Band Interview: As Paradise Falls

With a new vocalist and guitarist, As Paradise Falls is on the verge of dropping their upcoming album, after the tragic passing of their former guitarist Glenn Barrie. Today we have gotten a chance to sit down and talk with members from the band about both subjects mentioned above and more about what we can expect in the future.

We like to start out our interviews finding out about the people we talk to and bringing a sense of normalcy to everyone. With that being said, is there anything that you’d be willing to share with the public that people don’t necessarily know about you?

I’m a pretty open book to be fair, what you see is what you get with me! Anyone that follows me on social media knows that I like to train at the gym, snag a few sneaky beers every now and then and enjoy a great cheat meal away from my diet once or twice a week haha. The rest of my time is working away and constantly writing music for As Paradise Falls and figuring out any logistics in regards to touring, album releasing etc with our management and the rest of the boys in the band.
I guess one surprising factor about me may be that I don’t actually play guitar too much when I’m writing music, I prefer to tab out the song ideas from my head using my guitar as a reference, then once I’m done I’ll go back through, learn the song and get it tight as possibly can ready for a demo.

Before we dive into the interview, we would like to send our deepest condolences on the passing of your guitarist/friend, Glenn Barrie. We all have lost someone we loved, and it is a heartbreaking experience to go through. With so many emotions going at once, were there any moments where you or other members in the band questioned calling the band quits? What drove the decision to continue on as a band?

Thank you for your kind words, like you said we’ve all lost someone we loved and it’s a remarkably tough time. Its always a very emotional time after something like that with people thinking 100% with emotion rather than rational thinking which is normal and we’re all victim to that. We did have the discussion about anyone not wanting to continue and did have a break over the Christmas period from all band related things. The majority of us knew that we wouldn’t want to stop being in As paradise Falls. There is a bond there that we have together as well as the album we’ve just produced being something we’ve created as a team, something that we are so so proud of. Glen would never have wanted us to stop and if Glen was in our position there’s nothing that would stop his passion either.

How much of an effect did the passing of Glenn have on the upcoming album? Did you guys change anything instrumentally or write anything new other than what had already been written before his passing?

No we didn’t change anything instrumentally at all. Before Glen passed we had 11 songs fully recorded and another 4 we were going to work on in the studio as they were only 70% set in stone songs that we were going to work on if we had time sort of thing. So every instrument you hear on the album is recorded and written before the passing of Glen. We couldn’t be more proud of this album and Glen was too as he got to listen to a first draft mix and master every time we’d wrap up a song which was real cool too.

Most artists tend to stay close by for their recording process, either in the same city or at least a studio in the same country. What was the decision behind heading to Thailand for the recording process and did that have an effect on the direction the record went?

Well we wanted to create an album that was different and had our own sound and feel to it. I believe you can make that happen in the writing process however its going to take more effect when you add in your producer and studio, so these are important factors to consider too. We’ve worked with Shane Edwards on our EP Save Yourself back when he worked at Electric Sun Studios in Sydney and we love his work and his energy and passion for the project he is working on. At Karma Studios not too many heavy bands have been there as of yet, so we knew we’d get a different sound by going there rather than going to the first choice metal producers, which is just the path we wanted to take and will continue to lead.

Focusing more on a positive note and solely on the upcoming album, we are always curious and intrigued by what artists/bands have to say about the process of writing the album. So what exactly was the writing and thought process like when it came time to write the album as a whole?

Well for As Paradise Falls, we tend to work better under pressure. So we kind of booked the studio 7-8 months out with only 1 or 2 songs on the go which is pretty risky but we’ve worked together as a unit and I knew we could do it otherwise that’s a lot of time and money we’ve wasted haha. So during the week me and Glen would write riffs, songs etc and then meet up on a weekend and share what we’ve got to create songs. Then we’d Demo them, Take them to the rehearsal room with the rest of the band, adjust/re-write whatever was needed and fix up and have a final demo of that said song.
That formula seemed to work for us as we got about 19 or so songs down, cut them back to 15, which we cut back to 11 Solid tracks and 4 to adjust in the studio if we got time.

As Paradise Falls | Digital Ritual |

Stream or buy ‘Digital Ritual’ the single via iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora and more at http://eclp.se/rctj7 For more info on As Paradise Falls, visit http://eclp.se/aspr and follow the band on Spotify at http://sptfy.com/aspr Video directed by Third Eye Visuals Recorded Mixed & Mastered by Shane Edwards at Karma Sound Studios © 2017 Eclipse Records / As Paradise Falls.

Over time artists tend to change things such as their style or sound. With Digital Ritual you have shaken things up and came out with a brand new style that differs from stuff you put out on your previous EP. At what point did this evolution occur and what was the driving force behind it?

Yeah I think Digital Ritual does have a different vibe about it however we’re big on the heavy grove that seems to be consistent throughout all of our songs across the board so I guess that connects them together. We’ve always been about creating a diverse album and exploring the Metal genre and sub genres that reside around it. I love having albums where you can listen to each song and it brings a different feel of a genre sneaking in there to make each song differ from the rest. I believe we’ve done that with this album. The evolution occurs naturally really, the more you write the music the more you strive for that different sound depending on your inspirations at the time. So I guess the longer apart your writing is the more drastic the evolution can occur, that’s what I find for me anyway.

Most fans tend to be wary when they hear that an artist changed their sound or style. Can you tell us if the new LP steers more towards the sound heard in the new single or is there still remnants of Save Yourself?

I’d say our new LP steers in the direction of a bit of a drastic evolution of Save Yourself. A matured and more understood direction of where we want to go as a band and musicians with our music and live show. Just when you think we’ve gone in the direction of a lighter sound, I can guarantee that you’ll be shocked when exploring the album further, and finding the other end of the spectrum which for me creates excitement as a listener.

Anytime a band gets a new member especially vocalist, there’s tons of speculation surrounding it. In the comments of your newest track, “Digital Ritual”, there was a comment suspecting ex-A Night in Texas, Rheese Peters. Would you like to make any comment on that guess?

We have worked with Rheese in the past, he featured on one of our songs and he’s an amazingly talented vocalist with some crazy crazy range. However, Rheese is not our new vocalist.

After the release of your upcoming album later this year, what can fans expect from you?

Fans can expect to see us in their town ready to cause a ruckus. We’ve always been big on getting out there and meeting our fans directly so if you wanna see us live, tell us where to go and I’ll dive into making it happen that’s for sure!

Lastly, this is your platform to voice anything you want, so what would you guys like to say to anyone reading this?

Over the past 8 or so months we’ve struggled with the loss of our brother Glen Barrie, its real tough to get back and play these songs with some of the memories attached, thankfully all are positive and happy memories, but you cant help but miss a friend. However we have received some incredible support from everyone. We’ve had some very kind words from fellow bands from around the country, we’ve had our friends in the music industry pull together to create an amazing farewell show for Glen to raise money for his son Franklin and his wife Cass. Not only that we’ve had our fans stick with us through this tough time, flooding our social media with messages of support, positivity and drive to see us succeed. This sort of thing is what music is about, we support each other and we create something beautiful from it and we come together whether it be online or at a concert, we show our support together. For this me and the other boys in As Paradise Falls could not be more thankful for, it helps more than you know and soon we’ll be sharing the final product with you all.