Keith Buckley from Every Time I Die appears on the latest episode of The Jasta Show. Listen to the episode below
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Kill The Music would not exist without Keith Buckley and Every Time I Die. I mean, we're named after a song on the record. Enough about us though. We chatted with Keith who gave some commentary on Gutter Phenomenon. Enjoy the read and let us know your thoughts on Gutter Phenomenon ten years later.
Keith Buckley wrote a semi-autobiographical novel which is set to release Winter 2015.
Ray Goldman will outdrink you, out-party you and, unfortunately for him, probably outlive you. As a hopeless and struggling indie rock musician, Ray's best chance of discovering any beauty and purpose in his dysfunctional life will come only when he ceases to struggle against life itself. These are his memoirs.
SCALE chronicles Ray Goldman’s journey downward through the adversarial trials that sometimes prove necessary in facilitating an eventual ascent into truth and happiness. The odd chapters of the novel find Ray, now a 31-year-old guitar player, seeking fulfillment in the wake of a life-altering tragedy while the even chapters see him reflecting on the depravity and selfishness that hastened his descent towards it. SCALE is about the relationship between instability and balance, death and resurrection, perception and reality, but ultimately it is about the endless war waged between our disquieted minds and our noble hearts.
No Bragging Rights, a melodic hardcore band from Riverside, California wasted no time getting the crowd warmed up for the upcoming bands. Vocalist Mike Perez sang the band’s songs with conviction, with some of the lyrical content coming from life experiences, according to the bio on the band’s site; “Repeater” carries on the theme of perseverance and carrying on against life’s challenges and obstacles. “When you get knocked down, get back on the horse,” Perez says simply.
“Hope Theory,” the second track on Cycles, was inspired by the deep connection No Bragging Rights have made with the people who come to their shows. “I am constantly talking with kids coming from broken homes, or the social outcast who is ready to give up. I tell them it will get better. It is always darkest before the dawn. Things can change.”
I chatted up Hundredth vocalist, Chadwick Johnson before the doors opened for the show and asked him if they’ll ever perform my favorite song, “Remain & Sustain” (the music video was inspired by The Sandlot). He said they probably never play that song even though there’s a video for it. They did, however, play a handful for their 25 minute set, including the songs, “Carry On”, “Weathered Town”, and “Ruin”, a new song from their Revolt EP coming out March 19th. I was hoping the vocalist from Vanna would come out and do Jonathan Vigil’s (The Ghost Inside) part on “Desolate” but Chad let the crowd sing that part instead.
I’m gonna be honest; I didn’t watch most of Vanna's set because an awesome ska band called Hermits of Suburbia were playing downstairs around the same they played. I managed to catch Vanna’s last song though; the crowd was rowdy but I could tell they were saving their energy for the last two bands.
Before the started playing, Vincent, vocalist for The Acacia Strain, brought out a dog they rescued from a Walmart parking lot earlier in the tour and asked for some donations so they could take it to the vet. He said they’d put the above picture (or a slight variation) on a shirt and raise money that way. The lights finally dimmed and TAS got the crowd moving with “Beast”, a song from their 2010 release, Wormwood. TAS showed no signs of wear and tear after flipping their van TWICE in one week earlier this year, as Vincent noted.
Some might say they’re out of place on this tour but ETID/TAS have toured together previously, so those complaints fell upon deaf ears. During the end of their set, Vincent asked the crowd who had seen the band when they played downstairs on the smaller stage and dedicated “Whoa, Shut It Down!” to the fans who had been there since the beginning.
After a 15 minute changeover, Every Time I Die took the stage and opened with,”Floater”, a track from their second album Hot Damn!. As mentioned on the bands Twitter account; “…tonight we’re playing the extra good, top secret setlist that we only play for our favorite cities.” There were plenty of sing-alongs as ETID played the best songs from their discography. “Wanderlust”, “Bored Stiff”, “The New Black”, “No Son of Mine” (The band played a breakdown medley of Pantera songs in the middle of this song; Domination/5 Minutes Alone/This Love) and one of my favorites, “Kill The Music” (This site is named after that song!) all made appearances during the band’s set.
