- 9 hours ago
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00everybody in this industry tells you it's important to get all of the big looks and but
00:04we're from Detroit we're hustlers so we're like what happens in between the the big looks right
00:09we're just gonna stay busy I don't know indefinitely
00:12rock metal frog and everything in between welcome to this episode of talking rock with meltdown
00:21don't forget to follow the audio only talking rock podcast on all podcast platforms and now
00:26it's time for today's conversation here's meltdown hey guys meltdown here along with amanda from eva
00:33under fire they're gonna embark on a massive tour with a five-figure death punch this summer
00:37they've also got a new record coming out we'll talk to her about that and of course uh we had
00:42to drag her in here to the riff studios uh during the snowiest day of january so amanda good to see
00:48you again thanks for coming in thanks for having me don't worry about it i got a truck we figured it
00:52out thanks for making the truck my god man yeah i was just telling him i was talking to uh i was
00:58telling amanda that i was talking to mark kendall yesterday and he's like man it looks really nice
01:01out there i'm like no dude it's freezing balls here yeah dude i heard it's supposed to get worse
01:06this weekend let's not talk about that because i have a trip to go on but uh yeah well that's okay
01:12we're gonna i'm gonna go on a trip too so we're just getting out of here you know but unfortunately
01:16i'm going east oh no i'm not going south i'm going to ship rocks oh you are is that this weekend
01:22yes it is you know i'm trying to get on uh uh uh monsters of rock and i've i've got the uh i've got
01:28the the you know the hooks in the water and it's like uh i'm waiting to hear back you are a monster
01:33of rock they should just let you on board you know come on i know i mean i don't know what they're
01:38waiting for yeah but uh anyways um yes you guys have a pretty big year coming up massive yeah
01:44absolutely massive let's go back to uh last year and the previous years now if i'm not mistaken so
01:48did you guys uh correct me if i'm wrong here did you guys switch like uh record companies management
01:53what happened recently so there was a switch up in the team we're working with a new agent now booking
01:59agent and um i think that it was just a better fit it was um you know something in the timeline that
02:07we were trying to work out before like why can't we um keep keep this consistent i don't know if it
02:16was like you know everybody in this industry tells you it's important to get all of the big looks and
02:22but we're from detroit we're hustlers so we're like what happens in between the the big looks right
02:27um so we we needed somebody that was going to be able to just do you know grind with us and um so we
02:34found an agent that could do that and we started booking um we went on the buck cherry tour in uh
02:41november of last year and then he put us on the jairus johnson butcher babies tour um which we're
02:47gonna leave for right when i get home from ship rocked okay um and and then we were we were doing
02:54a build out for headliner stuff and then we got the most massive offer of our lives which is two legs
03:01of a five finger death punch tour right so crazy um i mean we also jam-packed like these last two
03:08years we have not been idle we've been in the studio the entire time so we've turned in like
03:1221 songs okay within it so we're just gonna stay busy from now until i don't know indefinitely
03:21hopefully you know for people that are listening to this outside of detroit and outside of the midwest
03:26it's like there is a certain grinding mentality and it's like you know you guys will get in the bus
03:31or the van or whatever the case is as long as there's a stage at the end of that trip uh that's
03:36what you're gonna do and it's like there are some other parts of the country where i think that um
03:40i don't know if this is even the right word but there's a little bit more of a pampered mentality
03:44we're here in detroit it's like no this is what we got to do so this is what we're gonna do
03:47that's kind of what it is too and i i think when we first did album one i was like oh okay that's
03:55not how this works then i'll just i'll try to adjust and then after a while i'm like no i was
04:02right we were right the grind mentality gets us way farther especially because it's rock music yeah
04:07people want the club things they want the up close and personal grimy like 200 people in a room thing
04:13yeah and um and so that's what we needed to do and that's what we were were and are prepared to do
04:19now it's just unfortunately the brand new agent was like well that got busy quickly let me just
04:24hurry up and scoot all of that back to after the five finger death punch tour then yeah well that's
04:30okay because look the five finger thing and that and speaking of grinding um that's a tough one too
04:35because you guys will take the stage to you know probably sparse crowds at the very beginning right
04:40and then of course as as you guys play you know people start to fill in but that's another thing
04:44too it's like you got to learn to adapt to that as well and that's part of the grind mentality also
04:49yes yeah i i think that's true um we've had enough of those like one-offs where we've we've been able
04:56to kind of see what it's like a little bit this will be interesting um to do a tour this massive
05:02you know nightly um i have high hopes that people will just start chatting about eva under fire and
