00:00All right, Nate here one more time. We have Escape the Fate backstage at RiffFest.
00:04What's up?
00:06And we are going to talk to them a little bit about them, their music, all that kind of stuff.
00:10You guys, I mean, I know I personally loved you guys' set out there today for the festival stage.
00:16Thank you very much.
00:17Thanks for joining us, of course.
00:18I know it's kind of an interesting start, I guess, to Escape the Fate, once upon a time.
00:22I guess like probably 20 years ago or so.
00:24You guys won like a radio contest, I think is what I saw, you know?
00:28Yeah, yeah, that was the story. You want to take that one, Robert?
00:32Yeah, sure. So yeah, see, I'm the only OG left from that incarnation of the band.
00:37Yeah, we submitted our demo and My Chemical Romance picked us to open for them and it was fucking awesome.
00:44And we were about to get signed by Epitaph Records and that offered us a nice negotiating tool.
00:51And after that, you know, all kinds of different changes and we're still here doing it 20 years later.
00:57Heck yeah.
00:58And I know you guys have had, since you're the OG, I should say, too, a lot of different collaborations,
01:04whether that's like in the studio, maybe a writing process, or even like features.
01:09Like how is that kind of, how cool is that?
01:11Like what kind of groups have you guys got to work with that are really memorable for you?
01:14Yeah, I would say most recently our collab with Spencer from Ice Nine and then we had Burt from The Used on a track called Dearly Departed,
01:25which was part of the deluxe edition of the same album.
01:28So being able to collab with other artists, especially ones that I enjoy listening to and I look up to, is always fun.
01:36So we're wrapping up the new stuff right now.
01:39You know, we just did the whole band get together voting process on what songs we're going to make it
01:44and what songs we're going to be on the chopping block.
01:46And I know bands all the time, they always say, the new stuff is the best stuff.
01:51But it is a fact that this is the first album in the band's entire career that the entire group collectively likes all the songs.
02:01Oh, that's awesome.
02:02Especially Robert.
02:04Especially Robert.
02:05I don't like all the songs.
02:06Well, he usually likes maybe one.
02:08Okay.
02:09He liked more than one this time.
02:10And hates all of them.
02:11Now there's only one that I don't like.
02:12Okay.
02:13Now there's only one he's...
02:13That's progress.
02:15We're getting there.
02:15He doesn't know yet, though, because it's not fully done.
02:18Fair enough.
02:18Fair enough.
02:19Could be good.
02:20Yeah.
02:20Could be good.
02:21You heard that.
02:21Could be good.
02:22No, no, it's good.
02:24So I do want to ask a little bit about that new stuff.
02:27I know you guys are on tour.
02:29You're going to be down in Kentucky tomorrow, is it?
02:30Or Louisville?
02:31Yeah, Louisville for Louder Than Life.
02:32Okay.
02:33That's going to be awesome.
02:34I know The Haunt, we talked to them earlier.
02:35They're going to be down there as well.
02:37I know you guys are going to some cool places in the next couple of months.
02:39I think you guys show out in Japan, or at least a couple of them?
02:42We do, yeah.
02:43So we do Warped in Orlando, and then we leave, what up, dude?
02:48We leave Warped, and we fly to L.A. to then fly to Japan.
02:52We come back from Japan, and in between there we'll be wrapping up the record and getting
02:57some photos and videos and stuff like that done.
03:00And then we're going out on the Emo's Not Dead cruise.
03:02All right.
03:03And there's some other tours in the works right now, but nothing like set in stone yet.
03:08So we'll just see.
03:10But our main focus is just doing what we have booked and finishing up this album.
03:14That's awesome.
03:14Have you guys, speaking on that cruise, then have you guys done any kind of rock-themed
03:18cruises like that before?
03:19We did Shiprocked.
03:19You did your Shiprocked?
03:20Yeah, we did Shiprocked.
03:21Yeah, I know.
03:22We've had a couple of fellow DJs out on those shows before.
03:25Always spoke highly of them.
03:26It's always a unique atmosphere.
03:28Yeah, Shiprocked was fun.
03:29And for our first time, I know Eric and I were pulling double duty because we also had
03:35Dead Rabbits on Shiprock.
03:37So it was like, I guess usually the bands on Shiprock, they'll play one night, day off,
03:42they'll play another night.
03:44Oh, I gotcha.
03:44But we were just, every day.
03:45Yeah.
03:46And it was fun, man.
03:47It was a good time.
03:48No, it's a blast from everything I hear.
03:50You know, speaking of blasts, this might not always be a blast, but tell me a little bit
03:54about how you guys, like, working together.
03:56I know, obviously, you got, like you said, voting on songs and what you like and stuff like
03:59that.
04:00I'm not going to say what's the best thing about working with each other, obviously, but tell
04:02me a little bit about that.
04:03Like, how do you guys gel, what kind of things are conflict about, all that kind of stuff.
04:08Yeah.
04:08One of you two want to take this one?
04:11Is he clenching his fist?
04:11Oh, no, he's good.
04:14So we gel.
04:15We gel.
04:16That's actually, like, really cool because, at least in my time in the band, it hasn't
04:20always been so cohesive creatively.
04:24And it's really cool working together with these guys because I feel like we all have
04:28a very common and shared goal and interest in just making everything the best.
04:33best it can, pushing each other to be the best we can be.
04:37We've spent more time writing this record than, at least in my time around, that I've
04:43seen any time spent.
04:44I mean, I think the first demos for this record were written a year and a half ago, and we
04:49just finally decided on the songs that we wrote.
04:52And now we're deep diving and finishing them.
04:55And it's a really cool blend of rock, metal, breakdowns, synths, guitar shred, catchy vocals.
05:04I mean, we're bringing the whole package of just all the shit that we love about music
05:08into this next album.
05:10Sure.
05:11I mean, you can kind of tell.
05:11It's only the fans can.
05:13Just with, like, like I was saying earlier on the festival stage, you can tell people
05:16can dig that kind of stuff from you guys.
05:17Speaking on that a little bit, though, like, do you guys, I know you have a mixed bag here.
05:21Inspiration-wise, though, I mean, maybe not like, oh, I'm inspired by this band, but
05:24what kind of music do you guys listen to growing up that maybe might be slightly infused in,
05:28you know, the group?
05:30Matty?
05:32A lot of 80s metal and classical for me.
05:36Mostly.
05:37Yeah?
05:37Okay, cool, cool.
05:38I like a lot of stuff.
05:39A lot of stuff?
05:40Yeah, I was always the metal, like he said, like the 80s metal.
05:44I was a big GNR Metallica fan.
05:46I was like, my heyday, all the grunge stuff.
05:48Oh, yeah.
05:49Then later on, like, when I went to high school, it was like, Avenged Southern Pole was
05:52huge influence because I saw them come from, like, touring in a van, just kind of regionally,
05:58seeing them at an indoor skate park between, like, a half pipe with no stage.
06:03That's where my friends and I saw them, when they were a hardcore band, went from that
06:08to now they're freaking headlining Louder Than Life with a fucking castle on stage and
06:13everything.
06:13So it's like, it's pretty crazy, man.
06:15So they're a big influence for me.
06:17That's awesome.
06:18It's funny because you guys are, I don't want to say funny, but it's like, not comparing
06:22to Avenged Sevenfold necessarily, but like, just speaking on that, though, like, where
06:25you guys started, I'm sure you guys started somewhere crazy compared to where you're at
06:29now.
06:29You know what I mean?
06:30Oh, for sure.
06:30It's just the journey of what musicians go through.
06:32It's very interesting.
06:33The journey is the most beautiful thing, and the older we get and the longer we've been in
06:37it, we're reminded of that and very humbled by that.
06:40You know, we've all had our personal problems and trials and tribulations, if you will, but
06:45you know, just hearing Robert talk about that Avenged story, it reminds me of, I think it
06:50was 2010, we did Uproar with them, and they, you know, recognized Robert, and he was showing
06:55them the photo from that show, and it's just like, it's so rad you guys are here with us
06:59now.
07:00That's awesome.
07:00So, you know, a lot of amazing full circle moments that come along with it.
07:04That's incredible.
07:05Yeah.
07:05That's awesome.
07:06We'll remember that forever, I'm sure.
07:08Oh, for sure.
07:08Really, I just want to know, is there anything else you guys want the fans to know about
07:11you guys?
07:11Like, what's going on with Escape the Fate?
07:13Well, we're just excited to unleash this new music and just grateful that fans are still
07:19listening after this long, and we're still able to come out here and play some rockin'
07:22shows and help people forget about the everyday life and have a good time for a little bit,
07:28you know?
07:29That's what it's all about.
07:29Yes, sir.
07:31All right.
07:31Well, that was Escape the Fate.
07:32All right.
07:33Well, that was Escape the Fate.
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