ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK MAYHEM FESTIVAL TOUR DATES:
7/9 - San Manuel Amphitheater - San Bernardino, CA (Los Angeles, CA)
7/10 - Shoreline Amphitheatre - Mountain View, CA (San Francisco, CA)
7/12 - White River Amphitheatre - Auburn, WA (Seattle, WA)
7/13 - Idaho Center Amphitheater - Nampa, ID (Boise, ID)
7/15 – Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion - Phoenix, AZ
7/16 - Hard Rock Casino Presents: The Pavilion - Albuquerque, NM
7/17 - Comfort Dental Amphitheater - Englewood, CO (Denver, CO)
7/19 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater - Maryland Heights, MO (St. Louis, MO)
7/20 - Riverbend Music Center - Cincinnati, OH
7/22 - Comcast Center - Mansfield, MA (Boston, MA)
7/23 - Parc Jean-Drapeau - (Heavy MTL) - Montreal, QC /www.heavymtl.com
7/24 - Comcast Theatre - Hartford, CT
7/27 - PNC Bank Arts Center - Holmdel, NJ
7/29 - First Niagara Pavilion - Burgettstown, PA (Pittsburgh, PA)
7/30 - Jiffy Lube Live - Bristow, VA (Washington DC)
7/31 - Susquehanna Bank Center - Camden, NJ
8/2 – Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach - Virginia Beach, VA
8/3 - Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek - Raleigh, NC
8/5 - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre - Tinley Park, IL (Chicago IL)
8/6 - DTE Energy Music Theatre - Clarkston, MI (Detroit, MI)
8/7 - Verizon Wireless Music Center - Noblesville, IN (Indianapolis, IN)
8/9 - Zoo Amphitheatre - Oklahoma City, OK
8/10 – Gexa Energy Pavilion - Dallas, TX
8/12 - Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood - Atlanta, GA
8/13 - 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre - Tampa, FL
8/14 - Cruzan Amphitheatre - West Palm Beach, FL
Westminster, Colorado
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Rockstar Mayhem Festival Interviews 2011:
by Tom Walsh
Call them hardcore, death metal, metalcore or any hard metal style label you want to put on them but one thing is for certain, All Shall Perish is in many ways their own style of heavy music. Pulling on numerous influences ranging from the metal masters of the eighties and nineties like Sepultura, Pantera and Iron Maiden to eighties bad boys Motley Crue, All Shall Perish has created a sound that is hard and aggressive while keeping melodic, progressive undertones to their music.
Formed in 2002 All Shall Perish promised to be one of the heavy hitters on the metalcore scene with their release of Hate. Malice. Revenge. With metalcore raging across the country All Shall Perish joined a small but growing group of extreme metal bands that delivered brutal music while embracing the need to experiment with different styles and techniques, keeping them just outside the circle of death metal or metal core labels.
The release of Awaken the Dreamers saw All Shall Perish deliver even more brutal, aggressive music while delving deeper into the experimental, progressive side. The structure of the songs, the shredding guitar, the vocals all point to a band that is maturing and exploring different avenues of releasing their music to the world. The lyrics are smartly written, deal with real life, and believe it or not may even have a message or two for you.
All Shall Perish will be on tour in July with the Mayhem Festival starring some of today’s best and brightest and some metal gods that have withstood the test of time, shredding year after year.
Ben Orum, guitarist for All Shall Perish, was kind enough to give Interstatelive.com a pre-Mayhem Festival interview where he talks about the different line up changes, what it’s like to be a family man out on the road and music in general.
Interstate Live - Are you in California right now?
Ben - I am. I’m in the northern part of California
I.L. - You’re not on tour right now are you?
Ben - Noooo. We have about another month off before we head out again. We’re doing Europe immediately before Mayhem. Then we’ll have a few days home, then we’ll be doing Mayhem.
I.L. - You guys seem to tour quite a bit.
Ben - (laughs) You can say that again!
I.L. - You guys have gotten quite a bit more aggressive in your music, especially your later stuff. Are there any tours that you have been on that exemplifies what All Shall Perish is about? With regards to other bands you toured with or the whole attitude of the tour, is there any one tour where you guys were like hell yes, this is the tour we belong on.
Ben - Yeah. I think it was the tour we did with Kataklysm. Basically touring with a band of that caliber who’s been doing the metal scene and touring metal shows for twenty years? Getting to share a bus with a band like that? We learned a lot. We also learned a lot about our fans. We’re getting a lot more kids and older folks coming out to shows that are more passionate about the music rather than the looks. A very standard thing that bands get caught up in these days is this whole image about how one should look rather than how good the music is.
