Buttering Us Up Ft. August Burns Red

0:15 Maximus Quintilius Chicken and Bottom. Samuel Caesar. Salad. Salad. Yeah. Hey Donna. Good, sir. Yeah, good, yeah. Yeah, you?

0:27 Yeah, not bad. Not bad. Thanks.

0:29 Yeah, that's good. I could have predicted that one given you answered it before I got to ask you. Uh, we're joined by some metal core royalty this week, Maxwell. Oh, dusting off the crown. You drop this king. Hold on. Hold on. Uh, we're chatting with JB from August Burns Red. And for those who were big into metal in the 2010s, August Burns Red had Composer, they had Whitewash, they had Medler, they had so many bangers that a lot of people grew up with.

0:57 And I guess August Burns Red opened the door for a lot of people into metal. Sure. Um, we caught up with them at their recent uh Australian tour um backstage at the Tivoli, and we spoke to JB about I guess longevity and how um, as a band, they've managed to stay successful and keep things fresh on the road for so many years because they're still one of the most like consistently touring bands in the scene.

1:27 Yeah, they've been together for nearly 20 years, or just over 20 years, which is insane. Shit, you love a band that's just working hard and just gets it done for that long. Get it done. Uh, we talk about his guitar influences because obviously, if you listen to August Bands Red, they're incredibly technical, they're incredibly fast, they're riffmasters.

1:43 Um, and yeah, overall, it's a great chat. We talk about their upcoming tour in America um and their uh Christmas bands red, which is a tradition they've started uh in the last few years since COVID, where they do Christmas shows. Kelly's excited at Sambo.

2:00 Let's not waste any time. Let's not dilly dally is you talking to August Bands Red.

2:06 Alright, we are joined backstage in Brisbane by JB from August Bands Red. Mate, welcome to the show.

2:11 Thank you. Thanks for having me on. It's a message.

2:13 We said off air, it's not a not in this album cycle if you had the sort of chance to do press. So it's I feel like we've got a lucky insight.

2:21 Yeah, I've not done much. And what I have done has been a handful of Aussie interviews, actually. So not to put a uh a damper on what you just said, but I don't feel that special. I only interview with the Australians at this point.

2:34 Okay, so I should feel honored, but maybe it's not.

2:37 No, you should yeah, you you guys are the best, and that's why I I saved my press appearances for you.

2:42 I think he's buttering us up, everyone. But uh, you're at the tail end of your Australian tour, you're about to head over to New Zealand. But before we dive into all things ABR and tour, we like to ask all our guests what you've been listening to lately.

2:56 I was just listening to Lana Del Rey on the airplane on the way over here. Um I've been listening to the new Phoebe Bridgers album. So good. It is really good. My wife just got to go see her. I missed it because we were on this tour. But she took our nine-year-old son, and they apparently had a great experience, so that's cool.

3:19 Um, my favorite heavy record right now is the new Barbarians of California album. Okay, called Megatons. If you aren't familiar with the band, it's the dude from AWOL Nation doing like a hardcore band, and it's so sick. It's so sick. I love that band, and I've been listening to that like crazy.

3:40 I mean, I feel like AWOL Nation songs in a way aren't too different from heavy songs in this. No, they go heavy sometimes. Yeah. Because they've got is it Sale they've got?

3:49 Sale. That's their their big song, but not a great representation of the band as a whole. There's there's so much more. I love AWOL Nation.

3:59 So I'm gonna do a deep dive when I get home just for you.

4:02 You could they have Lego records, Lego songs.

4:04 Love that. Well, look, on this tour, you've returned to your roots in so many ways. It's a little bit stripped back with the live show. There's not as much emphasis on, you know, pyro or you know, the big smoke shows like you see in metal shows. It feels like it's back to the the core of being the band, the crowd, and that connection.

4:23 How's it been for you having that, I guess, approach to a live show?

