Fear Before the March of Flames (sometimes abbreviated as FBTMOF or Fear Before) is an experimental metalcore band that resides in Aurora, Colorado. Their current sound can be described as experimental metalcore, drawing influence from the likes of Converge, The Blood Brothers, and Botch. Some even consider them to be mathcore because of their technical riffs and song structure.

Interview by Carlo Gironi | carlo@staff.truepunk.com | with David. Hi David! How are you doing?
Damn good, we are at the Equal Vision offices right now taking a break from recording our new record.

Can you introduce the band’s members and tell the story of how you got together?
We are four dudes (David, Adam, Mike, and Brandon). We all went to the same high school together and some of the guys were in previous bands together that came and went. In the summer of 2002, I (David) was asked to join the band as a vocalist on a whim and that was the start of fear before the march of flames.
Where do you come from? How is the indie/punk/rock scene in the place you come from?
We are from Denver, Colorado. The scene… lets see. I can honestly say that the scene has changed a lot since the start of our band. I think a lot of kids are more supportive of the scene than when we first started. You see a lot more people at shows now than there used to. Lets hope its not a trend and they all go back to what they did before they liked hardcore. But it’s awesome to see more tours hit Colorado. I think Colorado was once a state that bands didn’t mind skipping over.
 

Where did you get the name Fear Before The March of Flames from? It sounds like it has got a deep meaning, and I think long band names are quite popular these days, don’t you think?  
All the short names were taken. Our name came from a headline in the newspaper. It refers to some wild fires in Colorado that were burning when we started the band.

Do you consider yourself an indie or emo band at all? What do you think of the emo hardcore scene of nowadays?
I don’t know anymore. I think trying to label something is impossible. there is always going to be a million people who disagree with your opinion. My grandma calls our style ‘heavy steel’! That works for me. Haha

You released your debut LP on Rise Records - then re-released via Equal Vision Records; how did you get in touch with the guys at EVR?
We were on tour with Bear vs. Shark when we were on the East Coast and EVR came out to see a couple shows. We kept in contact ever since.

Have you released some other stuff before your new LP? I know you formed not too long ago but have already done some great stuff.

When we were just a Denver local band we released a 3 song
EP/demo we did ourselves. We sold a lot of those on our own. They are long out of print… which is good. Haha

Your sound is basically rock, and it has also some post hardcore influences according to me; where do you get your inspiration from ? Other bands, music, books, movies, life …
All of the above! How would you describe FBTMOF to a person that have never heard of you?
Haha, ummm usually say something like, ‘this is kinda different, you might like it!’. Luckily I don’t have to do that often because I’m never good at it anyways.
 

What are some of the bands that you guys in the band regularely listen to?
Lately we have been listening to a lot of 90’s radio bands.
 

What about your lyrics? What do you sing about ? I noticed this song “The Lisbon Girls, Oh The Lisbon Girls” - what is that about?
The Lisbon girls are a reference to the movie ‘The virgin suicides’.

Note: Jonathan Gill (jon@staff.truepunk.com) wanted to name his daughter, if he were to ever have one, Lux until seeing this movie.

Have you got some plans of touring to support you new album? If so, where and with whom?
The new record we are recording right now doesn’t come out till September so we don’t have tour planned out that far in advance, but we will be heading out before that in June with 18 Visions and Underoath. We can’t wait for that, it should be an awesome tour. And in July we have some Warped Tour dates. And I believe we just confirmed a spot on Hellfest.
Speaking of tours, I read that you are always busy touring with a lot of bands. Can you tell us some funny fact that happened to you on tour?
All I have to say is that, if fear before the march of flames and bear vs shark tour together, I hope you don’t own a hotel near the club we play

The critics say your sound is a cross between Blood Brothers, Botch, and the likes. What do you think of these comparisons?
Cool, we like both of those bands!

You will be producing your next LP on EVR with Matt Ellard\ (who by the way worked with Converge, Between The Buried and Me and others) - what do we have to expect from these new songs? Do you already have a release date and most important, have you already entered the studio?
Our release date for our new record will be released on September 7^th. Tentatively titled, “The God Awful Truth”. We have about 70% done. So far, we couldn’t be happier with how its turning out. Matthew Ellard knows what he is doing. All our 12 hour days are paying off. The new songs are still ‘fearbefore’, but they are very different. These songs are darker and heavier than we have ever been before. Not much singing on this record. We have had some time to grow as a band and song writers. We are very proud of this batch of songs. Its our best work yet.

Do you think it is difficult for a young band to get hooked up by some label? I ask you this, because in the last year I saw a lot of unknown and untalented bands getting signed by major labels and all…how do you relate to this thing? Are you willing to get signed to some major or you just do not care?
This is a good question. Our new record ‘the God awful truth’, is a loosely based concept album on the death of the music industry. So in September you get to hear our thoughts in full.

But for now I will say, A lot of bands are clueless and a lot of labels don’t know what a good band is. And that is why there are so many shitty bands out there. We turned down a major label last year just as fast as they offered us the option. I’ll keep my soul for now. Maybe when I’m 45 and still live with my parents I’ll change my mind.
 

Any final comments?
Thanks for the interview. Look out for us on tour this summer and our new record in the fall!

We love you.

Californian metal-core combo As I Lay Dying hope to send love ‘n’ understanding - not trashcans - into the moshpit.

Interview by Steve Tauschke | steve@staff.truepunk.com | with As I Lay Dying’s Tim Lambesis.

You’d be excused for expecting some backstage tension by bringing together a Christian band and a satanic-metal outfit whose distaste for Catholics is well documented. But when San Diego’s faithful fivesome As I Lay Dying found themselves sharing a band room with ungodly Polish black metallers Behemoth, the results surprised everyone.

“Originally we were a little bit intimidated because Behemoth is very outspoken about how much they hate Christians,” says singer Tim Lambesis, “but I would consider those guys friends of ours. Their view of us as Christians is much different to that of Christians in, say, Florida who are maybe more forceful. It was an eye-opening experience for us and them to meet and sit down and talk.”

And talk they did.

“As Christians we believe in the bible and we believe very strongly and our faith is very important to us,” states Lambesis. “Behemoth describe Christians as very judgmental and I can relate to why they would be so hated because judging other people is not something we’re supposed to be doing. If you really follow the teachings of Jesus it’s all about love and forgiveness.”

That fateful tour, set to be repeated when both As I Lay Dying and Behemoth perform together again on this summer Sounds of the Underground tour, formed part of the opening package for metal headliners Six Feet Under and marked AILD’s first foray into uncharted metal waters.

“Previous to that we’d always gone out by ourselves or with hardcore bands,” says Lambesis. “But we didn’t really care. Now we’ve been on the Taste of Chaos tour and we’re about to go to Canada. So far it hasn’t all been metal and hardcore bands so we’re playing to a whole lot of new fans. It’s fairly diverse but it’s been great for us being the heaviest band on the tour because we stand out. Even if people don’t like heavy music they remember who were are and we’re really making an impression.

Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000 with drummer Jordan Mancino, debuting with Beneath the Encasing of Ashes the following year. At the time, San Diego’s music scene was enjoying the last wave of the mid-90s pop-punk explosion.

“It had a very big punk scene,” nods the frontman, “and as far as the underground was concerned hardcore was much more popular than metal so we were kind of the outcasts, that’s why most of the early shows we played were at hardcore shows rather than metal shows. As we became more successful the metal scene in general became bigger. The local scene has metal bands trying to sound a little bit like us but we didn’t start it, we just brought life to a scene that was basically dead when we first began playing.”

The clash of genres also brought conflict back when territorial metal and hardcore camps displayed little mutual admiration for one another. Lambesis recalls the odd stoush.