I.L. - All Shall Perish pretty much formed in 2002 right?
Ben - Correct.
I.L. - You guys have had a few line up changes. Not as bad as some bands definitely. How would you say your current line up compares to past line ups and does this line up seem to be holding pretty steady?
Ben - This line up will be the All Shall Perish line up that everyone remembers in my eyes. As far as the inner workings of the band? This is the first time we’re all of a similar age, we’re all in our early thirties and previous members that have left us have been typically younger and not able to deal with the band emotionally. So when it comes to rigorous touring and financial hardships that we have to endure, it takes a certain attitude and maturity, I think, to deal with that. I think we’re all in a place now where we understand how it works and what we have to do to push forward as a band. It’s just a good feeling right now…this group of guys.
I.L. - With the group you have now is the songwriting any different? Like I said earlier your sound has gotten harder and more aggressive. Do you think it has something to do with the line up?
Ben - This new album isn’t going to be all hard and aggressive. Of course that’s the signature of All Shall Perish but the twelve tracks are very diverse and a very different form on this new record. As far as to answer your question, I think the two new members bring a whole awesome, new dynamic to the writing process. We have our drummer Adam, who is a very accomplished songwriter and is very good at putting together song structures and we have Francesco on lead guitar who just graduated from Berkeley School of Music. He can play any style. He can play world music, you ask him to do a solo a certain way in a certain style and he can just do it. So having that power on the writing, and of course working with me, Mike and Eddie who have been in the band a long time, it’s just a fresh, new feeling. I think people are going to be totally surprised with it.
I.L. - As far as Adam and Francesco go, you guys seem to have a knack for pulling talent from other bands. I know that sounds horrible the way I’m wording it, but you guys do seem to have a knack for it. How did you guys end up with Adam and especially Francesco, because I hear he’s from Italy?
Ben - Yeah, he was born in Italy but he lives in L.A.. Basically what happened was other bands pulled talent from us. (laughs) We had a replacement guitarist for Chris Storey, who was the lead guitarist on the last two records, and his name was Jason. He was touring with us and it was working well. We had talked about doing a record with him and before you knew it he was taken away from us by the band Born Of Osiris on Sumerian Records. We knew that was his favorite band and that he wasn’t a permanent member, so when Jason left the band our drummer also decided to leave the band because he wanted to go to school. Unfortunately that whole thing was a very dark period for All Shall Perish to drop one of the largest tours of our career with Machine Head in Europe. So after dropping the largest tour of our career, losing two members Mike and I and Eddie all knew that we didn’t want to break up, that we had to push forward and Francesco kind of magically appeared. It was great! We were interviewing guitarists and drummers, he came and it felt right. I couldn’t be more thankful for having them.
I.L. - There’s a ton of people that are happy you guys didn’t just say screw it and disband All Shall Perish. That had to have been pretty hard losing two members at the same time.
Ben - Seeing something you work this hard on almost fall apart was very turbulent, so I’m glad it all worked out for the best.
I.L. - From 2002 until now what are the biggest changes? Other than the obvious line up changes, has life on the road, life in the studio, has it gotten easier for you guys as the years go by?
Ben - Yes and no. Since 2002 I’ve gotten married. I’ve had two children, and leaving children to tour especially at the ages they’re at now, I have a five year old and a little girl that’s a year old, it’s very difficult….very, very difficult to leave but since I’ve been doing it for so long I can control my heart and my wife is very supportive. I’m also really lucky to have a home business as well to supplement my income while I’m out. So, we all make it happen, we all make it work, but it’s a very difficult job touring all the time. Sometimes it’s rewarding financially, sometimes it’s not and you know? We just have to make due.
I.L. - It’s not like it was even ten years ago where touring like you guys do you’d probably have plenty of money. Unfortunately the music scene is just not like that anymore.
Ben - Yeah, the internet and downloading and everything has changed the game so much that if a band were to come to me right now and ask me how to get signed, how to make it, I honestly wouldn’t have an answer for them. It’s changed so much since we’ve gotten signed I would almost tell them not to do it. (laughs) But, you know, if music’s in your blood go for it.
I.L. - A lot of the bands I talk to say that financially they have to rely more on money from touring rather than sales from their recorded material. Do you find that to be true?
