FEATURED INTERVIEWS

Trivium

Enter Metal. Trivium has unleashed the metal beast with Shogun.
By: Gian Erguiza - - October 24th, 2008 - 1:39 pm PST

Orlando Florida's Trivium is taking no prisoners with their latest metal masterpiece, Shogun. The merciless assualt that Trivium crafted on Shogun has taken Trivium to a whole new level in the metal world and as musicians. We got a chance to talk with the backbone of the band and on drums/percussions, Mr. Travis Smith, about the current state of metal and why downing shots of vodka might not be a good idea.

Travis, whats up big man? Where are you right now and how's the tour coming along?

Ohh man, I'm good. I'm over here stuffing my face full of food right now.[both laugh]

So how's the food anyways? Good?

Food's going down great man, hold on, let me swallow this.....Sorry, I was trying to stuff a shit load of food down my throat!

All good man!

Okay, Tour's going along great dude, it's going really good. Shows have been sick every night and we've been doing some new material and actually, I think we're going to throw in another new song tonight.

So how's the response so far with the new material?

Killer man! All the way around from the west to the live shows to places where it's been released online. The stuff's been leaked but whatever. The response has been good all around and I guess coming out with our fourth album, we couldn't ask for more.

So let's talk 'Shogun,' which is about to be released in about 13 days from now. What can we expect from the new album and what was the recording process like for you guys this time around? Anything different?

You know this process has been intense. Way more intense than we've done in the past, spent a lot more time preparing ourselves for this record because we had the time to do that and you know we totally changed the way we write our songs, how we're going to do the album, who we're going to record with and I mean, we changed everything in how we operate as Trivium. It's killer to do it that way cause it made everything refreshed and doing a record with Nick Raskulinecz, someone that we've never ever worked with before, working with him we've learned a lot from him.

I guess we learned on how to kind of get on the next level of recording and we kind of felt like we needed to take a step forward and with him we felt like we were doing that and I think he brought out the best in Trivium. He made us play to the best of our abilities, helped us write songs the best way Trivium can, and I think that's the reason why this record stands out more than any other record we've done, how much you can really hear the heart and the soul of Trivium in this record and how much you can hear te enrgy from everyone's playing. We were really passionate and wanted to make really killer songs and you can hear it on every track.

I can hear it man and it sounds really great! So after three successful albums, countless touring, and a fourth album soon to be a smash I'm sure, do you guys have any goals or expectations for 'Shogun?'

"You know what? The world is full of assholes and they'll always be assholes and you know what? I don't live my life thinking what the next assholes going to say what about who or when or what they do or what they don't like about us or any other band that everyone talks shit about. You know what, I just don't care"

You can't really expect anything. You can have a goal of conquering all but I think that's been Trivium's goal from day one. We've been pretty open minded with saying that. But you know, you can't really expect anything, I mean, all we can do out there is expect for us to bust our ass and play as many shows as we can consume and really play. And hopefully we can acquire one person at a time, one city at a time, go in there and just destroy. That's all we can actually sum up. Hopefully people really really enjoy the record and know all the words for it….All we can really do is leave it to our fans. We have some of the best fans in the world and that's why were here and that's why we'll be here for the next 15 to 20 years from now, it'll be because of them.

You know I hear you talk a little about the recording process but how important was it for you guys to capture the attitude and energy of Trivium on record?

I think it was really important considering we haven't really captured this vibe on any other record. We really focused on capturing the whole energy and what Trivium's all about. It was really important for us to capture that on this record and it brought a whole new element to our sound and to what Trivium is. Working with Nick, he really pushed that. He met up with us on the Black Crusade tour with Machine Head and he came over for a couple of London shows we played and he got us right away. He got our energy and just our live shows basically explains what we're about. He just understood the energy and he really wanted us to want to capture all of that, what he saw and what he heard. He really wanted to get that on record and we were totally fucking down for that cause like I said, we haven't really captured that on any other record so going in with that mentality, really wanting it to be a performance based record, I think it really what makes this record stand out from what we've done.

