Ohio’s Miss May I will release their fourth album ‘Rise Of The Lion‘ locally this Friday 25th April via Rise Records. The album was produced by Terry Date in Seattle. They said, “We chose Terry because we’re all huge Pantera freaks. If you ever get the chance to work with him, you take it! We’ve always wanted to work with him but we was always out of our price range. He’s the Bentley of producers and we could only afford a Ford.” This week we caught up with BJ Stead from the band to tell us about the album via our On The Record questions. Expand this post to check out his answers. Pre-order the album on CD [Here], Digitally [Here], or Vinyl & Bundles [Here].
Tell us about the release title and artwork.
The Artwork is the mastermind work of our singer, Levi’s brain mostly. The album is theoretically a letter back to the fans, and what is more fan worthy than having a giant Miss May I tattoo, tattooed on your back! Which yes it was a real tattoo, we chose a random fan via online contests and while we were in Los Angeles for NAMM festival, met him and photographed the tattoo for the album art. So far the coolest art concept we’ve done I feel. Very raw, and straight to the point.
What format/s will it be released on and how will it be packaged?
All of the pre-order cd’s come with the special album art, autographed O – card, in bundle packages ranging anywhere from the album, two shirts and a vinyl, the big “mega bundles” include three shirts, a full size band poster, and album art poster, autographed album, vinyl, and a very metal lion skull pendant to wear, which is a duplicate of the lion skull found on www.mmiriseofthelion.com
Who will it be released through, and when?
The album is coming out April 25th in Australia on Rise Records!
Tell us about the studio and why you chose to record there?
We recorded this album at Studio X, in downtown Seattle. The studio came as a package with who we chose to produce the album, which was Terry Date. It was an amazing studio as well, as far as being a recording musician goes it was the most legitimate, and professional studio that we’ve ever stepped in as a band. I’m talking like a multi million dollar studio. Where they record all the music and orchestra for games like HALO, and Dave Matthews came in a week after we had finished. Pretty next level stuff!
Tell us about the producer / engineer and why you chose to record with them?
Working with Terry was overall just an awesome experience. We know he had done so many great records, and so many of some of our band members personal favorite records. He’s done everything from Pantera, to Limp Bizkit, to White Zombie, also he did Bring Me the Horizon’s newest album with I’m a fan of. It seems every record he touches, becomes a pinnacle, staple of a record! So we’re hoping the same for us!
Did you go into the writing process with a clear direction in mind?
I don’t believe we had a “clear” direction per say, but when we start writing we always know what we’re going for. It’s almost like it’s etched into our heads after years of making music what will be good and what might not work out so much. We just knew we wanted it to be metal, and straight forward. No real gimmicks, or anything that was a “oh look what i can do” kind of vibe, just as old school, and straight forward as possible.
Were you listening to anything in particular during the writing / recording process that influenced the songs at all?
During the writing and recording process I (BJ Stead) was listening to a lot of In Flames, (which I’m always listening to a lot) A7X’s newest album ‘Hail To The King, at the time I was also a big fan of the newest Killswitch Engage album, and I like to believe some of it shows on our record.
Were there any albums you were referencing to aim for a certain type of sound production wise?
Not necessarily for a certain sound or anything no, we just wanted everything to be as clear, real, and HD per say, as possible. We wanted the album to sound exactly like what it would sound like if we rolled into a studio, mic’d everything up, and recorded it. Like I said, no gimmicks, just metal.
How long did you spend in the studio recording?
We lived in seattle for about a month and a half, while recording the album.
Tell us a little about the recording process the band used?
It was a very “9-5″ type recording schedule. except 9 was usually noon and 5 was roughly midnight haha. But it was very laced, but as job oriented as anything. 6 days a week, Sundays off. We made all of the click templates, and Jerod knocked out the drums in about a week or so, then for guitars they were basically split 50/50 on the rhythm side between me and justin, and after the fact I went in and did all of the leads, and solo’s, etc. Made it very easy for both of us as far as time tracking
Was this any different to previous processes you have used?
Not necessarily it was all fairly similar for the most part. We just as a band were a lot more prepared this album as opposed to others, so it all seemed extremely streamline.
Any guests involved? if so, who.. and what did they do?
No, no guest vocals or anything of that nature. We tried to get a few people but unfortunately they didn’t workout
Any particular equipment outside your usual live gear used in the process?
Jerod played a grand piano in the song “echoes” haha! Thats about it though, nothing crazy.
Any additional tracks recorded that didn’t make the cut but may see the light of day sometime?
We did have about three tracks that didn’t make the cut, but I don’t believe they will be seeing the light of day ever. They didn’t make the cut for a reason
What track/s are you most looking forward to playing live?
We played “Gone” on our last europe tour live, which was awesome, I can’t wait to play it now that it’s been out for the people to here, songs like “You want me” and “Hero With No Name” I’m looking forward to playing the most.
How would you compare the final product to previous releases?
I think it’s a good follow up to what we wanted to do on at heart, I really think everyone is going to like it even more. Also this album we’ve wrote, and rewrote, and rewrote, like three times, because of the time we spent in different studios writing and recording, so it’s a lot more fine tuned than the last one.
Anything else you want to say or about the release?
The album comes out April 25th in Australia, you can pre-order it at www.mmiriseofthelion.com thank you for having me! Stay metal.
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MISS MAY I – ‘Rise Of The Lion‘
Available Friday 25th April on Rise Records.
Pre-order on CD [Here], Digitally [Here], or Vinyl & Bundles [Here].
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