Profundi Interview

It’s been almost 3 years since the last BoySetsFire album and that is due to the band’s detachment from the empty handshakes of their previous label Wind Up Records. The band has endured many growths and many hardships during the making of their forthcoming release “Misery Index: The Plague Years” which tells a tale different than those of previous albums. The band was almost split up by their ongoing struggle with their label which proved to be a disappointment amongst other things.

TheHXC was able to talk to Nathan of BoySetsFire to discuss with him the new and improved BoySetsFire, who is now signed to Equal Vision and is ready to start hitting the road and studio again in light of their past bad experiences which led to their distrust of the music business.

Below you will find out how BoySetsFire sprang back from their battle and split with their former label Wind Up Records and how they didn’t fall for the price of big money by staying true to their one love, the music.



TheHXC.com: How’s tour going so far?

Nathan: Going well so far we are in boson and it’s been going great, fall of troy the sleeping. This was the second half the first one started with FATA, and biology and esoteric, this the second part


TheHXC.com: Anymore tour plans after the run with From Autumn To Ashes?

Nathan: Well we get home and we start touring again when the record comes out.


TheHXC.com: How did the deal final solidify with Equal Vision?

Nathan: We signed with Equal Vision because the decision was simple. We had the whole situation with Wind Up. We asked Wind Up let us go because it wasn’t working, it was obvious that they have one way going and we have the other way and it was just not going to meet up. We talked to few different labels and decided on Equal Vision and Burning Heart in Europe to do it because they were the labels we wanted to work with. It was a question of who do we trust? Who do we want to work with and do the best job and not deal with the bullshit from the past. Equal Vision was obvious, we were friends for so long, we had released several different splits and compilations we have done and other vinyl we did with them and they did our merchandise for awhile.


TheHXC.com: The name of the album is called “Misery Index: The Plague Years”, what exactly were the plague years?

Nathan: The whole idea of it was all of the shit we’ve gone through creating this record, this record has been in the making in 3 years now, it went through Wind Up forcing us to write a hit single and us not being able to because that’s not what we do, then having the label telling us we need to get a co-writer and all that kind of shit. We went through all of that trouble to get to the point to play the music we want to do again.


TheHXC.com: Did you guys expect to have a label ask you to bring in a co-writer?

Nathan: No! they caught us completely off guard, we had no idea we would be asked to do something like that! With 2 or 3 songs they would say that’s it! That’s the single! You guys have it! But it just needs a little bit, it was 90% there, we are going to bring someone in to work with you and we were just like what do you mean? Write with someone else? Um no! We said no way in hell, are you kidding me? They kept saying I don’t know I think you got I think you got it before. So we just asked them to let us go because we told them: you’re not gong to be happy and we’re not going to be happy so just let us go. The co writing thing went on for a year of them saying not hearing a single keep going, not hearing a single keep going and all this time we were not trying to write a single, we said we’ll write more song if you’re not hearing it, whatever, but we’re not gong to write that crap.

Nathan: Our management at the time then, and the label, were giving us examples of bands that use writers, it was really depressing. It was like really? Oh my god. They thought this sounded convincing to us but it actuality it made us more not want to do it and distrust the songs I listened to in the past like oh my god fuck that!


TheHXC.com: What are some bands they gave you that used co writers?

Nathan: It was everything from Mars Volta to Rage Against the Machine and just like smaller bands, anything you see on MTV. It really hit hard with Mars Volta and Rage, it was like well that’s really depressing.


TheHXC.com: So the new album has all of these problems over the years reflected in the lyrics and theme of the new disc.

Nathan: Oh yeah, absolutely. The whole album is, not only that it’s very personalized. The political scheme shit has just been down hill, things had just gone to shit and to be a band that is somewhat positive, we would always try to write uplifting and positive songs, but because of all of the distrust there are glimpses of that on the new album. We thought, well, we are not feeling very positive right now so why always have an answer, we’ve been struggling. We always try to be inspiring and uplifting but if there’s no solution or answer, fuck it, it’s going to be depressing.


TheHXC.com: Did these strenuous times threaten to split the band up?

Nathan: Oh yeah absolutely, a lot of the shit threatened to tear us apart, to make it worse we were also told sneakily that we should get another drummer for the album. They told us that he’s just not a studio drummer. That’s why we have him, who wants a studio drummer? They want to get the goofy dude with the long hair and balding to play the beat perfectly. That guy might be able to lay the song perfectly but he has no feeling at all.


TheHXC.com: Did these distrusting times change your relationship with the music business?

Nathan: Not so much by the other bands warn other bands I would never talk shit on them. Do what you got to do with your band. That put us on high alert, that’s what happens, but its not going to be different than last time and I’m not gonna put my neck on the line for it. To be different than what happened, to get our ideas out through a bigger label, its bullshit. Wind Up told us “You guys got to be a little easier on the president”, that’s a direct quote. We said are you kidding? They told us you guys need to tone it down a little.

Even when the first album came out the put the disclaimer sticker about the lyrics and also wanted to use “Bathory’s Sainthood” from the last album but they couldn’t, it was too anti god, they said the radio stations in the south wouldn’t play it. The whole idea for them is to market your music towards what will be acceptable. We write music to write music and hope people to like it, its not fuck everyone else this is just for us, we want people to relate to it but not at the cost of dumming it so fuckin far down.


TheHXC.com: What was one of the words they said was too big?

Nathan: The word Requiem was one, they said it was too big and that no one’s gonna know what it means. Who are we trying to reach then? They can look it up if they don’t understand it. We were told from one of the A&R when we talked to him that we had to dumb it down. I guess we tend to use more complicated words.


TheHXC.com: Will you guys be putting another album out quicker than what it took this effort to be completed?

Nathan: Yeah that was it. We’re going to put out this record and another record within a year because it’s been ridiculous. We’re going to try and close it in between albums. The new album is recorded now, it’s being mixed, and it will come out late February early March more than likely.



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Tags:  Profundi  , Nathan, interviews

Dave Huffy    November 15, 2005