Of Mice & Men address the biggest misconception of their new album

October 3, 2017

[Photo by: Ryan Watanabe]

“This one’s the ballad,” says Of Mice & Men drummer Tino Arteaga, spinning in his chair to hit “play.” Fifteen seconds later, he shouts over the sounds of guttural screams and riffing guitars: “Hah, no, this isn’t a ballad!”

He’s sitting in producer Howard Benson’s studio in Los Angeles, playing AP their latest completed song, “War Zone.” It is certainly not a ballad, but the joke is poignant in its own right.

Since frontman Austin Carlile’s departure late last year, Of Mice & Men’s future—musically or otherwise—has been a question mark. The way Benson tells it, the drama never mattered for him. He knew when it came time, the boys of OM&M would deliver. “I didn’t know much about the previous singer… [but] the pressure was on these guys,” Benson says. “The kind of producer I am is if I find an artist I believe in, I really impose that feeling of positivity in the studio. Sometimes you have to go through these other things—drama with your singer, [dealing with] other studio environments—I don’t think they would have been as good of a band without going through that stuff.”

[Photo by: Ryan Watanabe]

Ups and downs aside, one of the biggest asks of them is simple: Will their music stay heavy?

“For us, the heaviness doesn't really come so much from a place where we needed to do it for anybody in particular—fans or haters or anything like that,” says bassist Aaron Pauley, who has taken over vocal duties in Carlile’s absence. “A lot of people think we won't have a lot of heavy material. They can wait to find out whether or not there's heavy stuff,” he says with a knowing laugh.

Rounded out by guitarists Alan Ashby and Phil Manansala, Of Mice & Men have created a crop of material that definitely qualifies as “heavy stuff.” The aforementioned track “War Zone” opens with rapid rounds of initial screaming before descending into a series of breakdowns. Halfway through, there’s an anthemic, fully sung bridge that will surely ring off the walls on their upcoming tour. Their second unreleased single, “How Will You Live,” builds more on their most recent album Cold World, featuring huge drum fills and a repetition of the title, finished with an agonized scream.

Arteaga and Pauley practically bounce in their chairs while the songs play, occasionally strumming or drumming along. After the last, hard-hit note, the two of them settle in, eager to speak about the album they have been working on for close to a year.

[CONTINUE READING: OF MICE & MEN Q&A]

“War Zone” is definitely a big middle finger to anyone who was worried you wouldn't have heaviness in your songs. Was that intentional going into the whole album?
ARTEAGA: “Heaviness has always really excited us as musicians, and Of Mice & Men from the start. For us, it's not an ‘alternative lifestyle;’ it is our lifestyle. To us, we've always written things that have been heavy lyrically and heavy sonically, and everyone's definition of that is different. What it really draws from is the vibe you feel when you listen to the music. It encouraged us to go the extra mile to make a song like “War Zone” and tread into boundaries that are a little bit different than what OM&M has done—while still keeping it very familiar to the loud and aggressive music [we've] had on all of our albums.”

“For us, it's not an ‘alternative lifestyle; it is our lifestyle.”

How would you describe this new chapter of Of Mice & Men?
PAULEY: “The whole energy of the record is very centered around our live shows and just connecting with our music. I always think that's valuable; when we've made records in the past sometimes, it's been after extended breaks, so it's hard to remember that live connection. We had so much of that over the summer that it bled into the music we made.

“From a perspective of where we're at, we're just very well-connected. I feel like every day we spend making music together, we just become tighter as a unit and tighter as friends. But it's been awesome to see how the creative process changes because of that. We're just able to create things more symbiotically, and it becomes less work and more adventure. It's cool when you work so fluidly with people—you're just creating something.”

[Photo by: Ryan Watanabe]

Are there any roles in the writing and recording process that have significantly changed?
PAULEY: “In the past, it [was] all pretty much the same way, with the exception that Austin [Carlile] and I would work on lyrics together. But the actual process of creating music really hasn't changed for us. With this record particularly, we've really challenged ourselves to go outside of our roles. There have been songs that Tino has written guitar parts on, and there's been songs where I've done programming for string sections—getting us out of, ‘Oh, well I play bass and sing, so that's what I'm gonna do.’ We're finding new ways to be a little more musical.”

ARTEAGA: “And that comes with the territory of us being a year older and more experienced musicians and more experienced with each other, to [let go of] those boundaries, where you're like, ‘Oh, I don't want to show the guys, ’cause maybe it's not cool.’ If it's not exciting or awesome to us, then it's not going to get heard by anyone else. We've never put out half-ideas. It’s how we leave our mark—in our music. We're musicians; we're a band. All we want to do is write music and play music. That's it. The fact that people want to come out and see our shows and can't wait for this record, that's so much far beyond what we actually do. But for us to get recognition and for us to get fans involved, it's amazing. We don't take that lightly.

“We nerd out trying to make this stuff sound awesome, since in a lot of ways, we are our fans. We're just like all the fans that are right up front with us. Grab a mic, enjoy yourself, come out to the hardcore show—we are those kids who grew up loving music like this.”

“We've never put out half-ideas. It’s how we leave our mark—in our music.”

PAULEY: “It's our therapy. It's very cliche, but this is where we get it all out. We know the importance of it, because we were raised on music and we were raised on this music scene. So the culture and spirit of it is still very important to us—beyond making music we think is cool.”

Have you encountered any challenges with the lineup change?
PAULEY: “In regards to the live show, it's always about the songs. Even in creating this music, it's always about the songs. Even when I do the lead vocals, I don't consider myself the frontman. It's not my words—they're my words because I write them, but I write them on behalf of [the band]. These are our words. It's not me, it's not Tino, it's not Phil, it's not Alan—it's Of Mice & Men. Going forward, it's all about the unit.”

What do you think is the biggest misconception about this next chapter?
ARTEAGA: “I think that the misconception comes when people say this is or isn't heavy. OM&M has always been a heavy band and with this album, we're definitely pushing boundaries of that and going into new realms where OM&M has never been before, in search of something sonically heavy. We'll always fight for what's important, which is the music.”

“We'll always fight for what's important, which is the music.”

If you could tell your fans one thing they could be certain of, what would it be?
PAULEY: “We're not going anywhere. We feel very strong as a band right now. I'd tell them that if they are worried, just turn that worry into excitement.”

Watch Of Mice & Men's “Back To Me” below: