Every Time I Die Interview 2012

R13 spoke with the holds-no-punches founding guitarist Andy Williams about the 'classic' Every Time I die line-up, the discontinuation of his 'Pudcast', and the glass ceiling restricting heavy bands. We concurrently spoke with the affable drummer Legs where topics on the table included the process he went through to become an official member of Every Time I Die, the way in which their writing process has changed with Ex Lives, and stripping!

R13: You recently played a show which sold out in 30 seconds at Kingston Fighting Cocks, how did it go?
Andy: It was awesome. It was one of the hottest shows we have ever played. It was good.
R13: When I saw you at Moho in Manchester there was sweat dripping from the ceiling before you had even started playing, was it that intense?
Andy: Yeah, It was way more intense! It was rough: low ceilings, packed to the walls.
Legs: That was a place in Manchester? That place was awesome, that show was great!

R13: With Stevie back on the bass and Legs on drums it feels like these people are the people who are meant to be in the band. (YEAH) So what we are seeing now, is that the classic ETID line up?
A: Pretty much. (way) back when, we had the front part fixed, and then we got rid of Steve and then for years we were trying to find a better replacement for Steve and it didn't happen. (pause) Steve came back. It was awesome.

R13: Why are you called Pudd Williams on twitter?
A: @AndyComplains is my name handle, but one day somebody said you need a new nickname bla, bla, bla. I always say the word 'pudd' for dick and so they were like "you should call yourself Pudd Williams", "alright". Now everything has it. My Podcast is a Pudcast, my Ipod is Ipud, my Ipad is Ipud!

R13: Why did you stop the Pudcasts?
A: We didn't stop. It's just that me and Steve are too retarded to figure out how to actually use...a computer. So our old sound guy John was the guy that did it, he has a recording studio back home, he did all the recordings on his computer and I have no idea how to use it. That is literally why I stopped. It has nothing to do with us being bored of it. I want to keep it going, I just don't know how to actually do it.
L: I think it was easier for you guys when we were doing club tours where we had so much down time and we'd stay at hotels every night. Where as we just did warped tour and...
A: ...You never know if there is going to be internet. That's the biggest thing too: After we stopped we went on tour in Europe with Set Your Goals and Cancer Bats and some days you have internet, some days you don't have internet.

R13: I saw that you were watching Cancer Bats on the Main Stage at Leeds 2012. What did you make of their set?
A: I was very, very unimpressed with the first four songs 'cos of the sound guy. But I told them that after, I was like "dude! The first four songs were real rough! But after they took that break and he (Liam Vocals) said "lets wake up" it was almost like the sound guy woke up and mixed it right. The first four songs it was just kick drum and a little bit of vocals. You could really not decipher a word. It's real weird when you're at things like this and you have toured with bands for so long, and you have known the dudes song long you kind of get friend-pride. Friend-Pride is like when I see my guys play mainstage in front of thousands of people and you get kind of emotional.
L: I played with them at St John's in Brunswick in front of twenty five people six or seven years back now. I'm from Canada as well so I've known those guys for years and years and years. I get what you're saying. It's almost like, but not quite, your kids, you're proud of your friends because they have come so far over the years.
A: When I was there watching, I was front and centre, I got to see the whole show. It's cool to be somewhere else, thousands of miles from home, with friends.

R13: With Cancer Bats playing the mainstage at Reading and Leeds and Ex Lives going in at number 20 on the billboard chart, and over in the UK While She Sleeps and Architects are getting played on daytime mainstream radio, what do you see as the future for heavy music?
A: I dunno man that's the same question I have been asked for the last 15 years being in this band. It's always like every heavy band that gets like that type of play gets the whole couldda shouldda wouldda thing. It always happens: The Deftones. Even though they are enormous, were never the biggest band, but people were like 'oh shit man, finally there is this heavy band that is gonna do it' and then it was like 'OK, well they got close'.
R13: So do you think there is a glass-ceiling for heavy bands?
A: Absolutely. It sucks but, heavy music is extreme. It's still underground and I think once a band does that you are going to get all those kids that still believe in that, that are gonna go 'oh fuck them'! You know what I mean? I don't think a heavy band, especially like us, if we ever got a song in the top ten or something like that, we'd still be a punk rock band, we'd still have those ethics. People forget about that. Even though there is a kid that has been following us for 15 years he's gonna see that and be like 'oh fuck these guys'. But at the same time if he comes to see us play then afterwards he would see us hanging out at a bar. With Architects, they might be getting big time play but there is going to be people that will be like 'oh fuck those guys' and it sucks because those dudes are the most punk/hardcore dudes I know. Like the best! So it sucks.

