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It Dies Today
Interview with The Band on Aug 8, 2007 by
On the first stop of the their tour with Comeback Kid and This Is Hell, I had the opportunity to sit down with It Dies Today and talk about the changes in the band line-up, their writing process and some more off-topic things.
By: Wade Rice
Can we just start out with everyone introducing themselves and what they play so we know who is who?
Mike Hatalak: I'm Mike, I play guitar.
Christopher Cappelli: I'm Chris I play guitar
Jason Wood: Jason, sing.
Steve Lemke: Steve, I play bass.
I just want to start off beginning with the hard question. I mean I know you guys have heard this a million times and I apologize already. Can you guys just talk about Nick Brooks leaving and the new singer, Jason I think it is?
JW: Yep.
If you guys could just talk about why that came about and all that stuff. I know you guys have heard it a million times, I apologize.
MH: Uh, I just want to say that-
JW: Down to brass tacks, basically, he kind of stepped out of the model candle of what he was interested in musically, and the direction that he wanted to go in his new project, Queen City Station, it's a little bit way different from what It Dies Today does and it seemed like a good idea for him to split, you know?
So a musical split?
JW: And, I don't know, I'm happy to take his spot. I respect him and what he did for the band from the beginning and I'm here to take over, step it up and take it to the next level, for sure.
All right, that was the hard question, smooth sailing from now on.
MH: It's one that I shall never answer.
I heard somewhere that you guys are thinking about recording soon, maybe a new album? Is there anything that you guys want to talk about?
MH: We've come up with some ideas. We're able to record stuff in hotel rooms, so it's kind of like sitting around in a room and throwing ideas around, this and that. Yeah, basically, I think we're definitely going to start working on a new album come early October.
JW: Yeah, hopefully in the studio. We'll start doing pre-production and all that stuff at home, well their home.
So where are you from?
JW: I'm from Michigan.
Oh ok. Well that isn't too much of a difference.
JW: Uh, about the same type of town, just six and a half hours away. So, yeah, it kind of sucks, but these guys are my family pretty much. Uh, but we're really stoked about writing stuff. I'm really excited to let people know what I can do and how I vocally compare. It's definitely interesting doing other people's songs, but you're not getting yourself, your persona; it's not necessarily you, as a singer, it's different. But once you get a crowd in front of you, it doesn't even really matter what you're saying, you sort of just feel it.
It seems like each one of your records gets more and more melodic. Is that what you guys are going to do with this one, go more melodic than the past record?
MH: Sort of what we've been throwing around is, I would say, the heaviest stuff we've ever come up with. I mean it's still going to be just as melodic...I mean, instead of going in that direction, we're going to pull it into the other direction. So it's going to be way heavier.
CC: Kind of like the last records, it will be melodic, but I think more than anything, it will be broader in sound. Sirens was pretty rough in the background, but I think it's going to be even broader, it's going to be super super heavy but then there is going to be a lot of singing.
Are their any bands yet that you guys haven't had a chance to tour with that you still want to?
JW: Thrice, would be killer. [Laughs]
MH: I can't think of anyone.
It could be any band, it doesn't matter. Any huge bands, world tours, festivals, you know?
JW: Festivals? [Laughs]
CC: Slipknot.
JW: Going out with Slipknot would be pretty fun. [Laughs] There would probably be a lot of jokes; we would be wearing masks a lot. [Laughs]
MH: That would be awesome.
JW: I like really diverse tours, you know? Like that last one we were just on with Papa Roach, that was just really cool because there was such a wide selection, you know? There was us, and then a really, really heavy band, and then we had Kill Hannah, which is more like dancie pop-rock kind of stuff, and then Papa Roach is just like pop-rock. It was really cool to be in that mitts of that crowd, because it was so... it was our crowd, Kill Hannah's crowd, and Papa Roach's crowd and everybody kind of traded fans and everybody got a chance to broaden our listening groups, you know?
So maybe some more diverse tours than what you guys have done before?
All: Yeah.
JW: I think it is a really solid thing to do, especially just because of the way it worked out. We definitely gained a lot of fans from that, people that never even heard of us or heard us, so it was cool.
Do you guys have any plans as far as the summer goes, like tours or you guys going to try and hop on, the Warped Tour or anything like that?
CC: As of right now we're doing a couple weeks on the warped tour, probably towards the end of July thru early August, and stuff like that. We're going to try to get small bits on those tours.
So small stints on as many big tours as you can get, I guess? [Laughs]
CC: Come this fall we're planning on going over to Australia and Japan and Europe.
So a little bit of a world tour?
JW: Yeah, World Tour Summer/Spring Break ‘07. Yeah! [Laughs] Spring Break '07 World Tour.
Coming to a Country near you. [Laughs]
JW: Yeah.
I just want to talk about the writing process for you guys. When you guys come in do you usually have a structure laid down, like pre-planned, or does it sort of have a free-flow to it?
MH: Um, it's kind of different from album to album. Like uh, I wasn't involved in Forever Scorned. How was that?
CC: Yeah, me and Brooks.
MH: Then Caitiff Choir, it was all of us. And then Sirens, it was literally me and Nick. But the next one, I want to have everybody, you know even if everybody isn't writing something, I want everyone to be there, you know?
Right.
MH: Sirens was just Nick and myself locked up in a studio and I'd much rather have it open and everyone can throw in ideas, you know what I mean?
So you could get a new take on it this time around?
MH: Yeah, definitely. Make sure everyone is happy with everything. [Laughs]
This is my idea completely; have you guys ever thought about doing a Buffalo tour, like Every Time I Die, maybe like Dead Hearts?
MH: We have done two tours now with Every Time I Die.
I mean a tour with all Buffalo bands.
MH: That would be like every die or dead band ever. [Laughs]
That would be awesome though.
MH: We should be cautious. That would be awesome though.
I'm not saying you guys have to do it, I just thought it would be a good idea.
MH: We've definitely brought it up, it just seems like everyone is sketch.
Yeah.
MH: That would be an awesome tour to do though.
JW: Buffalo Bro Down Tour. [Laughs]
Yeah.
JW: Buffalo Brodeo.
That sounds sick. I wanted to talk about your influences in music, possible ones more outside of the band, maybe like you guys talked about Papa Roach and Kill Hannah. Do you guys have anymore diverse influences that you try to bring into the music or...?
MH: When it comes down to it, I don't think anyone in our genre really is influenced by anything heavy. Like with me anyway, I'd rather not listen to anything remotely close to what we might be writing, you know what I mean?
SL: I don't even really like that much metal because I'm around it every night, man. There are a lot of my favorite bands that aren't metal. I listen to just a broad selection, so it's kind of that sort of thing. I listen to stuff like hardcore rap; it's like rap/metal. [Laughs] When you're writing a record, we try to stay away from listening to metal because you don't want to steal ideas. You try to listen to other stuff to get inspiration. Classical music, that is most like guitar, guitar solos are derived from it, the scales and what not, stuff like that.
Actually a lot of bands have said that they try not to listen to their own genre. You guy's all ready know this, but it is the first day on the tour and I heard about your delay, that sucks.
MH: Yeah our van didn't want to start for forty-five minutes.
What do you guys want this tour to be like, the best one you've ever had, or you know?
JW: I'm really stoked about it just because it's a lot of smaller places and I'm all about the kids getting to know me, in It Dies Today.
So getting yourself out there?
JW: Just getting me out there and just letting people know that Nick Brooks it gone and it is still It Dies Today and I'm still going to bring it. [Laughs]
Bring it is the number one thing.
JW: Yeah, so I'm still going to take care of business. T.C.B. [Laughs]
That is pretty much it, is there anything else you guys wanted to say?
JW: In the immortal words of Ted Nuggent, "We're going to rock your balls, and treat you like a dusted skeleton," so come see us play. [Laughs]
Have you always wanted to say that?
JW: No we just saw it on TV.
MH: We just want to let you guys know that you guys are so awesome; I'm just going to blow myself. [Laughs]
JW: Yeah, "We're so awesome that you just might have to blow yourself!" [Laughs]
You going to say that tonight?
JW: I might, I like that.
Thanks to the boys for being very entertaining interviewees and thanks to Judy over at Warm Fuzzy for setting everything up.
