Hey guys, I hope you’re all well. Welcome to this newest installment of the Indie Vision Music interview. Okay, let’s get started.
So tell me a little bit about yourselves, your past music involvements like what bands you were in before starting August Burns Red and any other info you’d like to share.
Well, I’ve been playing music since I was 12. I first started out playing pop punk – I loved Blink 182 (and still do, haha). Anyway, I started out playing bass but then worked my way to guitar and drums. It was always so hard to find a drummer when trying to form a local band so I felt like I had to pick it up. At the time, I wanted to play in a band so badly, and now here I am doing it full time. I simply love it.
What first led you to the decision of signing with Solid State Records? Has it been a positive experience the past several years?
We all grew up listening to the Solid State/Tooth and Nail bands, so when we heard the Solid State was interested in signing us, it was an amazing feeling. I/we love working with Solid State. They are some of the nicest guys in the world to work with, and they’ve helped us out so much and I know that they will continue to do the same.
Has there been any major label interest or would you ever go that route?
Haha, well there was this one time when we were out in LA and this guy approached us from, I think, Warner Bros. But to be honest I just don’t see that happening. We love Solid State so why leave, ya know? I can promise one thing – we will never “sell out” and write music that we as a band don’t love. Doesn’t matter which label would ask us, it just wouldn’t happen.
What do you feel is the difference between your three records, “Looks Fragile After All”, “Thrill Seeker” and “Messengers”? How has sound changed over the years? What are your favorite songs on those three records?
Looks Fragile is completely different from any of our other records for sure because that was our first record and we were very young as musicians and as a band when we wrote it. I feel that we’ve got a lot better at our instruments over time, which has led to us writing better and better songs. We always try to push ourselves to be better at our instruments.
So tell me a little bit about this new B-sides record you guys have coming out. What songs will we find on it? Is there a cover song on the album (Piano Man)?
Haha, funny that you ask if Piano Man is a cover. To be honest, I didn’t even know that was already the name of a song! Piano Man is actually an orginal song that Matt wrote on piano and I added some sick bass tracks to. You’ll enjoy it, I promise haha. You’ll also hear a few pre production tracks to see what all we changed with the songs from the demos to the album versions and a few songs that didn’t make the record are on there as well.
What other bands do you guys dig? What are some of your favorite bands to listen to in your off time? Collectively as a group, what are your 5 favorite releases from 2008?
I dig bands like Jimmy Eat World, Minus The Bear, The Killers, The Receiving End Of Sirens, Between The Buried and Me, Darkest Hour and many more.
How has the touring life been treating you? Any road experiences, good or bad, that you’d like to share?
It’s been great. We were able to travel overseas twice last year which was pretty awesome and we did a headlining tour of the US and Canadian to close out last year which was a lot of fun as well.
How do you feel that your Faith impacts your music and the life as a musician? Any spiritually uplifting moments you’d like to share either from the road or from being in this band?
One uplifting moment that really stands out to me was when I was given the chance to join this band just over two years ago. I always wanted play music full time and when this chance came to me and when everything worked out for me I just felt like it was my calling. Not only was I able to play music full time, I was able to play in a Christian band with guys that shared the same beliefs that I do.
How do you guys feel about the Christian market and bands who desire to share their faith?
We love the Christian market. All of the Christian fans are very loyal to us. Due to circumstances, last year we missed Cornerstone and we didn’t realize how many people that would upset until it happened, and we were very sorry to have missed it because we love playing Cornerstone.
Any upcoming touring plans? Who are you taking out on the road with you and what bands are you playing with?
As of right now we’re just trying to write and record our new record. Once that is done we will get back on the road sometime in April but we don’t know what bands we’ll be touring with just yet.
Is there a dream tour that you’d love to see your band with? What bands would you most want to share the stage with?
I love touring with As I lay Dying, Between The Buried and Me, and Evergreen Terrace. We became really good friends with those dudes in the past couple of years and they are so much fun to tour with. I’d also love to tour with Killswitch and Lamb of God sometime.
When can we expect the next full length to hit stores and will it still be on Solid State? What studio do you plan to record at and with what producer? Is there a name for the new record?
Expect the new record to hit stores early this summer and, yes it will be on Solid State! We’ll be recording at Audio Hammer Studio in Florida with Jason Sucoff who we are stoked to work with. As of right now there isn’t a name for the record but we are working with some ideas.
Well that about wraps this interview up. I’ve asked this in the past to other bands I’ve interviewed and I’m going to ask you the same, do you have any prayer requests? How best can us the fans support you as a band?
Hmm. Well, I’d say to be on the look out for us to give you guys updates with video blogs and other stuff that we will be doing from the studio. Should be crazy fun!
Thanks for the interview, God bless you guys!!
-Brandon Jones
Indie Vision Music
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