New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Roadrunner Records) The
Amity Affliction 's vocalist, Joel Birch , recently spoke to Alternative Press as the band was tracking their upcoming fourth studio album, which will be out later this year. He described the health scare he suffered on last year's Warped Tour, as well as how the process of making this album differs from its predecessors, and much more.
Says Joel, "We staggered the recording this time. Instead of just doing drums, bass, guitars and then vocals we have been getting them down throughout the entire process...The last two records we did in America, and though I was there the whole time with the guys, it got boring sitting around while guitars and everything were tracked, so I'd just be hanging out in the area we were staying. This time, we're recording at our guitarist Troy [ Brady ]'s studio, Evergreen, which is really close to where I live on Australia's
Sunshine Coast. Everyone's been involved the whole way through, which is something that our producer Will Putney really emphasized. We discuss everything —the guitars, vocal melodies and even the lyrics, which is the first time I've opened myself up to being told a line's not strong enough. I've rewritten it right there with everyone around, and we don't settle until we're all happy with it."
Regarding his near-death experience on Warped Tour, he recalls that "I was super-excited [hanging out with Defeater ], and I was drinking beer and then whiskey, snorted a little coke, and I kinda forgot to drink any water that day. I woke up the next morning, and I was drenched in sweat, and I couldn't stop vomiting. I had three bags of saline put into me, and I was still spewing. In the midst of that I had five or six panic attacks, had a seizure and stopped breathing and went blue and my heart stopped. I'd say it was a culmination of everything, but the night before it happened it definitely went further. But, the near-death [experience] kicked me up the ass. It made me realize what I've got at home, what I've got with the band. I hate using the word 'fans,' because I feel like it distances us from them, which is wrong, but I do feel like we have great fans, and we've built quite amazing lives through music. I felt like I was pissing all that up against the wall and saying, 'Fuck you everyone,' instead of having a good hard look at the way I was living."
Read the whole thing: https://bit.ly/Nz654E
The
Amity Affliction will be on tour with
Blessthefall , Silverstein , SECRETS , and
Heartist this spring - find a show near you!
