ChitChat - Brandon Saller from Atreyu Interview
Interview By: Rory Beeforth
Rory runs his own Podcast "F*ck You Tarot Lady", check it out on SPOTIFY, APPLE or any PodCast Apps (Search FUTL)
Rory:
Hi Brandon. How's it going mate?
Brandon:
Yeah doing well how are you?
Rory:
Yeah, doing very well man doing very well! So you guys haven’t been in Australia for about three years, is that right?
Brandon:
Yeah way too long!
Rory:
In coming out to Australia, is there something that you look forward to or you miss about Australia that you want to come back to?
Brandon:
Absolutely! I think that Australia is one of my favourite places to play. Every time we’ve been there it's fantastic and the shows are great. We're all chomping at the bit to get back. Very excited!
Rory:
What do you think makes it so exciting to come back?
Brandon:
Just the fans, people are just passionate down under. So much excitement and energy.
Rory:
Oh that's excellent man! The difference, I guess, with Australia versus other places to tour around is that geographically there's a lot of time between shows in Australia. What do you guys like to do in the van? How do you kill time?
Brandon:
Some of us play video games and stuff like that. I like to get out, cruise around and see as much as I can. Good cocktails, good food and a good view. Just enjoying it, Australia is not short of any of those things.
Rory:
That's pretty much what most of our tourism campaigns are based on…
Brandon:
*laughs*
Rory:
When you guys took time off, you started a side project “Hell or High Water”. What did you learn from that and what did take back with you to Atreyu?
Brandon:
The whole journey of music to me is about being inspired. Starting from absolutely nothing with that band gave me this whole new inspiration. Also not being behind the drums kind of forces you to be a better entertainer, be a better performer.
Rory:
It's something that's really funny that you wouldn't even imagine a band like Atreyu has been around for 20 years, but then you look at the dates and you're like, holy shit, it's been 20 years. Has that been a bit of a whirlwind for you guys?
Brandon:
Oh man, it snuck up on us...
Rory:
Here in Australian time you’re speaking to me on Valentine's Day! Can we talk about a little bit of the lyrical content in the earlier albums. It’s all centered around love and betrayal and a lot of anger. Have you guys cooled off a bit?
Brandon:
Well, the love stuff has taken on new meaning. We're no longer melodramatic teenagers. The majority of us are married and a couple of us have had children So the love songs turned into something different and we're a lot happier these days!
Rory:
While we're on lyrical content, you know, you've got one of the lines about an Anne Rice novel come to life and I think it's so funny that you guys kind of preempted this vampire explosion early. Did you guys know you're onto something with the Vampire stuff?
Brandon:
A little known fact is we have super powers and could see into the future… *laughs*
Rory:
Tell me about your song 'Blow’, is that your most angry song?
Brandon:
I think so! It’s our biggest fuck you song for sure. I think that it's funny that we wrote that song while on a beach in Central California. Such a good time, but I think it's one of the most angry songs we have.
Rory:
And I assumed that still goes off live every time right?
Brandon:
Oh yeah it’s a crowd favourite! Record number of Fucks in that song too which is always good.
Rory:
Which is your favorite cover you’ve done? “You Give Love A Bad Name” or "Epic” which one which one speaks to you?
Brandon:
See that’s a tough question because “You Give Love A Bad Name” is one of those songs that just won’t quit. We can never NOT play that song. Fans just want to hear it 15 years later, but I think it’s funny because with “Epic” we had to do the song last minute and we had members out of the country. We recorded our parts of the song at different times and put it all together. I love the way it came out but I don’t think it ever got the attention that Bon Jovi did. But Bon Jovi is the cover song of all cover songs. People still want to hear it so I gotta go with Bon Jovi on this one!
Rory:
One last question man! You guys come from the OC. Is there any truth to the Arrested Development kind of vibe? Is it like that over there? Is there a banana stand?
Brandon:
*laughs* There’s one area of Orange County that’s called Balboa in Newport Beach. It’s got an old school arcade but it's kind of old and janky at this point so unfortunately there's no banana stand.
Rory:
*laughs* Well good luck, keep looking for that banana stand Brandon. Thanks so much for chatting and have a great time in Australia!
Brandon:
Absolutely man! Can’t wait to get down there. Thanks for the call man!
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