Ben - Yes, but I also find it to be true that with a lot of labels…. I mean they’re vampires man. They’re taking t-shirt money sales now from the shows, they’re forcing bands to print their merchandise through the label. The labels see that the money is not really there anymore for the CD sales so they’re trying to grab it in other ways which is ultimately hurting the artists.
I.L. - Bleeding the bands dry.
Ben - They were already bled dry in my opinion, now they’re just chewing the marrow man.
I.L. - Music lovers love music for whatever the reason. As long as it gets their rocks off they like it.
Ben - Exactly
I.L. - But I would say in the past decade or so harder music or metal has become more socially conscious and a lot of songs are aimed more towards the political side. Why do you think there is this change in metal? Why, all of a sudden, do you think this social consciousness has come about in harder music?
Ben - I think you can only talk about zombies and eating peoples guts and stuff like that so much. Especially in death metal. I think it got kind of stale in the nineties and I think it resurged again with fresh lyrics and fresh production. You have a lot of these crossover bands that are incorporating these big singing parts so that young girls get interested in metal, you have the breakdowns……you know. There’s just all these new elements that are being thrown into the mix that are more acceptable for people that aren’t typically into just straight up metal. I think all the labels are very aware of what’s catchy to the ear these days and a lot of them will even try to make their bands sound that way in order to get the popularity.
I.L. - When you write songs, especially if it’s more politically motivated, life motivated…..whatever, are you hoping to sometimes get a message across to some of your fans and say, “ Hey, listen to what we‘re actually trying to say”?
Ben - Yeah, definitely. That’s always the hope at the end of the day, is that our words inspire in all sorts of ways. I’ve had several fans come up to me at shows and they’ll tell me about how the song Last Relapse on The Price of Existence got them out of hardcore addiction. I had one guy tell me that it helped him with his heroin addiction. He listened to that song every day and he kicked that habit. The song itself really has nothing to do with heroin addiction but I thought it was incredible that he was able to take away the message of that song and do something that incredible and live his life for the better. You know our last CD, Awaken the Dreamers, it was about stop laying around snoozing and make your dream of what a perfect life should be. Get up and do it! You know? So many people just kick back and let the world fly by instead of trying to make a difference. I think a lot of people have caught on to that message especially.
I.L. - That’s gotta make you guys feel good!
Ben - It does feel good. I think bands that don’t try to incorporate lyrics that are important or that they care about, I think that they’re missing out.
I.L. - So what kind of music did you listen to growing up, what are some of your bigger influences and what possessed you to pick up a guitar and start playing?
Ben - Growing up in my parents house there was a lot of Pink Floyd, there was a lot of Genesis being played, there was a lot of Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive stuff. Ultimately, when I was in high school in the nineties what really got me into metal was probably Sepultura, Pantera and Iron Maiden. Who else was I into…… I’m really into Motley Crue. Basically any metal CD you could order through Columbia House or BMG I would check them out. Remember those ten CD’s for one penny deal? Yeah, anything in the metal section I was checking out.
What inspired me to pick up the guitar though? That was probably Sepultura. And lead guitar? David Gilmour from Pink Floyd. He’s always blown me away. He makes the guitar talk and it’s always spoken to me on such a deep level.
I.L. - You guys are going to be here in Denver for the Mayhem Festival, which is honestly probably one of the most hardcore festivals to hit the U.S. right now. How stoked are you guys to play that? Look at all the bands you guys are playing with. Disturbed, Megadeth, Machine Head, In Flames, Trivium….I mean it’s going to be awesome. You guys have got to be stoked for that.
Ben - Yeah man. Like I was saying, as far as the bands that I grew up with Megadeth was also there. When I tell my friends back at home, who aren’t necessarily into the whole metal scene, that I’m playing with Megadeth or Godsmack or Disturbed they’re just like, “Wow man, you made it,”. That always makes me laugh. But you know, It’s awesome and I turn on the radio to classic rock radio it’s like, “Mayhem Fest coming soon with All Shall Perish, Trivium…..,”. We’ve never had this much excitement in the U.S. for a tour. So, it’s incredible. It’s a dream come true.
I.L. - Does it ever come across as kind of surreal?
Ben - Yeah. It really does. I haven’t been nervous for a tour in a while, (laughs) but when I think about it I definitely have butterflies. Which is a good thing. That means we’re just going to push ourselves to kick even more ass.