“When we first started playing, the hardcore kids and the metal crowd would end up fighting at the shows because they have their different styles of moshing or dancing or whatever,” he says. “They’d fight over things that are pretty insignificant. When we first started touring we went to Florida and it was one of the first times we played there and because we’d originally come out of the hardcore scene, that’s where we grew up and so a lot of our music fans are fans of hardcore and when they came to the show there were some metal heads who were very much used to a metal mosh.

“I don’t know which side it came from but someone picked up a big metal trashcan and threw it into the middle of the pit and knocked over a couple of people and a big fight started. Three years ago I remember being on tour and every other night of the tour there would be a fight. It doesn’t happen any more and we’re grateful for that. The last few years they’ve learnt to understand each other and they realise that they both just love music and want to have a good time.”

As I Lay Dying pinched their moniker from the title of the 1930 novel by American author William Faulkner, who in turn derived the phrase from Homer’s The Odyssey. Indeed, the book’s stream-of-consciousness narrative is a long way from AILD’s precision metal-core that has via the spray of critics’ ink and saliva been favorably likened to the classic “Gothenburg sound” characterized by the Swedish city’s loudest musical exports, In Flames and At the Gates.

“At the root of the Swedish metal sound are the classic metal melodies of bands like Iron Maiden,” explains Lambesis. “They were one of the first metal bands to introduce a strong sense of guitar melody. I think we’re also influenced by Swedish bands but more so by Iron Maiden and the hardcore sound.”

Certainly, the quintet’s latest album 2005’s Shadows Are Security, juxtaposes both hardcore and Scandanavian death metal leanings in addition to a notable absence of spiritual soapbox diatribes. Lambesis, who also doubles as AILD’s in-house producer, anticipates the band - drummer Mancino, guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hippa and bassist Clint Norris - will re-issue their independently released and now out-of-print debut album this year on the Metal Blade label, setting the stage for yet another rigorous spell on the road.

“It’s hard on relationships and people that we love we hardly ever get to see,” Lambesis says of the punishing schedules. “Physically, I don’t feel worn out so much but we miss people back home.”

Roya Butler and Hannah Wagner sat down with Aaron Bedard upstairs at The Knitting Factory in New York City to get personal about their most recent album, “The Note,” and experiences on the road.

Tell us about your newest release.
Well the album actually came out a couple of years ago. It’s called “The Note.” We worked with the same producer that we’ve worked with through all of our recordings and we’re just really-really happy with it. It came out on Equal Vision Records. We toured on it pretty extensively in 2005 and 2006, and now it’s time to start thinking about doing a new one.

Tell us about the fakie tour you’re doin right now.
Yeah it’s just so small that it’s hard to call it a tour. But we’re doing five shows around New England and a couple here in New York starting tonight at the knitting factory. We’ll go to Albany. We’ll play our hometown of Worcester, MA on Saturday and on Sunday we’ll play some new place called Avril. And all of our shows are with bands that we’re really good friends with, so we’re just excited to be around all of our buddies this weekend. Next weekend, we’ll fly to California and do eight shows up the west coast where we haven’t been in over a year. So we’re really excited to get back out there, because obviously the scenes are really hoppin’ up there in Cali and we have a lot of fans. The shows are always good. Then after that we go to Japan.

Tell us about the festivals you’re playing in Japan.
We were invited to play a couple of festivals – one in Osaka and one in Tokyo. So they are kind of paying for us to fly from California to Japan and back. We’re only going to do two shows, so we’re not going to be there for very long. Usually when we go to Japan we do two weeks of shows, but it’s just going to be real short – in and out, bing-bam.

Why haven’t you done a lot of touring this year?
Our Drummer just had a baby this year, so it’s been harder for him to get away. That’s pretty much why we haven’t been doing a lot of touring; this is the first time that he’s been out on the road with us since the kid came, so this is really exciting for him. But he was like, “It’s gotta be two weeks. We gotta do the whole thing in two weeks.” So, two weeks between Cali and Japan and then he’ll be home. I’m actually going to stay in Japan with a friend for four or five extra days and just chill…buy sneakers and stuff.

Yea, I heard they have a lot of cool sneaker shops out there.
Aaron Bedard: They do. They have a lot of cool sneaker shops, and a lot of stuff you can’t find here. They have a lot more exclusive stuff that you won’t find here. There are a lot of trendy little boutiques and a lot of weird underground sneaker shops that just have really old shit. They’re really into hipster U.S. style, in Japan. They have really nice jeans. They have really nice sneakers. They’re just on the next level when it comes to fashion.

Do they implement hip-hop in their fashion, as we do in the US?
Yeah, some of it’s real hip-hop, for sure. They’re just real obsessed with anything that’s American and street.

I’m assuming you got your name from Batman comix.
Aaron Bedard: Yeah, that’s one of the things that inspired the name, for sure, was the dude that broke Batman’s back. I really like comic books. So yeah, that’s how the name came up. The line up now’s different than the line-up that we had in the beginning. But there are four of us that have been in the whole time, and drummers have come and gone as we’ve gone along. But once he left Converge, things just got real serious for us then, and we’ve done a lot of records since then and have done a lot of touring. We’ve been really lucky to just go all over the place and just play music that we really love. We’re really lucky.

What do you think is the difference between the Hardcore scene and the Metal scene?
Aaron Bedard: I guess the main difference that I can see is that Hardcore always seems to be – I don’t know the metal scene very well so I can’t speak for them – the difference for me is that Hardcore always seems to be about just more realistic view points. The songs are of a more personal nature and try to confront issues a little more. Metal just seems to expand. You can sing about anything. You can sing about dragons and warriors, or you can sing about fast cars and fucking chicks. It’s just way more grandiose. And also to play Metal you have to somewhat talented, and to play Hardcore you don’t have to be really that talented of a musician. You just have to learn three chords on a guitar and beat the fuck out of your drums and be a punk band. It’s kind of one the things I’ve always really loved about Hardcore. It’s really created just by kids who are angry and confused and displaced and just want to scream about it. Whereas Metal, is a little more epic with guitar leads and fancy drum solos.

What do you see as the differences between the Hardcore scene in America vs. in Europe and also Japan?
Aaron Bedard: Well in Japan the kids are just so sweet, and they just love the image and music so much. There’s no attitude. They’re just giddy that you’re there. They’re so fucking happy that American dudes came to play there this music that they love. So that’s just the most positive, heart-warming vibe imaginable. In Europe it’s just so wide, and there are just so many types of scenes. The one that stands out the most is Germany, and German kids are just really blunt and confrontational. If something on your t-shirt offends them or they’re not happy with the style that you band is going in they will just straight up tell you in this very point blank way. Like, “I think that your stuff sucks.” Or, “What is wrong with your government?” And they’re just a little more, I guess confrontational would be the word, or they’re just more up front and forward about things.

How does that compare to the attitude of your fans in Japan?
Aaron Bedard: A Japanese kid would never in a million years want to say anything to make you feel uncomfortable or say anything to make you feel anything but just happy that you’re there.

What do you think makes up the differences in attitudes?
Aaron Bedard: German kids are just maybe a little bit more spoiled; they just have more bands coming through, and if they think that you’re full of shit, they’ll just tell you. It’s something to respect on some level, but is just a little awkward.

What’s it like in the UK?
Aaron Bedard: I would say in the U.K. its becoming way more Americanized. There’s a lot of tough-guy bullshit, and a lot of gangs starting out, and this crew mentality that I think is really detrimental to the Hardcore scene. It seems to be taking over more and more in the United Kingdom. You hear about a lot of fights at shows, and a bunch of stupid bullshit like that. They’re a little bit behind the times, it seems.

So I guess America sets the benchmark for the Hardcore scene across the globe?
Aaron Bedard: We kind of set the standard here in America for dancing and stage-diving, and all the best bands tend to come from here. But they’re catching up. They’ve got some good bands out there. There’s a band called Rise and Fall from Holland who are really-really fucking good. There’s a band from Japan called the FC5 who are really great, and who are really good friends with us. So there’s definitely some good international stuff going on.

