Interview with vocalist James Hart

How are you doing man?

Good man, I’m real good, just hanging out here in Wolverhampton, not seeing any wolves anywhere… thought you’d know?

How you guys finding being on tour here?

It’s great, we’ve been absent from here for a couple of years, it was about this time of the year too. We played some gigs over here and they were all great, just a lot smaller… This time around most of the shows have been sold-out all and the kids have been great, and this is just a great country to come to; there is so much stuff to do and so many things to look at like castles and stuff; so its just been awesome.

Is it good fun being on tour with the 36Crazyfists?

Yeah, they are great guys, and actually we just got off tour with them in the States. We were out with Killswitch, Engage and Autumn To Ashes. It’s weird ‘cos they where actually opening up the shows, and now they are headlining playing to sold-out shows every night. It’s a lot different over there (USA) than over here (UK), it’s definitely a nice change.

Tell me a little about yourselves, where are you from, who are you and how did you form?

We are from California Orange County

The rich people’s place right?

Yeah, from the show right… It’s definitely not all rich, there’s definitely some ghettos and gangsters and shit going on in the OC and gangbangs and stuff, but not the sexual kind you know. I’m talking mean streets, but there is the sexual kind too. We set up about nine/ ten years ago with me and our present guitar player (he used to play drums). We just formed the band in high school, like a metal band, we went through a trial of different band players - it can be weird doing that. But later on we lost some people and it’s a hell of an adjustment you know when you lose crucial band members, and people who wrote the tunes, but we stuck with it and finally found the right people. But it’s been a long road and a lot of mountains to climb, but it’s been worth it. We are over here in the UK on tour, and having a great time playing these great gigs, and not a lot of people can say they have done that.

You’re on tour in support of your new album OBSESSION. Since your last release VANITY what sort of things did you want to do on your next record, and what are you trying to say with the new record?

We actually recorded VANITY three years ago so it’s kind of weird, and it’s been out for about two years. So there was like eight or nine months in-between the time it was recorded and the time when it was released. So, some of the material on the new record is not that new to us since it’s almost two years old. Every band or at least I think every band wants to do something new with every record, and you sit down with your last one and you say ‘well I like this, but I think we should emphasise some more on this or that , and lets leave this out this time and do t this instead.’ But this time we shortened up a lot of the songs and we tried to get rid of all the stuff we felt didn’t. But the main thing that’s different about the songs and the whole writing process, is that on VANITY there where three people writing songs and this time it was just the one, so it’s not so odd to be doing that - you get all the parts that fit. Last time we where just throwing it all together you know, it was just write them and record… This time it’s a lot more structured and there’s a lot more to it. It’s almost two years of song writing and a producer with good input; he was like, ‘I think you should do this or try that.’ He just really helped us focus. You can definitely tell that the record has more of a rock melodic sound to it, it still has its heavy elements but it’s mainly more thoughtful, rather than chaotic. It makes more sense to the listener.

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You guys have done a lot of touring, but what do you do to chill out and calm yourselves?

Well, just about every night we come up here to our little lobby on the bus, and I have some Lord Of The Rings videos going right now which I’m trying to shred. But usually we are just hanging on the bus watching movies. Sometimes if we have the time before load-in we go and see where we are, especially over here. You know it’s a different country and you want to see as much stuff as you can; you want to check out the cool places in town or in the city; and there is a lot of history here too, compared to the States ‘cos in the scheme of things the US is a relatively new country. So there isn’t really that much there that you can look at and say ‘wow that’s so awesome.’ Whereas we come to London and Newcastle and all these different places, and there is so much to take in… I mean I’ll walk down the street and see a building and I’ll be like ‘wow that looks amazing.’ I never do that where I come from, everything is so modern and plain, whereas everything here is like full of a dark feel and it’s always overcast. I like it it’s like gothic tones, and I like that I dig that kind of dark vibe. But aside from going round towns we’ll go see a movie or hit up a mall and do some shopping.

Seen any new films recently?

Yeah we saw that Saw film about a week and a half ago and it was awesome.

You got any favourite films?

I like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Crow, Sleepy Hollow, and just about any Depp or Tom Cruise film – Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. I just like dark stuff, Living Dead 2, we have that right here…

Do you have a favourite gig or a show that sticks in your mind?

We did a tour with Autumn To Ashes in New Jersey which is like our home-away- from-home as far as doing gigs goes, and we did a really good show. But when we went out on stage it was just like nothing I’ve ever seen or experienced before you know. But we went there with the Lost Prophets a few weeks later, but it was so amazing like even the kids who didn’t know who we were going mental, and I think that was just the greatest gig ever.

Musical influences?

A ton of bands that we are into and that we have a lot of respect for, but I wouldn’t say there was actually a band that has an influence on the way we write, it’s nothing like that. But some of the bands we are into right now are like Him, Killswitch, Velvet Revolver. We are just into everything musically. I don’t like a piece of music just ‘cos it’s in this genre or that genre or ‘cos that guy was in it, or if they are from somewhere. I love everything from pop to metal.

Finally, where do you want to take your music?

Oh, everywhere, anywhere and everywhere. I mean what good is music if you can’t share it with anyone, or what good is touring if there is no-one at your shows? I just want to play in front of as many people as possible. I mean a lot of bands are afraid to say that… I just want as many kids across the world to hear our music, whether they like it or not, just hear it.

I don’t think of myself as a rock star, just a dude in a band.