Alesana

Posted Apr 28, 2007, by Josh Snider.

Dennis - vocals
Shawn - vocals, guitar, piano
Patrick - guitar
Adam - guitar, vocals
Steven - bass
Jeremy - drums

www.alesanarock.com/

www.myspace.com/alesana

www.purevolume.com/alesana

Who got you into playing Screamo/Emo? I grew up in North, CA There was a big metal scene there. I listend a lot to Fear for Cleansing and Between the Buried and me. The rest of the band grew up listening to Copland, Mae. I think we are influenced by a lot of these styles. We also think that everyone was able to reflect their individual style.

What gave you the idea for your band name? Pat and Shawn grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. They grew up on Alice and Ana street before moving to North Carolina.

I heard you on the new punk goes acoustic 2 album by Fearless Records, how was it recording acoustic rather than your normal screamo? We still captured the essence of the song although it wasn't screaming. We are really happy with how the track turned out.. We see more acoustic songs in store.

I know your shows in Anahiem can get pretty crazy, and I can guess that in your hometown of Raleigh, NC can be just as nuts, what venue do you look forward to playing the most? We love to play hometwon shows. Other shows depends on the crowd and the kids these can really make a show. We like playing anywhere where the kids are pumped up and people are into it.

Was that your best show of all time? Mexico City -- Hard Rock Café. It was a crazy show.

How was your first show? At the Raleigh Music hall. There were only 20 people in attendance mostly all friends and family. It was fun, we practiced so long before the first show.

How have you seen yourselves get better since then? The more you tour the more confortable the band is and the show sounds. It makes it more fun. The stage becomes second nature. There's a visible difference between bands that have toured and haven't toured before. Touring really helps performance aspect.

What band would be like a dream come true to play a show with? I would love to play with The Black Zahlia. We had the opportunity to play with them before but I was too nervous to talk to them.

Your songs are written a little differently than most bands, what do you do different, what are they mostly about? Dennis and Shawn write together to show duality and to layer the music. This makes the songs more interesting. There is no one way to do things everyone adds to the songs. When I hear the music listen to the vibe and see what I can capture musically. We pull our ideas from stories and Myths. Our process if very collaborative.

Before you started alesana were you all friends, or how did you find each other? Pat and Shawn were in a band together before moving to Raleigh. They wanted to try to find other musicians with the same vision. Dennis met Shawn at a restaurant where he was working. Steven was friend of a friend and they met Jeremy and Adam a year later.

Your currently on tour with Haste the Day, From Autumn to Ashes, Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster, The Sleeping, and Twelve Gauge Valentine, what is it like touring with those bands, and how has your responce been? It is Awesome. We are big fans of From Autumn to Ashes. We really like going on tour with the bands and we get along with. Tour is like a family and we try and shout out to everyone. There's been a really good response on this tour.

Any funny/interesting storys of anything that has happened on this tour yet? The guys from Maylene tried sunless tanning so half of them are Orange.

Do you have any advice to starting bands? Make sure that you get along with the people you're working with. Don't worry about show until you've written what you want and that's what music's all about; expressing yourself.

What is the best thing about music? It brings everyone together, no matter how you're involved.

Is there anything you want to see happen thru/to music in the future? In the last few years because of the Myspace music, it's been more common for people to judge music based on band apperances. People will listen to music based on what they bands look like. In the future I hope people will listen to music unbiasedly.

Are you doing anthing to make those ideas happen? Yeah, definitely. I talk about fishing. Don't be afraid to express yourself as an individualist. Just making music is great.

What do you think about UFOs? They're definitely possible.

What did you used to do for work before the band took off? I went to college for furnitature design. Thought I was going to be in a death metal band.

Do you guys still have any part time jobs or is Fearless treating you that good? We're lucky enough to be full time broke musicians.

What were some of your favorite bands growing up? My parents got me nto Elvis and my first concert was Neil Diamiond.

How old were each of you when starting to play instruments? I was 15. Everyone else started mid to early teens.

Do you ever play some of the old songs at shows? Yeah. We play older songs at almost every show. Endings Without Stories is just one of them.

Anything you would like to say to your fans reading this interview? Go to shows, have fun. Have a blast. It's rock and roll.

What do you guys do on the road to keep busy? We have a lot of games. The circle game, the pointing game, word games. We pretty much just make up our own dumb games to keep ourselves busy.

Do you have any advice to bands about to go on their first tour? Don't pay full price at a truck stop. Always bring a sleeping bag. See the world. Go out and enjoy yourself and knock them dead.

What is the craziest thing a fan has done? We met a girl ion Oralndo Fl who had her forearm tattooed with our logo. We've met people who have named their daughter's middle name Alesana. It's awesome.

How did you come up with the title of your latest album "On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax"? There's a theme to it. The title is a reference to the Greek myth about Icarus. A lof of the stories are relevant today.

What do you want people to get out of listening to "On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax"? I want people to get whatever they can get out of it. It's their interpretation. I want them to understand the characters or metaphores. Take it for what you want. There's definitely no one reason any of the songs were written.