{"id":1657,"date":"2011-07-11T19:18:39","date_gmt":"2011-07-12T02:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=1657"},"modified":"2014-08-01T20:04:43","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T03:04:43","slug":"mayhem-preview-interview-with-matt-heafy-from-trivium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=1657","title":{"rendered":"Mayhem Preview- Interview with Matt Heafy from Trivium"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Mayhem Festival takes over Rivebend next week.\u00a0We will be featuring bands throughout the week leading up to the festival. Trivium will be playing this year and will represent a new school of metal at its best. The band, out of Orlando, is signed with Roadrunner Records and is anticipating its fifth studio album, In Waves<\/em>, that is expected to be released in August. They have most recently had their song \u201cShattering the Skies Above\u201d being featured in the third installment of the God of War <\/em>video game.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy spoke with lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy\u00a0for a\u00a0preview of this summer\u2019s Mayhem Fest where they will be touring with Metal legends, Megadeth. Trivium will be performing at the Riverbend Music Center at Mayhem Fest on July 20th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy:\u00a0Let’s talk about the new album coming out later this summer. What\u2019s the actual release date on that now?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: The release date, I\u2019m not exactly sure. It\u2019s just that it has been changing. Tentatively I believe it\u2019s August 8th<\/sup> or 9th<\/sup> in the U.S. but you never know because it could change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: What was the process to put the record together? I know you guys have been working on it a while.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: Basically, we have been working on this record for two years now. We had about eight or nine months on pre-production demoing between all of us in the band. We just did it with the four of us. The record took about three months of tracking. I believe the mix process took about a month or six weeks or so. The visual process spanned about a year as well. We have been working on the visuals with five visual artists on this record and we have been working closely with some of them for about a year. We are working on the new treatments for the new video. But we really wanted to make something that wasn\u2019t just about the music anymore and it was completely unveiling the entire package. So you weren\u2019t just getting the soundtrack to the movie, you are getting the entire movie with this record and we wanted to break the mold of what metal has looked like for the past 30 years. Essentially metal has stuck with the exact same formula since Sabbath and Priest did it. We wanted to do something completely different this time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Amy: What\u2019s your favorite track on the album and what is the story behind it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: My personal favorite track of this month of our record, it changes a lot, is probably \u201c’Caustic Are The Ties That Bind.\u201d With this entire record with\u00a0the really deep visuals and all the song titles and lyrics, we really want to leave the interpretation with the viewing listener and put the power back with the person enjoying the music and what they feel like the interpretation of everything should be. I can tell you about the premise of that song. I remember we were in LA one day and we were in the dressing room prepping for this show we had. It was a co-headlining show with us and Coheed and a bunch of other bands.\u00a0\u00a0We had just gotten back from eating Peruvian food nearby and it was amazing, and\u00a0Paulo said \u201cCheck this rift out,\u201d and it started out like Duh duh du duh duh dun nuh and \u00a0I said \u201cThat\u2019s really cool.” I was really into it and said \u201cHey pass me the guitar,\u201d so I learned that rift and added some things onto it and started playing around with it and next thing I recorded the demo and the song went through about five to ten revisions between demos until we came to the right thing. The reason why we kept coming up with different revisions was the middle section was definitely a challenge to come up with. That didn\u2019t come up the first time. I don\u2019t think we had the final vocal arrangement with everything until about two weeks or so before going into the studio. A lot of these songs have been through tons and tons of revisions and some of them were quick like \u201cWhat\u2019s This World Coming To\u201d, that song was written for the record and pretty much you hear it on the record was the way it was in demo form and \u201c’Caustic Are The Ties That Bind\u201d went through like ten revisions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Do you still live in Florida?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: Yes, I still live in Central Florida, kind of in the Orlando area.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So you have been together for 12 years basically. Where do you see yourselves in ten more years?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: What\u2019s so great about us starting out so young is something our label, our booking agents, and our management always talk about is us starting so young is that even ten years from now we\u2019ll be the average age of the bands that are out right now. So we always have so much time to do anything and everything. So it\u2019s onward and upward really.\u00a0 There are no performances anymore, they are all like mini movies. I have this whole grand scale idea of where I would like to go with our videos, and our live performances, and our live setups. Those type of things aren\u2019t really possible for a band our size. We aren\u2019t a big band by any means. We are a medium to small size band.\u00a0If you are big enough that you can put\u00a0the revenue you generate back into the band, back into the art, back into the show, and back into the videos, that\u2019s when you can do things like Rammstein and Lady Gaga do who are heroes of mine when it comes down to bands who are musically and visually creative, that do something different from what everyone else does. When you see what those two bands, what Gaga and what Rammstein do live, it is completely different than what any other band does, what any other band would think to do. And so I have my own ideas of where I would like to see our stuff go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So you want the fountain of blood at your next show like Gaga?