With Faith or Flames

6.08 V1.1

With Faith or Flames has a devoted local following and fans from East to West Coast. At last count there were more than 25,000 contacts on the band's myspace. I caught up with frontman, Ian, for a chat.

RBN: For our readers who aren't familiar with the band how would you describe your style?

Ian: We're definitely metal, but we try to not fit ourselves into any certain type of metal, but rather blend elements of thrash, death, power, and even some hardcore from time to time.

RBN: You're on Stand and Deliver Records now. How did that come about?

Ian: They found us on myspace. It's kind of like the new press kit, so they were able to hear our recordings, see our tour history, and a lot of the other things we've accomplished all in one place. We had talked to other bigger labels, but the industry is definitely designed to screw the artist, We thought we'd get more attention as the first band on an upstart label than being buried under huge bands on a huge label. Plus, their offer was pretty much consistent with what the bigger labels were throwing at us.

RBN: What can you tell us about the new album?

Ian: Well, everyone always says the new album is "way better" or whatever, but in this case it really is. We've had some lineup changes and three years to improve our playing and songwriting skills, so we think anyone who judges us by our last independent release is in for a shock. Every member of the band kicked it up a few notches. The riffs are more technical in some parts, more fun in others. The solos are longer and crazier. The drums are faster and more intense. The vocals are more varied and the lyrics are a bit more mature. All in all, we really tried to outdo ourselves and I think we pulled it off.

RBN: You guys will be touring this summer. What's it like being on the road for long stretches of time?

Ian: The road is a tough place. Money's always tight, so you're always seeing these awesome things you want to do but can't afford. Food is pretty limited. We usually only do $2 each at the various dollar menus twice a day.

"You're essentially living in a van with four or five other dudes, so even if they're your best friends, by the end of the tour everyone is sick of each other."

We don't always get places to crash, so a lot of times we're sleeping in Wal-Mart parking lots, going four or five days with no shower. That's not so bad, except like I said, you're talking about six total dudes living in a confined space. It gets pretty nasty. We really want to get back out west. The people out there are far more receptive to metal, and we've been in high demand since our last trip out there in '06. Plus they have the best fast food places.

RBN: Who else will be joining you on tour?

Ian: Killwhitneydead, Carnifex, The Demonstration, and on the first leg it will be Dance Club Massacre, with Salt The Wound taking over on the second leg.

RBN: I heard you shot a video for "Heir to the Viking Throne" in New York. What was that like?

Ian: Well, we got the call on a Wednesday morning from our label, saying we had to be in Staten Island on Thursday morning, so we bussed our guitarist Trevor in from Kentucky and drove all night to get there. We met up with the director, Frankie Nasso (he also shot videos for Dying Fetus, All That Remains, Demiricous), and followed him to his house. We didn't really know what to expect, and kinda thought it would be easy, but it turned into a 12-hour work day of rocking out the same song over and over again. I forgot to mention, it was on a beach in 30-40 degree weather, and we were decked out in T-shirts and shorts, like we'd wear to any show. But it was a lot of fun in the end and we got to see NYC after we wrapped.

RBN: Who writes your lyrics and where does the inspiration come from? Is there a dominant theme or message?

Ian: I write all the lyrics. As far as inspiration goes, I just use my life and interests. They always say to write what you know, so I guess that's what I do. The topics of our songs cover pretty much anything and everything. "Heir to the Viking Throne" and "Hegelian Dialectic" are about more serious political issues, while "The Vagrant Dead" and "Bending Space and Time" are just about campy fun stuff like zombies and TV shows. I also like to make commentaries on the state of the music scene, which is why I wrote "Nemesis Enforcer," which is pretty much me railing on people who jump on bandwagons because of who they want to be friends with, not because of how the music makes them feel.

"I think with any art, the artists world view will come into play, so I try to throw in references to who I am and what I believe, without being too direct or preachy about it."

RBN: Where should we go to learn more about the band, pick up a CD or merchandise?

Ian: Well shows are always a good place for starters. That's hard for some people since we typically play a pretty unpopular venue, but it's the only all-ages place we have right now, and we're not about to cut off our younger fan base to make a few people happy. We're also totally open to playing any of the other venues in town as well, but we rarely get asked to. There's always the myspace, which is pretty much our main outlet to the world. It gets updated more than any of the other sites we're on. We've got shirts out in regional Hot Topic stores right now as well, and our new CD "A Conquest Triumphant" will be nationally distributed through Hot Topic stores. We're hoping this will help us blow up like World Trade.

Track Listing...
01. Continuum
02. Power of the Morning Star
03. Bending Space and Time
04. Heir to the Viking Throne
05. The Vagrant Dead
06. The Conquest Triumphant
07. Hegelian Dialectic (Thesis & Antithesis)
08. Hegelian Dialectic (Synthesis)
09. The Abomination
10. Nemesis Enforcer

Available Now at Hot Topic.

myspace.com/withfaithorflames

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