R13: Legs, with regards to playing Ratboy's stuff what was the hardest song for you to learn?
L: Any of the older stuff. Anything off Hot Damn. Even at this point now, if we do a Christmas show we add 5 songs or something like that, they usually end up coming from the older catalogue. They are not necessarily difficult things on the drums, it's what they other guys were doing back then. Every song has like 15 changes and nothing repeats itself. It's more of a muscle memory thing rather than complicated drum parts. It took me forever to audition with Ebolarama, compared to The Marvellous Slut, which came out on New Junk Aesthetic. Those were the two songs I needed. The Marvellous Slut I learnt in five minutes and with Ebolarama I'm still counting parts when I play it live.

R13: Have you learnt all of the back catalogue? Was that necessary?
L: Definitely not. When I first joined I learnt the whole New Junk Aesthetic record. I just assumed we were going to be playing all of it at some point or another. But there are so many records...
A: ...The thing is being in an older band you get people saying "you guys don't play anything off Last Night In Town", and shit like that. That was 11 years ago, you know what I mean? But overall if you play one Last Night In Town song people will be like"OK it's cool".

R13: So I presume that you want to play the more recent material?
A: I just wanna play a killer set. That's literally it. I wanna play as many songs as possible, and I wanna make the crowd go as crazy as possible.
L: There's some kids singing songs from Gutter Phenomenon onwards and there are some kids I see that are just singing the older songs. We're here to cater for different generations of fans. Some people come up and say "I've been listening to you guys since I was Seventeen and now I'm Twenty Seven." And then you got kids who are, say, Twenty years old and they only know Ex Lives and New Junk Aesthetic.
A: For a setlist, I never thought that being in a band for Fifteen years could be so hard. What the fuck do you play? We've got Six records, there is so much material!

R13: The Bronx have just announced a tour of the UK where they will be playing The Bronx IV in full, is that something that you would ever consider doing with any of your albums?
A: I'm not trying to put those dudes down because I know what they are doing; they are not doing what I am talking about. Any time a band does that it just dates the band and I hate that. I never want a crowd to look up and go "holy fuck! Those dudes are old!" When I look at bands that get back together and play shows it is just so not real.

R13: What about Refused?
A: Absolutely. I will say it. I saw them in '94, I saw them when they were doing it for real and weren't doing it for a shit load of money. So for me it was it was a little fake.
But your other bandmates who had not seen them before enjoyed them, is that correct?
L: Yeah. For me I can't knock it at all. I'm a little younger than these guys so I never got a chance to see them when they were together. I got goosebumps when I saw them.
A: I watched videos of At the Drive-in, they were one of my favourite bands. That is one of the bands that when I was younger I would go and see and they always put it on! They were unreal. Then I watched videos of the band at Coachella and I was like "You've gotta be kidding me!" Talk about calling it in! I never want to be at that point. I think that when bands do old albums in their entirety that all they are saying is that all you have done after that record wasn't good enough. Maybe I'm a little bit bitter.

R13: Legs you mention the two songs you filmed of yourself playing and uploaded to Youtube for your audition (The Marvelous Slut/Ebolarama). From there onwards up to the point we are at now where you are credited on the website as a full band member, you are participating in interviews, and feature in all the press photos and music videos what was the process of joining the band like?
L: For sure it's definitely an earned thing. It was a little quicker with Mitch (bass player).
A: From my perspective I could see Legs was serious because he was playing with us but I thought what if in a year he realises he doesn't like it? Then obviously he proved that he wanted it.
L: It's normal for me too because the majority of stuff I have done in the past years prior to ETID was kinda hired guns, session stuff. I never tried getting comfortable, not saying I was uncomfortable with the people I was playing with. I would just go out do this tour and then go home, and you're faceless and nameless. So it was not like I was begging these guys; I thought this is awesome! I get to go out start playing heavy music again. It was exciting I was with a bunch of dudes who were friends and not just a bunch of session guys sitting around: "Hey were gonna go and play with this top singer and make a bit of money". It was more like a family. So I didn't wanna push it, I thought it was great but I wasn't like "you need to give me this" or "let me in" or "let me do these interviews". It's definitely an eared process you're not just gonna give a place to this new kid when these guys have been knocking around for Fifteen years.

R13: Did you sit down and formally chat about introducing Legs as a full time member of the band or did it happen naturally?
A: It just happened naturally. I think it was in an email?
L: Yeah!
A: One day it was like, alright bud you're in. If he was in earshot of an interview we'd be like "hey come and do this".
L: I would be out eating assuming I was not in this photoshoot then I got this call: "Hey where the Fuck are you? We're doing this photoshoot." I was like "alright cool, I had no idea." As I say it was a slow process.

