Atreyu

After an exhilarating set opening for Snapcase and Boy Sets Fire, I was able to catch Chris of Atreyu after the show. The following are his answers to BW's burning questions. Huge thanks to Chris from Atreyu for taking the time to sit down and answer some questions for us. Thank you to the band for playing up in our neck of the woods! Visit Atreyu's website, or Victory Records website for more information on how to contact the band or get any Atreyu merchandise.

Alright, so say your name and what you do in the band!
Hi, my name is Chris and I play bass.

So you guys are from Orange County?
Yeah.

How long have you guys been together, how did the band get started?
Well, Alex, our singer, Dan, our guitar player, and Brandon, our drummer, were in a thrashy punk band in high school, and that's where I became friends with them. We started Atreyu in our senior year. That was... four years ago? Yeah. So its been about four years.

So, you play bass, Alex sings, and...
... Dan and Travis play guitar, and Brandon plays drums.

How did you guys come to be on Victory records? How did that come about.
Um... its kind of a long... like recording process... Kathy from Victory got a hold of one of our mp3's online, and she liked it, and she saw that we were looking for labels. She thought maybe she could help us out with Victory. So, we recorded the demo in our bedroom and we sent that to her and some other labels. She was like, "Yeah, people around her like it, but if you're gonna send stuff out to labels, you need to get something better." So we went back into a studio, and recorded the EP, which was most of the same songs, and, yeah, chopped that out. Tribunal was the only one that wanted to pick us up. So, Tribunal put out our EP, and Tony at Victory heard it, and heard the name. He was interested, so he listened to it, he liked it. And after that, things moved fast. He was like, "I want you on the label," and we said "OK."

So they (Victory) helped you out with the initial recording, and then they heard it and liked it?
Yeah, and Tribunal helped us out a lot.

Where is Tribunal located?
They're in North Carolina.

Cool. How long has this tour been going on? Where are you at on this tour?
We've been out with Snapcase for about two weeks... three weeks. And we were out a week before that. That week was just by ourselves. So, we'll be out till the end of October with Snapcase. And then we do Dead To Fall for a week, and then Shai Hulud for a week. Then for two weeks in September, we're goin back home.

How much have you guys toured in the past? Like, is this your first time to Seattle?
Yeah, well... we played a couple months ago in Vancouver, Washington. That was cool, we really like the kids, we really like the kids in Seattle too. We've only been a serious touring band since June 1st. That was our first date, that was Vancouver.

So have you been around the US at all?
Yeah, I mean every tour we've done has been the US... This is our fourth US tour.

Awesome. So, whats the focus of your songs, what drives your band? Where do you draw you're influences from?
Basically, I think we've got a lot of 80's butt rock. A lot of that shit. I don't know, we act like goofballs. Yeah, we get a lot of stuff like that, but our influences are so varied. Dan and Brandon do the majority of the writing. Pretty much all of the writing. And then Alex writes all the lyrics, about personal experiences... heartbreak or whatever. Or, just being shit on, or whatever. But I think he writes some good stuff that you can draw what you want from it.

Cool. Well, I think you guys have a pretty unique sound, and as a person who writes for zines and stuff like that, usually when I do cd reviews, I have to describe what a band sounds like for the reader. Sometimes I find it tough. How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard it before?
Oh shit, I don't know. I guess, like, heavy rock, or... heavy rock, and melodic metal. Melodic power metal. I'd like to lean a little more towards power metal. That'd be rad. More like Sonata Arctica, have you ever heard of them?

Nope.
They're an awesome band from Sweden. Awesome. Its just like, you'll listen to it, and you'll have no idea whats goin on.

Sounds Crazy.
Yeah, it is.

So, when did your album come out?
June 4th.

As far as what you've recorded and what you've done this time around, what things do you like about it, and what don't you like, that maybe you might do differently down the road.
Oh... I don't know.

I mean, are you guys happy with the record?
Oh, we're happy with the songs and stuff like that, and yeah, the recording's cool, but I think we're looking to do something... to get more rock, and rough parts, more metal, more heavy shit. More heavy, but more melodic as well at the same time. So just kinda...

Progressing?
Yeah! Maybe try to expand our horizons a little bit.

That's cool. Well, I've heard the record and I really like it a lot.
Thank you!

So, has anything crazy happened on this tour so far, or are there any funny tour stories that stick out in your mind?
Not yet, really. Last tour we got drunk with Victory, in Chicago, and we went bowling. I fell down on the bowling alley, and cut my eyelid open. And then Alex is all drunk, and he's like, "Hit me in the face!" and I'm like, "No, I don't want to hit you." But he's like, "C'mon, hit me!" So I hit him, and then he hits me back. I was like, "I didn't sign up for that!" And it was the same eye that I cut on the bowling alley. So for the next three weeks, I had this monster, disgusting black eye. As big as a baseball, and just black.

Wow, that's gotta hurt.
Yeah, no kidding.

If you were stranded on a desert island, and you could only bring three cds and three other things, what would you bring?
Oh, shit... AC/DC – Back in Black, or Who Made Who... Who Made Who would be cool. A Smiths collection, that would be cool. And... you know what... Saves the Day – Stay What You Are.

Really?
Yeah. And three other things, shit... I don't know.

Where are your favorite places to play?
Washington is rad. I love to play in New York. Anytime we've played in New York we've got a good response. St. Petersburg was pretty rad. We love Houston, Houston was awesome... Dallas. Oddly enough, Billings, Montana.

Was there like, no one there?
Not really, there was like ten kids. And some guy drove like, two and a half hours out of the woods, to come see us. People around the club were really rad. Everybody was just totally cool.

It sounds like you guys have had a really positive tour experience.
Oh, every tour we've been on has been great! I can't believe it, just the response we've gotten. People are actually buying our CDs. We're being successful, way beyond what I thought we would be. I'm thankful every day for this.

It sure beats a regular job.
Oh yeah.

So what's in the future for you guys? I know you're touring for a while after this, are there plans to take a break or...
I'd like to take a break after this. Three months straight, I need a break. But its cool, I like being on the road, I like playing. Its just tiring sometimes. I'd like to go out with AFI some time next year. Um... I don't know if I should talk about this, but I'd like to do a tour with Boy Sets Fire and Death By Stereo some time next year. That'd be awesome. Hopefully go to Europe next summer. I'd like to do Warped Tour... or Ozzfest.

Well, that's all the questions I have. Is there anything else you want to say? Maybe contact information?
Thank you to anyone who's come out to our shows. Uh... If you want to talk to us... well, you can go to www.atreyurock.com, or www.victoryrecords.com.

BW