4:27 Oh, it's great. I love that. It's it's fun to have um, you know, these more intimate experiences, I guess. And not to say that we're playing arenas or anything, you know, back back in North America, but um things are scaled back a bit here in Australia. But the privilege of just being here and getting to play our music means so much to us because obviously we're on the other side of the world, and it still blows my mind that people would even care to come see us in such a a place so far from home.

5:03 And I'm not trying to just butter you up again, but Australia is like my favorite country in the world to tour. It's I just love being here. It's like all the things, the best things about America, and none of like the awful divisiveness that we have. Yes, it's like America, but just better, and I love it here.

5:27 It's a better thing. And the breakfast, too. The breakfast. And the coffee. Oh it's better.

5:34 Well, I mean, on the Australian stuff, you are working with Jamie from Polaris, and then um oh, this is gonna kill me. I've just blanked on the Make Them Suffer lead singer. Um Sean Sean and Alex. And Alex, there you go. So there is a bit of Australian love in the album. How did those collaborations come about?

5:54 Well, Jamie is an old pal, and what a sick vocalist. We asked him if he would do a spot and he obliged and was amazing. And then he was in the music video, which was so kind of him to give us more of his time. So thank you, Jamie. Appreciate you, buddy. Um the Make Them Suffer guest spot came to be because we had an idea for a female vocal part on the song.

6:26 Why can't I think of the song title now? Cerebral malfunction. And Jake, uh, our singer was like, hey, Alex from Make Them Suffer has like a beautiful voice. Like, I think she'd be perfect for this part. And we got in touch, and they happened to be touring in the States when we were recording the record, and they were kind enough to on an off day like swing by the studio and do the part like in the studio with us, which is really awesome.

6:56 Yeah, so shout out to Make Them Suffer and Sean and Alex for lending their talents to our record. Right.

7:03 I mean, on the the record in general, for those that haven't listened, go have a listen to Season of Surrender. It's so good. It's arguably the biggest you've sounded, it's the heaviest you've sounded in parts, and it's sort of a refreshing sound for the band itself. Sure. How are you feeling, I guess, a few months since its release?

7:24 How do you sort of reflect on it um now it's out in the world?

7:27 I'm really happy with how fans have responded to it, and I I love the record. I think it's I think it's really cool. It's like a bit of a um we set out to kind of focus on the side of our band that put us on the map in the first place. Like the the heavier, more aggressive side. Um as a guitar player and I guess as a songwriter, I really love the full spectrum of of sounds that we've been able to do in this band, but we definitely tried to uh dial back maybe some of the less metal moments, and the record maybe feels more focused as a result of that.

8:10 Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, musically, you mentioned obviously from a guitar perspective, I'd love to pick your brain about it because August Burns Red in general, famously known for your riffs for being quite technical as well. 11 albums in, how do you continue to find you know, new riffs? Because I feel like after a while the fretboard just looks smaller and smaller.

8:34 I don't know, and I think that there's probably a lot of people out there who would say we haven't found new riffs. That's like I feel like the biggest critique of our band is like every record sounds the same. And okay, if that's the case, cool, that's fine. But I also feel like if you love what we do, then you've probably loved the majority of the catalog as a result.

8:54 Yeah. Like I'm not gonna, I'm not uh deaf to the critics out there about our band, and I know what what our band is, and I'm kind of like feeling very unapologetic of like this is what we are. We don't want to reinvent our sound, we want to just keep writing what we do because it's what we love.

9:16 So if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

9:18 Yeah, I don't know. I don't want to write a post-metal album or like you know, an alt rock metal album. Like, I it's just that's not us.

9:25 So well, as soon as you do, people will complain that you've changed the sound anyway.

9:29 So yes, you'll upset half your audience, and yeah, yeah. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't, I think.

9:35 Exactly.

9:36 I'm not sweating it.