R13: Did you cement your place with the recording of Ex Lives?
L: I felt like I earned my spot at that point. I busted my ass going in, I did the all the tracks in a day and a half and I wanted to walk out with that as well.
A: The way we composed the record was really weird. There were times when Jordan (guitar) would take an outside perspective when me and Legs had written a song. So he would take a back seat, look at it from another perspective and then rewrite it. I would do the same thing with some of Jordan's songs.

R13: Have you written like that before?
A: Never. Never before. It was always 50-50: this cool thing and this cool thing, I got a cool thing and Jordan's got a cool thing, lets try to put it together. But with this one (Ex Lives) I'd come in and I've have a brick of music, and me and Legs would just riff it. Jordan would be like "okay, check it out: do this". It was cool. Out of everyone Legs was the most conditioned going into the recording. There were songs going into the recording that I hadn't even touched the guitar. I would basically just sit and compose them. I'd sit down with Jordan and there would be songs which he hadn't even touched yet because he was too involved with it.
L: You mean Andy would have a song and Jordan would be like the coach.
A: Yeah, yeah.
L: Then Jordan came with Legs and say "this is what I've got", and Andy would sit back in a chair and coach it.
A: He (Legs) was so conditioned, he had played the songs in every single inception that there was. Where as for me and Jordan there were songs like Drag King where when we recorded it I had not played a note of it. He (Jordan) had all the riffs I sat on the back of that and said "check it out, let's not do it this many times, lets put this in." The only thing I wrote was that mosh part (hums the part which comes in at 1:07 and at 2:22 again), that's the only thing I do on that whole song. There were a few songs like that where one of us played most or all of the guitars. I played all the guitars on a really fast song. He knew the riffs but I could just play it tighter.

R13: You wrote Roman Holiday from New Junk Aesthetic yourself though?
A: Yeah. With New Junk Aesthetic I don't know what it was before this, but Jordan always had this real bad feel to writing. I would have chunks of music and Jordan would help me write the stuff I already had. He would get my vibes, I'd throw a good minute of music at him and say "this is what I got". He would learn it, take it home and then come back and say "okay check it out I added this and this". But on this record it was completely different: he was writing a lot, I was writing a lot. It was cool.

R13: Jordan and Keith (Vocals) beat you in RockSound's 50 best Tweeters.
A: Oh really? I didn't even know that was a competition! What did I get?
R13: You didn't make the top 50. Are you jealous at all?
A:No not at all. I'm not a priceless comedian, I tweet every once in a while the things I find funny.

R13: Who is your favourite tweeter?
A: The first guy I ever followed was Gilderoy Godfrey. He's a comedian. That's pretty much the only one, he's pretty good and our sound guy Zack. Zack is awesome, I check him out every day. He's created these characters (and) he's (always) got a new story, you know that every Friday and Saturday night he goes out drinking, so do the characters he's created so there's always some plastered stories on Sunday. Long story short: he's an alcoholic. He drinks at work so everyday he has either done something stupid at work, wasted, or on the Friday or Saturday night he's got a cool page where he'll tell us what happened. That's what we're talking about.

R13: You have a UK and Europe tour coming up in the Autumn, what can we expect from these shows?
A:It's gonna be fuckin' awesome I'm glad that Stray From The Path is coming over 'cos they're fuckin' brilliant.

R13: Plus Last Witness who Supported you at the Fighting Cocks show in Kingston, are you excited about playing with them?
L: They were good.
A: They were ignorant. That's the only way I can say it. (He recreates the structure of their music explaining their tendency to just get into a beatdown part straight away, before admitting) They were awesome.
L:Nice guys too.

R13: You also have a Halloween show booked in Manchester which I am personally very much looking forward to. Can we expect anything special? Costumes perhaps?
A: I dunno. I'm pissed off 'cos me and my girlfriend came up with so many good ideas for partner things this year: We were gonna be Ray Jackson and Jean Claude Van Damme from Bloodsport. I was gonna be Mertagh she was gonna be Riggs from Lethal Weapon. Now I don't even know what I'm gonna do!
R13: She can't come out for that?
A: She lives in the States she's got work n' shit. It Sucks.
R13: Maybe you guys (Andy and Legs) could partner up?
A: Yeah we probably could. On the Gwar tour we all dressed up as a Chip n' Dale band, like strippers. We had our sound guy announce us: (he now adopts a presenters voice) "Coming up next we have Andy". We would come out one by one as if a strip club would.

R13: Who is the best strip dancer out of ETID?
L: We all make good strippers.

Every Time I Die are taking their (strip) show on the road with Stray from the Path and Last Witness throughout October/November in the UK.