Keith mentioned when they played The Masquerade a few years ago, they played downstairs cause Marcy’s Playground had taken over the main stage. He said after they played, he went upstairs and caught a bit of their set and only saw a handful of people and never imagined starting a band that would end bigger than Marcy’s Playground. For their last song of the night, “Indian Giver”, vocalist Keith Buckley and his brother/guitarist Jordan invited members of the crowd on stage to help sing and maybe even get 5 minutes of fame. This tour has quite a few dates left on it, so don’t miss out on the action!
We got confirmed for Vans Warped Tour tomorrow in Atlanta! Still needing questions for Every Time I Die, After The Burial, Taking Back Sunday, The Ghost Inside, and Born of Osiris. Submit yours here
http://killthemusic.net/post/22713938480/vans-warped-tour-interview-questions
We’ll (hopefully) be interviewing the following bands at Warped Tour so if you have any questions, leave them in the comments and/or email us jordan@killthemusic.net
- After The Burial
- Born of Osiris
- The Ghost Inside
- Every Time I Die
- Taking Back Sunday
Keith Buckley (Every Time I Die) wrote a tribute to Adam “MCA” Yauch.
The first time I remember seeing my father sad was when Roy Orbison died. Until that point I had seen my father in the throes of numerous emotions but a sincere, genuine sadness was never one of them. It was hard to take seriously for a number of reasons. A) a sad father was something so unfamiliar to me that when he came downstairs and asked that we observe a moment of silence I figured he was being jokingly dramatic. B) I didn’t really know who Roy Orbison was and C) my father didn’t know Roy Orbison. When his records were played, they were played loudly and I immediately developed an affinity for his warbled falsetto but his death didn’t mean that someone would be coming around to remove his music from our house. To me, mourning seemed, I guess, unnecessary. My father didn’t lose a friend that he shared common memories with and in a sense he didn’t even really LOSE one of his favorite musicians. He may never again be able to make music, but its not as if Roy Orbison handed my father a list of all the great songs he would one day write and died before fulfilling his promise. I didn’t understand what the big deal was. Just put his record on and bring him back to life. Easy.
When Kurt Cobain died I was shocked for the simple fact that he did it himself. I loved Nirvana but more than that I loved being alive, so the idea that someone who coerced me through their music to actually FEEL alive would now go away without considering me? That made angrier than it did sad. I was 14, so being self important was second nature but so was being confused. Again, I knew I could still listen to his music whenever I wanted, but no one I had read or listened to or cared about or knew or even knew OF had ever killed themselves and it always seemed to me that pulling the trigger on a gun aimed at yourself defied certain laws of self-preservation or physics or something. Like M.C. Eschers hand drawing a hand, or Jerry the mouse picking himself up by his own tail in order that Tom run right under him and into a wall. His death didn’t sadden me as much as it did usher in the realization that the ethereal world of music was anchored in a very real collection of moments, just like the ones I had, and those moments existed independently of anything I ever may have gotten out of a song. Until that point, music had just been a bunch of sounds being pushed out of this huge black box sitting on the dresser in my room that were- if I was lucky- attracted to certain thoughts I was having and given a form in the meaning that actualized inside of me. The lyrics came from a person and the riff from an instrument in a studio somewhere but once that tape stopped, those people disappeared. They were there to entertain us and could arrive and vanish at my discretion. Whenever I needed a distraction or an incentive or a mood I would take their voice out of the little plastic case and summon it. They got a lot of money and all the happiness in the world and I got a CD or a tape and that’s how it worked for a 14 year old suburban kid. Until I heard Kurt Loder report the news. Cobains death changed everything for me. It got my attention. It made me aware that music wasn’t for me, it was for the people making it and all I could ever do was hope that somehow I could make a connection to the ones that did. It showed me that there was a depth to music that I never thought to consider, one that housed demons of unparalleled strengths. I couldn’t believe how much of the music experience I had been missing out on by failing to realize that. That gunshot startled me awake.
