John: First up, the vocalist. Everyone was under the assumption that Johnny Weills was in it for the long haul, but then he split under less than auspicious circumstances shortly after you guys started recording the follow up to Fulton Hill. Can you give the official word on what happened?
Bryan: Sure. After our 2005 touring run, Johnny Weills became noticeably uninterested in participating in Alabama Thunderpussy. To this day, I�m not sure why, but that�s really inconsequential. He quit the band in an email and left town simultaneously. For the record, we hadn�t started recording anything with Johnny other than a four-tracked demo that we had asked him to demo some vocals on top of.
John: How many people tried out for the singer position and why`d you end up with Kyle?
Bryan: We had a couple of other people express interest and even jammed with one of them. We chose Kyle because he rules. I mean, if you�ve listened to the new record, I don�t think that you can honestly hear what he did and not at least be able to appreciate it for the level of quality. The guy can really belt it out, he�s great at constructing intelligent, well thought out counter melodies, he writes cool lyrics, and he�s a really good dude to hang out with to boot.
John: What`s he brought to ATP?
Bryan: Like I said, Kyle writes great melody, so that adds a whole other level of musical information to what we do that I don�t think had been there in the past. Also, I think that he�s just got a really engaging voice that�s fun to listen to. It�s no different to me than listening to any other musician with talent and character play their instrument. We�re all really glad that he�s on board.
John: How much of the music from the aborted Weills session made it to Open Fire?
Bryan: All that we had done as far as recording goes was a crappy sounding four-track demo of a few of the songs. Johnny didn�t help with any of the songwriting, so after it was all said and done, he didn�t have anything at all to do with anything that you hear on the final product.
John: I read that while recording Open Fire, you guys were holed up in Richmond but Kyle was out of state. How did that affect the recording process?
Bryan: Kyle lives in New Orleans. He came up and jammed a few times before we went into the studio to record, and we sent him demos that we tracked with Ian (the engineer on the new record) so that he could get all of his vocals written. We went in and tracked all of the music, then had him come up and do his vocals. It actually ran really smoothly. Everything was accounted for and well thought out before we ever got started, so it worked out really nicely.
John: What led to the more metal direction of Open Fire? Even Fulton Hill had a more rock vibe to it, but it seems that on Open Fire, that style is downplayed to the point of being nonexistent.
Bryan: I don�t know, man. I think that there was just kind of a group feeling about Fulton Hill that some of the things that we tried to do were more successful than others and that we should capitalize on the strengths and try to eliminate the weaknesses. I think the strength of ATP lies mostly in our more aggressive stuff, whether it leans more toward rock or more toward metal. I feel like there are plenty of both on Open Fire, but it�s all pretty high energy. To put it bluntly, we didn�t want to fiddle around with the more ballady, weepy shit this time around. We just wanted to make some thing that rocked really hard all the way through.
John: Speaking of member turnover, do you even bother trying to remember your bassists` names anymore, or are they just assigned numbers?
Bryan: Numbers, names, derogatory terms, what does it matter? I�m still friends with all of the ones that are living.
John: Whose idea was it to steal the intro to Motley Crue`s "Red Hot" for "The Cleansing"?
Bryan: Well, obviously mine, douche! I actually didn�t think about it while I was fooling around trying to write something for that part, and at first it was more of a drum solo type thing, but we decided to just strip it down and keep it basic. Of course it does sound like �Red Hot� but I�m okay with that; �Red Hot� is a killer tune!
John: After hearing Open Fire, I couldn`t help but wonder how good Kyle would sound with the earlier material, in particular the Fulton Hill songs. Obviously people are going to hear that when you guys play live, but beyond that, is there any chance for Double Live Thunderpussy?
Bryan: You`re not the first person to wonder if we would ever release a live
record. We`ve talked about it. I`d personally like to someday, but you definitely have to make sure that it`s done under the right circumstances. You`d obviously want it to be a really good crowd, and you need a really good sounding room with a competent sound person to make it sound great. I think that we ARE a live band in a lot of ways, so it`d definitely be cool to release something live one day.
John: Okay, now on to the cover controversy. Most people know that Ken Kelley`s artwork for Open Fire was once the unreleased cover for a Polish band called Open Fire. Did you come to him with the album name and he gave you that, or did you get the title and art at the same time? If you just hate Polish metal bands, you can say so.
Bryan: I came up with the name and concept for the cover art a looooong time before we contacted Kelley. I originally had an idea to have a barbarian type being shot to death with modern guns as the cover and the name Open Fire came out of that. If you go here, there are a couple of links to two attempts by two different artists to paint what I had in mind. Both of these were done well before the Ken Kelley painting was even a figment of my imagination. We collectively felt like there was something about both of them that just wasn�t getting it, so the artist at Relapse suggested the Ken Kelley piece. I was actually hesitant to license a pre-existing piece, but it�s such a killer painting that we said, �Okay,� and I�m glad that we did. Despite the retarded �controversy,� I think it�s a killer looking album cover.