Interview by Roya Butler. Transcription by Hannah Wagner.

Influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath, Metallica, Pantera, and Johnny Cash, Devildriver was started by Dez Fafara (former Coal Chamber frontman) and Evan Pitts. Released through Roadrunner Records in 2003, their self-titled debut album focused on black, death, and thrash metal. Their second album, The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand, released in 2005, was greatly influeced byScandinavian death metal, specifically in relation to the guitar work.
Touring the United States, Europe, and Australia in support of their album, DevilDriver played with headliners In Flames, Fear Factory, and Machine Head. They also headlined in the Burning Daylight Tour. The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand was re-released as a Special Edition in 2006 with three additional studio tracks, three live recordings of previously released material, and a DVD of all of their music videos to date.

Their third album entitled The Last Kind Words was released mid-June in Austrailia and the UK, and will be released late July in the US. Devildriver promoted their album in the UK at the Download Festival, alongside headliners Linkin Park, Iron Maiden, and My Chemical Romance.



Interview with Dez Fafara - vocals, Devil Driver by Roya

Tell us a little about your re-release:

Dez: It’s always a good thing when the record label wants to do a special re-release. It shows they have faith in the band for the long haul. The special edition is real cool; it has different cover art, inside liner notes, all the videos, as well as extra tracks. It’s perfect if you’re a fan and you want something extra between records.


Tell us about the DVD.

Dez: It’s not really a DVD, in the proper sense, it’s really just a gathering of all the videos, some that have been shown on MTV, or in the case of Europe, some that haven’t seen the light of day, again another cool thing if you are a fan of DD.


How was it recording The Last Kind Words?

Dez: We recorded in ElPaso,Texas, a mile away from the Mexican border,on a 1400 acre pecan ranch.The gear was incredible,the food was amazing and the accommodations were unbelievable !There was nothing to do but make music and shoot guns. PERFECT !


How long did it take to record?

Dez: We finished in about 3 weeks with the final fourth week in Santa Barbara, CA, to wrap some vocal stuff.


How does this album compare to your previous albums?

Dez: The record is tighter, faster tempos, more solos and guitar work all around. It’s full of hook and groove with a powerful live feel–that’s a punch in the face.Working with Jason and Mark was killer, and they got the best out of every player; I want to work with them again.They knew how to capture an intensity and lay it down to tape without loosing the vibe.We know that this is our time to do the opposite of whats popular in metal. The fans want it kicking and heavy, so here we come with it!

How was the European leg of this tour?

Dez: Touring festivals is always a good time! Summer camp everyday with all these bands and crew runnin around.The European run was fun as all hell!


“”Horn of Betrayal”" was your debut on Sirius Satellite’s Hard Attack channel–how was the response to that?

Dez: The response has been huge on this record, but we owe a special thanks to Hard Attack and Jose for blowing it up man! It’s humbling when the heaviest radio station on the planet supports your band , UNO!


Tell us about the back up growls your 9-year son, Simon added to the album.

Dez: He recorded some final vocals in SB and he came in after school one day, picked the phrase ,”"You will live below angels and above beasts “” as a line. He listened 2 times put on headphones, I held him up to the mic and he busted out a corpse style growl that made me jump back like …:WHAT THE FUCK !”"………..pretty good debut for the kid !


How does it feel to be dubbed by Phil Anselmo, the former Pantera leadman and current Down lead singer, as the next Pantera?

Dez: As far as that goes..”"That’s my brother,I would like to see where and when he said that”",you got to give me a source before I can comment on trying to fill the largest shoes in metal.


I heard you wont pinpoint the exact genre of metal that DevilDriver play…why? tell us about that.

Dez: It’s hard to categorize us man…..we just got our own sound ! We will continue to define it over the years.


