Interview: Boys Night Out

bst interviews boys night out by rob tatum Recently, bst had the chance to interview Brian, the new drummer for Boys Night out, when the band hit Denver as part of this year's Warped Tour. We asked Brian about the band's upcoming album, the current tour, as well as some other things. The following is a recap of the interview. If you are interested in learning more about and listening to Boys Night Out, visit the band's official website, and Ferret Records. bst: Please state your name and instrument. Brian: I’m Brian and I play drums. bst: Tell us about the new album, Trainwreck. What should listeners expect from the new album? How would you compare it to your other releases? What kind of reactions do you expect from fans of your past releases? Brian: I think it is definitely a big step forward for the band, especially compared to what Make Yourself Sick was. There is definitely more Led Zeppelin rockish stuff going on in the songs. There was a lot more thought process put into the songs. It’s way more in depth. The whole album is a storyline, sort of a concept record. It was a pretty big undertaking for all of us to do it. We like how it came out and we people like it as well. bst: How would you describe working with Ferret? Brian: It’s amazing. They are the best guys. They help us out a lot. We really couldn’t ask for more. bst: Was there any different approach to songwriting on this album? What, if anything, was the main inspiration behind this album? Brian: I think we all inspired each other. We took a lot more time with each song, rather than throwing it all together and saying here’s another album. Everything progressed even more once we got in the studio with Machine, who produced the record. He helped a great deal and fine tuned everything to how we wanted it. bst: Do you think that bigger tours like Warped, Ozzfest, and Sounds of the Underground are beneficial to the music community by exposing more people to your music? Or do you think it keeps some of the fans away who don’t want to deal with the large crowds and outside venues? Brian: I think it goes both ways. It definitely helps expose bands to a lot of new people, but it keeps some people away with the heat and big crowds. Overall, I would say it’s a good thing; it’s a lot of bands for a reasonable cost. bst: What do you think is the best part of the music industry right now? What can be done to keep that going? What do you see as the biggest problem with the music industry right now? What do you think can be done to fix it? Brian: I don’t know if there is a best part. It seems to be going more and more downhill every year. The biggest problem is that people stopped caring. It seems like people realized that if you scream a little bit and sing during the chorus, you can make a lot of money… not that we weren’t guilty of that, but we are trying to break away and move forward. This album made us realize that we have to do something different because people aren’t passionate about what they are doing. I mean, if you are playing something totally typical, but you love it, then that’s great, but if you are doing just to sell records, something is wrong. bst: Any memorable moments on this year’s tour? Any horror stories? We always hear one or two. Brian: Our bus has broken down like a hundred times. We’re on our second bus and our second driver. Today, actually, we are getting our old bus and our old driver back. It’s been a fun tour. There are a lot of cool people to hang out, party, and drink, so I may not remember some of those memorable moments. bst: What are you thoughts on the internet and mp3’s? Do you see them as assets to the music business or exploitation? Brian: We all see it as assets. It depends on what level you are on. It may seem like a bad thing, but who cares. If you want to play music, you want people to hear your music, so if they download it, who cares. If they really like it, they will buy it to get the lyrics and what not. I mean, if you download it, at least you will hear it, hell; maybe you’ll burn it for your friends. bst: What are your plans at the conclusion of this tour? More touring? R&R? Brian: After that we go on the Nintendo Fusion Tour. bst: Anything else you would like to add? Brian: Thanks. bst: Thanks so much for talking with us and answering the questions. boys night out official site

Review #2: Poison the Well - You Come Before You

artist: poison the well album: you come before you label: atlantic records released: 7/1/03 by: rob tatum The hardest thing for any band is to take what they have done in the past and improve upon it. Poison the Well’s Opposite of December was one of the most influential albums to ever hit hardcore, so it wasn’t any shock that Tear from the Red didn’t quite live up to their first full length. Now, with their third full length, and first major label release, Poison the Well unveils You Come Before You. This release takes strong points of both previous full lengths and sandwiches them into an all-out barrage on the senses. Within the first thirty seconds of the album, the song “Ghostchant” establishes that the band has not gone soft or strayed away from what most listeners have come to love. The album is once again filled with blistering and melodic guitars, amazing drum fills, and lead singer Jeff Moreira’s booming screams and harmonic singing. Any fan of Poison the Well knows that they focus on combining intense and energetic music into almost perfect melodies. You Come Before You hasn’t changed this basic platform, but the songs don’t necessarily follow any particular format or structure as appeared on Tear from the Red. There is a saying that you can never get too much of a good thing, which may hold true in some cases, but Poison the Well makes sure not to wear out listeners with repetition. In a few songs, there are noticeable similarities to past songs, such as the beginning of “Meeting Again for the First Time” has a striking resemblance to the intro of “Botchla” from Tear from the Red. Aside from those few parts, each song establishes itself as something different. The album does not run together in the way Tear from the Red did. One of the major things I noticed about this album is that the overall feeling is angrier than any of their previous releases. Jeff’s lyrics have transformed into much more mature pieces without compromising the emotional side that was established on Opposite of December. The music goes through the same sort of transformation and the album really does have some heavy hitting parts that will appease a number of hardcore fans. I really was worried that they may have averted from the intensity and gone for slower and softer melodies, but that is definitely not the case. Aside from the instrumental, “The Opinionated are so Opinionated” and an unnecessary sound bite, the album does actually come close to Opposite of December on many levels. The unfortunate thing is that the groundbreaking potential is no longer there, making it difficult to even compare the albums. Regardless of that, You Come Before You is still leagues ahead of a good majority of bands, and until there is another band that can perfect the intensity and melody infusion that Poison the Well has mastered over the years, it is going to be hard to knock them from the top of their genre. favorite song: “meeting again for the first time” rating: 94%/100% listen to poison the well

