An email interview with Ben Witkowski, bassist of Texas in July.
Last time we talked, you were pumped to be heading back out with For Today, this time for a Canadian tour. How was the trip up north? Any great stories?
It was a great tour! We were happy to continue touring with For Today, as well as meeting Stray From The Path and Structures. Stray and Structures were all great and genuine dudes, we had a blast with them. At the time it was stereotypical Canadian weather, cold and miserable. But I do not mind the snow so it wasn’t so bad for me. We visited some cities we’ve played in the past, as well as many new places, overall it was a success!
Unfortunately, you couldn’t give us any details on the new record because you were still getting ready to announce everything officially. Now that it’s been out for a couple weeks, how are you guys feeling about One Reality?
We are very proud of the record, it turned out exactly how we wanted it to and we couldn’t be happier with the end product. The sales have been doing great and we are patiently waiting to add more of the new music to the set as times goes on. I can’t wait to see if fans begin to know the songs when we play them. It’s always a good feeling when they do.
Have you been playing any new songs live, or were you waiting for the record to drop first? If you’ve been playing them, how have the crowds responded?
Since before the record came out (and after it came out) there has only been two new songs in our set, “Dying World” and “Magnolia”. I noticed that a few people knew the words, or showed excitement when Alex said we were going to play either song, and that for me is enough to get me pumped.
You received thousands of comments on facebook after word got out about Take Action’s supporting SexEtc.Org this year. Did you expect to cause such controversy, and where are your thoughts and feelings at right now in dealing with this whole situation?
It completely blindsided us, not in a million years did we see that coming. We handled the situation in the most calm and orderly fashion as possible, and moved on.
What do you hope that fans get out of your shows at Take Action this year?
I hope that they remember our band’s name, and that it sticks with them. The lineup of the tour was very far off musically from our sound, besides Silverstein. Hopefully we appealed to some new fans over the long five week period we were out on the tour. I think it was very good for us, almost essential to get our name out to new people around the release of One Reality. Maybe we made some punk rockers want to listen to metal.
Thanks for taking the time to stay in touch with your fans at Indie Vision Music. Is there anything else you’d like to add to this interview?
Keep an eye open for upcoming dates near you on the Scream The Prayer tour, and future unannounced dates!