|
Darker and 'Damned' with Atreyu Lead Guitarist Dan Jacobs
by Troy Rogers
 After
four albums, Orange County metalcore band Atreyu
is back with their fifth studio release, Congregation
of the Damned, which went wide to fans everywhere
on October 27. Mixed by Rich Costey who has worked
with bands like System of a Down, Rage Against
the Machine, Foo Fighters, Muse, and My Chemical
Romance, and produced by Ozzy Osbourne and Airbourne
helmer Bob Marlette, Congregation of the Damned
takes Atreyu into darker territory with a heavier
sound that mirrors how the band feels about what's
going on in the world today.
With Congregation of the Damned now out and available to Atreyu fans, and the guys of Atreyu - Alex Varkatzas, Dan Jacobs, Travis Miguel, Marc McKnight, and Brandon Saller - out on tour with Hollywood Undead in support of Congregation of the Damned and the lead single, "Storm to Pass", we turned up the volume on our phone for an exclusive metalcore one-on-one chat with Atreyu lead guitarist, Dan Jacobs, to learn more about Congregation of the Damned, the reason for the darker, more heavier sound, how they see themselves within the genre, and how things are shaping up with the Atreyu tour with Hollywood Undead.
THE DEADBOLT: So what was behind the decision for the darker, heavier sound on this album?
JACOBS: I don't know. Everything we did is just kind of a reflection of what's going on at the time in our lives, or even just stuff you see on the news and things that are going on around you or whatnot. Even musically, I think we just felt like we needed a little more beast than the last record.
THE DEADBOLT: What's the meaning behind Congregation of the Damned? It sounds like you guys are viewing everything in society as falling apart.
 JACOBS:
Yeah, that's kind of it. The Congregation of
the Damned is for all of the crazy terrible
things that are going on in the world and, as
Alex [Varkatzas] described, people as Lemmings.
It's kind of following each other around not
really knowing where they're going or what to
do. Kind of like following our leaders, whether
they be the President or your boss at work,
or whoever. You know, these people who are supposed
to be looking out for the good of people and
the people around them, and in the end they're
just kind of leading us to nowhere. You know
what I mean? It's a big mess.
THE DEADBOLT: How has the tour been with Hollywood Undead?
JACOBS: It's been really awesome, actually. We really didn't know what to expect coming into it, because they're kind of a hip-hop'ish group and we're totally at the other end of the spectrum. But surprisingly, it meshes really well. There will be fans coming to the show and there'll be one guy wearing his Hollywood Undead shirt and his buddy wearing an Atreyu shirt kind of thing. It's really weird, but it works in a strange way.
THE DEADBOLT: So you guys kind of compliment each other, I guess?
JACOBS: Yeah, exactly. It makes it not so monotonous where you hear the same kind of style of music the entire night. It breaks it up a little bit, like a radio show. It kind of has that feel.
THE DEADBOLT: Do you have any crazy stories from the road yet?
JACOBS: Nothing so far. It's been pretty mellow for the most part. I mean, you never know what to expect. Maybe just listening to the type of bands that are going to be on this tour, and you're like, "Oh, it's going to be this kind of crowd and that kind of crowd." It's been pretty mellow for the most part, nothing too crazy. But it's some awesome shows.
THE DEADBOLT: What are the plans for the webisodes while you're on the road? Are you going to continue?
 JACOBS:
I think we're done with those as far as just
hyping up the new record. We'll probably do
little things here and there just to keep people
updated on what we're doing and where we are
in the world and whatnot. We'll give updates
on what we're doing and other things on Twitter
and stuff like that.
THE DEADBOLT: Is it tough for you guys to separate yourselves from other bands in the genre?
JACOBS: I don't think so. I mean, other people might think differently with their opinion about how we sound compared to other bands. I personally don't think we sound like anybody. I mean, you can usually say we sound sort of like this or sort of like that. I think we try really hard not to sound like anybody else as far as influences and we try to not listen to what's going on around us. Now it's more like classic bands. Stuff that's not in the genre to try to get a fresh take on stuff.
THE DEADBOLT: Since this album has a darker tone, what do you listen to that's not so dark? What would fans be surprised to learn that you listen to on your iPod?
 JACOBS:
Oh, man. I listen to a lot of mellow music.
I love a lot of classic rock. I like Jackson
Brown, even Merle Haggard, and Bob Marley. I
mean, I'm all across the board, because I think
that can actually hook you no matter what type
of song it is. When it comes time to write music,
you can sit there and listen to any style, listen
to a jazz song or anything, and find a hook
in it. It's like, "Wow, if I took that and put
it on guitar and distorted it, maybe change
a couple of notes around ... " I have a metal
riff right now that no one would ever even know
where I was influenced by. People call it "influencing,"
but that's kind of how it works. It's like,
"Oh, that's pretty rad. Nobody will know where
that came from." We'll take that, change it
around, put out my own spin on it, change the
chords to go underneath it, and now it's completely
something totally different.
THE DEADBOLT: On the promotional side of things, whose idea was it to release the Metal Head Zombies video game?
JACOBS: Well, we had on our last record a video game that we put out where you had five different levels, and each level was a different member of our band and there was a different challenge depending which guy you were. It went over really well. It was really cool. I mean, why not do it again? It's a different style of game obviously and shooting games are always pretty popular. Especially like Call of Duty and Halo and stuff like that. But we picked a zombie. Congregation of the Damned in a video game where you can go out slaughtering to zombie metal [laughs].
THE DEADBOLT: Will there be a DVD of this tour?
JACOBS: Not of this particular tour, no. We're getting little clips of stuff here and there, and I'm sure at some point in time we'll do a DVD of live footage. But we're not doing one just for the tour though.
THE DEADBOLT: It feels like there's a lot of self loathing on the album. Is that just for the darker sound or are you guys actually miserable?
 JACOBS:
I mean, Alex is the one who writes all of the
lyrics. Like I said, everything is a reflection
of stuff that is going on in his life, and some
of it - There's a song called "Lonely" and the
song is about he was just sitting in a doctor's
office for whatever reason, sitting there in
the waiting room, and he saw a couple of old
people sitting in there. For some reason, it
just popped in his head, "I wonder what these
people went through in their lives to get to
this point? Like, what brought them here? They're
just sitting here alone by themselves." If you
make the wrong choice in your life, are you
just going to end up alone by yourself, be a
lonely old person, or are you going to have
family around you and all of these amazing things?
I don't know. It's just kind of about that.
It's kind of, where are people going to end
up in their life? A re they going to be lonely
or have people that actually care about them?
THE DEADBOLT: Since you play guitar, what do you think of Orianthi?
JACOBS: As far as I know, she can shred, you know? I mean, she's got to play all of the Van Halen and the Steve Stevens' riff and all of that stuff at the top. She's got a heavy plate to carry, so she's got to be a badass.
|
