Live Interview with Oli and Jason from the band All That Remains conducted by Miranda Wilson (Aka Sidine). I would personally like to take this opportunity to thank the guys of All That Remains for sitting down with me and taking the time to answer a few questions, it was truly a pleasure to speak with them.
Miranda: How did you guys come together as a band?
Jason: That is an Oli question, because I just joined the band 2 years ago.
Oli: Phil started the band in '98 after leaving the band Shadows Fall, and then he called me in '99 because Mike Barn was a student of mine and he tried out for the band and failed. He was like let's have my teacher to try out and I was the last member of the original line up the second guitar player and I was the new guy in the band and we kinda weeded through a couple of members and now I'm the only original member besides Phil.
Miranda: And you just joined the band?
Jason: 2 years ago
Miranda: You're not a newbie anymore.
Jason: I'm not a newbie anymore but some of the older history of the band are better fuel by Oli over there.
Miranda: How did the band come up with the name?
Oli: Phil said thought it was cool
Miranda: Ya'll are all that remains the older members.
Oli: the way that I think of the name, my personal association is at the time in '99 - 2000 the metal scene let's put it bluntly didn't exist and we felt that we were resurrecting the classic metal like the Iron Maiden and Metallica but was like the Swedish metal influence we were all that remained of the past.
Miranda: of the culture, the actual culture of the metal.
Oli: we weren't like the bouncy new metal with our pants down around our ankles. We weren't try to sell records, or sell out. We weren't with the times, we were like trying.
Miranda : trying to bring back the old stuff.
Oli: Yeah yeah so, we were all that remained of that. That is my association with the name, Phil's might be different, but I think if a name means, something to people that is cool too.
Miranda: how would you describe your music to someone that is not familiar with it?
Jason: Fast and Melodic with heavy parts.
Oli: Melodic metal that is both heavy and accessible at the same time.
Miranda: Your most recent album is "Overcome" and it was released in 2008, has it provided you guys with a healthy touring schedule?
Jason: absolutely
Miranda: Can you give me a general overview of the writing process for the album?
Oli: I wrote a lot of music for this album
Miranda: Lyrically or musically?
Oli: Musically.. I brought it to the band and we basically hashed it out as a band on the arrangement and a lot of it is just taking what I write and taking stuff out of it, or making me rewrite stuff at practice. But it's really without the group the album would not be a All That Remains record. So even though I brought a lot to the table on this one it was the band it's self that shaped the sound. Like in the first track "Before the Damned" the drum beat came first he came up with that pattern, he always wanted to use it, and I thought it was awesome so I started a riff and I was like "Cool" ya know. That was fun for me to write off somebody else.
Miranda: It's always nice to have somebody else to start the song first, it gives you some way of being creative off somebody else.
Oli: You know I have a good variety of song writing but it's still nice to have somebody else throw out something so like the song "Undone" Phil wrote the intro and verse . So I was able to complete the song with that so it was the basis, also like the song "Do Not Obey" he wrote the same way the verse chorus. So it's cool we get to play off those ideas.
Miranda: My favorite is "Relinquish"
Oli: Really?
Miranda: Yeah "Relinquish"
Jason: Oh "Relinquish" I like that one
Miranda: I mean I've been listening to this album, I got it about two weeks ago and I have been listening to every day at work.
Oli: That is the song that is the most controversial for us we love it
Miranda: I listen to the words and means some different to everybody else.
Oli: It has modulation, it has 7/8 part. I think it has a very song chorus, it very heavy and very straightforward. I personally love the song; don't think it's a favorite among the band.
Jason: Oh no no no actually I think Phil's the only one that is like "meh". It's like he doesn't like the first guitar riff.
Oli: That is personally one my favorite thing I have every written.
Jason: Dude! I love that riff. I was psyched when I heard that riff.
Oli: We had to write an 11th song so I brought it in, I wrote it back in June of 2007, when our van died and I was sad. It was very kinda dreamy sounding, it got changed a little bit, but it was pretty much we went through it once at practice; he (Jason) had his part down after one try. We played it for Phil and he hated it.
Jason: He only doesn't like the opening riff. But I thought it sounded cool.
Oli: He's like ya know everyone else likes the song and I don't hate it that much, He's not a Nazi.
Jason: nah he's not a Nazi
Miranda: Yeah .. singers there really not bad of a Nazi, and drummers they get forgotten about. They hide behind those kits all the time, making it hard to get good photos of them.
Jason: To tell you truth I like it better there that, I don't wanna be sitting on a big drum riser. I could give a crap if anyone sees me or not.
Miranda: How do you guys feel about illegally downloaded music?
Oli: If you do it and then buy the album that's cool …. If you're doing it all the time and not supporting the artist … it is stealing. I got into a band called Nightwish because of napster but I went out and bought all the albums.
Jason: well I think it helps bands, because some peoples would say if this was back in the 80's, you would have sold a bazillon albums. But how would you have know the people have actually heard you first. When you look on your website and see a certain song has like 2 million hits on it, that's pretty cool. That's a lot of people out there that have probably never heard your music before that just came across one song because their friends or something you never know.
