Atreyu

13.06.2008 | Cam | 11 Comments

In one of the more candid interviews I've done in recent times, Atreyu bassist Marc McKnight spoke about shitty labels, dying genres, phantom song writers and... arseholes?

Interview w/ Atreyu (USA)

By Cameron Chambers

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For the record, your name and what you do in Atreyu.

My name is Marc McKnight and I play bass. I sing here and there too.

Given your obvious appreciation of “The Never Ending Story”, what made you choose the name Atreyu instead of Artax? Seriously, who wouldn’t want to be named after a white horse?!

Well, we decided Artax sounded WAY nerdier than Atreyu.

IGN (Imagine Games Network) referred to your last record (A Death Grip On Yesterday) as a “brief but potent hissy fit”. What the fuck does that actually mean? 

Well I suppose we’re a bunch of whiny little teenagers who luckily wrote an album that was somewhat decent? No idea. Ya think “potent” is a good thing?

Prior to its release you guys stated that “A Death Grip On Yesterday” was a healthy balance of all the Atreyu elements. Taking that into account, were you surprised by the album’s sales?

Well aren’t you an asshole? Thanks for that little shot there. I think we were on a label that knew we weren’t coming back and they didn’t feel like putting any effort into pushing us OR our record. Or ever paying for ANYTHING, or paying us for that matter. You think they’d maybe even release the record in places like, Japan, but no.

Your newest record “Lead Sails Paper Anchor” has caused quite a stir amongst your long term fans, were you at all concerned that the change in sound would alienate some of your listeners? 

Well sir, we do this because we love it. So in turn, we’re gonna write albums we love.  If you want a band that will write the same record 20 times, we’re not it. We wanna grow, we wanna be better musicians just like we want to be better people.  

Is the current Atreyu sound something you guys have been working towards for a while, or did the over saturation of the scene you’re a part of force you guys to change it up a bit?

We’ve never tried to a part of any “scene,” let’s get that out of the way right now. Bands like Poison the Well, Killswitch Engage and others were the first to try new things. Now I’m not saying them and Atreyu were the first, but we created the highways for many bands to drive down. Some have grown larger than us, some have faded away, but I think you can agree that with each record we try something different, something that doesn’t sound like what’s happening at this moment.

With so many bands aping the metalcore sound (in one way or another) do you think the large number of imitators has negatively affected the older/longer serving bands?

It’s definitely made the “metalcore” a laughable topic, but the press who kept trying to force bands to be portrayed in a certain genre and lump everyone into categories is pretty laughable too. No decent band goes around calling themselves a “metalcore” band and if they do they’re probably ripping off some other bands previous records.

Where do you see Atreyu in relation to your quote/unquote peers? Do you still feel like you have a place with the band’s you rose to prominence with, or do you think you’ve grown into a more individual band?

I think we have definitely grown into our own styles, but I still see us all as a happy family. I love Norma Jean, As I Lay Dying and ETID. We’re supposed to play a show with Killswitch and I couldn’t be more excited to see em. I’ve bought every Poison the Well and Thrice record and I absolutely LOVE both their new directions. We’ve done tons of tours, but I think the ones with those bands will always be the best.

John Feldman (The Used, Story Of The Year) was t the helm of your most recent release, what kind of an influence did he have on the songs themselves?

I’m gonna just answer the question I know you’re trying to ask, he DIDNT write out record. He worked his ass off, gave great suggestions and got the best record out of us possible. He’s easily the best producer we’ve ever worked with and we couldn’t be happier with him.

Did the band approach Feldman with a particular goal or vision, or was it a case of trying something new and seeing where it took you? 

Well, since we knew we had an incredible producer who likes to be very involved, we approached the record in a different fashion. Before (ie. Deathgrip since it’s the only record I was on before LSPA, but I know it’s how they did it before me) we would write the, say, 10 songs for the record and that’d be it. We’d sit holed up in our practice space for HOURS re-writing and painfully going over each part and that’d be what was on the album. With this record, we decided to just write the songs, record them on garageband with one mic for the drums, layer the guitars and that was it. We didn’t agonize over writing them. I think we came out with 24 songs for this record (including the 4 we wrote during the recording process, 2 of those 4 being Honor and Blow.) We brought those terrible recordings to John and he told us the parts he liked most and we sat down in his living room with acoustics and re-structured the songs together. Alex “freestyled” the lyrics while we played the parts over and over. We all came up with the melodies together, and went down to record them in Johns studio. Much, much different than before. Each of us were much more involved and passionate about it.

How does your new material translate live? Does your set still have a level of consistency given the differences between your old and new songs?

I think our new stuff sounds great live! I have more fun playing these songs than any others and they really challenge me as a musician on most parts. We always try and have a good balance between old and new. On the Australia tour we played about 9 songs, 5 new and 4 old. When we get a chance to headline again, I’m sure we’ll play some more stuff off Suicide Notes, if you’re lucky.

With such a significant change in sound over the last year couple of years, what can we expect from your next release?

Honestly? I have no clue. None of us do, we’ll just have to see what it sounds like when we head back into the studio. I could maybe beatbox while Dan raps for the whole record. Who knows (although it probably won’t be that.)

Atreyu are heading back to Australia in May to open for Bullet For My Valentine and Avenged Sevenfold. What can we expect from an Atreyu live show this time around?

Well, I didn’t get this till WAYY after but I say we kicked some ass out there! I know we successfully ran around like idiots on stage and made terrible jokes. The shows were easily the best we’ve had in a long, long time. Actually, since the new year all our shows have been better than ever, thanks LSPA!

As you’ll be playing a shorter set will you be including material from your older releases or will you focus on the “Lead Sails Paper Anchor”?

Like I said before, it was about 5 new 4 old contingent upon our allotted set time. 

Once the Australia tour wraps up you’re back to the US to take part in the Projekt Revolution Tour. Are you excited about playing with such a diverse group of bands (as is traditionally the case on that tour)? 

It should definitely be an interesting summer. We’ve never toured with these kind of bands but I’m sure it’ll be an incredible tour. And yeah, have you read the lineup? It’s ridiculously diverse.

What’s in store for Atreyu for the rest of 2008?

Hopefully a big fall tour that’s being booked now so I can’t talk about it, then a headlining tour in the fall? Not sure yet.

Any final words?

Yeah sure, do you hate our band? Cause some of your questions are pretty, well, negative and pessimistic. Reminded me of some german “lost in translation” questions like “So your new record is terrible and I hate it, how do you feel about that?” Those are the best. Don’t take offense to that, it was a good interview, just wondering!