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: We would find our own versions of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I\u2019m always amazed at how many metal people love Lady Gaga. It\u2019s really funny to me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Matt: I heard with her new record, she wanted to make a new record that all her metal friends would like. The first one didn\u2019t really take with me. It was cool and all, our bass player was into the first one. But with this new one, I really, really dig it. The music is simpler, it is darker imagery. I found that she is really artistic. All these other pop stars do the same old thing. It is really nothing visually striking or visually creative. She has always injected in the occasional modern art into some of her stuff and in her music videos there will be moments where it will be performance art kind of stuff, and I\u2019m not even talking about the dance scenes, I\u2019m talking about those weird sections where she\u2019s being pelted by waves in a tour dress or something. I think that is bringing a new artistic level into something that typically with pop music is not about art, it\u2019s usually about turning something out, but with her it is something so much more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy:\u00a0 I went to\u00a0see\u00a0her final\u00a0tour stop show\u00a0in Cleveland last month. I guess I\u2019m most impressed with her when she is just sitting at the piano playing and singing because I think people forget that she is a real musician with real talent and who can really, really sing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: Yes, definitely. Most pop stars are\u00a0using backing tracks and auto-tune live. Even Metal bands are doing it. I cannot believe the amount of Metal bands that use backing tracks and auto-tune. They have the actual album playing while they are playing live.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: That\u2019s not something I\u2019m used to with Metal because it\u2019s such hardcore drums and guitars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: There are so many bands in our genre that have their album playing while their playing live and I think, \u201cWhen did this become OK?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: It\u2019s not. It\u2019s definitely not OK. I always love to talk to the drummers because I am like, \u201cHow do you do that?\u201d It just beats the shit out of your body for like two hours every day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Matt: Our new drummer, he is disgustingly good at drums. I was watching him play yesterday and he is not even mic\u2019ed up to anything. He has\u00a0no triggers or anything. He can play all the stuff that I did not know drummers could do anymore. Because everyone is on triggers, and triggers are not a bad thing. Triggers are essential for metal bands and they keep the sound consistent when you are playing, but our drummer came from a world of like Grindcore Technical Death Metal. They didn\u2019t have those kinds of things. He didn\u2019t have nice gear. He just had a little five piece kit. So he had to play everything these guys played on records with nothing. It is an amazing thing because I am an awful, awful drummer. So it\u2019s cool to see it done right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So you are going to be with Megadeath on this new tour. They are probably one of my all time favorite Metal bands. Did they have any influence over you growing up or were they one of your influences?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: Yeah. Of course. The original favorites we got into were Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Testament, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath. Those were the staples, amazing Metal Bands. Megadeth is actually Corey\u2019s favorite band in the world, our other guitar player. We have never toured with Megadeth, we\u2019ve toured with pretty much every other one of our favorite bands ever. Machine Head was the first live Metal band I ever saw in my life. We have toured with them between three and five times now together. I consider them our best friends of any band in the world. They are still one of our favorite bands and our heroes. In Flames is a band that if I did not get into when I was 15 or 16, I wouldn\u2019t be here right now. I wouldn\u2019t have learned to write music that is like Trivium. It was like Black Album <\/em>and Machine Head\u2019s Burning Red,<\/em> \u00a0those were the records that made me. It\u2019s definitely going to be great to be on tour with In Flames and Machine Head again. We have toured with both of them a lot. We toured with Disturbed in Australia. They were super awesome. They treated us better than any band had ever treated us before on tour. Megadeth, I haven\u2019t met Dave yet. I heard he digs our band. I love Megadeth with everything they\u2019ve had.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: It makes sense that Corey loves them with their guitar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: That is Corey\u2019s absolute favorite band. We have hung out with those dudes before. I have met everyone in the band but Dave and everyone is super cool. Corey said hanging out with Dave is super cool. So sounds to me like it\u2019s going to be a good tour.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Do you guys have any regrets over the years?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Matt: Oh yeah. I mean, a ton, it would be hard to list. But it\u2019s always good though. It\u2019s good to fuck up because when you do mess up and when you do have error, it allows you to make something better in the end. I think every single mistake we have ever done and every error we have ever had is a culmination and the end result is our new record. And our new record is the best thing we have ever done as a whole package. Without every error we have ever had we wouldn\u2019t be where we are at right now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I always ask this question because it\u2019s sometimes funny and sometimes it\u2019s not. Are there any crazy boyfriend or husband stories on the road?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: Boyfriend or husband stories? Do you mean like banging somebody\u2019s husband or boyfriend?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Or girlfriend?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: I\u2019m sure it happens. I\u2019m the only guy in the band who is married. I\u2019m the only guy in the band who is in a relationship so I don\u2019t look too kindly on that stuff. I don\u2019t think our guys are too into that. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I usually get the stories of the guys asking the band members to be with their wives or girlfriends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: Oh, those. I think I\u2019ve heard that once or twice back in the day. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019re serious or not. I obviously never did that. I have heard it and heard of it. That\u2019s not cool. Don\u2019t offer up your wife to scummy ass band dude. That\u2019s not OK.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I\u2019ve heard everything from girls laying under the bus tires to not getting off the bus. Some bands have banned girls from the bus period because it\u2019s a legal issue at this point.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matt: Any chick that is going to sleep with a band guy should ask for their STD records first. That\u2019s definitely a good way to go before you sleep with any band member in my opinion. Band guys are some scummy ass dudes and that\u2019s coming from one that used to be a scummy ass dude. I\u2019m not a scummy ass dude anymore but I was. Just because he is in a band does not mean he is anything special. That\u2019s the way I look at it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mayhem Festival takes over Rivebend next week.\u00a0We will be featuring bands throughout the week leading up to the festival. Trivium will be playing this year and will represent a new school of metal at its best. The band, out of Orlando, is signed with Roadrunner Records and is anticipating its fifth studio album, In Waves, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[906,905],"tags":[907,1795,908,1620,1794],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1657"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1659,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions\/1659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}