When Dimebag was killed, it was the first time that a musicians passing could actually be considered “close to home”. Aside from Pantera being the first band I ever “headbanged” to (Darien Lake with Sepultura and Biohazard, 1994) people I knew actually knew him. They drank and partied and talked with him. As children, like me, they saw him as a legend and got closer as he moved from “legend” to “friend” and then back to “legend” just because of the kind of friend he was to those he knew. All of a sudden that was gone. To say that that news was tragic is a vast understatement. It was a game changer for anyone who took the stage. There was no feeling safe anymore. There was no trusting people who “loved” you or what you did. It made the world as I knew it slip further out of my own control and instantly shifted the paradigm back where it was before I had learned of Cobain. On that day and forevermore, music was ONLY about the people who listened to it. They had your fate as a musician in their hands. You may disagree completely and say that it HAS to be about the musician or else its soulless and I agree, it must start from there but I firmly believe it must end somewhere else. That somewhere else is in the hands of the listener and what they do with it and with you is none of your business and it is hopelessly out of your reach. If you think I’m wrong, budding musicians, write a record and don’t record it. Don’t tour on it. Just keep it to yourself knowing that at least its yours. Your “career” as a musician will be over before it started. What matters most is how carefully you preserve that understanding while you make your art. Some chose to pander to it with a surgeons precision, others ignore it completely but every musician and artist and director knows that it is there, the proverbial elephant in the room. It is the level of consideration of the audience that establishes the tiered and often biased scale of “cred” we assign to those who we give our short and rapidly dwindling attention span to. Now, I didn’t know him personally so I will not use this paragraph as an excuse to co-opt others grief and regress into a 14 year olds sense of self importance, but I will say this- I miss the riffs that man could have one day written. I understood on that day why my father felt as if he “lost” Roy Orbison. Just think about how important Dimes riffs would be today in a “heavy music” scene dictated by synthesizer breakdowns and makeup.
That brings me to the reason I sat down to write today at all. Adam Yauch passed away of cancer last Friday. I was in Vienna when I found out and my first reaction was “yea, cancer will do that. what a shame”. But as more outlets started posting the story and my twitter feed became clogged with old videos or memories that people had of first hearing License To Ill or Pauls Boutique, the sadness went from something I knew I should feel but for some reason couldn’t to a very palpablesense of loss. When I say I “couldn’t feel” sadness its not because I am impartial to death, but my understanding of it as ruthless, unprejudiced and inevitable fails to allow much room for surprise. He was sick with a terminal disease. Death will come. It was the hearing of THAT news that really shocked me. But as the night went on and I got closer to our set time, I began thinking harder and with more clarity about why I was there at all, about to perform on the other side of the world with a band like ETID and soon something unmistakably set in as “gone”. The world had experienced a real loss, like someone was telling you something important and never finishing the sentence. The breath was spent before the last number of the sequence could be revealed. The Beastie Boys were an enormous part of my growing up and because of that, they are an enormous part of who I am today. Nothing can take that away from me, not even cancer. It had been years since I thought about the excitement of getting one of their CD’s for my birthday or how every weekend of every winter was spent in my friends car driving 45 minutes to snowboard with their music blaring on the ride there and back. Why did it take MCA’s death to get me to cherish my childhood once again? Why have I come so far from that unexplainable, almost spiritual sense of relief and love and envy that I felt when I saw the video for “So What’cha Want” to where I am now where mainstream music can barely move me at all? Did their music do to the world what it did to me? Did it make you want to do nothing but love your friends and give you a confidence you never had as you timed your steps through the halls of your high school with the beat that played in your headphones? The Beastie Boys made music fun and they made me smile but not because they were solicitous of a child my age, but because they were inventive and consistent and you got the idea that they were friends. They were a crew you wanted to be a part of- rowdy, creative, sincere and forever. Every time you got on your skateboard with a Beastie Boys tape in the boombox you were staring in your own video. Fuck, I’m a white kid from an affluent suburb of buffalo NY and it made me wish I could RAP. They had been lodged in my subconscious as the representation of an ideal I had become too jaded to acknowledge anymore and the news of his death jarred it loose. Music can be for everyone. The musician and the fan are not mutually exclusive. You can create exactly what you want because you are not an island, there will always be someone to revel in the human experience of your art like I basked in theirs. The lyrics were so clever and the music was so inspiring that all I ever wanted to do was write in way that made people read it and go “oh! I get it. cool” and play music with my friends and I just wanted to have fun and give myself over to excitement and stay possessed by awe and live life as loudly as I could and I wanted to sweat and sing and make people laugh and remind them that its ok to look stupid sometimes and its ok to be proud and young and weird and as our intro played everything suddenly focused and I realized something I hadn’t before. that’s exactly what I was doing. A stone was taken out of the music worlds foundation, but what was built around it is too big to fall. Thank you MCA. Rest in Peace.