05:09show up early after night two people are going to be like uh did you guys see the opener because we
05:14did and because we're we're jazzed and i'm i'm really excited for this that's great as soon as
05:20i saw this level oh yeah that's awesome for you guys thank you and so then by time that comes around
05:24and when what does that tour start by the way and that's uh that's here in the middle of uh august
05:28i heard pine now but anyways when's the tour start uh so it starts in july and that's a what is that
05:3340 dates or something yeah we don't get done with that till october i was gonna say that's a long
05:38tour it goes across the whole country yes yeah that's awesome so before that like you said you
05:43got you got your shipwrecked uh shiprock cruise coming up here this weekend and then so talk
05:48about the new record we kind of talked about a little bit off the air so who are you working
05:52with and give me the details on the new album yeah uh new album was was very um hard fought and won
06:00from different camps we got in the room with everybody this time uh our first album we did with
06:06the specific camp and we kind of did a little bit of writing here and there with different other
06:10people um but this time we got into i don't know there's probably six studios or something um six
06:16different teams that we worked with to get this new album um but i think it's very much an elevation
06:24of our work i think it's probably the most authentic work that we've ever done um you know like i said and
06:31mentioned before first album everybody wants to tell you how to do this and the second album we
06:35were like no we don't want to do that yeah and i think that it's nice too that the trajectory because
06:42of that we have a lot to say we have a lot of things that we didn't get to uh to focus on with
06:46album one so it's heavier we went we went darker we went heavier we went grittier which is also kind
06:52of part of our like detroit you know has that grit that grind so i think it's very much more aligned
06:58with who we are as people um and who we are as a garage band because like that's that's the whole
07:04the whole concept um it's called villainous and i think it's going to draw probably aligns with this
07:12five finger tour is my guess so summer 2026 we should have the whole thing um but the first track
07:19that we released end of last year was awakening and um i was really i was really stoked to see how
07:26people would receive that and a lot of those comments on social media were really exciting
07:31because they were picking up right away on those same darker themes like oh this has hit this has
07:37grit we love this this hits heavier like wow you know this is um a different version of evil under
07:43fire so i think that we'll con we'll see that theme continue and so tell us uh tell everybody who
07:48you've been working with as far as his record's concerned we did some work with our hometown boys bj and
07:53john and uh there are michigan um people that we that we uh did album one with and then we went to
08:01california we worked with scott stevens um who's working in california i thought i always pictured him
08:07like a nashville guy but anyways so part-time okay in both places um yes so and then we did some work
08:15with um john london from point north he did lots of songs with us and that was a really cool experience
08:21um it was it was the experience that got us excited about writing like that was the first couple of
08:29tracks that we did was with john london and we called a label right away and we were like we have to come
08:33back here so that was exciting um and let's see who else we worked with oh um so the newer stuff is with
08:42grant and carson so awakening was with grant and carson they're out in pennsylvania they do a lot
08:46of work with uh from ashes to new right pennsylvania so yeah so we it's been all over the place yeah
08:51you know um so are you working with with uh writing with these guys just mixing just producing or kind
08:57of everything it's producing um there is a lot of um hey this is a cool riff let's build it from there
09:04or like hey this is a cool lyric so a lot of times what i like to do with lyrics is um
09:09because i'm ashamed to say this but i don't play any instruments so i have just me and that makes
09:15two of us me and a metronome and my almost perfect pitch though okay and i will uh i'll get something
09:22in my head and i'll i'll do a voice memo about it and um and then i try to kind of see like okay what
09:28is a similar um what's what's the key in you know and then of course i you know live with my husband
09:34slash guitar player right and i go hey i need you to sit down and grab your i need you to do the
09:39instrument thing come on and uh and then and then we kind of build it from there and then that gives
09:44us like a workable demo to take into the room to then produce what became i don't know probably
09:5010 or 11 or 12 of the songs um that are going to be a part of this giant um body of work that we
09:59turned in and then the other stuff is like you know chris will come in with a riff and be like you
10:03know i don't know what you guys think about this one but i really love that it's got that you know
10:07he's always looking for that like corn yeah gritty bounce you know what i mean so um and that was
10:12kind of what started awakening we got in the room and chris was like i got this riff and so like
10:16we took it to grant and carson and grant was talking about we want we want there to be this
10:23bounce we want there to be this jump a chug that's what we started to do like in the room together
10:27and he so we were literally in studio like jumping as though we were at a festival to get the tempo