The thing that I think it funny is that we actually had the artist at the label re-touch the piece and add bullet holes in the barbarian in keeping with the original concept. It�s subtle, and not many people have noticed it, but they�re there. All that having been said, I obviously was as shocked as anyone when I saw that other band�s record. It�s a pretty insane coincidence and the type of ridiculous bullshitery that we ATP dudes have grown used to dealing with over the years.
John: Bryan, you`ve made public your disdain for MySpace. What`s the big deal? Do you not feel it`s an effective method of promoting one`s music and networking with other bands?
Bryan: Have I? Shame on me! Ha ha. I still think that MySpace is mainly populated by narcissistic attention whores looking for a free handout or at very least a solicited compliment. However, it�s definitely a powerful, undeniably great tool for bands to network and publicize themselves and, as long as it�s free, we�ll exploit it just like everybody else.
John: You know who else sucks? Critics. What are some of the more laughable stuff you`ve read? Keep in mind, if you quote me, I`m editing it out.
Bryan: You�re right. Critics do suck. The entire notion that people can make a living casting judgment on the works of others is incredible to me. I can only assume that this situation exists because people have grown so lazy and complacent that they�re no longer interested in gathering their own information so that they can think for themselves and form educated opinions. Obviously, with this record sounding different from the last one or two, we�ve caught loads of shit from critics (which we foresaw, and is actually one of the reasons that we decided that Open Fire would be a good name for the record). The thing that a lot of them can�t seem to get past is the record cover. I�ve read at least a handful of reviews where I�m 100% positive that the writer never listened to the record at all and based their entire review on the album cover. It�s ridiculous. If the thing had a pink triangle on the cover people would have said that the new ATP record sounds reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys. If music consumers these days are lazy, then critics and writers (not all of them, of course) are twice as lazy.
John: Okay, let`s step back and get your opinion on the ATP catalog:
Rise Again
Bryan: I had been playing the drums for about a year or something like that, so I�m actually really proud of it. We recorded and mixed it in two days I think.
River City Revival
Bryan: I like it. We wrote it really quickly and some of the tunes on that one are really strong I think. We still play �Dryspell� almost every night. Are you sick of it yet?
Constellation
Bryan: A big jump for us. The line-up that we had on this record had been together for a while, so we really had gelled together nicely as a unit and we had toured a bunch by then, so we had gotten better as musicians as well. I think that this was definitely the pinnacle of where we were at and who we were as a band at the time.
Staring at the Divine
Bryan: A lot changed between Constellation and this one. By the time we recorded the finished product, we had been through two bass players, replaced Asechiah Bogdan with Ryan Lake on lead guitar, and had to record it in two different sessions because of studio issues. The recording is kind of weird because of all of that, but overall I dig it and I think that more than anything, it was a sign of things to come from the band musically, I actually think Open Fire is closer in vibe to this record that it is to it�s predecessor.
Fulton Hill
Bryan: Lots of good ideas here. Ryan was able to stretch out and texturize our sound with some great leads. We got really experimental (for us) on this one and I think there are some hits and some misses. Over all the quality of the recording is really good and we began to understand the studio a little better than ever before. Being the only one with Johnny Weills, it�s a little strange and out of place, but it is what it is, ya know?
Open Fire
Bryan: I�m personally more proud of this than of anything I�ve ever recorded, so what can I say. Everybody worked hard together to make something that we�re all proud of. Mike Bryant is a kick ass bass player that I�m beyond stoked to be playing with, Ryan slays the entire time, Erik shreds it up and is tighter than ever, and Kyle is the singer I always wanted. It�s a lot of fun playing in ATP right now, and I think that Open Fire is a testament to that. We�re already working on the next one and it�s shaping up nicely as well. The chemistry that we have now is great!
John: You guys have a healthy collection of covers out there � Rainbow, The Four Horsemen, Judas Priest, Jethro Tull, and most recently Whitesnake. Which ones turned out the best, and which ones the worst? And what`s a band/song that you`ve been aching to cover?
