Page 32 - RockRevoltMagazine-Fall2016

Rock’s always been the kid in the corner. Rock’s always been the kid at the back of the classroom, and rock will
“make this headway when something happens like Nirvana or Korn, or some other genre-defining moment like that.
would get little bits and pieces that, if it was close enough in Can you tell us a little bit about the video for “Ashes of Eden”?
time and key, I would stick it into one of my other already
existing songs to just kind of create an involvement. And
I don’t really feel like it was ever that necessary. It wasn’t
any integral part of it, or wasn’t anything I couldn’t have
done myself, it was just more of me trying to get everyone
involved in the process. So, I have always been the primary
writer of the band, and I never really wanted to be. I just
never heard any songs from beginning to end that were –
the few that I did hear were not anything I could really get
any interest in. So, this time around, picking the members of
the band to reboot or whatever, I wanted to make sure that
not only were we friends first, and competent musicians as
well, but that we were really prolific writers and great writers as they were maybe 10, 15, 20 years ago? Are they as big of a
with great ideas, and these guys fit that ideal perfectly. So,
I’m really looking forward to having them be a lot more in
control and involved in the songwriting process.
Well, that’s great. I mean, a lot of times you hear the bands
where just one member has complete control so that,
someone like yourself, Keith, coming into the band, it must
be nice to hear that the band is made up of all equal pieces,
and everyone is going to contribute.
Keith: Oh yeah…
Ben: I always wanted it that way; I just never really had that
opportunity.
“
How did that come together?
Keith: Well, Ben, you had a concept for the video, and a
different take on the whole Adam and Eve story. And we
were all really fortunate to have some great people help us
make that concept a reality. I mean, it was fun. We went up
to New York and put some funny contacts in our eyes and
stood in front of a bunch of green screens. It was really fun,
man. It was an awesome experience, and I think it really fits
the music and the song really well.
Sure, sure. Now, do you think videos are as important today
piece of the music?
Ben: I think they’re a lot less important just because
nowadays with social media and everything, people can
see the band literally every day of their lives on every day
of their life. I mean, I like making videos and retain their
importance, but really, in the past, a video was, other than
going to see the band personally yourself live, the way for
people to see the band. To see the guys, see what they looked
like. See them playing. But now, there are clips of the band
on different outlets, and you can see it every single day. So,
in that sense, the video is not as important. But, I think that
videos like “Ashes of Eden” that sort of narrate a story where
the visual is totally separate from the audio, but it all kind of
works together and can be taken in so many ways, something
like that is totally worth doing because it kind
of heightens the experience of the song more so
than us standing in a factory or warehouse with
camera tracks playing. That’s lame, and it’s been
done, and it’s just a performance thing. So, in
that sense, this was worth doing.
Nice. I guess dipping back into the history of
the band – how did you bring this version of the
band together. Ben, I assume you’re the best one
to answer this one.
Ben: Well, yeah. The new version came together
just through touring. I was touring with Keith
when he played with a band called Adelita’s
Way. And I toured with Jasen, the other guitar
player, when he was with a band called Red.
And the drummer (Shaun Foist) is a friend
of a friend, and the bass player (Aaron Bruch)
is an old, old friend of mine who always blew
me away as a musician. I’d just never had an
opportunity to work with him, so when the
opportunity came up, I basically wanted to
have all of them involved. With our histories
together, this was a no-brainer.
Absolutely. *to Keith* What was that process
like, coming into the band and everything? Was
it pretty easy going or…?
Keith: You know, at first it was a little difficult
just because there is such a catalog of songs,
and it was a little overwhelming. But, it was
awesome. I loved the music coming into it, and
being able to be a part of this band that I have