot of shows with our friends in Betrayal who are also on Mediaskare Records (Check em out). [Mediaskare] pretty much just kept watching us and giving us tips and finally they said to come to the studio and record a few songs and we went from there.
What has the difference been so far between being signed and being unsigned?
NF: The only real big difference was of course getting our album, and getting everything that comes along with a new album being released, and having a manager. You still gotta work hard (Laughs). Stuff doesn't get handed to you like a lot of unsigned bands tend to think it does.
The lyrics to your album Reflections seems pretty straightforward. What are your intentions for this band?
NF: We as a Christian band of course want to spread the word of God but we like to do that through our music. We don't like shoving anything down anyone’s throat and we are known for that. Were not saying that we don’t like when bands preach or anything. Honestly, when I go see Sleeping Giant or For Today I look more forward to seeing what Tommy or Mattie have on their hearts to say that night. We just like bringing the presence of God in the room through our music and our stage performance.
Where do you pull inspiration from for your music?
NF: God is always the number one priority in our music. We write all our music to glorify Him.
Talk to us a bit about your album...
NF: All of the lyrics off of our album titled Reflections are of our past, and past experiences from the lives we've all left behind. We've gone through a lot of struggles in our lives and this album talks about how we pulled through them through the love and grace of Jesus.
I think in the back of all of our minds we want to be rock-stars, to hangout with our best friends all day, make a ton of money and have people grovel at every word we say. The realization that you guys will be in the back of a fifteen passenger van with what are hopefully your best friends, eating BK for, hopefully, the next five to ten years has had to hit you already right? (Laughs) Even still, what are your thoughts on this choice of a lifestyle?
NF: I don't really look at it that way but now that you mention it I am definitely excited, (Laughs). We don't really care about making tons of money or having people stoked on us, if we cared about that stuff we would be a walking contradiction. We are not suppose to put ourselves up on a pedestal or be money hungry. We are suppose to trust in God that we are going to be provided for and that everyone sees Jesus through our music and doesn't idolize us. I mean its cool to have fans of course but I'd rather have people be stoked on us for what were doing for the kingdom then to have kids worship our every word or move.
What are your touring plans for this Fall?
NF: We have a few things in the works that we can't announce yet but be on the look for new things soon! Follow/add us on Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace for new Sovereign Strength announcements.
Twitter.com/SovStrength | Facebook.com/SovereignStrength | Myspace.com/SovereignStrength