Why did you change your name from Deathride to DevilDriver before your first release.

Dez: Simple…..The label couldn’t nail down copyrights and things so we had to let it go .


Anything you’d like to add?

Dez: To anyone that supports what we do thanks so much ! See ya on the road !

Curlupanddie can be considered one of the newest and most innovative bands of this year. “Unfortunately We’re Not Robots” was released not too long ago on Revelation, and it is an amazing example of music: metal riffs, screaming roaring vocals, violent and soft momenst thrown all together in one album, it shows how these four guys from Nevada can play some of the best tunes of metal influenced music. After a long time spent on tour, Mike stopped at Truepunk.com to tell us all about his band and their music. 

Interview by Carlo Gironi ( carlo@staff.truepunk.com ) with Mike. 

First thing I’d like to ask you is to introduce Curl Up And Die to the people who never heard of you before : how did you get together, started playing and got signed to Rev ?
Matt plays guitar, Jesse plays drums, Mike sings and Gavan plays bass. We just got together messing around playing cuz we grew up together and music was one thing we were all interested in. Revelation Records watched us play in our garage in our previous band when we are all 15 years old and said when you turn 18 we will give you a contract if you all graduate highschool, so we held them to it and signed .

What does the name Curl Up And Die refer to ?
It was a joke at first, but it definately has serious meaning to it, I’m sure people can find something by themsevles. It’s like a sickness.

You have a short discography, is “Unfortunately We’re Not Robots” your first album ?
Sure. I think it is. We alos made an EP called “The Only Good Bug Is A Dead Bug” and a seven inch.

I saw your line up changed, are you a solid band right now ?
Yes, we have been for a while now.

Your new record is called “Unfortunately We’re Not Robots” : I think it is sarcastic. What does this title stand for ?
It’s saying that sometimes its easier to not have emotions. Pretty simple, everything else im sure you can figure out on your own.

You recorded the new album with Kurt Ballou of Converge, in Boston: how was to work with him and how was the recording expirience ?
It was one of the best things i have ever done and accomplished in my life. To be able to go
across the country and record an album or music you helped create. It was a lot of fun and
rough at times, but overall great thing.

I read on your bio that your influences go from Neurosis, to Saves The Day and Black Flag: what about Saves the Day ? Do you like emo ?
I have no idea what that is all about. There are some things that are band has no control over these days.

And what about your influences in general ? Have you got some particular influence?
Comic books, for sure.

Your music has been described as “metal core” : do you agree ? How would you describe your record ?
Sure. Not metal core.

Talking of “Unfortunately, We’re Not Robots”, it has some really strange song-titles: do they deal with the lyrics of the songs or it is just a way to get attention ?
No, they dont deal with the lyrics, we are just trying to be funny. I can’t write a serious song title for the life of me.

Would you describe in general what you sing about in this album, even with some examples if you want ?
It goes through a personal experience in my life that opened up my mind to a lot of other things
going on in the world. And it’s my story of that.

The funniest title is surely “You’d Be Cuter if I Shot You in the Face” : what is that song about ?
I don’t really remember. I think something about me hating everyone and myself.

The artwork of your record is quite “hi-tech” , also the lyric sheet, and it is really hard to read your lyrics.
First off, the layout is printed too dark, it got fucked up. That’s why its so hard to read the lyrics. The tech feel is just what our designer pulled out from what he heard in the record. It’ss his
interpretation of our music through his art. He also has grown up with us so he has a
somewhat good idea of us as a band and us as individuals.

What’s you relationship with technology and the internet ?
A strong one. We have been on three dates so far. Sorry really bad joke, but i don’t really know what the hell is going on anyway.

Talking of computers and stuff , what’s your opinion on the whole mp3 thing that everyone talked about sometime ago when Napster was not dead: do you download songs from the ninternet ?
What is the ninternet? Is that like nintendo that you can play on the internet? That is sick, a really good idea. If you want you can get our record off the internet, we don’t care.