10:34yeah so those are i mean it's it's kind of a um a team effort well some of those tricks you have to
10:41pull off sometimes yeah yeah just to make it work so um a couple things here i'm just going to throw
10:46these out at you i have no idea what you're going to say but uh any special guests on a record and
10:50are any of these songs going to be used in anything we'll see like in a film or anything like that
10:54coming up why you got to ask me about things that i can't necessarily tell you about that are
10:59currently in the works okay so uh the answer is probably yes okay both of those things okay
11:03gotcha well since i'm not musical i'm not one of the guests that's for sure but uh
11:08uh but anyways though so you're working with maybe getting some stuff in movies and that
11:13um there's always going to be a pitch to licensing i think they have an angle with two of the songs in
11:18particular um so i don't know that that'll work out but you'll be the first to know when it does
11:23um and then uh definitely guest vocals from a couple of those uh peoples uh really cool artists
11:30that i know that you've heard of before um two in particular are in the works okay um one is closer
11:37than the other you know what it always it always amazed me when these bands they use the like these
11:42guest vocals or guest guitar players or something and i've never had an artist tell me this before but
11:46it's like what if you got the stuff back and you're like yeah i don't like this i you know what
11:50it's it's interesting i don't really we try not to ask for specifics on um like i have to like their
11:59voice right right like we have to like their music in order for us so we're not just going to go
12:03randomly to like oh because you have a big name we want to work with you right like we have to enjoy
12:07what you do um so i'm i'm like 98 confident most times that we do want to work with somebody else
12:15or feature somebody else that i'm going to love whatever they throw on the track um i am also
12:20manifesting like a third and fourth opportunity to work with some well i would love to have lee from
12:27the funeral portrait on one of our songs because he threw me on one of their songs i was gonna say
12:31how hard can that be that would be yeah and i just i also love lee's voice and i think that his
12:35voice and mine complement one another really well um there are some like next level artists that
12:43our our team the suits have their eyes on for us so i'm gonna let them work their magic on that one
12:48so there could be when the record comes out some special guests yes yeah the reason i brought it up
12:53is because of course you starred in that movie what was it called again the retaliators retaliator
12:59that's right yeah yeah we i did you know i'm an amateur movie critic and i didn't that one didn't do
13:06very well for me no no it's a terrible horror movie that i was but i had the quintessential
13:11part of being the first one exactly so i think i get an award just for that scene i know i can't
13:17speak to you couldn't have acted any better you couldn't have gotten out of there there was nothing
13:21you could do nothing i could do nothing you could do just you know i loved watching that movie just
13:25for the mere fact it's like hey there's so so there's so so change change the tire in the middle
13:29of the woods you get what you get that's right exactly no that's great yeah the retaliator i remember
13:35i wanted to watch that so bad and then i watched i'm like all right next yeah right right well at
13:41least you can say you checked the box it was fun you know it was fun and nothing else and i think
13:44that's what it was going for honestly was campy horror film yeah so you guys gonna do anything
13:49uh like before the five finger i know you said you got some tours of butcher babies stuff like that
13:53anything else going up maybe even locally or um you know we have um some things that we will
13:59announce locally there's going to be like a afterwards hometown party oh after in the fall
14:04yes okay fall yes so um we're gonna we're gonna have more details on that eventually um and you
14:11know wink wink nod nod you know who we're working with on that and so you'll probably be the first
14:16before we actually announce it to know who that's who that's with and when that is um but i do think
14:23uh there's been a lot of work that we've done for this this next uh touring that we're going to be
14:29doing obviously is going to be next level which means we have a lot of pre-production to go through
14:34and a lot of other things to do with costuming and a lot of other things to do with our you know
14:40gotta set this and that at these levels and get you know some cool lighting and or our own
14:46stage production to like level up i was yeah i was gonna say because you're you're going out with
14:51five finger and it's like do you guys know like how much stage you'll even have i mean how does that
14:55even work well you expect a foot and then you if you get more than that you're happy yeah right
15:03right i'm not probably gonna get anything that's like has to have a plot right it's gonna have
15:10very skinny video wall situation and or a very skinny stick light situation and or maybe a riser
15:17and maybe yeah that's it one ego ramp that's it i just just for my ego because i'm five foot two
15:26and no that's cool you know i remember the guys from shinedowns got to their jack and i remember
15:32they said that they had their uh when they toured van halen they had this little tiny spot on the
15:36stage and and i guess that they just jump around all the time and they were telling me that the guys
15:40from van halen were calling them like the the mexican jumping beans because all they did was jump
15:43around they're like you know we got to fire up this crap we've only got this much space to do it
15:46yeah so if you go vertical then you're you're good i guess right yeah so well what else do you have
15:52going on anything else you want to plug oh gosh come and hang out with us in the clubs we're gonna
15:57get a couple more songs with butcher babies and and jairus and i think we will on the uh the five
16:02finger death punch run but and when does that start that starts in a couple weeks you said yeah
16:05our first dates out in oregon are like i think february 7th or 8th okay then february 6th you might drop
16:12another song yeah perhaps maybe okay no for sure we will yes we will uh the new song that we're
16:19dropping on february 6th is called murder scene i'm very excited about this one um it's sonically a
16:23bit different than awakening but still very dark very heavy um it has like a really cool paramore-esque
16:31vibe in the like bridge part which i love um and i wrote it about just the existence of humans
16:42sometimes is very hard right and so we lose track of ourselves a lot of times and it feels like this
16:48is too much too fast um but it's not and we can we can navigate things so it's like this this nightmare
16:54dream that i had and i wrote it about the nightmare dream that i had so um i'm really excited to for
17:00people to hear that one well that sounds cool yeah i'm really jealous you guys get to go on ship
17:05rocked and i get to stay here i thought you were saying you were going to the east it's still not
17:11it's still snow much better than here i'll tell you that much it's still snow yeah sorry i won't brag
17:16to you about them any beaches then no that's awesome there's probably be a lot of people on that
17:20that boat i know yeah yes you will yes what bands are playing i forgot uh is i prevail guys on
17:25there uh so no it was last year but uh eric is a stowaway so and i think i get to do a song with
17:32him okay that's awesome yeah and i'm a stowaway so um i get to jam with a couple of really cool
17:38people um doc coil is up there on guitar uh there is i think al actually the guy that did the whole
17:45ask for entertainment wait what is your band going or are you just going to stowa okay gotcha okay
17:50i'm a stowaway this year i get to prep everybody and tell them that they'll have us back next year
17:55because we're going to have a new record okay gotcha you're doing this as a team player as a team
17:59player right they're sending me right i volunteer as tribute i was just gonna say it took the words
18:06right from my mouth so who else is uh in the stowaways oh there's there's quite a few um
18:11um our girls in conquer divide are up there okay um so uh i think i get to sing with i don't think
18:20kristen is playing guitar on the one that i sing with but i think charlie is on a song with me um
18:27and then diamante is on there and who else am i singing with gosh what are some of the bigger bands
18:35what are the bands they're playing oh this year who's on it sleep theories on it um i forget what
18:44the headliner is hailstorm is playing one of the uh beach parties which is super rad yeah um
18:50who else is on the ship i mean i could look it up but that's okay we'll we'll figure it out but uh
18:55i'm just jealous that you get to go and leave this tundra that is the motor city yeah i'm hoping
19:02to escape before whatever happens on saturday that'll be that'll be interesting to get on a
19:06plane but um last time i got on a plane during this weather they had to like de-ice it and it
19:11took us like an extra half hour to get up in the sky but you know what i'm okay with that yeah just
19:15make sure it doesn't ice over while we're up there yeah well have fun on the boat and uh represent the
19:21d and of course uh we'll see you here i i want to say it's august 16th if i'm not mistaken yes
19:26and pine knob with five finger and i can't believe i get to play pine knob main stage that's your first
19:31time right it's the first time as eve under fire yeah wow that is so cool yeah because you went on
19:35stage with the dude from uh with jared leto yes i did yeah that's awesome i don't know if i've ever
19:39even talked to you about that i interviewed him right here in this studio not in here but he was
19:42uh you texted me that day and you were like yeah let me know if you i didn't even meet him until we
19:47i crashed his set but i thought he was nice yeah i'm sure he was i think what his team told me was
19:55that he was uh dealing with some vocal stuff so i think he was probably trying to save it for the
20:00stage which i totally understand um but yeah that was huge and um and then they called me the next
20:06day i think on the previous five finger death punch tour that came through funeral porch were opened and
20:11i was on their song and so they wanted me to go back up there for that so i was saying on that stage
20:15uh twice but never for my songs right your songs yeah when your songs come to life on stage it's
20:21probably a different animal yeah that's cool awesome um yeah because uh jared leto you know
20:25i'm an amateur movie critic like i said but i didn't go see tron so you need to see i loved i loved it
20:32but that's just me and i don't i don't critique movies very hard so rob is probably like she's a
20:37pushover don't listen to her well amanda thanks so much for coming in and uh good luck with
20:41everything okay thanks a lot thanks for having me check out talking rock with meltdown on all
20:46podcast platforms and wrif.com
Comments