Review #1: Poison the Well - You Come Before You

artist: poison the well album: you come before you label: atlantic records released: 7/1/03 by: eduardo moutinho There is a disturbing trend going around our underground music scene. This trend concerns the actions of major record labels doing their best to come and pluck away some of the most well-known and popular bands from the rose that is our scene. Many bands have fallen under the spell of the money-grubbing majors, such as Thursday, Glassjaw, and the authors of the record that is being reviewed in this very text: Poison the Well. Fortunately, for the most part, the sound that made these bands famous is not being compromised. Glassjaw’s Warner Brothers debut, Worship and Tribute, was an absolute hurricane of greatness. And from the looks of it, Thursday’s next record will follow suit. And folks, I’m happy to say, that Poison the Well’s debut on Atlantic, You Come before You, is quite splendid. Poison the Well’s previous release, Tear from the Red, on Trustkill Records was met with mixed reviews. The group took its sound in a new direction, focusing more on heavy, crunchy, melodies and incorporating more singing into the music. Many were annoyed by this, instead wanting another The Opposite of December, the band’s most famous and influential record. I enjoyed Tear from the Red quite a bit but found myself always going back to Opposite of December, because of the epic nature of that record. In fact, I was fearful that the band would continue to change their sound, since they were releasing a debut record on a major. I was hoping that I would not have to prematurely start talking about the “good ol’ days when Poison the Well was a pioneer in melodic hardcore.” In the end, I didn’t want to hear You Come before You and hear a slightly edgy hard rock band. Thankfully, from hearing this record, I realized that the guys were given the freedom necessary to craft a record to their own specifications. You Come before You is in essence, a culmination of Poison the Well’s musical evolution. There’s a little Opposite of December here, and a little Tear from the Red there, even some Distance Only Makes the Heart Grow Fonder hidden behind a couple of layers. This, in my opinion, is the most notable strength of this record. The chaos and rawness is back, yet the increased use of singing and melody remains. There are songs that are pure aggression and emotion, that have very few breaks, and then there are songs that have slow parts accompanied by heart-felt singing. And of course, there are songs that combine everything into a big ball of melodicore. I must say, that with the evolution of Poison the Well’s sound has come an evolution of musicianship by the band members. The guitars are great here, and I can already imagine Ryan Primack playing this stuff live with his facial expressions. I can’t wait. There are sweet little riffs here and there. Just listen to “Zombies are Good for your Health” to see what I mean. These guys still concentrate on the heavy rhythm, and they execute with great efficiency. Drums are always a highlight of Poison the Well’s music, and on this record, the high marks continue. Expect to see well-placed fills, great snare work, and overall goodness. And the vocals are the same, as Jeff Moreira is in my opinion, the best vocalist in hardcore. This guy has a spectacular screaming voice, and a singing voice that would get him far on American Idol. On this album, he changes his screaming style just a bit, which adds so much to the sound. He ends and starts screams, on many occasions, by transitioning from his regular voice to the scream, which sounds really crisp and hits my ear just right. Also, his screams aren’t as high-pitched as they used to be, which is also good. Definitely, Jeff’s vocals are fantastic here. Songs like “Loved Ones,” the aforementioned “Zombies are Good for your Health,” and the end track “Crystal Lake” (which sounds a bit too much like “Zombies…”) are frenzied and filled with speed and heat. “Loved Ones” in particular is spectacular, where fast-paced heavy verses are intertwined with moody, atmospheric interludes with singing. Then, there are songs like “Meeting Again for the First Time” and “The View from Here is a Brick Wall” that are reminiscent of Tear from the Red tracks, with slow introductions and roller coaster-like song structures. The guitarists in particular, really want to show that they are getting better and better, so many of the songs have a lot of atmosphere and complicated effect-driven clean parts thrown into them. The song “Sounds Like the End of the World” is the heaviest atmospheric song I have ever heard, and that makes it really interesting. I also like how the band chose to add more traditional-sounding songs, with lots of tempo, heaviness, and little to no singing in them, to keep the variety in good check. There are instances where the “hard part to slow singing part to hard part” structure wears a bit thin. Fortunately, this problem is remedied a bit by songs like “For a Bandaged Iris” and “The Realist” that sound like nothing that Poison the Well has done before. The songs have a lot of high trebly parts matched up with heavy accompaniments, and even more uncharacteristic song structures. And to be quite honest, I think these songs will hit the Poison the Well faithful in a more positive manner than the Tear from the Red ones. Overall, I’m really pleased with this record. It’s hard to say that this is my favorite Poison the Well release, but I can say that I find it to be a lot better than Tear from the Red and easily in the league of Opposite of December. There are all sorts of songs here, really hard ones, all-over-the-place tracks, and even experimental pieces. Thankfully, the suits didn’t intervene and force this band into becoming another Hatebreed or Shadows Fall. favorite song: “loved ones” rating: 93%/100% listen to poison the well