Army of Freshman Interview

After giving them a day to recover we caught up with Army of Freshman's Chris and Dan to find out how they've enjoyed the whole Download experience.

R13: So how was playing Download for you guys?
D: Oh unbelievable!
C: Yeah it was a complete utter dream come true, we were on the small stage at the top of the day on Saturday and we were ready for anything, we were just happy to be here and if there was nobody there we would have been fine but the tent was packed! Everybody was rocking out and it was just a dream, this is our first UK festival, we played a major festival in Japan but just to be in that environment and see the guys from Motley Crue walking around and to be part of that is just amazing. We did it in style, take the first day to get accustomed, the second day to play and party and the third to be hungover and we've achieved all three!

R13: Your sound is a bit lighter than a lot of the bands on this weekend, were you worried about getting bottled off by angry metalheads?
C: Well yeah that was one of the concerns we had actually, I mean this is a metal festival, they throw a couple of rock bands in throughout it but on the smaller stage it's OK, people want to bottle bands they don't like, if we blew up on the main stage then we'd be in some trouble but on the third stage we can just get all our fans in there and we're covered and safe! If you had been in that tent you would never have known it was a metal festival.

R13: This is the last gig of your second UK tour this year, how has the UK been to you so far?
C: Fantastic, we love it over here, everyone's really nice and receptive to what we do. UK was our priority this year, we really wanted to put some time in and so far we've accomplished that. Today was almost like a zenith, all the work we've done was just to fill that tent if that makes sense at all? You don't want to come to Download and play an empty stage so it really meant a lot but we're coming back in October on the 'Get Happy Tour' and we'll have done four tours and one festival appearance in three visits when it's done!

R13: Do you find a different vibe when you play the UK compared to other European countries?
C: I like it here more personally, just the energy. UK kids know how to go to a show, they just come to have a good time and they're in the zone.
D: In europe the shows were great but it wasn't the same kind of show, going to a show in America and going to a show in England is pretty much the same whereas shows in Europe are very different.
C: We were there with Reel Big Fish and in the US they're very much considered a ska band, in the UK they're more a rock pop, punk band and in Europe they're considered more of a ska band so I'm excited to go back on a different tour and get a different vibe, see if a different kind of kid comes out. There's talk of a couple of European shows being added to the 'Get Happy Tour' so I'm excited about that.

R13: Didn't you sign the Berlin Wall when you were over there?
C: Yeah sure did, it's a big monument but it was kinda boring
R13: Well it's just a wall what did you expect?
C: Haha well it was kinda a neat thing to go home and tell your parents but I think it's losing impact as the years go by, people don't really remember what that meant but you talk to a ten year old kid and they don't know what it is. That whole era has gone, thanks to Sylvester Stallone and Rambo II! Oh and Rocky 4 single handedly ending the Cold War, we all have a debt to Stallone!
Don't get me wrong it was still pretty amazing but walking along a painted wall I can do in New York!

R13: You rotated headliners on the 'Good to Go' tour, how did that work out?
C: We just took the second slot every night! We said we didn't want to open but we didn't want to headline either, playing second on that tour all the kids were there so we got to play to the full crowd and then we could spend some time and hang out! We don't do many headlining shows but when we do headline shows back home sometimes what's weird is you play and then it's done. I'm not used to that, I play and then I've still got a chunk of my night to hang out.
D: Yeah when you headline you get a little time to sell some merch and then it's over.
C: We did a headline show back home in February, we got off stage, signed a couple of autographs and then there's nobody here and my night just started!

R13: Last time we spoke to you you were thinking of doing something for your tenth anniversary in October, any firm plans for that yet?
C: We'll be here! We should do something really really epic but it'll be cool because we'll be at a kick butt show. We're going to be in Scotland.
D: Oh really?
C: Yeah
R13: Well those guys know how to party so you should be alright!
C: That's cool, we can have a little theme night in Scotland, AoF tenth anniversary, which is a cool thing to say because I never thought ten years ago when we played our first show that we would be here ten years later!

R13: So after ten years has the decision to stay independent been good to you or are you thinking it's time to get a label and a big fat advance?
D: Well it's definitely time to get a big advance!
C: It's never been a decision that we consciously made, it's just the way things worked out but we it's working out to be beneficial with how bad the labels are but we still have serious financial demons. It would be nice to eradicate that, I mean we got to see things and do things and playing Download, our dreams have come true literally. There's not many things left on my semi realistic list, I mean there's things like make a record with James Hetfield! We really feel the momentum moving over here so we're pretty excited, we're hoping that with this tour and putting a single out in the fall that this will be the final spark plug over here.

R13: I was checking out your message board the other day regarding the 'Hard Road to Dallas' tour where you'd asked fans to bring stuff for you. Did you get everything you wanted or did you get weird shit?
C: People are really good to us, infact we're going to be making that post again in about 48 hours getting ready for the summer tour! Especially in America where the tours are so long, the drives are so long and the weathers so hot, that extra case of water really does make a difference. We should update that list and make it small but thorough cos we got some stuff on there like "we need gum", we don't need gum, we've got so much gum!
R13: Did you get anything weird that you didn't ask for?
D: We always get stuff that we didn't ask for but it's usually something like candy or some stupid toy.
C: We've had some cool presents though, a girl the other day drew a painting of my head from a photo at a show and that's a really cool gift, something to keep and we've been really lucky that way.

R13: Who else have you checked out this weekend?
D: Slayer, Motley Crue, Lamb of God, Head Automatica, who were awesome!
C: I've seen lots of bits and pieces, bit of Marilyn Manson but a lot of the stuff on the main stage hasn't impressed me that much because the sound is so rough and when you're standing miles away as well. Looking forward to seeing Reel Big Fish tonight, saw MCR, wanted to see the whole bottle situation but the bottles couldn't really reach the stage and then that was it! What do you think about the whole Evanescence thing tonight? Do you thing that opening for Maiden at an English metal festival being a female fronted white metal band, do you think they might have some issues?
R13: I think if they were Nightwish they could probably pull it off but I think they'll do alright, they were quite big over here when the album came out.
C: Could be interesting, I just think it could be a tough one. People seem to be really respectful though.
R13: I think MCR got away with it until Korn finished!