We pride ourselves at RockRevolt to find the cream of the crop indie bands that bust their asses off, and not only bust their asses off, but do it WELL! Here is a band that absolutely made us jump and go, “WOW!” World Gone is an example for Indie Bands everywhere of what to do, and how to do it! Out of Jacksonville, Florida the guys of World Gone have brought it together and can run with the big dogs ANY day! In fact, they do! From a stellar sound to an aesthetic that forces you to turn and look, these guys don’t even need to be on your radar, because they will be in your face soon enough, and you WILL see them, and you WILL love them!
We had a quick moment to chat up Joe Bennett, and we learned some of the ins and outs of World Gone, cementing the decision even further to feature this band as RockRevolt’s Indie Band of the Week!
INTERVIEW WITH WORLD GONE:
Tell us the brief history of your band.
Brief?! I will try! Well, I had just finished mixing the debut The Killer and The Star record which was engineered by Ross Robinson (Korn, Limp Bizkit, etc.), was on tour playing guitar with Cold and working on my own music on the side at the same time. I played some of my original stuff for Scooter and he immediately dug it and told me he wanted to sign my side project on his new label “Sonic Star Records”. This really solidified my belief that I was doing something good because Scooter is one of the most amazing artists in the world and I respect his opinion. Scooter played some of the demos for Rocky Gray (Drummer from Evanescence) who was touring with us as the drummer for TKATS and he wanted to be part of the project also. The first demo was for a song called “River.” I continued to write new songs and Scooter actually suggested the original name “What World Is This?”. At the end of that tour my daughter was about to be born so I had to choose whether to go back out on tour or be there when she was born. This was a terrible decision to have to make because I was doing exactly what I loved and to give that up was gut-wrenching.
Watch the video for World Gone’s Rise
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Long story short I made the decision to stay at home, be there with my newborn daughter, and write more music. Over time I decided on the name “World Gone” and continued working towards having enough music for a live set. I moved down to West 
Palm Beach to get away from all the Jacksonville insanity I was involved in and concentrate on writing. I worked a lot with engineer Eddie Perez at Markee Music where they have probably the best rehearsal and recording studio in Florida. This was a killer time because I stayed in this little town called Lake Worth where I could walk to everything I needed! Beach, Cuban coffee, killer food of all kinds, Diners, Bars, you name it! I loved it there and was very inspired by the night life. I hooked up with an old friend named “Richie Surrency” who had just started a management company. He has worked with so many badass bands its ridiculous. He was head of security for Limp Bizkit as they rose to become the biggest band in the world. He was on the road with Journey and Staind when we started talking. I sent him the stuff I was working on and a management contract was signed. Richie and I really focused on what we wanted to accomplish with World Gone. I wrote a ton of stuff and finally had enough for the first WG live show. During this time I had met Matt Krug the owner of Propaganda (A very cool little bar in downtown Lake Worth). We decided this would be the perfect place for the first World Gone show ever. On October 31st, Halloween night, World Gone was officially born! The show was amazing and even further solidified the whole thing. We scared the hell out of the locals! Most of my band and people I really cared about were in Jacksonville so I moved back. We continued to land shows with killer bands like Burn Season, Sevendust, Butcher Babies, etc. and were continually improving our live show which is very important to us. From the start we wanted to kick an audiences asses with not only our music but also with a HUGE show like say Rammstein or NIN. Sometimes our show is already to big and even national acts wont lets us use it all when we open for them. Hopefully soon we will be able to bring the people the whole thing all the time. I am already looking into getting my pyro techniques license so I can blow things up and set them on fire legally. We all are grateful for the amazing progress we have made in only 5 months!!! Honestly I didn’t really see things happening this fast but its definitely welcomed!
Where did the visuals for World Gone come from, specifically the gas-masks?
We have always been big history, war, and sci fi buffs so it was just natural. The initial vision/description of World Gone was Southern Post apocalyptic Swamp Zombie Metal, so you can kinda see where we were going with that. I enlisted the stellar services of Derek Moore over at Spookhouse Productions to make one-of-a-kind masks for us. You can’t buy our masks anywhere unless you get them from us!
What impact does the visual aesthetic of the band have on the songwriting, or does it have an impact at all?
Visual impacts are huge to us! Have you ever heard a band and thought they sounded good but then saw them and were sort of let down? We want your eyes to be as freaked out as your ears. Plus, it’s genuinely how we would dress everyday if it wouldn’t scare people when we walked into your local Walmart to buy socks and Febreeze.
Your songs seem to have strong sociopolitical messages. Were you always this vocal in your opinions regarding current events, or did evolve due to the interests/theme of the band?
We definitely have some opinions on life, government, love, etc. and yes our songs naturally are an extension of the actual life we live. We talk about building the “World Gone Compound” often if that means anything to ya.
(laughs) Kinda scary! What is your usual songwriting process?
I just get a vibe about something and start writing. It could be anything that starts the fire of a new song. I tend to write melodies and lyrics first followed by orchestrations of music after that. Lyrics are very important to me to the point of almost being something sacred. Songs can change peoples lives so I take writing very seriously, maybe to seriously sometimes.
You guys tour quite a bit. What do you have going on so far or are really looking forward to in 2014?
Well, the first big thing we have coming up is that we are playing Welcome to Rockville* at Metro Park in Jacksonville with the likes of Korn, Rob Zombie, Avenged Sevenfold, etc. on April 27th and that is going to be great! It’s in our hometown – with that kind of lineup -it’s gonna be CRAZY!
You have played (and still do) with some pretty high caliber bands. Tell us about which band you’ve learned from the most.
We learn something from all of them. Sometimes good things, sometime bad things. I still think I learned the most from playing with my brothers in Cold. That was a huge thing for me and really effected me deeply still to this day.
Inversely, tell us about an experience with a bigger band that made you question professionalism in the music industry.
(laughs) Professionalism in the music industry is kinda an oxymoron isn’t it? I always tell people the music industry is a lot like the Mafia, and I am not joking in any way. You have to learn how use it and not let it use you. Sorry I am not gonna talk about any other bands – like I said this business is like the mafia!
Nuff said! You are an indie band, and you’ve been extremely successful at it. What do you feel is the key to being a successful indie band?
Good music that freaks people out a little is essential! Without that you got nothing.
What are your immediate music career goals? (Next one to three years.)
Making more music that we like and touring our asses off till the World gets it!!!
