Amen – Interview

What is up with Amen?

Well, we’re in Orlando tonight. We’re out with Nothingface, but they’re not going to play here. Something came up, but they’re starting tomorrow, so they’ll only miss this one show. This is the first of fourteen we’re doing, and then we’re not absolutely positive what’s happening after that but we have a good idea.

Cool. Wasn’t Mudvayne supposed to be on the bill?

After we changed our tour with Slipknot they went out on their own. Their cd is doing really well after Tattoo The Earth, so they shouldn’t be opening. They hooked up with Ultraspank and Nonpoint.

That’s an interesting combo. Tell me about the new album, We’ve Come For Your Parents.

I wrote fifty-six songs between December and February, and demoed them at my house with Larkin. Then we gave the cd to the band and Ross. They narrowed it down to twenty-five songs, and then we went into the studio and we tracked twenty.

So what happened to the six songs not on the album?

We’re hoping to do what we did with Roadrunner last year and put out an EP in Europe with those tracks. We were also thinking about doing a split with Hatebreed. We became real good friends on the Tattoo The Earth Tour this summer and we had talked about putting something out.

Did you alter your approach for the new album?

Totally. We did the last one at Indigo Ranch where Ross does most of his ADIDAS-rock records. So we went to Soundcity to record, and then had Mike Frazier mix it and engineer it. He did the last few AC/DC records, Aerosmith. He’s just an amazing fucking guy.

It seems like there are some groove-oriented songs as opposed to just rabid punk stuff. Were they selected because of that or just because they were screaming Amen songs?

I can’t really judge what I do; I just sort of do it. The one thing that I can tell you is of the fifty-six songs a few had commercial zest to them and they were immediately tossed when we got into production. We intentionally tried to create a record that is for fans of music and musical integrity.

Is “Ungrateful Dead” a shot at hippies?

It’s sort of how people are generally ungrateful and they don’t even realize it. They’re essentially dead because they’re too wrapped in themselves to know otherwise.

Did Ross contribute more or less on the album?

We had a lot of problems on the first one with mixing and other shit. This one just went perfect. We’re like waiting for death or something. We went in on May 1st, tracked twenty songs in thirty days. A week later we flew to Canada and mixed them with Frazier in less than two weeks. Two days later we flew to New York and mastered it, the next day Ross and I flew to Europe and did press, ten countries in eleven days. After I got home, I sat for two days, and went out on Tattoo The Earth, probably the heaviest tour ever assembled. Everything has gone like clockwork. It’s been pretty surreal to be honest. We just got back from Europe where we did the Reading and Leeds festivals. That was just pandemonium.

What kind of response did you get from the huge crowds?

Ten minutes before we hit the stage there was ten thousand people chanting ‘Amen’. It was our first big show in Europe, and we did better, sales-wise, over there. It was the most incredible experience that we’ve ever had. It was fucking out of control. Just being able to play the festivals was an honor, and then to have it blow up the way it did, just fucking amazing.

Have you thought of releasing a single?

We’re going to release “The Price Of Reality” in Europe with four alternate versions of shit we’ve done. There is talk of a video, but we’ll just see how it goes after the album is released on Halloween.

How did Amen end up on Virgin after the split with Roadrunner?

The Roadrunner split was a mutual thing. Everyone has their take on it. But we had a tour of Europe booked with Machine Head and pulled support on us ten days before we were supposed to leave. That’s a breach of contract right there, plus I was a thorn in their side, and they were a thorn in mine. I’m grateful for everything that’s happened though, because right now it couldn’t be any better. Roadrunner’s staff is great, but it’s the heads of the company that control it. They want to come up with album covers, tell you what songs to release. We’re not that kind of band. I’m not here to create a product; I’m here to do what I love. I think what separates us from a lot of American bands is we don’t create music to be popular. That’s not an issue with us. Virgin was the most giving group of people we’d ever encountered. They were interested in us before Roadrunner; we just didn’t want to go with a major right away. Virgin is interesting because they came from an independent label. As big as the corporation is, everyone there is cool with each other. I want to be a part of humanity, not a fucking machine.

Do you think metal has gone generic? Ozzfest, with the exception of Queens Of The Stone Age, just seemed like an Mtv tour waiting to happen.

I think music in general in America is sterile. People start bands to find one song that’ll make them a quick million. That’s all it takes now. I think there are a lot of great bands, like Queens, who do it because of its purity and meaning, not to be Carson Daly’s pal on TRL. The American public and labels will eventually realize the lack of creativity. Everyone doesn’t have to sound like Korn or Fred or NIN. There’s so much great music, there’s just no artist development. The best bands out there right now, Fu Manchu, Hatebreed, Queens, even Slipknot, have taken a long time to evolve. They didn’t have the luxury of five million dollars to work with on their first albums. And some of their first albums are better than anything we’ll ever hear from some of these bands. Where do you think Papa Roach will be in a year? Maybe hanging around, but it’s just like the post-grunge shit. Bush disappeared, Pearl Jam’s done it all. Some music maintains, most of it doesn’t. When it’s based in purity, it lasts. The people don’t want to open up to anything new, they’re afraid it’ll fuck up their pattern of whatever it is they think.

I agree man, most everyone is blind to what’s genuine, but that’s kind of cool because I hope I never have to see Fu Manchu with fifteen thousand people, thirteen grand of whom know one or two songs.

That’s the great thing about getting big without breaking out. Queens just has this thing, they could be gods, but they just want to hover outside, above it all, and watch what unfolds. I think we’re the same way. We want the attention, just not the annoyance. Whatever happens, this is the most enjoyable time of my life. I’m just absorbing it until I can’t anymore.

+ rick hinkson