The Autumn Offering

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: ON AUGUST 31ST YOU WILL BE RELEASING YOUR SELF TITLED ALBUM THROUGH VICTORY RECORDS. THIS IS YOUR FIFTH ALBUM, WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO SELF TITLE THIS ONE?

We had several working titles, but with the bands return to a heavier vibe we felt nothing better represented the band than to name our most brutal effort The Autumn Offering.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: THIS ALBUM SEES THE BAND RETURNING TO ITS ROOTS. THIS IS ALSO THE FIRST ALBUM TO FEATURE JESSE AND CARL. HOW MUCH OF THE WRITING PROCESS WERE THEY INVLOVED IN AND WHAT WERE THEY ABLE TO BRING TO THE RECORD?

Jesse wrote half the songs on the album alongside long time guitarist Tommy Church, and vocalist Matt McChesny. With the band now having two lead guitarists it definitely opened doors to write more technical riffs, and duel soloing. Everyone in the band put in their two cents on this record! All the inner fighting helped us with our focus of writing the most brutal record of our career! Carl was hired after the album was recorded but brings a new dynamic to the band with his experience in being a lead vocalist.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: THE NEW ALBUM WAS SELF PRODUCED, WAS THIS THE BANDS FIRST ATTEMPT AT SELF-PRODUCTION?

Yes and the combination of having multiple styles of songs and ideas of what the album should be was a struggle. The bulk of the instruments were recorded in Arizona at Bordur Studios, the vocals were recorded at Ken Susi's studio (Unearth) by Pete Rutcho (producer the Faceless, Bury Your Dead, etc.) and mixed by Pete. Our guitarist Tommy Church handled all the actual recording of the instruments.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHAT WERE THE PROS AND CONS OF DOING IT YOURSELF?

Pros: Freedom in writing whatever we want.
Cons: All the pressure falling on Tommy to record the instruments plus the multitude of gear issues (radio Disney coming through the guitar heads). Hopefully all of that was fixed, but let us know if you catch some Miley Cyrus coming through the mix! haha

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING THE MOST WHEN IT COMES TO THE WRITING/RECORDING PROCESS?

Recording can be very tedious. The reward is hearing your original demos and concepts come full tilt into a polished pro recorded product. Also having someone nag to change a part 100 times then changing it and realizing it was either an utter failure, or actually completely enhanced the song!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHERE DO THE IDEAS FOR THE LYRICS COME FROM?

Matty handles all the lyrics, this album is filled with hatred and loathing! Exploiting everything from his drug addictions and the struggle to become sober to child hood problems. Take the time to read some of the lyrics and you'll find them to be some of the most clever, brutal and vile that you'll hear in metal!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: DESCRIBE THE VIBE THE ALBUM EXPELS. TELL US WHAT WE CAN EXPECT TO HEAR.

The vibe is absolutely brutal but yet each song is very different from the one before it! Death growls and high pitched screams, a barrage of blast beats and fills, duel guitar solos and harmonized sweeps, and last but not least there is a small handful of clean catchy vocal parts and extremely melodic guitar parts that the band is known for.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT THIS ALBUM DIFFERS FROM YOUR PREVIOUS ONES?

This is our Fuck You album! Absolutely no one told us to write a hit, or to change any parts or to move in any certain direction. We came into the studio with about thirty something demos of different styles of songs and from day one decided to only work on the heaviest of material and to keep the album brutal! On previous albums we were pressured to write in the confines of short melodic radio accessible material and from there pushed the songs to be as heavy as possible as much as we possibly could. This one was balls to the wall from day one!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: ALL BANDS GROW OR PROGRESS MUSICALLY OVER TIME. DO YOU FEEL THIS IS YOUR BEST ALBUM TO DATE?