I saw you are not very pro-religion : so what do you think of the so called christian hardcore metal bands that sing about God ?
You are allowed to sing about whatever you want.

Have you got some plans of touring ? If so, have you got some anticipations ?
Yeah, as much touring as we can possibly do, more U.S. throughout the year, hopefully Europe sometime in the future, that would be awesome.

What’s in your cd-player right now? Have you got some cool bands to advice ?
Endeavor. Not really, sorry.

Final comments ?
Thanks a lot for the interview, you are really nice

While claims that Helmet is New York’s most important rock export since the Ramones flatter them, the quartet’s ‘unsung’ guitarist Rob Echeverria certainly isn’t losing perspective.

Archival April 1994 (pre-Truepunk.com) interview by Steve Tauschke | steve@staff.truepunk.com | with Helmet guitarist Rob Echeverria.

Hey Rob, first up I wondered what sort of audition process you undertook to join Helmet last year?
None really! The whole thing was that (drummer) John (Stanier) heard a record of my old band (Rest In Pieces) and he suggested to (singer/guitarist) Page that they should get in touch with me or whatever. It turned out that we had a mutual friend who was the band’s publicist so it was pretty much in the bag already. They didn’t try out anyone else. We got together one weekend and I already knew the material so it worked right from the start. Interesting and ironic at the same time.

Had you seen the band perform?
Yeah (publicist) Steve Martin took me to see them and I thought ‘wow, these guys are great’. It was the only thing out of New York that caught my interest … my old band broke up in 1990 and a year or two later I saw Helmet and thought ‘this is pretty great, these guys are cool’.

Why did former guitarist Peter leave?
Same old musical/personal differences. From what I understand, and I never met him so I can’t really slag him - but from everything I’ve heard it was a bad relationship from the get-go and he was pretty much taking out all the fun for the rest of the guys. So unfortunately for him, he had to go. Last I heard he was writing for a couple of magazines.

Page Hamilton once said Helmet was his whole life … has it become an all-consuming passion for you too?
Oh yeah, definitely. And now, fortunately for me, it exists in a way where I don’t have to focus on anything other than my guitar. So now I can just sit here and see what I want to contribute to the band and work on that and emphasize all the things I wish to work with and donate, on a band scale. It’s definitely great … I sleep, dream and eat Helmet everyday.

How did the band wind up on the Crow soundtrack?
I guess because of Interscope, it’s an Interscope production so we got asked by the producers to actually be in the movie. But we turned it down because the band didn’t seem to fit the image of the movie and we were touring at the time. Luckily they still let us do a song.

Did you play guitar on last year’s Just Another Victim collaboration with House Of Pain?
That was the first thing I ever recorded with with these guys, yeah!

How was that track assembled by the two bands?
We pretty much did our part in New York on a weekend when House Of Pain was playing a show down here and afterwards they came along to listen to what we’d laid down. So we laid the foundation and then they took the tapes to LA and added their samples and stuuf like that. Then, when we toured LA, we all mixed the whole thing down … A lot of googd things came out of that House Of Pain collaboration. The producer of the Judgment Night album, T-Ray, we met him because he’d remixed a couple of the tracks and we asked him to do our own record. At first (the new album) Betty was going to be this new rap crossover rock-type thing which fortunately for us didn’t turn out that way.

The album is certainly a deviation from some of the band’s earlier stuff. Can you claim any responsibility for that?
Well, I mean my sound is completely different to Page’s and also, I’m told, I’m more together than Peter ever was. But as far as he is concerned, my sound is just totally different to his and I managed to get a different blend with Page. Playing-wise, it’s turned out to be a good thing I guess.

What songwriting contributions did you make to Betty?
All of the songs are Page’s arrangements except fro Rollo and the The Silver Hawaiian which are both by (basist) Henry. This time around it was a lot more of a band thing. It was bascially learnt and practised in the studio and it wasn’t as thought out as much as the stuff on Meantime was. We tried to keep the feel as a band.