Every Time I Die are keeping busy these days; they put out a new record, Ex-Lives (which sold nearly 14,300 copies in its first week, landing them at #20 on the Billboard 200) finished up a headliner with Stray From The Path, and now are direct support for The Devil Wears Prada. I had the chance to chat with Andy about their new video, Revival Mode, Warped Tour and his opinion on the current music scene.
You just put out a video for Revival Mode; was the guy in the wheelchair inspired by Breaking Bad or is there another story behind the video?
To be honest, I have no idea. This dude hit us up and wanted to do a video where Keith, Jordan and legs were killers and Steve and I were victims. That’s pretty much all I got from it.
I saw your recent interview where you defended Sonny Moore (aka Skrillex); any chance you’d ever collaborate with him?
I’m not sure. Dudes voice is cool, but I’m not a big fan of dusted. So I’d rather him sing on something, and then cut it up. He’s a good dude though
When I interviewed Tom from Stray From The Path; he told me he saw you guys playing a garage when he was growing up and now you’re touring together. It’s crazy how things come full circle.
Yeah, he was kind of blowing my mind on that tour. He’s been around a long time to. I had no clue they liked the band, I was really into Stray and then we played a fest in Michigan together and kind of jerked each other off there!
How does feel to be playing Warped Tour again this year? Are you gonna write a blog about generic, autotuned bands like Keith did in 2010?
I don’t think I really have to with how saturated the world is with dog shit. I’m more concerned with slaying mother fuckers sonically. I’ll probably talk shit here and there though.
Speaking of, what is your opinion on the current state of the music scene?
To be honest, there are REAL bands on the rise. letlive, Stray From The Path, The Ghost Inside, Balance and Composure, Title Fight and then the current hardcore scene is stronger than ever with bands like Cruel Hand, Bitter End, Terror, Trapped Under Ice, Alpha and Omega and such. Then metal has Black Breath, which are making metal real again, cause that scene is about as watered down as ever, but Black Breath are the real fucking deal.
What do you feel has contributed to your long career as a band? Bands like Haste The Day, Thrice, and Thursday have recently broken up, bands that had been at it for a while.
I think it’s because we never let the major label world get involved. We never gave a fuck about anything but slaying, dicing, pulverizing, and decimating ear drums. A lot of bands get caught up in bullshit business and forget about being a band of dudes.
When appealing to different sets of fan bases, new and old, young and old, what is the thought process when trying to write something that has an appeal to both, but also embodies what ETID is?
We just play. Honestly, we get up and play. No thought goes into who is coming to see us.
You’ve been in this band since 1998 — there have definitely been some hard times along the way; have you ever considered quitting the band, and if so, what things encouraged you to stick with it?
There’s been a lot of hard times, but I’m no quitter and when I have thought it might be time to hang it up, I have a great band of guys that make it easy not to. I surround myself with the best band on the planet.
