Fresh from a UK tour supporting Trivium, we had a chat to Tim Lambesis from As I Lay Dying about their new album, touring and his Arnie inspired side project.
You recently toured the UK with Trivium, Caliban and Upon A Burning Body. Why do you think package tours such as that work so well?
Tim: I think that people like getting their money’s worth, so it’s cool to have a load of bands in a similar genre. That way the fans are gonna like all the bands. In my opinion, if I could only go to a few shows a year, those are the ones I’d go to.
How do American festivals like mayhem differ from the ones we have here in Europe?
Tim: European festivals area lot bigger than American ones, but I like the travelling festivals, it’s the same production every day and the bands get used to the stage set up and by the third or fourth show of the tour they’re putting ona abetter show than if they just played one day. But US festivals don’t draw the same crowds the European ones do.
What is the reaction like when you play in the UK?
Tim: Its usually mixed, the UK is such a press based country. We’ve been a lot more successful in other countries, I think that’s because in the UK it’s a lot more driven by trends, y’know? No offence to any UK fans.
How have people reacted to your new album?
Tim: It’s been good, every time we put out a new record you get people saying ‘oh I liked the old stuff’ or whatever, but we try not to think about that stuff and just write the best music we can. As long as we’re proud of it, the reaction is usually good. Reviews for this album have been some of the best we’ve had yet.
How’s things going with your clothing company, Modern Rebellion?
Tim: We’re still a small company, we’re letting it grow naturally, we don’t want any big investors or anything. We just wanna keep putting out quality products.
When people think of Tim Lambesis, a lot of them think about Austrian Death Machine. What’s the future got in store for that project?
Tim: Every time I’m home from tour I try to write some new songs, but it can get really hard trying to keep up with normal life, I always get so behind.
How have the stories about Arnold in the press the last few years affected writing for the album?
Tim: I think, anything Arnold does, good or bad, is good for Austrian Death machine. Haha.
As I Lay Dying’s most recent album Awakened was released back in September 2012 on Metal Blade Records and can be acquired from all good CD and Mp3 suppliers now.
