Posted on Sep 20, 2007 by DevotedToMusic

As I Lay Dying are a San Diagan Christian Metal band signed to Metal Blade records.

They recently released their new album ‘An Ocean between Us’ and won an award for ‘Ultimate Metal Gods’ at the MTV2 first All that rocks special.

I Alexandra McLoughlin was lucky enough to grab a quick chat with guitarist Phil to find out about their faith, restaurants and more…

From what I have heard about you, it seems you are an admirable set of people. What do you say about that?

Phil- Errr (Laughs) I dunno.

I’ve heard about your religious beliefs and you are very proud of them, personally I admire that. Have you ever done talks about it before?

Yeah we met other people or certain other musicians and just chatted to them about it and what it was like growing up and when we first became Christian and stuff like that.

Why did you decide to play heavy metal music in the first place?

It’s just a lot more energetic and there’s something about fast drumming and fast guitar playing that’s a lot more aggressive and I guess that was something I was kinda drawn to when I was in high school.

Have you ever broken your guitars before?

My guitars are always broken but I don’t break them intestinally.

You toured with Bullet for my Valentine this year. What were your favourite moments of the tour?

My favourite moments were …I think it was really cool playing the Hammersmith Ballroom in London. It was crazy to see how many kids were there and there’s a huge stage. It was just really cool.

They cancelled some dates last year in November where you were supposed to be supporting them. Were you disappointed?

Well we came back over in February and we finished most of their shows, there were only 2 shows we didn’t do.

You’ve just released your new album ‘An Ocean between Us’ Why did you choose to name it that?

Tim our singer thought of the name. It was kinda about the separation of you with things in life that don’t really improve you, things that are not necessary.

It’s been doing really well with the critic’s as well. You must be very proud of that…

Yeah! Most people seem to like it and I guess it’s selling better then the previous one so it’s pretty cool.

How would you compare this album with the last one?

I can’t really listen to the last album and be as proud as I am of this new album. I love the songs that we did and it’s just very exciting to play new songs live.

Did you think it would get such great reviews from the critic’s?

I dunno, I had a lot more confidence with this record. I felt that people were gonna like it more then the last album

You are playing the Mean Fiddler tonight. What have you got planned for the live performance?

We’ve got a few new songs and we have some crazy lights and there’s not too much we can do at this venue. It’s gonna be fun no matter what!

Do you prefer the bigger venues to the smaller venues or the other way around?

It’s different because back in the U.S we can play a thousand capacity but we’ll have more production because we’re from the states, it’s easier to move all our gear there. I like both. It’s cool playing festivals. I like indoor shows more then outdoor shows.

Why’s that?

When you’re outdoors the sound is a lot different, the weather is a lot different and my guitars keep going out of tune. The temperature is not as stable I guess.

Do you prefer to play in hot or cold venues?

I prefer hot because when I play it’s kinda gross but I like sweating, I like to feel like I’m putting on a show. If I get off the stage and don’t even break a sweat It seems I didn’t really do much.

I know that you travel a lot around the world. You must get really bad jet-lag. Do you?

Yeah but we try to adapt at soon as possible. I think it’s gonna hit me tonight or tomorrow, the jet-lag.

And you’ve been here in the UK since last night. Have you enjoyed it so far? Have you looked around and seen the sites?

Yeah! I walked down to Leicester square today and London’s great yeah. I ate some Nandos which was ok, pretty expensive. It was good.

What have you got planned for the rest of the tour, apart from obviously playing?

Sleep and just hang around with the other bands.

Do you plan to go to Nandos again?

I don’t think so. Maybe Wagon Mamma. I might go there.

Have you been to any other nice restaurants here in the UK so far?

I went to a Thai Place a couple of last year. I forgot what it’s called but I guess the Thai and Indian food is good down here.

What is your favourite thing about playing here compared to playing in the US?

I don’t really know. I don’t know.

Are the fans crazier over here then in America?

I think in America they are but over here they are getting there. I think in the UK the fans that you get are really appreciate you a lot more then the US fans because they get to see us all the time. When they see us here, they see us maybe once or twice a year and they are really stoked on it.

Do you know roughly then you will be coming back after this tour?

I dunno. Hopefully sometime next year maybe do a few festivals again maybe Reading and Leeds. I dunno if it’s an option because they don’t have many heavy bands but I think it would be great if we played it.

There is always a first time..

Yes.

Do you want to play Glastonbury Festival at all?

Never heard of it.

No heavy metal bands really play it but like I said, there is always a first time.

Yeah.

How about Download festival?

Download’s great! We played it last year. It’s a great festival.

Did you enjoy that?

Yeah I thought we put on a really good show. The kids were pretty stoked.

Thank you for letting me interview you.

No problem.

Taken At:

Mean Fiddler, London

Taken On:

September 8th, 2007

Interviewees:

Phil Sgrosso- Guitar

Related Links:

• www.asilaydying.com
• www.myspace.com/asilaydying
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_I_Lay...

Interviews

Sep 8, 2007 Mean Fiddler, London