Blessthefall 2005

[Ara Kistner]

Ifirst started off idolizing Travis Barker of Blink 182, banging on tabletops with taped-up chopsticks. My first real drumkit was a green Pearl Forum five-piece that I got for Christmas. For at least four years, I had drum lessons from a great man named Jim Zupancic who came to my house every other Friday to work on rudiments and basics. I was never the kind of drummer who enjoyed learning the form and rudiments; I just loved jamming out to Linkin Park and freestyling to other heavy rock CDs.

I was very reluctant when I first started playing a double kick pedal. In fact, I almost returned it because of being so frustrated trying to play double bass. But listening to Jordan Mancino and Matt Greiner really pushed me to get better and faster.

When blessthefall finally started to take off, we started to tour the world and my drum lessons took a back seat. In 2009, my dream came true and I got an endorsement with DW and bought an exotic wood five-piece kit. Currently, blessthefall has the rest of the year planned out with tours in Europe, UK, Canada, and the US. The biggest and most anticipated part of the year is the release of our fourth studio album, Hollow Bodies, which hits stores August 20, 2013.

My advice to a drummer starting out is to try to not get frustrated. Just start slow, take some lessons, and buy a metronome. Drumming takes a lot of patience, and the skill will come with a lot of practice.

Heavy rock band blessthefall had their swagger on when they came through Spokane supporting long-time rockers Atreyu. Although it was rainy and miserable and getting press passes was a cluster I finally got in from the rain and had the opportunity to interview Matt Traynor and Eric Lambert of blessthefall before they hit the stage. Heres the very short, very informal interview.

AS: So lets talk about your guys genre a little bit. Do you feel like you fit in the pre-conceived genre of the post hardcore? Or do you like to think of it as something completely different?

EL: Were just like, We just play heavy rock. You know we have singing, weve got screaming, we have breakdowns, we have catchy choruses. We dabble in everything except auto-tune and dance beats. Its the only thing we try to stray away from.

EL: Yeah, I think weve been trying to hook up with Atreyu for a while now, ever since we did Taste Chaos and we have the same company agents so it was just kind of bound to happen, and then we found out they were doing a headliner, and they hit us up and our company agent was like, You guys want to do it? and were like, Yeah! Sweet! Lets do it! So yeah.

EL: Its always rainy in Washington. We went through a little bit of snow today going through the mountains, but not much. Its more Seattle than anything thats just always raining. Its cold here in Spokane, the last two times weve been here its been freezing.

AS: I can understand that. Im from California myself. Seriously though, are we really talking about weather? Lets talk about Witness and the whole writing process behind it and then move into your guys plans for the new album.

EL: It took a long time, I feel like we put a lot of time in our last record, and it was hard because the moral was so up and down while we were writing the record, because we were writing for Witnessand looking for a singer at the same time for half the record. We had half the record written without a singer. We got in a little writers block slump, like everyone go unmotivated because we just werent finding a singer, and then once we found Beau again we really picked things back up and started writing again, and it came together pretty well. It was cool.

EL: I think so. I think in the winter, we were going to do a headliner, but we figured its time to do another record. So were going to do a record, right after this tour were going to start writing for it and bringing out the studio work in April.

EL: It just happens, you know? Its hard for bands to keep their same band members. Its just like saying youre going to be best friends with your sixth grade best friends your entire life. Like freshman year you think youre in this clique that youre going to be in forever, and you realize after a couple years that theyre not the right people to stay in your life.

EL: Yeah, being in a band is about being big and successful; its about going out and having fun with your buddies, and I think that if we would have kept our old singer, we just would have been kidding ourselves. We probably wouldnt be a band anymore, if we didnt split apart when we did. But having Beau was a huge refreshment and it got our friendship back together, and now we just have fun. Were just a bunch of goof balls, we dont take ourselves seriously.

EL: Yeah, we just get in laughing fits, well laugh over nothing. Like Matt and Jeremy will always just start dying over the smallest things and they feed off each other and theyll literally be laughing for like thirty minutes.