We really went into it thinking that everything was going to be played in perfection and there's not going to be any Protools bullshit on this record, none of that stuff, none of that crutch stuff. I'm not going to say that we haven't been guilty of that in the past but we really wanted to step away from that and get back into the basics of recording and what is that? Four dudes in a room with microphones set up and what you get is what you hear.

I give you a lot of credit for that and like you said, that's the way to do it! 'The Unholy Alliance' Tour is always an absolute delight and you guys are on it this year. How excited are you guys to be on 'The Unholy Alliance Tour' and what are you guys' expectations for the tour?

It's going to be really great for us to come out and play with a band that we have been really inspired by for years, Slayer, and all we can do in going with a tour like this is to hopefully come out with some really great new fans. We're going to go into it with our gloves on and be ready to fight and we're going to give it our most brutal set that we can possible give every night at every show and every venue no matter where we are. That's all we can hope for that we can touch somebody, buy the new record and come out to our next show.

Speaking of touring, I've talked to a lot of bands and artists with different perspectives about the road. Some absolutely are not built for the road and would rather be at home and some live to be out on the road and are most comfortable being out on the road. What is it for you guys? Are you guys comfortable with the road?

We really are. We've done it so much and it 's kind of just getting on that routine of what to expect and you kind of get a routine with the schedule of the band or your own schedule and get with the flow. You know you can make it miserable if you want to but you can make it a delight as well. Sometimes it goes day by day, meaning one day is harder than the next but overall, it just comes with ease since we've done so much touring that you kind of just get in with the groove and just go with it.

Are you guys planning to release a live DVD anytime soon, maybe to accompany the release of 'Shogun?'

We're going to have a DVD come out with the album and we're doing a regular edition and a special edition. We had cameras rolling the whole time when we were in Nashville, recording everything that we did from going out, tracking, to whatever it was, arguments, whatever it was, cameras rolling the whole time. So that's actually a special bonus for people that get the special edition and I think it comes with a t-shirt I believe as well.

Jesus man, Geez, that's some good stuff then! Now your video for 'Down From The Sky' is fucking great! Where did you guys get the idea from and how much fun did you guys have recording the video?

It was actually a really fun process. It was a real easily done video to be honest with you. I mean we've done videos in the past that seemed like an eternity to finish. The idea? I don't know? The idea got thrown around with like weird clips of stuff that we've done like jamming around and everyone thought it was cool so everyone wanted to roll around with it so once we saw the edits, we kind of just fell in love. It just kind of got better and better throughout the process with our producers sitting in and getting the clips, getting more and more, adding more and more, and its one of our favorites today.

Dragon was our favorite but now we feel that this one tops that one and this is the same producer that did both. So compared to different producers in the business, he's really new but he's….I'm sorry dude, I had to burp, I'm drinking a Coke….[both laugh]…He's just one of those people that have a vision and he's really Trivium which basically sums up Trivium as well. We're just really driven guys and at the end of the day our vision is to really get out there, play in front of the most people, gain the most fans, all while we're fucking out here raging it up, touring!

Alright man, let's talk about metal phrases. Give me the best metal phrase of all time or 5 best metal moments of all time?

The best metal phrase I've heard so far would probably be from my guy, Matt Heafy! I don't know what it was nor can I remember what tour but I just remember some guy kept flicking us off or something like that and Matt got on the mic and told the dude that he was gonna fuck him in the mouth [both laugh] and I thought that was pretty fucking great!

It is! Got what he deserved! Which leads me into my next question. As sad as it is, you will always have people that are haters and disagree with anything that your band does, even if they like it deep inside. How do you guys feel about the haters and what do you have to say to them?

You know what? The world is full of assholes and they'll always be assholes and you know what? I don't live my life thinking what the next assholes going to say what about who or when or what they do or what they don't like about us or any other band that everyone talks shit about. You know what, I just don't care and I don't pay attention to that stuff and none of us do. We just live our lives the way we live it and you know there's always going to be people that are not going to like what you do no matter what you do, they're not going to like it. To each his own. Everyone's entitled to their opinions but just keep it to your fucking self! [both laugh]

I hear you on that! Alright, in your opinion, what are some of the biggest problems or obstacles in metal music of today, if any?