The music industry has changed significantly since you guys started out. What advice would you give upcoming bands— musically and business-wise?
Just remember why you started riffing. It wasn’t to open for Metallica or make a million dollars and if it is what you’re in it for, then I hope you get electrocuted plugging your laptop and Pro-Tools rig in on stage.
Musically and lyrically, what are some of the personal things that had an effect on the outcome of this new record? How does Ex-Lives reflect the sound or message?
Coffee, I drank coffee for the first time ever while writing and recording this record.
What are some of the particular messages you tried to get across in the lyrical content of this record?
Riffer madness
Last question: What are one book and one band that you’d recommend to anyone that listens to your band?
Spray Paint The Walls. It’s a book about Black Flag that’s done by every person involved, not just Henry Rollins. Balance and Composure; they’re the best band out now.
Every Time I Die's new album should be released sometime in early 2012. The new album is being produced by Joe Baressi.
Every Time I Die’s unorthodox approach to music has allowed them to crossover to various scenes and make dedicated converts all over the world. “I’m really grateful for the fact that we can go on Ozzfest one year and Warped Tour the next,” says Keith Buckley. On these tours, Every Time I Die have bonded with countless acts from across the sonic spectrum which is evidenced by the fact that Bronx’s Matt Caughthran lends his vocals to “The Sweet Life” while Dillinger Escape Plan’s screamer Greg Puciato is featured on “The Marvelous Slut.” (both songs from their latest record, “New Junk Aesthetic“) “Obviously as a musician you have an obligation to the people that like you and you don’t want to let them down,” Buckley explains, “but as someone who listens to many types of music, being able to work with people in so many different avenues is a blessing—and I’m not going to bypass that because I’m worried about what other people think.” I caught up vocalist Keith Buckley to discuss Every Time I Die, his supergroup, The Damned Things (featuring members of Anthrax and Fall Out Boy), his musical influences, and what he’d change about the music industry.
State your name and position in the band.
Keith: My name is Keith. I’m the big time lead front man; fronting the band in a leadership position of power.
If you had to describe The Damned Things to someone who has never listened to you before, what would you say?
Keith: If I knew that they wouldn’t listen to what I said, I don’t think I’d bother telling them about my band. But if it was perhaps just a misunderstanding and they weren’t ignoring me last time I saw them; they were just really preoccupied with something they had read in an email earlier that day and showed a genuine concern in my band, I’d tell them it was for fans of the Misfits, Led Zeppelin, QOTSA and Thin Lizzy.
What records have you been really enjoying lately?
Keith: The Chariot’s new record “Long Live” is fucking wonderful. The Dead Weathers “Sea of Cowards” is in heavy rotation, as is the newest Radiohead.
Do you find it hard as a musician to enjoy yourselves at somebody else’s show without analyzing it all in your head?
Keith: I find it hard as a human to enjoy myself in life without analyzing it all in my head. A show is no different.
What’s the stripper’s real name?
Keith: Rosebud.
If you could change something about the music industry, what would it be?
Keith: Only bands that play their own instruments and sing their own songs would be allowed to tour. They can record and sell all the records they want, but touring would still be sacred, and believe it or not, LIVE. It has always been and always should be an intimate and personal time between the band and their “fans”.
What were some of your music influences and how involved in music were you growing up?
Keith: I had a vast array of influences growing up. Obviously, the first thing you listen to is what your parents listen to. Then you break out on your “own” and start listening to what your friend’s older brother’s listen to. Luckily, my dad was/is a guitar player so riffs were a big part of my upbringing. Pink Floyd was my first real concert but secretly, I was using my allowance to get rap tapes because that’s what suburban white kids do.I remember buying Cypress Hill. I think I stole an NWA tape from a friend. Then then a cool dude moved into my neighborhood and showed me hardcore and metal. Oddly enough, one of the most astounding things I had heard was Anthrax and P.E “Bring the Noise”. It was the first time I had really heard something so heavy and so catchy simultaneously. Imagine my boner when the “Judgement Night” soundtrack came out. I mean, Aerosmith did it with RUN DMC but Aerosmith sucked. I would eventually grow to like them, but at the time I thought they were garbage. I had influences all across the spectrum. I still listen to everything. My last purchase was just this morning: a Peter Gabriel record. My dad would be proud
What did you think of the mashup that Legion of Doom did with Every Time I Die’s song, “Ebolarama”? and Norma Jean’s song, “Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste?