9:37 No. I mean, on that, I'd love to ask as well. You know, you guys have been a band for the best part of 20 plus years now. How do you sort of well, I guess the evolution of streaming's come a long way since you guys first started the band. So has it changed the way you guys view the success of albums as a result?

9:56 Because it's not so much physical sales, is it about fans at shows or just how you guys see it?

10:01 I think that there was a phase of our career where we cared a lot more about the numbers, you know, the first week numbers, how many albums are you selling, what's the sound scan report look like? Definitely are not concerned with that at all. I think we look at our streaming numbers, but I'm like at the end of the day, I think what uh is most important to us is the fan response.

10:26 If people are liking it, um, then we're happy ultimately. And if they are excited to come see it live, yeah, the shows are if the shows are are going well and the rooms are full, uh, who cares about stream numbers and album sales? That's how I feel.

10:43 No, I like it. In regards to the shows, I mean the new album has so many heaters through it. Does balancing a set list become a nightmare every show? Because I feel like you could play two and a half hours and people would still say, Oh, you didn't play my favorite song.

10:57 It is kind of a difficult thing with how much catalog we've amassed through our career now, picking a set list. And there are like the songs that we know go over well live that we want to keep in the sets, and then also the like staples that we have to play, especially from some of the earlier albums.

11:14 Yes. And then, of course, we want to play new songs because we're excited about them and they're fun and exciting and fresh for us. I hate this feeling, but as we get towards the end of our set every night, we start leaning more into like the like the classics that people know we're gonna play, but we hold them for the end because I guess that's how you build set lists.

11:35 Yeah, but then I'm also like, okay, here we go. Gotta play Mariana's Trench and Composure for the 2000th time. You know, and and I don't want to feel that way because I know people are really pumped about um seeing those songs live, but I definitely get more excited about playing the more modern stuff, especially stuff off of Season of Surrender, since it's very fresh, and yeah, we're playing some of these songs for the first time, you know, on this Australian tour.

11:59 Well, I can yeah, I can imagine you know, the 4,000th time you've played Whitewash, it just becomes muscle memory after a while.

12:05 I mean, it's muscle memory before we ever played it live in the first place. I mean, yeah. I I could play that song half asleep, I think.

12:14 Well, look, before we let you go, obviously, by the time people listen to this interview, the Australian New Zealand tour will be wrapped, but you're going on the road with Underoath, and then you're coming back together for uh Christmas bands read, yeah, which has been a huge thing for you guys over the last few years.

12:32 It's a huge show as well. You've got Under Oath Atrayu, 156 Silence. I mean, it's becoming so iconic and generating so much traction. Did did you think it'd generate this much love when you first sort of did it?

12:46 Um, no, we've been doing a Christmas show for since like 2006, but not on the scale, and it's kind of been pushed into like a new tier, I guess, in the last five or six years. And I was just talking with our partner who we do that show with yesterday, actually, and just talking about how lucky we are that it's still going, and like every year that it it goes off and is is a success is such a gift.

13:13 Um, I kind of feel that way in general about my our band and career as a whole. Like I can't believe we're still able to do it after, like you said, 20 plus years. But yeah, Christmas Ferms Red is really cool because we get to do like this grand scale production in our hometown, and our friends and family can come out and see us play, and we can have friends from you know all over the world in some cases come come play with us and like just do this special hometown thing.

13:42 I I do really love it. It it tends to be a lot of work around the holidays, but I think that um our fans who come out kind of make it a priority year after year, and people travel from all over the place to come see it. And I think that uh it's just been built into this really special thing for our for our fans.

14:02 Absolutely. Well, for our North American listeners, make sure to go and check out the Christmas band red show, 3rd of December in Lancaster. I don't know how Max does these outros, Liam. I don't know. Or catch them on the road with Underoath all through November and December. If you haven't, go and listen to Season of Surrender, their brand new album.

14:22 JB, thanks so much for jumping on.

14:24 My pleasure. Thanks for having me.