There are tour interviews, and then there are interviews with the boys in From Ashes To New. Read on and laugh as Derek desperately attempts to keep this from going off the rails to no avail…
Recently during a tour stop at The Pavillion at Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA the boys of From Ashes To New sat down with AltWire’s Derek Oswald to conduct an interview about touring life, their sudden fame, and their new album.
Or at least that was the initial plan. From the very beginning of our time with From Ashes To New, it was very clear this would not be your textbook interview. Through tears of laughter, Derek’s abilities as a journalist were put to the test, and the results were nothing short of spectacular.
What follows is easily one of the most unique, entertaining and outright bizarre interviews we will ever print on this website. Due to multiple people talking, we’ve tried to make this as easy to follow as possible. This was certainly an experience we will never forget.
AltWire [Derek Oswald]: First off, let’s start and ask: how has Warped Tour been for you guys so far?
From Ashes To New [Lance Dowdle, Branden ‘Boo’ Kreider, Tim D’onofrio]:
– It’s been really hot!
– Very sweaty.
– Potatoes.
– Also, also — mashed potatoes.
– Mash… mashed potatoes?
– Mashed potatoes.
– ………what?
AW: [Laughs]
From Ashes To New:[Lance doing Gollum impression] Taters!
AW: [Looking at Lance] He said mashed potatoes, so you say?
From Ashes To New:
– [Lance doing Gollum impression] I’ll say ‘taters’!
– Baked potatoes.
– Scallops?
– Ohh… scallop potatoes!
AW: Shrimp and potatoes?
From Ashes To New:
– That’s also good.
AW: [Laughs]
From Ashes To New:
– We forgot to say our names before we started…
– Ohh yeah…
AW: No, no, you guys did it at the beginning!
From Ashes To New:
– This is Tim ‘Scallop Potatoes’.
– This is Brandon ‘Baked Potatoes’.
– This is Lance. A raw potato. Bitch!
– [Laughs]
AW: [Laughs] This is gonna be the best interview of all time.
From Ashes To New: [Laughs]
AW: Now, [Laughs] I can’t even concentrate! I understand you guys came together from multiple different bands within the Lancaster area. Can you guys tell me a little bit of history about your band and how you all met each other?
From Ashes To New::
– We met Tim in a galaxy… far, far away…
– It was actually a pretty close galaxy, it wasn’t that far away…
AW: [Laughs]
From Ashes To New::
[Lance knocking Mic away] Oh, OH GEEZ, put it right in my mouth, why don’t you? [Laughs]
AW: [Laughs]
From Ashes To New:
– Why don’t you eat it?
– That sounded reeeally bad.
– [Laughs]
AW: [Laughs]
From Ashes To New:
– Ohh! Umm… I met Tim a long time ago and we went off to play in other big rock bands
and then eventually we’re just… here!
– Was it actually a really big rock band?
– By today’s standards, I would…
– Are you sure…?
– I would say…
– Are ya… are ya positive?
– I’m gonna say something really inappropriate, so…
AW: [Laughs]
From Ashes To New:
– Do you wanna add two cents?
– Two cents.
– Two cents.
– Added.
– Ok, cool.
– You know how, like, people say, ‘a penny for your thoughts’? Or, you’re gonna ‘put your two cents in’? Because your opinion is more valuable than somebody else’s. That’s why it’s only a penny for the other person, but two cents for you!
AW: As a Lancaster band, it must be awesome to see some many places on the Warped Tour. Which stop has been your favourite so far?
From Ashes To New:
– We haven’t got there yet, for me. How about for you?
– Yeah, we haven’t been to Vegas yet, so when we get there I’ll let you know.
– Yeah, we haven’t been there… how about you, Lance?
– We’re in my hometown sometime soon, Cuyahoga Falls!
– Yeah, it’s in, like, a couple days, I think?
– … you don’t know!
– I… I do know!
– You’re making shit up!
– I’m not making anything up! I don’t lie!
– You’re a liar!
– I’m NOT A LIAR!
AW: [Laughs] Your most recent album has been getting pretty heavy play on Billboard 200. You guys actually peaked at #53, if I recall. How does it feel to see such a big response to your music?
From Ashes To New:
– Do you have any thoughts on that, Lance?
– Hmmm…
– Lance doesn’t have authority on that, ’cause he wasn’t on the record… He’ll be on the next one, though. It was cool! It was definitely cool. You don’t know what to expect when you release a record, but when we had the response that we did, it was comforting to know that we may actually have some longevity here… maybe! We’ll see.
– I would agree to concur… on that. Lance, you don’t get to speak, so… yeah…
– I don’t even think he was… trying to.
