While Download 2012 may now be something of a distant memory for many people, Rocksins’ has decided to put it straight back into your consciousness with an exclusive interview Matt & Jamie had with Trivium’s main man from behind the drumkit, Nick Augusto. Our interview with Nick took place literally a couple of hours after Trivium stepped off of stage at Donington (read a review of their performance as well as the whole Saturday of Download 2012 here on this link), so read on to see what Nick thought of their set at Download as well as various other things….
Rocksins: Starting the interview with the obvious question, were you guys happy with how your set earlier went?
Nick: Yeah, really, really happy. This is my first Download but the band’s fourth time here. They all said it was one of the best festivals and I thought it was awesome too! I hate to sound cliche but it really was good. Things couldn’t really have gone any smoother.
Rocksins: For the time of day as well the crowd was absolutely enormous…
Nick: Yeah it was awesome!
Rocksins: Did you guys just do Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park as well?
Nick: Yeah we just came from there last week.
Rocksins: And as we understand it you’ve got plenty of other dates coming up including Hellfest?
Nick: Yup we’re doing that too. We’re booked up for pretty much the entire festival run through mid July.
Rocksins: Are you staying in Europe for the whole time until then?
Nick: Yeah, then we get to go home for 3 days! Then we’re off on a full US tour!
Rocksins: Is that the (Metal Hammer) Tresspass festival?
Nick: Yeah, Tresspass kicks off July 13th.
Rocksins: Are you looking forward to it? That’s a pretty good group of bands you’re going out with.
Nick: Oh yeah! Hopefully it should bring out a lot of people. Every band on the bill has been around for awhile and we’ve been getting a lot of good feedback (for Tresspass). I know the presales are good.
Rocksins: From your perspective how are the American fans different to the English fans, if one can possibly answer such a question?
Nick: There’s a pretty hardcore fan base for Trivium over here. When we come to England we can headline a lot easier than we can in the States. This is the place where Trivium has been embraced the most and the UK is the most hardcore of our fanbases. The difference…I think that there’s a lot more dedication over here. People will remember the band from way back as opposed to sometimes when we play in the States it’s not like that. I love the UK.
Rocksins: Is it something that you really noticed when you joined the band, that the first time you came to the UK you could really notice or feel the difference?
Nick: Oh definitely! This is the spot where I think we’re the biggest, and it definitely shows. I think it’s fucking awesome!
Rocksins: Was your first UK run in the band the tour you did with Chimaira and Rise To Remain?
Nick: Yeah back in 2010.
Rocksins: I saw one of the Koko shows on that tour, awesome awesome tour.
Nick: Yeah that was an unbelievable tour!
Rocksins: Did the Defenders Of The Faith Tour (at the end of 2011) go well?
Nick: Oh totally. Both of those tours you just mentioned pretty much every show we did was packed out. It just kinda picked back up where we left off in 2010, we came back and destroyed it again!
Rocksins: And you’ll be back in the UK again this October with Caliban and As I Lay Dying?
Nick: Yup, and Upon A Burning Body. We’ll be back, I’m not sure how many dates are on it for the UK, maybe 7 or 8 shows I think.
Rocksins: Is that tour going all over mainland Europe as well?
Nick: Yeah I think the whole tour is a month and a week or something like that. We’re going to be taking that tour all over.
Rocksins: On a slightly different note, how did it come about for you to join Trivium?
Nick: I’ve known Paolo the bassist…man we’ve known each other since we were like six. We went to school together and grew up together, we live in the same area and we pretty much picked up our instruments around the same time. So I’d known the guys for awhile, and when their old drummer (Travis) separated Paolo called me first and asked if I’d like to fill in. Originally I was just supposed to fill in and then it turned out I could be permanent in the band so I stuck with it. I used to actually tech for the band, I was Travis’s drum tech for awhile. Literally right after I stopped teching for them I got a call two weeks later.
Rocksins: That must be quite surreal in some ways.
Nick: Totally. When he (Paolo) called me and asked me to fill in I was “fuck yeah I’m gonna do it! Of course I’ll do it.” It’s better than working at a fuckin’ bowling alley. That’s what I was doing before I joined *laughs*.
Rocksins: In Waves is the first Trivium album that you were a part of the writing process for, was it enjoyable for you to have an impact on the songwriting process rather than playing songs where the drum parts had been done by someone else?
Nick: Yeah, it was cool. I was there from the very start of the writing process and I had total control with the guys they were totally cool about it. We practised long hours, five days a week to make the album and it was just cool that I could thrown in my own stuff. It feels good playing the new songs and we’re already writing another CD now and we already have five or six songs for the next one. It’s just getting better because we’re writing together more and you get to know each other better.
Rocksins: Corey said when we talked to him in December that the tour you did with Dream Theater in the States late last year really made you guys step up as far as the practice was concerned after hanging out with people like Petrucci and Mike Mangini…
Nick: It definitely lit a fire under my ass! *laughs* Just being around those guys, it was just us and them, so I was going up against one of the top guys in the game and the same for Matt and Corey. I definitely would be really hard on myself during the tour and after we came off the tour I was like “I really gotta fuckin’ step my game up”. We’re like that with any tour we do but especially with them because those guys are amazing, it just made us work harder.
Rocksins: One last question that we ask everyone: Are you a Simpsons fan?
Nick: Of course!
Rocksins: And who is your favourite character?
Nick: Barney!
Rocksins: Nice! You’re the first person to say Barney.
Nick: Really? Man he’s not in it enough. He definitely needs to be in more episodes. Who else do other people say?
Jamie/Rocksins: I think the most popular one is Ralph, about five people have said him.
Matt/Rocksins: Scott Kelly from Neurosis said to me Groundskeeper Willie and Mr Burns. Mr Burns comes up quite a lot.
Nick: Groundskeeper Willie would have to come a close second or third…
Matt/Rocksins: And one last thing (really this time)…Metallica or Megadeth?
Nick: *thinks*…..Metallica.
Trivium will return to Europe for a full headlining tour with the tour hitting the UK in late October. Support comes from As I Lay Dying, Caliban and Upon A Burning Body. Tickets for the shows are priced at approximately £20 and are still available from the usual online ticket shops such as Ticketmaster and Seetickets. For further news from the Trivium camp as well as the latest interviews with metal artists please keep checking in with Rocksins.com regularly (and like us on Facebook to stay even more up-to-date).