Whitechapel
MG: Hi how are you?
Alex: Yeah am really good thanks!
MG: Really enjoying your new album, it’s possibly the best album Whitechapel have released so far, what are your feelings on it?
Alex: Yeah thanks for the praise I totally agree. We been have putting a lot of hard work and effort into it. I really feel like it is our most mature release to date and you know as we get older, not only people but also as musicians, I feel our albums constantly progress and become more mature as we go along in our career and I really feel 'Our Endless War' is the next installment of that.
MG: Can you give me some feedback on the album’s title 'Our Endless War'?
Alex: It’s kind of a representation of us as a band you know. It has a flag with the saw blade symbol and the six figures on the front represent us. But you know I would never compare us in the band as actually going to war. It’s a figurative meaning you know our constant grindingIt’s a figurative meaning you know our constant grinding and battle to make it to the top. It represents all the work and time we have put in to the band over the past eight years.
MG: When you head out onto the road are there going to be a lot of tracks from the release featured you think?
Alex: Yeah we are going to put quite a bit of focus on the new album live. Our first ten dates will feature about three tracks then we are on a headline tour with Devil Driver in the States and we will probably play about five new songs on that tour in the late summer.
MG: Personal favourites on 'Our Endless War'?
Alex: Yeah I really like 'Saws The Law' also 'Let Me Burn' a lot. In fact Phil wrote a lot of the guitar parts for that song and helped him piece it together. It was one of those songs you know, when it started out we weren’t sure about it, but by the end of tracking we were like wow! This is one of the best tracks on the CD.
MG: I really liked 'Diggs Rd.' I know it’s a personal song isn’t it?
Alex: Yes it is for Phil, lyrically, it’s about the death of Phil’s Mother and Father. It’s about his growing up and stuff like that. It’s very deep.
MG: Was it a really difficult song to record then?
Alex: Well you know when we arrive at the studio Phil always surprises us, there’s no set plan, we come in and Phil is like here you go, this is what such and such song is about and we are always like wow! Blown away you know! With 'Diggs Rd.' we were quite taken aback at how personal he made it. I love that personally and I feel this record is much more emotional and deep than our previous records and in my opinion they may be some of our fans favourite albums, but you know they weren’t as personal 'Our Endless War'. You know on the other works they were about fantasy, gore and stuff like that, things that weren’t really real life scenarios. A lot of the lyrics on this album are personal to Phil.
MG: Plans for a tour in Europe this year?
Alex: We will be over for sure to support the CD! It would be insane not too!
MG: You guys seem to tour relentlessly, what keeps you going and what you would say are the best and worst things about touring?
Alex: We love playing shows! Playing the songs we have created and it’s an amazing feeling to see thousands of people who love what you do. Worst has to be being away from your family.
MG: What inspires you personally?
Alex: To me and to everyone else in the band Whitechapel is our baby! I mean we started out as kids jumping in a van trying to be as heavy as can be and now we are all career musicians. We make a living from Whitechapel you know, it’s our living and that’s inspiration enough!
MG: Three words to describe Whitechapel?
Alex: Heavy, Dark and the ever so popular …Brutal!
Alex: Thanks for the support and we hope you enjoy the new album, which I really feel 'Our Endless War' to be our best work to date!
Interview by: Seb Di Gatto