– [Laughs]
AW: For those who can’t see, he just gave him the middle finger, so…
From Ashes To New:
– That totally just happened and it hurt my feelings a lot, so, I’m gonna cry later, in a ball.
– You said you don’t lie.
– [Laughs] I’m not lying! It’s really gonna happen.
AW: Your band is actually very popular within the Linkin Park crowd. Actually, some fans and publications have even compared you guys favourably to the band’s earlier music. Is this nod to Linkin Park intentional, or is it just kind of coincidental?
From Ashes To New:
– I mean, it’s kinda, y’know, coincidental. But it’s still pretty awesome being even compared to them, ’cause they’re such a huge band. So… feels pretty good!
– I always say that, because we have, like, a rapper and then we have a singer, it’s pretty easy to draw the comparisons to Linkin Park. But once you scratch the surface and you actually listen to the music, it’s really the only, like, comparison you can make — that there’s, like, similar line up. We don’t have a DJ… we don’t have a bassist! [Laughs]
AW: Yeah, you guys just, like, make bass noises with your mouths, right?
From Ashes To New:
– Yeah.
– Yeah.
– And… his butt.
– And my butt.
AW: [Laughs]
From Ashes To New:
– It’s actually a special microphone, it’s like…
AW: Attached right to the ass?
From Ashes To New:
– Oh no, it actually goes right in there!
On microphone placement: “Actually it goes right in there [in the ass]”…
AW: [laughs] Tell me a little bit more about the recording process for your band. Do you guys generally do a lot of writing on the road, or do you do your music mostly at home and in the studio?
From Ashes To New:
– [Laughs] Well we start with the bassline…
AW: [Laughs]
From Ashes To New:
– …and then, usually, Tim will fart on a snare drum…
– I ain’t farting on no snare drum! No, we’re usually trying to continuously write. We have a couple songs together — demos. We don’t write on the road. Usually we don’t have a rig to write, but…
– …or room.
– Yeah, we don’t have the rig or the room or the… someth- insert another adjective there.
– Yeah, or, umm… stuff.
– Stuff. Yeah.
– Oh, I get to say something now? Yay!
– No, actually, screw you. You don’t get to say shit.
AW: You guys released your video for ‘Lost and Alone’ back in April. The lyrics seem to deal a lot with what’s going on in the world. Since that video’s release, we’ve kinda had a lot of shitty events occurring in this country and around the world. How do you three feel about the current state of things?
From Ashes To New:
– Everything is fucked!
– Well, that’s true, obviously.
– Sorry… just… trying to sell a t-shirt here.
– Well, yeah, we do have a t-shirt
– We have a shirt that says that.
AW: ‘Everything’s fucked’? Buy the t-shirt!
From Ashes To New:
– Yeah, buy the t-shirt. It’ll help us feed our children, eventually.
– Yeah, if we could just exploit the awful things that are going on in the world right now for some personal gain, that’d be awesome. Thanks, Lance.
– [Laughs]
– Way to be original…
– Your mom…
– Nah, your mom.
– Your mom.
– No, your mom.
– Your mom’s a mom.
– Your mom’s mom’s mom…
– Give me this goddam thing!
AW: [Laughs]
From Ashes To New:
– You guys lost your privileges.
AW: So, do you have anything to add to that, real quick?
From Ashes To New:
– ………no.
– [Laughs]
AW: No, alright! [Laughs] Well, this has definitely been one interesting interview! Last question — what can fans expect from you guys in the year ahead?
From Ashes To New:
– In the year ahead?
AW: Yeah!
From Ashes To New:
– Lots more basslines. That’s pretty much… I don’t wanna spoil it, but… Brandon’s butt is waiting to write some nasty beats.
– Especially after a grandé meal from Taco Bell… [whistles]
– We actually custom record all of our 808 drops. [Laughs] A suppository microphone…
– And probably some Lance poop-selfies…
– Poop-selfies?
– Yeah, poop-selfies.
– I don’t get to record, I just get to take pictures of myself…
– Exactly
AW: Does he actually get to record on the next album?
From Ashes To New:
– We’re thinking about letting him maybe record, but we’re not 100% sure yet…
– Actually, I’ve committed Lance to write, sing, produce, record, and mix and master the entire next record, so… Lance is going to be From Ashes To New.
AW: Big role for you, bud!
From Ashes To New:
– Yeah, just, him all by himself and his hair that goes to the left.
[Lance changes hair direction]
AW: Well, now it’s going to the right, he just changed the direction…
From Ashes To New:
– Yeah, but it’s not the same — you have to see it when it’s out of that hood-thing that he’s wearing.
– [burp]
AW: Well, you guys, thank you so much. It’s gonna be one hell of an interview to transcribe online.