Oli: I tell ya what's good about the new age technology is that if people like a song on the album they will download that song and pay a dollar for it. It also make it so you can't, well back in the 80's a band would write a couple of good songs on an album and the rest be fluffy material. Because they had to write an album and it wouldn't matter because that is all they play on the radio. But nowadays if you wrote 2 good songs and the rest was crap people would only be paying for 2 songs. But you like Relinquish and it's not one of the popular tunes, but you like that and it's cool.
Miranda: I like a lot of different things.
Oli: That makes me happy you say that and not just the obvilious "Two Weeks"
Miranda: Well when you listen to what a band puts out as a single yeah that songs good but what else is in the sandwich of the album.
Oli: Is one of my personal favorite is "Days Without"
Miranda: What is your favorite?
Jason: My favorite on that I would say is "Overcome" or "Before the Damned"
Miranda: I did my research as you can see the bullet points, college will do that to ya.
Oli: A diamond in the rough.
Miranda: What do you get the most out being a musician that you don't get out of having a normal 9 to 5 job?
Oli: I get to sleep later. Back in the dizzle, I'll use the colloquial term there, back when I was a sophomore in high school I had a problem In school didn't wanna be there. So I had to take a aptitude test and everything I did came out to be "you should be a musician" I'm like that what I have been trying to tell you guys. Basically, you are your own boss you create your own destiny, Writing the songs, being out there, and it can be very grueling at times. But then again were in a bus now I can sleep until three in the afternoon, get up and do sound check and go back to bed. There is freedom within the day, obviously, we have press sometimes and it's cool. It's way better than shoveling dirt or washing dishes. I use to deliver pizza and those jobs suck I know from firsthand experience.
Jason: I love the travel, I love meeting people. I'm a really social person, I'm probably the most social person in the band. I am out after the show trying to meet people hanging out with everyone at the bars and everything; I love all the stuff like that. I also like making money doing what I love doing and that's playing drums, even though I get nervous sometimes. I'm not the stereo typical rock star guy sometimes with big crowds I'm like "Oh My God", but it's still fun and I still get to play drums and make a living at it while traveling around the world. With wonderful people, everyone in this band is nice and everyone that works with us is nice.
Oli: That's what it boils down too, we love our instruments. I love playing guitar and he loves playing drums. That's what I did in high school as I said I didn't wanna do homework because I was practicing guitar. I took that every seriously I want a be a musician I love this, and it takes that kind of commitment to be able to do this for a living is a great honor and you have to sacrifice a lot to do this.
Miranda: What are your personal influences and why?
Jason: For drumming is a lot of them I have been playing drums for 20 something years. But the ones I can just pull of the top of my head are from metal like Gene Hoglan from Strapping Young Lad he's in Dethklok now he was one of my favorite drummers of all times. Deen Castronovo he worked with Marty Friedman on his "Dragons Kiss" album, He was a drummer on a lot of albums. Iron Maiden, Sepultura, Slayer. But then like even other genres of music like Frank Zappa, one of my favorite albums was "Man from Utopia" he had Jonathan Mover on that album I think, and whatever my drum teacher, I had a drum teacher for like 10 years, would turn me on too. Like "Tower of Power" and rap bands like A Tribe Called Quest, or Ice T. I remember trying to figure out the drum beats from both of those drum tracks. I have had a lot of influences and a few I have probably forgotten and will remember later own tonight and feel bad.
Oli: Ahhh Britney Spears….
Miranda: WOW!
Oli: Um, No! My favorite guitarist is Andy LaRocque from King Diamond, I love all the Swedish guys Yngwie Malmsteen. I loved Paul Gilbert, anyone can shred with feeling and can convince that they are playing something I can remember are good in my book.
Miranda: So anyone that puts heart in to what they are playing.
Oli: As are as for pure feel David Gilmore, we were watching something on the bus last that and Bo had this green lightshow and just listening to it, his tone is like, it's probably the best tone you could ever hear. It just like pure vocal and it's just awesome.
Miranda: What is planned for All That Remains for the rest of 2009?
Jason: LOTS OF TOURING, after this we have a week off then we go straight in to a tour with Disturbed up in Canada. Then we go Europe to do all the European festivals for their summer, and then we came back for the Mayhem tour. After mayhem we are going have like an 8 week long headliner, and then there is talks about going back to Europe again in December but we doing know about that yet.
Miranda: I will be at Mayhem Fest in Atlanta,
Oli: I will be there
Miranda: Got tickets already?
Oli: No, I will have to find a scalper.
Miranda: Awe, Be careful of dark roads and potholes.
Miranda: Any messages for your fans?
Oli: Hang in there
Jason: Come out to the shows and have a great time, seriously and have a few drinks with afterwards if your 21, I had to throw that in there.
Miranda: ID's will be checked
Jason: Please drink responsibly
