Rockezine.com interview with As I Lay Dying on Sep 08, 2005

with Nick Hipa on Sep 08, 2005


		Your new album "Shadows Are Security" has recently been released, how have the reactions been so far? We`ve been getting great feedback from all sorts of people, including friends who have followed the band for a long time and whose opinions we value.
		What was the worst reaction you have read, and what was the best one? Honestly I haven`t heard a whole lot of bad stuff yet, probably because I live in my own little world and don`t pay attention to a lot of reviews of our band. The only criticism I hear is from friends and its usually good. I`m sure some people hate it but I’m not sweating it.
		How would you compare "Shadows Are Security" to its predecessor "Frail Words Collapse"? As far as musicianship, I feel we have progressed a whole lot over the past two years. We have gotten better at playing our respective instruments as well as song writing since FWC. Shadows I feel has a lot more appeal sonically. Everything was mixed wonderfully, thanks to Andy Sneap, so the guitars sound heavy and the drums sound huge. I am happy with the production of this album.
		In your own opinion what do you think defines As I Lay Dying; what makes you different from the rest of the scene? I think one of the things that may "define" us, or at least make us appealing to people, is our song writing. We`re not trying to show off or play the craziest stuff we can, although if we tried it would probably suck cause none of us are insane shredders, we focus our efforts into writing the best songs we know how. We love high energy, brutal, and catchy stuff; thus incorporating those elements into our writing. I think that is the element of our band that people remember most.
		"Shadows Are Security" has a bit of a European feel to it; would you like to comment on that? Yeah Phil our other guitar player wrote a ton of the riffs and his influences are bands like Soilwork, In Flames, and Maiden. One thing that I think Europeans do very well is write awesome melodies, and those are what tend to stick in peoples heads. We write songs we feel are memorable, which as of now involves melodic riffs.
		How does As I Lay Dying approach the song writing process; does every member contribute individually, or is it more a band effort in general? Phil is a riffer, Tim is an arranger, I am the aspiring shredder, Clint is the pretty voice dude, and Jordan hits his drums as hard as is humanly possible. So the majority of it is between the first two and the rest of us add our respective touches.
		What bands have influenced As I Lay Dying the most? I`ll just go ahead and give you three bands from each member because speaking for the whole band would be inaccurate as to our differences in musical taste. Phil`s three are Maiden, In Flames, and Soilwork. Clint is Cannibal Corpse, Cryptopsy, and Human Remains. Jordan is Pantera, Meshuggah, and Dream Theater. I am Randy Rhoads, Ozzy, The Mars Volta, and Zeppelin. And to be honest, I have no idea what Tim`s favorite bands are.
		You are about to go on the Ozzfest tour as one of the headliners; you guys must be looking forward to it and what are your expectations? Being a second stage headliner, to be perfectly honest, is quite scary. There are so many brilliant bands who will be playing before us, bands that we have always looked up to, playing after them is quite intimidating. As far as the fest goes, I am expecting horrific heat, funny drunk people, and great bands. Speaking of great bands, I heard Maiden is pulling out all the stops on this tour so I better see a whole bunch of pyro and a huge Eddie.
		Will we see As I Lay Dying on a European tour this year and if so with what bands? We are doing the Hell On Earth Tour in late September and early October with Heaven Shall Burn, Evergreen Terrace, Agents of Man, and a few others. I think it hits the majority of European countries.
		What are your plans and goals for the upcoming years? Our plans and goals are pretty simple actually: keep writing and playing music. We`re not trying to be the hugest band in the world, we would just like to keep our privilege of playing music we love for a living. Hopefully our records will get radder and radder as well.
		At the moment what is your favorite album and why? Hard question man because I have so many right now. If I had to choose one I would say the new Queens Of The Stone Age "Lullabies To Paralyze." I love everything about that band. Their songs are awesome, guitar tone is genius, dudes voice is beautiful, a lot of creativity going on there. I think they`re great.
		Thanks a lot for your time and the interview and I wish you all the best with the upcoming Ozzfest tour! And as usual: Is there anything left unsaid? Thanks man. I would also like to say thank you to everyone reading this, who has ever supported us. We`ll see you this fall!
		(Frank van de Voorde)