Atreyu

I was pretty in awe of their tour bus, and I think I had a contact high from some weed that I smelled (I'm not around it much at all), which led to me forgetting to ask other questions that I hadn't written down. Live and learn, I guess. This interview went down on May 30 with Brandon of Atreyu while his girlfriend was silently sitting next to him and a paused "Interview With the Vampire" was on the television screen.

PL: State your name and what you do for the band.
BS: I'm Brandon and I play drums and sing.

PL: In the bio for The Curse, Metal Maniacs states that you guys were an overnight success. Do you agree with that statement?
BS: Not really. We've been a band for about four years, and for the first year and a half, we were the band to hate. Like, it was cool to hate us. So, we've been through a bunch of shit, just trying to get known in our own scene, let alone the whole country or the world or whatever. We definitely toured our asses off in the last two years or so, so I'd have to disagree with that.

PL: Explain the pressure, if any, that comes from writing a follow up to a successful album.
BS: I don't know. It just seems like, from what I've been told, your sophmore release is your make or break album, so that alone is pressure. We kind of just tried to set that aside and do what we do and if people are into it, then that's awesome. And if not, at least we gave it our best shot.

PL: How does a co-headlining tour like this work?
BS: Us and FATA (From Autumn to Ashes) we just worked it out to where we headlined a lot of the West, we headlined and closed, and we split the shows half and half.

PL: How do you like this tour? Its a big package tour.
BS: Its awesome. The first half had The Break and Red Tape on it, so that was fun. And we're really good friends with Eighteen Visions, so its just been a blast having them on tour. And Antarabae is awesome. So its been awesome. Its the last day actually.

PL: Yeah, thats actually my next question. Whats the last day of tour like?
BS: Collecting merch and thinking of stupid shit to do onstage. And looking forward to a ridiculously long drive back.

PL: Are you guys taking the bus home?
BS: This is taking us to San Antonio. Thats where we parked our van. And then we'll drive our van home from there.
PL: Did your van break down or anything, or is it just because you guys are sick?
BS: No, we were just way sick, so we got this thing in San Antonio.
PL: I just think this bus is really cool, so I'm being nosy about it.
BS: I do the same thing everyday.

PL: Did you expect to be as successful as you guys are?
BS: Absolutely not. I've wanted to play music my whole life, and this is what I've wanted to do for a living. And I think its awesome that we have the opportunity to do this, to do what we love for a living, but I never expected it to go this far. Its awesome that it did and I have no complaints. We're just gonna take it as far as we can go.

PL: Has there ever been a time where you've thought about quitting music?
BS: Never. Its absolutely what I love doing. I've grown up listening to music and I've grown up playing music. And I don't know how to do anything else. Without music, I'm fucked and working at McDonalds.

PL: Is this the first band that you've ever been in?
BS: Well, me and Dan have been in bands for the past eight years together. Just little shitty punk bands when we were in high school and middle school and stuff. And then we started Atreyu about five years ago.

PL: Depression is a word that is used frequently in Atreyu bios and articles and in describing the music. Has anyone in the band ever gone through a bout with depression?
BS: Well, I guess I should say that, lyrically, they can be brutal and depressing at times. I think that everybody has that little sadness or depression in them. Everyone has their downtimes.

PL: Do you think that depression is a serious problem with today's youth or is it just an over-diagnosed excuse to give more money to doctors and pharmacists?
BS: An over-diagnosed excuse. I think that some people do have a chemical imbalance that makes them depressed all the time, and it sucks but you can take medication to help. Me personally, I try not to let too much bring me down. There's too many good things going on in my life, usually everyones' life. There's usually more good things than bad things happening to you. So you just have to look on the positive side and not let the little things get you down. That works for me.

PL: Whats better, The Simpsons or The Family Guy?
BS: Simpsons.

PL: Are you going to vote in this upcoming election?
BS: I've never before, but I think I am now. There's way too much stupid shit thats been going on. I'm not a political person at all, whatsoever, but I've got to get off my ass and vote and register.

PL: Do you have any final comments?
BS: Check out our record on June 29. The Curse.

Interview by: RF
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