Keith: My band and one of my favorite “hardcore” bands at the time? It was like being in a gangbang, but ears were the only holes available. Kind of my very own version of a Judgement Night soundtrack song. I was stoked. It came out incredibly. I’m glad you reminded me of it; I haven’t actually heard it in a while. Maybe it sucks now. I know I personally sound like a child in that song. You know, I’m gonna let that one just sit in the vault. But I’m honored to be a part of it.
Any chance of seeing The Damned Things on Warped Tour this year?
Keith: Warped Tour and Kevin Lyman and every single person involved that works for him has always been so good-hearted to ETID that I can’t just say “absolutely not”. I just think that TDT is a different kind of band, one that might not go over as well with the kids. We don’t have the history yet; the rapport that ETID has. I can see us doing it MANY MANY years down the road in the same way that Helmet did it or Bad Religion, but we’re not a hot new synth pop band and therefore, probably have no place. I wonder if ETID will even be able to find any space at the table in the upcoming years? Trends are changing so fast.
Can we expect any new singles or music videos coming from The Damned Things this year?
Keith: I just received the first draft of a video treatment yesterday from Doug Spengenburg and Space Monkey Studios. Doug is one of my best friends and he’s toured the world with ETID and filmed every second of Shit Happens, but he has never worked with us in a video capacity. I don’t know why, maybe we just figured that we always wanted a fresh perspective on our brand of idiocy. But TDT is new to him, so I suggested it right off the bat.
Who is your favorite super hero/heroine?
Keith: Jesus. No wait, Wolverine. Wasn’t he able to magically heal all wounds? Shit, they both could do that. I dont know anymore.
Favorite band you’ve toured with? And speaking of tours, if you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would it be and why?
Keith: From the first time we have ever toured with them, I have said Norma Jean, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Underoath but people probably already know that so I’m gonna flip it up. I loved touring with Alkaline Trio and Terror; they’re the best. I think I’d like to tour with Converge in ETID since we never have and Foo Fighters with TDT. Fuck it, Foo Fighters with ETID too.
What was your motivation for writing the blog you did about generic, autotuned bands while you was on Warped Tour 2010? We all knew it was there; just what made you feel the need to comment on it?
Keith: Because it shouldn’t go unaddressed. It’s not the drunk friend that offends everyone, but most people just wait until he passes out without saying anything to him because “that’s just how he is”. That’s horseshit. Being a raging asshole is not acceptable, it’s not a “quirky character flaw” and infringing on other people’s peace of mind and pursuit of happiness is something that needs to be dealt with head on. That blog was kind of my way of staging an intervention.
Last question; pick three songs. If I was gonna check out The Damned Things and/or Every Time I Die for the first time after reading this interview, what twosongs (one from each band) would you recommend I check out? And one song from any band/genre.
Keith: For ETID, I have always said “The New Black” but that changed when we wrote REndez-Voodoo. Everything that ETID is good at is in that song. For TDT, I know it’s not the catchiest, but “The Blues Havin’ Blues”. It’s where, in my head, TDT will move as we get further along in our career. It feels like I feel. It sounds like the things we collectively like. I know a lot of people say we don’t sound anything like our constituent parts, but if you putAnthrax, FOB and ETID in a blender, this is the song that would pour out. And you want my recommendation for ANY song that people should listen to? Tom Waits – “Falling Down”
Any last words for the fans?
Thank you.