Bryan: I think we figured a lot of shit out between the last record and the new one. We worked on our sound some and tried to fix some trouble spots, and we grew a lot as musicians and a band. I think the Judas Priest cover turned out particularly nice because of this and it definitely sounds like a band that�s jamming really hard together. Probably my favorite one. The Whitesnake thing (talk about controversy!) I�m really proud of too, if only because of the sheer amount of shit that we had to nail down in order to do the song justice. It�s a deceivingly complex song and it took us a while to �get it.� I�ve always loved that song and it�s cool to have been able to pull it off successfully. As far as things that I�d like to cover go, I�ve always wanted to do that song �Escape� off of Ride The Lightning, and also �Never Been Any Reason� by Head East. We�ve tossed around the idea of recording a covers record but who knows if it�ll actually ever happen.
John: You toured with GWAR a couple of years back and there`s a rumor of another stab at touring with WASP. Both groups seem to exist somewhat apart from the usual suspects you`d tour with. Did the GWAR tour help promoting you guys much, and how do you think the WASP crowd is going to react, especially if you bust out something like "Three Stars"?
Bryan: Well first of all, we�re not going to be busting out something like �Three Stars.� Even if we wanted to keep that song in the line-up (which we don�t), we wouldn�t get up in front of a metal crowd and do it.
The GWAR crowd was actually very cool to us, even if a lot of them didn�t dig it, and I think touring with them definitely helped expose us to a bunch of people who wouldn�t have heard us otherwise. WASP is definitely more of an old-school sounding band, and, like us, they seem to tread that fine line between rock and metal, so I think it�ll be great. I�m looking forward to that tour a lot! They�ve recorded some great stuff over the years and I�ll guarantee we�re all gonna be sitting on the side of the stage most nights watching them play. I can�t wait!
John: Along those lines, Erik mentioned awhile back that the bassist turnover has kept you guys from playing a wider variety of tunes (like, say, "Heavyweight," from your split with Halfway to Gone). Any particular songs you wish you could add back into the set list?
Bryan: I think we might be trying to bring back �Six Shooter� and �Old Unfaithful.� We�ll see. I�m not really concerned with all that anyway. We�re gonna get up there and play songs that we all think are strong and if we don�t get around to reminiscing through the years and fishing out a bunch of old stuff to bring back, then oh well.
John: And let`s get an update on the 800 ATP related projects (Suzikiton, Erik`s solo work(s), etc).
Bryan: Suzukiton - Just finished recording a new record. It�s still being mixed. Hopefully will come out within a year. We�ll be performing at the 2007 Emissons fest.
Parasytic - Erik�s crust-metal band; he�s the drummer. Getting ready to record again, playing some shows. They rule. Fast an furious metallic onslaught.
Pitts VS Preps - The band that we got Kyle from. Now I play drums for them. Slowly recording a second album. Drums and bass are done, guitars and vocals next. Good stuff. Old school metal along the lines of Priest or Maiden mixed with some classic rock references. Totally fun.
Erik Larson Experience - Like always, I�m sure he�s sitting around concocting another solo record. When ATP stops kicking his ass in with touring maybe he�ll have time to record more stuff.
Electrocution - Mikey�s other band. Newer-school metal sounding stuff. They are reported to be almost ready to play a show after jamming for several years. We�ll believe it when we see it.
Us Band - Ryan�s cover band still performs frequently at Sin� in Richmond�s historic Shokoe Bottom district. They�re a good time!
John: You`ve been slogging it out in the trenches for close to ten years. What`s changed in that period, both from the perspective of the band and from the music scene you`re commonly associated with.
Bryan: Eleven years, to be exact. Lots of things have changed, obviously. People have come and gone. Other bands have come and gone. I�m actually pretty amazed that we�ve been able to keep it going all of these years. I guess I attribute it to the fact that the reason I play music now is the same as it was when I started; because I�m a fan and I love to rock out. I still obsess over music and love listening to music more than I like doing pretty much anything (other than making it,) so it�s been really easy for me to stay focused on what we�re doing and not get frustrated or bummed with it at all, despite the fact that it�s often been a thankless activity with little to no financial reward. As far as the scene goes, I don�t even know, man. Like all scenes, it seems to have gotten bigger and more populated. Consequently, there�s a ton of great bands out there, and a ton of crappy ones too. I still believe that the cream rises to the top, and due to the fact that this is still pretty much an underground scene, the good stuff has been able to develop without being influenced by the slimy hand of the corporate music industry and there�s a lot of output from a lot of really inventive, interesting bands out there that you can put your hands on fairly easily.
John: You`re right - there are a ton of great bands out there. Let`s give the good people five of `em.
Bryan: Off the top of my head:
1. Baroness
2. Stinking Lizaveta
3. RPG (new record is seriously whoop-ass)
4. Shame Club
5. Trephine
Seems like a strange way to end the interview, so let me just add that if any of this sounds incoherent or strange, I stood out in the sun all day yesterday drinking beer at the NASCAR race, so I�m a little fried.