I.L. - Back in the eighties there was Sepultura, Megadeth……there was Metallica, Slayer, Venom, Testament. Back then it was almost unfathomable that metal music could get any more aggressive or any harder than it was at that point in time. Yet here we are and metal is even harder, it’s even more aggressive. Do you see metal getting even harder in the future than it is now?
Ben - That’s an interesting question. I think that history has kind of proven itself. In the eighties they said it couldn’t get heavier, in the nineties they said it couldn’t get heavier and if I sit here and say it couldn’t get any heavier you know it’s going to. They’re going to find some new frequency, explode it, package it, and sell it to us. (laughs) Who knows man. It seems like it’s getting more chaotic. I’m surprised at what typical kids can take in and digest these days. It’s not what it was. Kids are always searching for something new and something more extreme and they will keep clawing at it until they find it.
I.L. - One thing that sets you apart from other bands in the harder genres is the incredible songwriting skills and the guitar playing, the leads….the progressions…. How do you guys come up with your music? How do you go about writing?
Ben - With this new line up our writing process has changed quite a bit. So now basically how it works is whoever starts the song, whoever has the name, idea or riff, we call it their project. So we let them kind of organically form it, recording the stuff via computer and molding it that way, working with Adam to come up with ideas for the drums. Then when it’s kind of to a skeleton form then it’s shared with the group and we all kind of contribute our input as far as arrangement. Like how about we try a riff here. You know, just a lot of brain stuff back and forth. There’s a lot of emails, a lot of late nights getting frustrated because no one like your stuff or you can’t figure out where to go with something. Writing an album is difficult. Especially with this style of music. At the end of the day, when it’s finally recorded, when it’s finally mixed and mastered it’s just like fuck yes! There it is! All that hard work and there it is! (laughs)
I.L. - How do you guys work it in the studio? Is there a lot of re-writes or do you basically have everything down when you hit the studio so you know what your going in with?
Ben - We have a full pre-production that we do on our own in our home studios. Going in we know exactly what’s going to happen. The only thing that we usually don’t exactly know is the vocals. I don’t want to say Eddie comes up with them on the spot but as far as the voices he chooses to use or making the vocals clear, that comes from being in the studio.
As far as the guitars go though, technology has changed so much just in the last few years that we’re able to track all the guitars at home and perfect them, make sure everything is nice, clean and tight. Then we provide them to our engineer Zack, who can then shoot them through any amp and make it sound exactly how we want it to sound with the raw files. It’s pretty incredible. I’ve heard our new album through like four or five different amps and it’s like yep, that’s the one. You didn’t have that luxury eight years ago. You know? It’s pretty awesome what they can do now.
I.L. - What is an average day on the road like for you guys. I know a lot of people think, “Oh, your in a band, you’re touring, it’s got to be a rock star lifestyle…..,”. I happen to know that most of the time that’s not the case.
Ben - Average day on a van tour or average day on a bus tour?
I.L. - It’s has to be a little rougher on a van tour.
Ben - Yeah, definitely. Super rough. (laughs)
I.L. - So let’s go with the van tour.
Ben - Summer Slaughter we were in a van just because it made sense financially. We had to be at the next show at ten thirty in the morning every morning. Ten thirty. You had to show up nice and early because there were twelve bands playing. So that meant after the gig hopefully everyone in the band that was supposed to drive that night decided to stay sober. (laughs) Then we’re talking an eight to twelve hour drive. So some nights there are three or four people driving and you have two or three crew with you, and you can’t lay down because there’s no room so you have to sit up all night, you’re super uncomfortable and if you’re lucky you’re going to get a shower in there….. I mean you’re still all smelly from the show. It’s like finding sleep where you can, you get a five minute sound check. So it’s very rough in the van for a band. I would say it’s a twenty four seven job. There’s almost no down time.
I.L. - Then you have to get on stage and put your game face on.
Ben - Oh yeah. You get so pissed off sometimes being in such close quarters with your band mates and your crew and being on stage is the only place you can let it out. (laughs)
I.L. - Do you have anything to say to all the fans in Denver that are waiting for you guys to hit here on the Mayhem tour?
Ben - Denver! If I was to move anywhere in the U.S. outside of California it would be Denver. I love Denver! I love the fans in Denver especially. They’ve always come out, they’ve always been supportive. Keep coming out man! We’re gonna kill it on Mayhem! Even if you’re not into some of the bands that are playing just come out for the heavy stuff, drink some beer with us and we’ll party.
 | ||||
Posted on April 28, 2011
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Ben Orum, guitarist for All Shall Perish