We feel at this time in the band, this was the right material to put out! The album was written only by the band, with no input from producers or the label. Also with the addition of a new guitarist Jesse Nunn who wrote songs on the album and solos that definitely changed the sound. He and Tommy Church pushed each others limits on their instruments on this album with not only soloing but writing very obscure riffs and changes. This was also the first album to feature long time touring drummer Brian Sculley and the minute you hear the drumming you'll hear how much it advanced our sound! Matty really brought out an arsenal of screams on this CD as well as his melodic vocals but even those are more intense on this album then previous ones!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: DO YOU FIND EACH ALBUM TO BE A LEARNING EXPERIENCE?

Very much so! Every album you hear songs and go through experiences that show you what was the right thing to do! Even more importantly you learn what was done wrong!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE METAL SCENE AS IT STANDS TODAY? IF YOU COULD CHANGE SOMETHING WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Metal has become saturated with fans and musicians who are very elitist or metal purists as we like to call them! They only give a fuck about what they like and think everything else is lame. Basically, if no one's heard of it then it's cool, if it resembles anything mainstream then it sucks. That goes to the point where people will start to shit on their favorite band as soon as they blow up big and try to pretend they were never into them, it's all bullshit. There will always be the mindless pawns who only listen to what major labels and corporate radio sells them as well. I remember growing up and just loving metal as a whole! I'd check out every new band that came out and give them a listen and if I liked it I'd buy there stuff and support them, if not then I wouldn’t. People have got to come together and start loving metal as a whole if it's going to survive at least as far as bands being able to afford to play it! Not just like there one little Sub Genre/Core!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHAT DO YOU THINK SETS YOUR MUSIC APART FROM OTHER METAL BANDS?

In these days it's hard to be completely original in the genre and the few who are write music that's way out in left field. What sets apart TAO is a bit more subtle but it's in the melodic guitar riffs, vocal hooks and contrasts in types of screaming, singing and layering. We are not reinventing the wheel but we have our own sound!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: YOU SHOT A VIDEO FOR THE TRACK “BORN DEAD.” WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE WHEN IT RELEASES AND WHEN WILL IT RELEASE?

The video is up on our MySpace page and on Facebook and YouTube! Check it out!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED PUTTING YOUR MUSIC IN HORROR FILMS?

Yes and the “Born Dead” video is very "Horror Esque" the label is in charge of licensing our music to film and TV but yes that would be great for the band and we are fans of the genre especially early slasher films!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: YOU ARE KICKING OFF A TWO MONTH TOUR ON AUGUST 27TH WITH SILENT CIVILIAN AND KITTIE. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS MOST IMPORTANT WHEN PUTTING ON A LIVE SHOW?

Simply kicking ass live and connecting with the crowd! Most bands just try to recreate their album live! It's the minor fuck ups live and day to day shit that happens to bands that makes their shows more personnel. If the crowd just wanted to hear your songs verbatim they can listen at home they want to see a show!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: ARE THERE ANY PARTICULAR PLACES ON THE TOUR YOU ARE MOST EXCITED ABOUT PLAYING?

We are very excited to play Europe! It's a first for the band as well as many old school favorites clubs in the states and a couple of festivals!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: THERE ARE SO MANY GREAT THINGS ABOUT BEING ON THE ROAD, PLAYING ON A STAGE AND MAKING MUSIC PEOPLE WANT TO COME SEE LIVE. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY THE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?

Making it not a job! haha Not waking up in the morning to go put in eight hours at a fucking factory is a plus. Getting paid to play an instrument, traveling the world, meeting people who want to be a part of your music and who generally care about metal as a whole is always rewarding!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW. GOOD LUCK WITH THE NEW RELEASE AND TOUR. BEFORE I LET YOU GO IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD OR SAY?

Thanks to all the fans who have stuck with us over the years! We've always tried to write music that we love and believe in! It's all of you guys sharing in believing in it that makes it worth the time and effort!

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Tags:  The Autumn Offering, Victory Records  , interviews

Shauna O'Donnell    August 03, 2010