Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Backstage with The Word Alive!


Over the past year, I have interviewed bands from pretty much every genre out there be it acoustic rock, heavy metal, pop, country, ska, electro, the list just keeps on going and going and one of those bands that has stuck out this year for me is The Word Alive. They are some of the newest family members to Fearless and provide a fresh take on the classic rock band that is all over the music scene right now.

The Word Alive jut put out a little while ago their first full length album "Empire" and have been on the road constantly, including just starting their "You'd Look Cuter In A Coffin" tour with Alesana, From First To Last and company. Finishing off the tour I talked to them last on about two weeks ago, these boys are non stop but seem to be loving it. We sat down for our interview right in the beginning of their Silverstein tour on the third date in New Haven, Connecticut and were in the middle of all the action on some benches outside of the dressing rooms. We talked everything from their wrestling like panthers action, their song writing process and their thoughts about the awesome family they have found on Fearless Records, home of bands like A Skylit Drive, Breathe Carolina and Eye Alaska too!

Due to our decided location for the interview, through out guest appearances were made by Matthew Leone from Madina Lake, their tech who had a unfortunate incident with a security guard the night before in Syracruse, and the lead singer of I See Stars which made for definitely a exciting and interesting interview!

I was watching some of your youtube videos and you guys were doing a live stickam chat where all your fans were writing that you suck?
Zach Hansen...on guitar: We told them to type that. We thought it would be funny.
Nick Urlacher...on bass: I think if there really was a mass amount of people that actually did that, we'd find their address and go to their house like Jay and Silent Bob and beat them up..just kidding.

How do you take some of the criticism that people throw at you though?
Zach: We really don't care. We just like making music. Doing something that we enjoy. If you like it, awesome. If you don't, then it doesn't matter. Everyone has their own songs that they like listen to. Overall, I think we take the criticism pretty well.

How has the Silverstein tour been going so far in comparison to past tours like the one you just came off of with Eyes Set To Kill?
Tony Pizzuti...on guitar: So far, it's been the best tour we've ever been on already like by far. I mean everyone is so nice.
Dusty Riach...on keys: So nice.
Zach: Everything is so organized, it's just great. We have a tour manager now.

What's your favorite part of touring?
Nick: What's our favorite part?
Dusty: Wrestling.
Nick: We had a legitimate no bars held fight last night. He slammed my face in the rocks.
Tony Aguilera..on drums: Pushed his face in the mud..
Nick: But afterwards, we actually had the greatest hug ever, absolutely no problems. It wasn't a real one.
Dusty: They kind of start out like panthers, circle and then they pounce on each other.
Zach: But other than that, I think just playing shows every night.
Tony P: We're all best buddies.I really couldn't ask for anything more. This is pretty much all I want to do so we are very blessed to have each other.

Who are your major musical influences personally or as a band?
Tony P: Um, a couple of my influences I guess are Cody from As Cities Burn, you know, as a guitar player. Bands like Glasjaw, As Cities Burn but we also listen to techno, black metal, all that stuff.
Zach: Music is our biggest influence I guess. All of it.

How do you guys go about the songwriting process? Is it one person or all together?
Dusty: It's kind of like a cake. It goes on a layer at a time.
Zach: Yeah it's usually, like me and Tony do a couple parts and then we'll sit down together and we'll you know like write a song or start to just collaborate and stuff and then bring it to the band and then the drums, bass, keyboard all go on and last is usually vocals.
Nick: You're looking at the brains of the operation.
Tony P: Without one person, it wouldn't be the Word Alive. We all definitely feed off each other. It's not just one person, it's really a group effort.

This is really random but if you weren't in The Word Alive, what do you think you would be doing?
Tony P: I would still be doing music personally. I don't think I could be doing anything else. If I never did music, I would probably be skateboarding or playing football.
Dusty: If I didn't do music, I'd probably be across the street at Yale or like..Oxford.
Zach: Harvard. Dusty would go to Harvard. I'd want to be a professional dingbat. I'm just kidding. Be in school, play baseball or snowboard. I'd do something that involved being active but really it's all about the music.
Tony P: I'm gonna speak for Nick here. He'd probably be a comedian or a actor. He is the funniest person I know and I truly mean it, I mean we've lived together!
Nick: I think Hansen (Zach) is more.
Zach: No its you. Nick is a actor.
Nick: You never really know who I am.
Zach: Nick has nine different personalities. Different one every time.
Tony A: If I wasn't in this band, I think I'd be doing the same thing I do every night..try to take over the world.

What's the craziest thing a fan has ever given or done to you?
Tony A: Last night I had a girl draw a picture of me and give it to me. It was really good and it was the first time someone had ever done anything like that.
Nick: They still ask me what happened to the blond bass player. I used to have blond hair then I dyed it.
Tony P: A kid slam danced for us. Just out of nowhere!






Nick: He was five cans short of a six pack.
Zach: We have awesome fans, totally supportive. Some really sweet people come out, bring like laundry detergent, clothes, food, free hugs, hand warmers..
Tony P: Feed The Bands is awesome. They bring delicious meals.
Dusty: So Good!


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You can currently find these guys on tour with Alesana and From First To Last, and I strongly suggest checking them out! You can pick up their debut album "Empire" and thank you to Fearless for setting this up!

Find them on myspace here.







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