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Underoath

07.06.2007 | KYS-Cam | 2 Comments

On the eve of their Australian tour Underoath drummer/vocalist Aaron Gillespie filled us in on touring, being a part time front man and his love of country music…

Friday May 25^th 2007 

Interview w/ Aaron Gillespie (Drums/Vocals)

Hey man, how you doing today? 

Yeah, good man, yourself? 

Yeah, I’m good man. Where are you calling from? 

Florida. 

I’m guessing you’re enjoying some down time after how long you boys have been on the road? 

Yeah, we just got back home today at about 6am man. 

Are you guys planning on taking any time off? 

Only a few days man. My other band, “The Almost” has been really busy so we’ve got some shows coming up and then in 10 days we’re off to Australia. 

And you guys are bringing Emery down here with you this time round… 

Yeah man, we are. We’re excited to see what it’s going to be like. 
 

The last 12 months have been pretty hectic for you guys, what have been some of the highlights? 

Touring man. We just got of an 18 week stretch of touring which took us all over the world.  

We toured with Taking Back Sunday who are really great friends of ours. Um, we toured with Norma Jean, who are really close friends of ours as well. It’s been a really crazy, good year man. 
 

So, what’s in store for Australian audiences on this upcoming tour? 

Well man, it’s our own show, so we’re going to have different lighting and we’ll be playing a longer set. We’ll have some cool interludes that we’ll be using as well, so yeah, it’s going to be awesome. 

One thing that stood out from the “Taste Of Chaos” tour last year was that your set didn’t really include any of your more melodic songs. Are you guys moving away from that material? 

I wouldn’t say we’re moving away from using our really melodic songs but we just wanted to play our strongest material because it was such a short set. 

Did ever think you’d be in a position as a band to headline your own tour on the other side of the world? 

Man, I can’t even believe it now. The response to our last record was amazing and yeah, I just can’t get over that we get to tour all over the world and do our own shows. 

Underoath had released 4 records before you started to receive widespread recognition. Does it ever frustrate you guys that so many bands seem to pop up overnight and suddenly they’re gracing magazine covers? 

Nah man, I try not to think about stuff like that. I’m really happy with how things turned out for us. 

We just work really hard and make sure we have a good time and that’s all you can really do. 
 

“They’re Only Chasing Safety” was more straight forward than anything else you guys had done previously. Was that deliberate or was it just the vibe of the band at the time that naturally pushed you towards making something that was a little more accessible? 

Umm, I dunno man. We just do what we want to and have a good time doing it. It wasn’t a conscious decision to make a record that was any set style. We just sit down and make it coz we wanted to. 
 
When it came time to write “Define The Great Line” did you guys sit down and say “this is what we want to do” or had your growth as musicians – and even as music fans – over the last 2 years meant that the record was the logical next step for Underoath? 

Like I said man, we don’t sit down and say “we’re going to do this”. We just write records. It comes out it comes out you know? We had fun doing it and we’re just really happy that we made a good, honest record.  

It’s important that you’re totally honest with your fans and yeah, we think we accomplished that. 
 

As a lot of your fans are probably aware, you front “The Almost” when you’re not bashing the kit for Underoath. I know “The Almost” started off as a solo project, but has it taken on more of a “band” feel now that you’re touring? 

Yeah man, definitely. We've done quite a few tours this year which has been really cool. We’ll also be doing all of Warped Tour this summer which is awesome! 

We’re a full band so things are turning out really great. We couldn’t be happier! 

When writing for Underoath, you’re responsible for providing the backbone of the song – do you feel more pressure when writing material for The Almost knowing that you’re the front man? 

Um, the writing process is similar in a lot of ways for both bands.  

You know, I sing in Underoath as well so I feel the same kind of pressure when I’m writing for both bands. I put my heart and soul into everything I do so I don’t think there is much of a difference about how I write anything for either band. 
 
I was going to ask what was in store for Underoath once you wrapped up your Australian tour, but I checked out The Almost’s MySpace page and can see that you’re touring right through to the end of August – do you ever take a break? 

Ha ha, it’s been a while man. Today’s actually my only break. 
 
Sorry that you had to spend your day off talking to me man, ha ha. 

Ha ha, nah that’s cool. 
 
After that tour, will you guys reconvene to start writing the next Underoath record? 

Underoath is actually doing 2 weeks of Warped Tour as well and then we’ll be doing a headlining tour in the fall. Once all that’s finished we’ll start writing our record in winter. 
 
Have you guys discussed what direction you want to take on the next record or is that something that won’t really be known until you start jamming on some new songs? 
 
I don’t really know man. We’ve written a few songs at sound check over the last few tours which have sounded pretty cool. We’re really excited by how those songs are turning out so yeah, things are going really well. 
 
Who or what has had the biggest influence on Underoath – both as a band and you as an individual? 

I’m inspired by my surroundings, God, every day life, my family and my friend. My influences change daily depending where I am and what I’m doing. 

Musically, well I like a lot of country music, stuff like Johnny Cash, Bryan White, as well as Jimmy Eat World and Refused. The list could go on and on man. 
 
Is there one band that you remember seeing or hearing as a kid, and you just went, yeah, that’s what I want to do? 

Umm, not that I can remember. Maybe little moments where I heard Metallica or saw a country singer or something like that, but no one band man. 
 
Hard question, but who’s the best live band that you’ve ever seen? 

Radiohead. We saw them in Canada in a venue that only held 2,200 people. It was just amazing. 
 
What’s been the most memorable tour that Underoath has been a part of? 

We did this tour years ago with Norma Jean headlining and we opened. It was just heaps of fun and really great to be on tour with our friends. 

Warped tour 2004 stands out as well. It was right in the heart of summer man. It was just one of those summers where you work all summer long but it feels amazing. We just had a really great time! 

If you could assemble a tour with any 3 bands, past and present, who

would it be? 

Refused, At The Drive In and Jimmy Eat World. 

With you guys headlining right? Ha ha 

Yeah, for sure, ha ha. 
 
Who are some bands you’ve been listening to at the moment? 

I’ve been listening to Bright Eyes and Ryan Adams heaps. 

Man, the new Bright Eyes record is amazing! 

It really is man. Some of the tracks on there are some of the best songs I’ve ever heard. 

Who are some bands kids should be checking out if they aren’t already? 

As Cities Burn and Sullivan – I really like Sullivan. 
 
That pretty wraps it up man, any last words? 

Right on man, thanks for doing the interview.  

We’ll be seeing you in a couple of weeks! 
 
Thanks heaps for your time…. 
 
 
Catch Underoath (USA) on their upcoming Australian tour with Emery (USA). 
 

June 9^th @ The Uni Bar
Adelaide (All Ages)

June 10^th @ Billboards
Melbourne (Under 18’s)