Interview with Pat and Sameer - Bassist ad Guitarist with Texan multi-platinum rockers Flyleaf.

You guys are currently enjoying global success with your new album ‘MEMENTO MORI’, and have been labelled as everything from Nu-metal to Emo. Where would you guys place yourselves?

Pat - I think it’s always kinda silly to try n place ourselves or be banded in to one type of genre, and nu-metal just sounds embarrassing (laughs).
Sameer - Yeah, I think if we try and categorise ourselves, that means we are trying to write into a certain genre, and we are not like that, and to be pretentious like that wouldn’t be true to what we are trying to do. But we don’t really care what the press label us as, because whatever category our fans or the people that know us put us in is what’s more important.

MEMENTO is a much more polished affair than your last self-titled debut…

Pat - We learned from past mistakes with this, we decided not to speak up so much about certain things, and we wanted a more intense sound, and that’s what we got. It was definitely what we wanted, and the old record, well, we didn’t really know what we where doing, and we where almost lead in one direction with it; like in the studio and with production; but with this, we were a little more grown up about it, and even though we where going to work with different people on this album, we brought Howard (Benson, producer) back and I’m so glad we did, because this album has worked out so well. We got the best results
Sameer - And the fact that we’ve worked with him before, and it was just comfortable for us all in the studio, and when your writing, having that is really important.

Did you feel under pressure to perform on this album?

Sameer - It’s weird really, we had just about the same amount of time to make this album as we did with our last, some of these songs where written even before we had our debut out, and some of them where written between the release of our first and the end of MEMENTO.
Pat - When you get down to the nuts and bolts if you will of writing and when your sitting it next to recording time, we had all that in mind of everyone respective parts like me, Lacey, or Sameer, and I think the songs have come out a lot more mature than the first record, and the time we had has helped along with everything we’ve done.
Sameer - When we recorded out debut, we were barely just kids then, the only world we new was our home town and when our first record hit and we were going all over the world and experiencing new cultures and people, like here in the UK, Russia, Africa, Japan. To see a little more of how the world works, we still have a lot to learn I think, but touring with like Korn, Deftones, Stone Sour, all helped, and I think a lot of that growing up is reflected in MEMENTO MORI.

Must have been cool to have been able to tour with some of your idols…

Pat - Surreal actually. Deftones are one of my favourite bands, and I actually got to see them here, but I’ve been a fan of them since I was like 15, and getting to tour with them in the states was just phenomenal.

Has your rapid rise to fame and ever-growing popularity been a surprise?

Sameer - As Pat is always saying, it’s hard to see the forest through the trees, so we always try to take stock and look at what we are doing objectively. It’s not like we’ve ever really seen the success we just have the experience we have everyday.
Pat - We have a plaque back home (laughs) and it’s nice to have some money to live on, those things are pretty cool, we are an awesome band Sameer…(laughs).
Sameer - Yeah, we did our first kinda grotty show in Portsmouth the other night, that didn’t feel particularly rock star, but it’s a real cool thing. I feel like this is my first ever real job. We started this back when we were like 17/18, Pat and I were still seniors in high school at the time, so to be honest this band is all I’ve ever really known.

You also have released quite a lot of acoustic material, and played an un-plugged set for the troops in Afghanistan, is that something you might be looking to integrate more of into your music, or just something you do occasionally?

Sameer - I think if we where going to do an official acoustic thing, it would be more along the lines of just one guitar and Lacey singing or maybe some other things, but maybe we would try and go more elaborate if we did like a tour or something and bring in a lot of musicians.
Pat - I don’t know, sometimes acoustic versions can sound a bit watered down…

You guys are quite open about your faith and religious beliefs, have you experienced any backlash from that on the road or in the press?

Sameer - Surprisingly little, actually. I think the people in charge of bringing up the band and promoting us have done it really well without touching on that. We haven’t really been pigeon-holed anywhere, but I think we are all saying the same things really when it comes to the music, we really embrace the hope when it comes to that, but metal is metal, and we all talk about the same issues - just in different ways.

Pat - Yeah, we just do it and let people say what they want, I’ve been online and Googled ‘Flyleaf sucks’ before (laughs). I mean, sometimes it’s a bummer when people talk negatively about you, but that’s human nature, no matter what. You’re never going to please everyone, plus it helps either way ‘cos they still know who you are (smiles,) but good or bad you just weather it and keep on doing your thing.

Flyleaf’s current release, MEMENETO MORI, is out now via Universal.