You know what I'll be honest. The only thing that I see that could be an issue is the unity between bands and fans. Fans are just too critical with every little thing that you do. I think if there wasn't so much criticism but a little more love for the actual music. But to be honest with you man, I'm pretty happy where I am, content and life goes on you know?

What's the best advice that you guys have gotten as a band or do you guys have any advice for up and coming bands about to break into the scene?

Best advice I've ever gotten? I've had a lot of them to let you know but….I think the best thing you can do, for us, Trivium, is to get up there and always have fun with it and not forget why we're doing what we do. Not to forget to have fun and love the music. We're a bunch of guys who are really really passionate about the music since we can remember. We've been fans of everybody and still are fans of everything music. I have everything from Pepper to Morbid Angel in my iPod and everything in between like country, reggae and rap no matter what, it's just a love of music all around. I think being in a band and a fan, I always have an appreciation for what people do and what people create.

After years of destroying stages and being in different places, you guys have got to have your fair share of pranks or weird stories from the road. From the top of your head, memba any?

Any crazy stories from the road? Yeah, it would have to be one about myself. We had a day off and we were in Finland and on our day off, we all went to go see Motorhead that night and we ended hooking up with the drummer of Motorhead. We ended up going to this bar in Finland and we were just hanging out and shit like that. They had a motorcycle booth thing, like Harley, crazy looking chopper bike in the middle of it at the tables I was sitting and it was the coolest looking booth I've ever seen in my life and it was right next to the bar.

I just kept going up to the guy and kept ordering Vodka and something else but instead of just ordering a drink, I kept ordering a bottle of Vodka and a mixer to go with it so after three bottles of Vodka, I was feeling pretty good! So the bar starts to close, I'm already trashed but I go up to the bar and ask for twelve shots of Vodka and Red Bull and everyone's like, 'Hey dude we gotta go, everyone's gotta clear the bar,' and I didn't want to see any drinks go to waste so I downed them all. By the time I got from the bar to the front door of the bar, I blacked out. I was throwing chairs at the wall, tearing posters down, getting tackled by security and our Manager was freaking out thinking 'Oh my god, Travis is out of his mind!' So they take me back to the bus and I'm just 'that guy,' that 'hammered guy.'

My crew took me back to my bunk on the bus and I called my chick not knowing what I was telling her and I just told her 'Hey I gotta go' and then puked everywhere on the bus! It was just a mess of puke down the entire hallway and it was just disgusting. So needless to say I passed out right after that and woke up the next day and my crew was nice enough to leave it for me to clean up. [both laugh] I was hungover, could barely see….So hungover basically where your eyes are swollen shut and I'm down on the thing, trying not to puke cause of the smell. It was horrible! Never want to relive that day again!

That's some good times! So I guess we're not drinking Vodka tonight right?

No, I'll stick to brewskies

Nice. We don't want that to happen tonight.

Me neither dude!

Now I know you're a busy dude and you've got to get going so I've got these two more questions. What else is in store for Trivium for the rest of the year, going into 2009?

For the rest of the year we're going to be touring, going into the Unholy Alliance thing so basically that's going to run us right into Christmas and then we're going ot be taking some time off to spend time with family for Christmas. We don't really know but we've got a couple of things we're looking at so can't really say yet. For now, we're kind of going to be touring throughout 2010 so its going to be busy.

Alright Travis, any additional comments or shout-outs?

Thank you to all of our fans and if you haven't heard of us yet, check us out on our websites, Trvium.org, you can check us out on myspace.com/trivium, we have a fan club, triviumworld.com and basically to all the fans out there, thank you for all the support, we love you guys!

Alright Travis, don't drink too much tonight and we'll see you out on the road.

Appreciate it man, take care.

You too.

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