EL: Oh jeez, I dont even remember, it was so long ago. I think it was the last day in the studio, its 4 am in the morning as were trying to finish our record, and I got on acoustic guitar and sang the first thing that came to mind, and that came out and it haunts me to this day. We were trying to do a clap track, a singing track, and a backup singing track without a click which didnt work out.

AS: I had a buddy, Jesse, that I used to work with and hes like, Put His Last Walk on, and theres a whole bunch of silence and then this song come on and Im like, What the fuck is this?! and hes like, Oh just listen, its hilarious.

EL: Yeah, you know they really push for it, and well humor them sometimes because were like, Well alright, its good to have some clean cut photos sometimes, but we got a part of the 2011 Most Anticipated Record for AP and they wanted us to do some super gnarly, dark photo, and we were with the photographer and he was doing it and was like, This sucks! and we were like, Yeah, we know, this fucking blows. So we went to a car wash down the street, in Santa Monica, and started spraying each other with hot pink and green wax, and we were all completely stripped down, like in our underwear and everything, and it came out awesome. Theres just foam flying everywhere, its just really a colorful, fun photo shoot, and just us having a good time. Thats more of our personality, versus just standing there with our arms crossed being like, We hate the world, were going to light everyone on fire you know?

Eric: I mean, we went through a singer change. Thats like the most gnarly thing you can go through after being signed by a label and being somewhat of a success. I think if you have enough passion and initiative to do something, I think you can get it done. Its just all about, you know, keep going at it, just dont take no for an answer. Youll get somewhere.

This show was packed but these guys were really awesome to give us some of their time before they went to warm up. A little while later they got on stage and killed it. I was actually there to see them anyways dont tell Atreyu.

Blessthefall (stylized as blessthefall) is an American metalcore band from Phoenix, Arizona, signed to Fearless Records. The band was founded in 2003 by guitarist Mike Frisby, drummer Matt Traynor, and bassist Jared Warth. Their debut album, His Last Walk, with original vocalist Craig Mabbitt, was released April 10, 2007. Their second studio album, Witness, with current vocalist Beau Bokan, was released October 6, 2009. Their third studio album, Awakening, was released on October 4, 2011. Their fourth studio album, Hollow Bodies, was released on August 20, 2013. Their fifth studio album, For Those Left Behind, was released on September 18, 2015.

In the wake of a successful 10-year anniversary tour to celebrate Witness in 2019, blessthefall went quiet for the next two years. Between the Global Pandemic and various other gigs, the members still kept the lines of communication open.

This event is open to all ages. Valid government-issued photo ID is required to purchase and consume alcohol. VIP Viewing Deck tickets and VIP Bowling Lanes are restricted to 21+ ONLY. No refunds will be issued for failure to produce proper identification. This ticket is valid for standing room only, general admission. ADA accommodations are available day of show. All support acts are subject to change without notice. Any change in showtimes, safety protocols, and other important information will be relayed to ticket-buyers via email. ALL SALES ARE FINAL

Blessthefall... The concert was held in a small venue in a small part of Brisbane, Australia and let me say, they rocked the place! The supporting acts could never have brought the place together in the way Blessthefall did! The concert was explosive and was the best night of my life so far.

They started off with their global hit "You Wear a Crown But You're No King" and let me say, that was the real beginning of the night for me. The song brought life into the small but excited crowd. All members of the band were exceptional and you could tell just by their faces, how much they loved the music they were playing.

Beau Bokan, lead singer of Blessthefall, was extremely interactive with the crowd, highfiving and smiling at many of the adoring fans pushing against the stage. He even went as far as inviting the entire crowd up on stage. As the fans left the stage after they had gotten on it, he highfived and hugged many of them.

They finished the concert off with a powerful encore of "The Sound Of Starting Over" and a parting message of telling the fans to listen to their newest album. This last part brought the night to an end but it wasnt the end for everyone. After the show, all members of the band helped to clean up the venue and then go talk to fans who were still hanging around. Having conversations and taking pictures. Elliott Gruenberg, one of the guitarists even went as far to invite me to the side of the stage and give me a pick of his (inscribed with his name and a totoro) and then have a conversation with me about Doctor Who.

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