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How are things so far on the tour?

Things are good so far, we're having a good time.

Is it intimidating at all to be on a tour with this many people?

It's not intimidating, if anything it's kind of fun just because there's so many different bands to see and people to meet. I don't know, there's plenty to do. It's cool, I like it.

Being a band that's known for their innovation and change in the songs, what can bands expect on the new material?

We've kind of gone further in each direction. We've gotten heavier but more cohensive, not as spastic as it used to be. With, like, the...I don't want to say mellower stuff, because it's not really that mellow but it's more moody, also I think those became better songs too. I think the musicianship has improved quite a bit, which I think the ideas are just more cohesive in either direction.

So did you have a longer time to actually do all the actual songwriting? Plenty of time to prepare everything?

We didn't. We were on tour up until like...we took almost a month to write the record, and then we just took a few weeks off and went and recorded it and changed a few ideas in the studio. But it was kind of all done at one time except for one song that was written months before that.

How did you actually end up joining the band?

I used to play bass for a while for a band called Reggie and the Full Effect and we toured together. Their bass player decided to quit From Autumn To Ashes and they called me. "Why not? Let's rock."

Was it a hard decision?

No. Initially I was just going to fill in, and then it felt so normal and natural that it was just like, "well, let's keep going."

Does Melanie Wills still work with you guys at all?

No, not anymore. She was the old bass player's girlfriend. She'd be sitting at shows occasionally, but no, not really. And she's not on this record at all. We tend to not play any of the songs that she sang, just because...she's not here to sing them.

Is there a reason behind the title of the album, "Abandon Your Friends"?

Because it's kind of...what we do. I mean, in the sense of how life goes on when we go away. And we live, you know, in a vacuum basically in the bus, going on tour. Every day is pretty much the exact same for us. Life goes on at home and friends stop calling because you can't go do anything. You're not going to go out to eat with them because you're in Texas and they're in New York, or you're in Japan...and you have to like. It's harder to keep up the relationships really.

I was going to ask about Japan, was that your first time over there?

No, it was the second, actually. It was awesome.

Pretty big crowds out there?

It's pretty good. You go as far away from here as you can. It's awesome, it's awesome that people care anywhere.

Was it all around Japan?

This last time we just did one show in Tokyo, but before it was like a full tour. It was mostly press for the new record.

Where are you looking at touring for this record?

Everywhere. Yeah, everywhere.

I know you have a tour coming up with Rise Against and Comeback Kid.

Yep, and that's gonna be...I think that's pretty much...

Francis Mark (drummer/singer): Comeback Kid's on that tour?

Yeah, they are.

How did that get worked in? Someone just set it up?

Honestly, I don't know. We played one show...was it one or two shows we played with them?

Francis Mark: Rise Against?

Just that festival in Belgium, right?

Francis Mark: Yeah. We played some shows with them last year on Warped Tour, but I didn't really see them too much.

We were just in Europe a couple months ago, and we played a show with them. I don't know, they just asked us. I don't know if they saw the show or what happened.

Are there pockets of Europe that are better than some or places you just enjoy being over?

For some reason Germany is really good for us.

That's what everyone always says.

Yeah, it's weird. They like the rock over there. Germany's good, England's good, specifically London's good, but I suppose you could say that with any big city. Those are the places that really stick out as being really good. Italy was fun.

What part of Italy were you guys in?

This last time we had our own show in Rome.

It's a weird place.

It was pretty crazy. Yeah. Just walking around was awesome.

It's like L.A. with Ruins, they say.

It really is... [laughs]

Was there any particular reason going with Josh Wilbur and Garth Richardson? You worked with them before, right?

We did it because...I wasn't in the band the last record, but the band knew him, was comfortable with him, and just kind of wanted to continue the feeling. And Josh was someone that Garth had more of a hand in, but he turned out really really really well, and understood where we wanted to go with the mixing and all that stuff. He did a great job.

Kind of back to the title "Abandon Your Friends", would you say it's probably difficult being on the road in general, or do you kind of enjoy the isolation of it?

Part of me does. It's weird. It's almost like being two different people where you kind of have to shut-off to go on the road, because otherwise you'll spend all of your time moping around. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about what we do, it's awesome that anyone cares enough to have us on the road as much as we are. It's weird, because...you'll play the show, and there's X amount of people there, all there to see you. Then the show is done, and they're all gone, but we're still sitting in the parking lot until 4 o'clock in the morning. So we're like, kicking around the parking lot with nothing to do. It's just weird. It's intense, but in opposite ways. At the show, you're completely overwhelmed with people, and when it's done, you're all alone.

What do you do when you're not watching the other bands perform? Sit around, read, watch TV?

Basically all that stuff. We didn't bring any Playstation games, we kind of blew it there. We play a lot of video games. We talk on the phone quite a bit - not to each other [laughing]. Anything to kill the time.

Kind of a personal question I guess, but is it overwhelming at times to realize how much that the band means to certain kids, and do you feel pressured into doing something or not doing something, or saying something or not saying something just because of what influenced 14 year old might be out there? Not to say you're a teen idol band or something...

No, no, well. We do have kind of a younger fan base though. It's not overwhelming, but you forget. And it kind of can be a....not a slap, but like, "whoa..." Because I do this for such selfish reasons, just because it's what I do. I forget that it means anything to anybody else at times. And when they bring it to your attention, you know, it's really humbling and it's awesome. I don't really so much censor what I say, but I really want kids, not kids, people, to think for themselves and get away from such a group mentality and just do things their own way hopefully.

Do you think it's important as a band to kind of have a message to your music, or would you say that art is art and being sort of introspective and personal is just...

I think there's room for both. Because I think there's the common everyday problems that we all have, beit relationships, money...you know. "The man bringing you down," you know, all the usual bullshit that we all deal with. But we almost have to think on a wider scale now, because things are getting more and more fucked up every day. I mean, all of our civil liberties are slowly being siphoned away from us and things like that. It's kind of, not to get too heady here, it's kind of the artist's job to show people what's going on. We all get caught up in our everyday lives and worry about paying our phone bill and where we're going to eat and stuff like that, but society's grinding to a hault...

What did you guys do prior to being in From Autumn To Ashes in terms of everything; jobs, music, anything?

Well, we all played in other bands and I worked as a pizza guy. I delivered pizza. I worked construction. You know, the usual. We all did the usual crap.

That seems to be sort of a reoccuring theme with people in bands...taking those jobs no one wants...

The common man. None of us were CEOs of large corporations like Enron or anything.

That's about the end. Is there anything you feel like adding or saying to anyone reading the interview?

I want to know why there hasn't been....no, no, no [laughing]

No, go ahead and ask it.

I was going to talk about how there hasn't been a completely amazing metal album since "Reign In Blood". Even by Slayer. [laughing] Well, South of Heaven was good.

I still like Slayer even into "Diabolus..." and all that stuff. I mean, they're still Slayer, even if now they have kind of moshy parts.

It's just kind of weird that like, some of the intensity is gone. I think that a lot of bands tend to...I mean, people say that about us, but a lot of bands tend to sound the same. But that stuff really stands out. But even like, early Neurosis...where has that stuff gone? I don't think there are bands like that. Just...Isis...

How early Neurosis are you talking about? Back when they were sort of...

Not the hardcore stuff, but like, the really sludgy "Souls At Zero" stuff, you know. I want more bands like that to come up.

There are a lot of bands like that, with Cult of Luna and all that stuff...

They're not scary like Neurosis was though. Like, I would go watch those guys and I would be scared.

One of the first shows I ever went to was like, Pantera, Coal Chamber, Neurosis, and Life of Agony in 1997 when I was like, 13. And Neurosis came on and scared the shit out of me. They had this back-drop of holocaust footage...and I was petrified of Neurosis until I saw them at this Relapse contamination festival and there was this guy talking about how he had been to 27 of their shows and yelled, "Hey Steve!" and he was like "Oh! Hey man! What's going on?"

What's funny is...I was in this band and we toured. It was us, Buzzov-En, and Neurosis. We were on tour. And I have video footage of Steve Von Till imitating Mr. T, like, dead on. And at the end of it he's like, "if you ever show anyone that, I'll kill you." But it's perfect, because you see Neurosis...and you see the pain in their souls! And there he is, cracking up.

What band were you with?

A band called Glazed Baby.

I've actually heard of them.

About 100 years ago.

Yeah, I've heard of them, believe it or not. Would you say...obviously there haven't been any records that can parallel "Reign In Blood", but are there any bands that you've been listening to lately that you enjoy?

Actually I just got that...the new Buzzov-En reissue, and that's just awesome as far as heavy stuff goes. Um...god, what else?

You can say not heavy stuff if you feel like it.

Well, I just. I can't really think of stuff. The new Trail of Dead is awesome. I don't know, I've been listening to a lot of Joy Division. Not so much metal stuff because it doesn't really interest me beyond...like, you know, Dillinger's always cool. And Every Time I Die, I love those guys. And Unsane, too.

You like the new record?

I do, quite a bit. I actually played guitar for them for a while.

That's right, I did know that, and I wanted to ask you about that because I love Unsane a lot. I'm a big fan of the old Amphetamine Reptile roster.

Yeah, me too.

I'm from Minneapolis, so...

Oh really? Glazed Baby was on a label from Minneapolis called Red Decibel.

That's probably how I've heard of them.

I was in another band called Season to Risk that was on that label.

I've heard of them too. But yeah, all those old Amphetamine Reptile bands like Hammerhead, and Jesus Lizard, Cows...

Actually, the guy from Hammerhead works at a guitar shop down the street from my house.

Which guy? The guy from Vaz?

Yeah, yeah.

They're great. Have you heard their other band, TODD? They have an album called...Purity Pledge. It was their lead singer, I think he moved to the U.K. and has the band with his wife, I think.

Oh it's the other dude from Hammerhead?

Yeah, yeah.

Because Paul lives in Brooklyn now.

Well, I think that's everything, we'll wrap it up there. Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions.