Web Exclusive Interview: Evergreen Terrace

Posted by Steven Robertshaw on 31-Jul-07 @ 04:48 PM

In 1999, the hardcore/metal group EVERGREEN TERRACE had one thing in mind when they started a band: To have fun. And after eight years of pumping out horn-raising music, that ideology remains true. Wolfbiker, the first release from the quintet's new home, Metal Blade, is the epitome of everything the band stand for: being yourself, doing what you want, and, of course, finding happiness. In an AP Web exclusive, we caught up with guitarist/vocalist JOSH JAMES to talk about the new record, and exactly what the hell "wolfbiker" means. (Surprisingly, a mangy motorcycling dog is not that far-fetched.)

Interview: Chris French

First off, congratulations on the new album. What sort of responses have you been getting for the record so far?
Well, the tours that we've been on-we're doing a headlining tour right now; it started last Friday [July 20], so it started a few days before the release, and we're playing about a 15-song set with four or five new songs-and the crowd reaction at the shows has been awesome so far. Kids seem like they're really into the new songs. So far the major source of feedback has, of course, been MySpace, and it's been awesome so far! I think kids are really stoked on it. I think we went above and beyond a lot of people's expectations, including our own expectations and Metal Blade's expectations. But so far, so good.

I was going to ask you if you're personally happy with how it turned out.
Oh, dude, I am more happy with this record than I have been with any other record I've had anything to do with in the 12 years that I've been in a band. It's really awesome; I think that this record is definitely the definition of Evergreen Terrace. You know, it's the first record with Kyle [Mims] playing drums on the record, and it's the first time that he had any sort of input as far as the writing goes, and I think that it really shows that the five of us that are in the band now click together. Really, by far, this is the best release that we've had.

What was the writing dynamic and recording process like with Kyle now in the mix?
Honestly, I think at first it was a little shaky, because he wasn't used to the way that we write, and we weren't used to the way that he writes. So, at first, I'll definitely admit that there was a lot of headbutting. We actually wrote about eight songs and did some pre-production on them about a year ago. I think last summer we were on the Sounds Of The Underground tour, [and] we just listened to the pre-production songs a lot and we just realized that they fuckin' sucked! They were just not at all in the direction we wanted to go; it was not a step up from the last record [Sincerity Is An Easy Disguise In This Business], and I think that when we all kind of admitted that and came to that conclusion, when we went back into the practice space in November we really knew what we wanted to do, what we didn't want to do, and we were all then comfortable-he was comfortable writing with us, and we were comfortable writing with him. So once November hit, and we started writing the songs for Wolfbiker, it was pretty much done. A lot of songs just poured out of us. You know, there were a couple of small rough spots, but for the most part the writing was awesome from that point on. From the eight songs that we had written in 2006, only one of those songs was kept; that song's called "High Tide Or No Tide." That's the only song that made it from that original first group of songs.

What sort of goals or expectations did you have with this record as opposed to previous albums?
You know, I wouldn't necessarily say that we had some sort of expectations or goals. We're definitely not a band that's like, "We're going to sell a million records!" We're definitely aware of our surroundings and know our place, as far as our band goes. But I think that, as far as what we were hoping to get back from it, we were hoping people would just give it an actual chance, and be able to realize that we did step up our writing from the last record. You know, not just our writing, [but] the production, everything, I think, the lyrics-even the artwork-it's all a step up from the last record. I think our only real expectation was to just get it out, make sure we do our best as far as touring, and Metal Blade does its best as far as promoting the record.

You all worked with producer Daryl Phenneger (Yellowcard, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus) on Wolfbiker, right?
Yeah. He's in a place called Vision Sound Studios right outside of Jacksonville, [Florida], where we're from, so it made it a lot easier for us to track the record there. And then we had it mixed and mastered [by] Jason Livermore at Blasting Room.

How did that partnership come to fruition, considering that Phenneger seems to have a more pop-oriented track record, whereas Evergreen Terrace certainly does not?
We never intentionally were like, "We want to work with Daryl!" It was kind of like, "All right, we always hate going out of town to record because it's always it's so easy to get on each other's nerves while we're in the studio. And we already toured so much during year, it would be awesome if we could be close to home and record." A couple of our friends' bands recorded at Vision Sound, and the production was really good, and that was our main thing. Our main thing was having a record that sounded crisp and clear; like, having a record that was recorded well. Because, you know, Sincerity was the first time that we actually had any sort of real budget-all the other records were recorded for, like, $2,000-so you can definitely hear how much money was spent on those records versus how much money was spent on Sincerity or on Wolfbiker. So really going into it, he definitely helped out a few parts on Sincerity, but for the most part those records were self-produced, and he helped as well. But it was never, like, we picked him; he's the engineer at Vision Sound, so it was, like, when we booked a time he was the engineer that we got. But we're totally glad that we ended up working with him because I think that he definitely helped us out a lot on both records with the sound of the record.

Okay, the million-dollar question: What is a wolfbiker?
It's kind of like the idea of freethinking, or someone who, I guess, in the least amount of words, just doesn't give a fuck. I think a lot of times kids and people nowadays are pressured by the media, by society, by their parents or by their friends, as far as what to believe in, or what to listen to, or what to wear, or what political party to be a part of, and I don't think that a lot of people really are truly making their own minds and using their own minds to make their lives what they want to be. You know, I think a lot of people just automatically assume: You graduate high school, you go to college, you get married, you have a kid, you work a 9-to-5 job, then you die, you know what I mean? [But] I think that there's a small group of people that really do realize and really do live a life of happiness, and it's because they're doing what they want to do. And I think that's kind of what the whole record is about; it's about living it for yourself and really just doing things the way to you want to do them. As far as the actual name "wolfbiker," and how it came up: It was just one of those moments in the van where you're on, like, a 30-hour drive, [and] half the band's drunk and everybody else is just fucking delusional, and we just started talking about it and-nobody knows really whose mouth it came out of; I think some fucking demon just popped it out-it was definitely more of humorous term than a serious point. I mean, let's face it, "wolf" and "biker"-they're both pretty badass.

I know it! If I saw an actual wolf on a bike, I would be...
Yeah, if you saw a wolf on a motorcycle, you definitely, you know, you wouldn't give a fuck.

[Laughs.] No, I wouldn't. And he wouldn't either, I know that. Can you use the word "wolfbiker" in a sentence?
Perfect example: Last night I was with one of the other bands on this tour, and we were going to go stay at someone's house, and somebody lost a number and everything got all confused. And so we were like, "Ah, fuck it! Let's just sleep in a parking lot! Like, who really gives a shit? And we'll just bathe in a lake tomorrow." And then someone definitely was like, "Yeah, fuck it! Wolfbiker, bitch!" You know, clearly they were making fun, but that's definitely a way I could see you using it. Maybe you could use it as a convincing term to convince one of your friends to do something either really smart or really stupid.

So this is your first record with Metal Blade. How is that partnership working out?
So far, so good. You know, the record just came out two days ago [July 24], but I think that, as a band and as a label, we click really well together. We both have similar interests, and we both want the same things for the band. It's awesome that we're working with Metal Blade since they're definitely a label that's not used to working with a band our style, and we're enjoying working with them because they're an actual, professional label.

What sort of differences did you experience going into this recording process compared to producing Sincerity, besides the label change and working with Kyle?
Can you repeat the question? I'm sorry, I'm trying to get away from, like, 100 little kids that just popped out of a van and just ran up to [where I am]. I think they just got a bunch of sugar in them or something; they're going fuckin' apeshit.

Where are you, at a park?
No, I'm just 30 miles outside of Colorado Springs, and I kind of pulled off to just sit in the grass and check out the mountains. And I was just walking around and there's this little playground area, and there's this weird fake ice hockey rink that some kids are playing hockey on. I'm in some small town that's starting to get super overdeveloped; there's Chipotles popping up everywhere now. So what was the question again?

What kind of differences did you experience going into this recording process compared to that of Sincerity?
I think that, as far as writing goes, we were really stoked with Sincerity, but as time passed by we realized that we could have used more of our influences than we did on Sincerity. I think on this record you can really hear all of our influences, from, like, the hardcore bands, melodic punk bands, rock bands, I think that this record is the first record you can really hear everything evenly distributed as far as, like, what kind of styles of music we're influenced by and what kind of style of music we actually play. Besides that, I think that we were just a little bit more familiar with the kind of tones and the kind of sounds that we wanted to get out of the studio. You know, with the exception of those things, nothing that much was any different.

So what does the future hold for Evergreen Terrace, now that Wolfbiker is out and you are working with a new label?
Right now we're on a tour promoting the release of the record with Casey Jones, the Warriors and August Burns Red. We have a couple weeks off after this, then we go out for about a month and a half with Strung Out and I Am Ghost, and then we're working on just playing some shows randomly up and down the East Coast. Then we go over to Europe with Hatebreed, Agnostic Front and Ignite, and we come back to the States and we are going on a close to two-month tour with As I Lay Dying at the beginning of next year. So, you know, after that we'll be doing Australia, Japan and some more of Europe. So, definitely, we'll be full-throttle on this record and definitely just trying to get into as many ears as possible, and hope that people have fun listening to the record and have a blast coming out to the shows hanging out and having a good time.

That's great. You must be stoked to be able to travel the world like that.
Oh, dude! Seriously, like, being in a band definitely has its perks. I mean, it can definitely get frustrating and, you know, we make no money, but we would much rather be poor, ugly and happy than, you know, rich and still want more. So it's one of those things that's like, "I get to travel the world; I get to see so many things." I think that with [our] style of music and how involved with quote-unquote "underground" music we are, you get to see so much more awkward and crazy things than you ever would just being a regular tourist going to places. So it's really awesome being able to go across the world and that there's a few kids that are excited to see your band and have fun with you while you're playing a show. It's really awesome! We're pumped on these tours coming up and we're pumped on all the tours that come in the future. You know, once it stops being fun for us, I think that's when we'll call it quits. But right now we're having a blast.

Sound like the epitome of wolfbiker.
[Laughs.] Yeah, yeah, definitely! ALT


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