The Hotseat – Matt Traynor of Blessthefall
on November 17th, 2013Blessthefall were recently announced to head up the 2014 Boys Of Summer tour in January alongside Like Moths To Flames and The Colour Morale. A few months back they also released their ‘Hollow Bodies‘ album on Fearless Records / Shock. You can grab a copy [Here]. This week in The Hotseat, we catch up with drummer Matt Traynor. Expand this post to take a read of his answers and re-cap those tour dates.
THE BASICS
Name : Matt Traynor
Band : blessthefall
Job In Band : drummer
Website Address : twitter.com/MattTraynor
HOME
Hometown : Phoenix, AZ
Hometown is best known for : Being really fucking hot!
Best venue in your hometown : The Marquee Theater
Favourite show you’ve seen in your hometown : Thrice farewell show.
Favourite show you’ve played in your hometown : Fearless Friends headliner at Marquee Theater.
THE BAND
How did the band first come to exist? As middle schoolers, myself and Jared were very fond of music and extremely jealous of anyone who took the stage. That included anyone who played at our stupid talent shows when we were 16. After numerous punk bands through high school, we finally found a sound with old friends and original guitarists Mike Frisby and Miles Bergsma. We found our original singer Craig Mabbit on an Arizona punk music message board and we started to take the local scene by storm. Long story short, Miles quit for Berkley school of music before the band started touring, Craig and BTF parted ways in 2008 and Mike quit shortly after Witness was released. Blessthefall consists now of 3 amazing dudes, Eric Lambert, Beau Bokan and Elliott Gruenberg and we hope to have it stay that way haha.
How long has the band been going? Blessthefall has been a band for a very long time, but if we were to put a year on it, we would go with 2005.
Any particular story behind the name? Picking band names are the hardest and most stressful thing in the world. We had about 20 names and kept changing it before we actually settled on “Blessthefall”. Jared was the mastermind behind the name and it basically means, BTF is here to help pick you up while you’re down. Its also one word because we were fans of the band Hopesfall and we thought it looked cooler than Bless The Fall.
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… Our new album is ‘Hollow Bodies’. Its our pride and joy and we couldn’t be more stoked on it from start to finish. We got out of our comfort zone, went to a different producer, added co-writers, had guest appearances and made sure that we had songs we were at least 95% stoked on before even entering the studio.
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? Right now, blessthefall’s stand out achievements have to be selling 22 thousand copies first week and #15 on the Billboard Top 200, along side with playing the Vans Warped Tour last summer on the main stage.
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? Personally, Blink 182 was the main reason i started getting into a “cool” scene of music and want to pick up an instrument myself. I’m pretty sure the other 4 guys would also agree that Blink was the reason they got into the music world.
Any particular band / album or song that you personally credit as a major influence? Personally, touring with bands such as August Burns Red, As I Lay Dying and Underoath, I would be in awe by those guys and want to be just as good as them.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? First band name was Unknown Nation. We were the worst pop punk band ever. Jared was also in that band as a guitarist….and at one point, singer. lol.
Most prized music related item you own? The Moose. I say he is music related because he has been apart of BTF and my drum kit since the band had its first practices. He’s gone on every tour BTF has been on and is pretty symbolic.
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? While at home, I take care of my house, hang with my dogs and girlfriend, swim, keep up with fantasy football and watch my tv series.
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… Being able to play the set that we have been practicing for weeks for all the peeps who come out!
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… Leaving home.
ON THE STAGE
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? The BTF rider usually always consists of almond milk and cereal. I’m all about the peanut M&Ms.
Favourite place you’ve toured… and why? BTF has toured all over the globe. There are so many awesome places from Singapore to Chile to Russia. But we have such busy traveling schedules and when going to such awesome places we don’t always get to see the cool sights. There was one place that sticks out in my mind because we actually had time to roam around a little bit, and that was Rome. I’m a big fan of the gladiators and followed the tv show Spartacus, so walking the streets of the Colosseum was pretty mind blowing for me.
Most memorable show you’ve played? and why? I think we would all agree, the most memorable show we played was at Pulp Summer Slam in the Philippines. We played to an outdoor arena full of 30,000+ screaming kids. Its was absolutely mind blowing.
Got a favourite song to play live? Well, as of right now, id say any new material would be the favorite to play. After adding ‘Hollow Bodies’ songs to our set list, everything else seems so easy.
Any embarrassing on stage moments come to mind? The worst things that could happen to me would be dropping a beat or losing a drumstick. But I’m sure that if I weren’t glued to my drum seat, i would have made some pretty embarrassing spills like Beau, Jared, Eric and Elliott have all done. I do enjoy sitting back and being able to laugh hysterically at them when that happens though.
Any pre-show rituals? Pre-show rituals usually are lots of stretching, running through songs in my head and doing a special chant each night.
What do you find is the hardest aspect of touring in a band today? The hardest part about being in a touring band today is the music business itself. There are a lot of politics to go along with just being able to play music with your friends every night. The illegal downloads of albums, dealing with egotistic other bands, and finding your way in a over populated scene is just a few to name. At the end of the day though, we know BTF has the most incredible fan base and supporters and we have a great time with each other on the road.
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? Hollow Bodies by Blessthefall was the last song I listened to lol. Just making sure I’m playing the parts correctly haha.
Last album you acquired? Hollow Bodies by Blessthefall was the last album i acquired. Gotta support myself.
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? Been blasting Sempiternal by Bring Me The Horizon, The Hurry And The Harm by City & Colour and Shrines by Purity Ring.
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? I thought Like Moths To Flames killed it on Warped Tour this past year. I dig it.
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? The next few months for BTF will be fully of touring the world. Hollow Bodies is out, so we will be pushing it hard for the next year and hitting up every city we can.
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? We talked about doing covers of pop punk bands before such as New Found Glory. I still think that would be fun.
You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? Fall Out Boy.
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? My Chemical Romance. Saw them at Taste of Chaos way back when, but I really wanted to see them with Black Parade out.
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? I’ll play any venue, any size, just as long as its got awesome BTFizzlers inside.
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? I got asked to think about filling in for The Used during their last headline tour, but the issue they had was resolved fast and I was already too busy working on Hollow Bodies. I was super stoked to even have that idea of playing with The Used in my head.
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. Coldplay and My Chemical Romance… haha, I wish. But really, I think it would be fun to go out overseas with our buds in Miss May I and Architects.
PLUG TIME
Got any final words? Hollow Bodies is out NOW. Pick it up at your local music shop or iTunes. We have one music video out already for “You Wear A Crown But You’re No King”, so check that out too while you’re at it. Our tour dates are on our Facebook page and updated constantly, so check that out and come party with us!
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BLESSTHEFALL – ‘Hollow Bodies‘
Available now on Fearless / Shock Records
Grab a copy online [Here].
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BOYS OF SUMMER 2014 Featuring
BLESSTHEFALL
With guests LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES and THE COLOUR MORALE
JANUARY
8th – The Rev, Brisbane [18+]
9th – Eagleby South School Hall, Brisbane [AA]
10th – Panthers, Newcastle [Lic/AA]
11th – Annandale Hotel, Sydney [18+]
12th – Annandale Hotel, Sydney [AA]
14th – The Basement, Canberra [18+]
15th – Arrow On Swanston, Melbourne [AA]
16th – Corner Hotel, Melbourne [18+]
17th – Fowlers, Adelaide [Lic/AA]
18th – Amplifier Bar, Perth [18+] **
19th – YMCA HQ, Leederville [AA] **
—> Tickets available now.
—> For more information, visit [Here].
** = The Color Morale not appearing
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