Crossfade Interview

HEY MITCH, THANKS FOR TALKING WITH ME.
Hey, how are you doing today?

I’M GOOD, HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?
I’m fine.

YOU GUYS HAVE A NEW ALBUM TITLED WE ALL BLEED THAT COMES OUT JUNE 21ST. THIS IS YOUR THIRD ALBUM TO DATE. THERE WAS A BIG SPAN IN BETWEEN ALBUMS. WHAT WAS GOING ON DURING THAT TIME?
From the first album to the second album, there is always that lull there. Everybody always says “You’ve got all the time in the world to write your first record and you’ve got six months to write the second one.” It doesn’t always work out that way. There was a lot of time spent deflating after being on tour pretty much for three and a half years. That had a lot to do with it. There was a little more deflation because we got dropped from the label and we had a sickening sense from being out and not doing as well as we had the first time record sales wise. We took a little time off and we took time to write the record because we had a new songwriter involved named Les Hall. To say it lightly, he is a perfectionist. Things took a little longer, but I definitely think it’s going to pay off on this album.

WERE YOU INVOLVED IN THE WRITING OR WAS IT JUST ED AND LES?
Ed is usually the main songwriter. On the second album, we split duties on 50/50. On this album, Les took the reins. I was at home because I had to work. They decided to do things from 2a.m. until 9a.m. and my schedule did not gel to well with that. They got a lot of the writing done in the middle of the night and I was home sleeping. I do have some credit on a couple of the songs. We set down all these songs together as a band, so it was definitely a full band experience, but Les did a major part of the work.

WAS THERE EVER A POINT AFTER THE WHOLE LABEL THING WENT DOWN THAT YOU WORRIED THAT CROSSFADE WOULD NEVER MAKE ANOTHER ALBUM?
I knew we would make another album or at least still be a band. I didn’t know how feasible it was going to be for us to get a new label with the state of the economy and definitely the state of the record business. On that note, now, a label isn’t much more than a machine that helps you promote your music. We have always written and recorded our own stuff. When Columbia had us they had a huge amount of money to promote us, but they also spent money on tour support. Labels now are really just a tool to promote music.

HAVE YOUR FANS STUCK BY YOUR SIDE THIS WHOLE TIME?
We didn’t have Facebook and Twitter, we were out four years ago, so it was a little different. We are getting them back. I think a lot of people still have no idea that we are back out. Once it starts getting on the radio, I think all those fans will come back or at least a large portion and hopefully some new ones as well.

DO YOU FEEL THE BAND IS IN A BETTER PLACE NOW TO MOVE FORWARD AND KICK SOME ASS?
Absolutely, we’re just in a whole different place in our heads. We treat our bodies a little bit better these days. (Laughing) We have all made some life changes and the first one was to get our heads right. That has made a huge difference in our business sense, in our songwriting and how we are going to get out there and take over the world.

IT SOUNDS LIKE HAVING LES IN THE BAND NOW HAS MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE AS FAR AS THE DIRECTION THE MUSIC HAS GONE.
Yes, for sure.

CROSSFADE HAS BEEN THROUGH A COUPLE DRUMMERS AND NOW YOU HAVE MARK CASTILLO. IT LOOKS LIKE HE IS A GOOD FIT FOR THE BAND.
Yes, he definitely is. He was from Bury Your Dead, which was a really heavy band. He is also very stylish and crazy as they come.

THE ALBUM HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS DARKER THAN YOUR OTHERS. WHAT INSPIRED THE ALBUM TO GO THAT DIRECTION?
A lot of it had to do with Les again because there’s a lot of piano and guitar effects. The first album was full of that stuff too, but the second album was more raw and guitar driven. This one is guitar driven first, but there are a lot of keyboards and because Les is such a musical genius, he likes to play with people’s brains and hit notes that aren’t supposed to be right, but they are. It made the music turn strange ways.

YOU USED SOME ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENTS THIS TIME AS WELL.
Yes, we did, The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

IS THAT SOMETHING YOU HAVE DONE BEFORE?
We have had a couple people sit in and play some different instruments for us, but never a string orchestra like that. It sounds so amazing on the record. I think it is a new thing for us.

THE FIRST SINGLE “KILLING ME INSIDE” IS CLASSIC CROSSFADE. HAS IT HIT RADIO YET?
Yes, it impacted three weeks ago. It hasn’t been out very long. We are told every Tuesday about who has added us. Facebook people are saying “Hey! We heard your new song.” It is always the main thing to get radio because they always say that internet is such a huge thing, but I still know lots of people who do not have internet. They listen to radio in their city. Those are the bands they know.

I LOVE THE VIDEO FOR THE SONG. YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE RARE BANDS WHERE EVERY MEMBER OF THE BAND IS GOOD LOOKING. IT MAKES IT A LOT EASIER TO WATCH.
Oh thank you! (Laughing)

WAS IT UNCOMFORTABLE BEING IN THOSE ROOMS WITH YOUR HEAD HITTING THE CEILING?
Yes, it was very uncomfortable. I’m 6’3”, Ed is 6’2” and the other two guys are close to 6’ and the boxes were only 5’ high. It made for a cool effect though.

YOU GUYS SELF PRODUCED THIS ALBUM. IS THIS THE BANDS FIRST ATTEMPT AT IT?
Every album we’ve done, we have self-produced. We are hard headed enough without another dude sitting in the room telling us what needs to change. We’d never get anything done.

YOU’RE GOING TO BE PLAYING SOME FESTIVALS THIS MONTH. IT KICKS OFF WITH ROCK FEST IN KANSAS CITY, MO. WHERE YOU WILL BE PLAYING WITH THE LIKES OF DISTURBED, PAPA ROACH AND BLS. IS THIS YOUR FIRST FESTIVAL WITH THE BAND’S NEW LINE-UP?
We’ve done a couple already. They weren’t enormous like this one is going to be. This one is going to be 70,000 people. We had done a couple, but on a very small scale of 500-1,000.

YOU ARE ALSO PLAYING ROCK ON THE RANGE THIS YEAR. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MOST ABOUT GETTING BACK ON THE ROAD?
As cliché as it sounds, it’s getting out there and playing for the fans and the people who appreciate your music so much. It is an amazing feeling and on top of that I can quit my job. I have two teenage daughters, so I’m strapped. We are doing what we love again. We did it for three and a half years and then the second album came out. We toured for at least a year on that one, so it was really hard sitting at home for the last three and a half years not doing anything. We were making music, but not being able to play it. We didn’t want to go out prematurely. We wanted to go out with a bang! That is why we have been hiding in the shadows.

WHAT ARE THE PLANS AS FAR AS TOURING FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR ONCE THE ALBUM DROPS?
We are leaving for Rock Fest, we have four days off and then we are pretty much gone for two months with four or five shows a week. It’s finally happening. For the next couple months it’s going to be kind of east of the Mississippi. We have already done the Southeast, so we will do up through the middle of the country and then Northeast a little bit. We are always looking forward to crossing the Mississippi and playing in L.A., Phoenix and the twenty cities in Texas that are bigger than our hometown.

I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL YOU COME TO L.A. I WILL BE THERE FOR SURE.
Excellent!

I WANTED TO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW. IT WAS A LOT OF FUN TALKING WITH YOU.
Sure, it’s my pleasure.