Interview with Atreyu: “We all grew up listening to a lot of punk. It was cool to wave that punk rock flag a little bit.”

Last September, the metalcore band Atreyu released their long-awaited sixth album, “Long Live”.

The Californian quintet landed last weekend in Spanish ground to promote their new record, and play three special gigs in Barcelona, Madrid, and Pamplona.

We showed up before their show at Sala Razzmatazz 2 (Barcelona, 25th June) to have a chat with guitarist, Travis Miguel.

We talked about their their comeback to the music scene, their last studio record, and the highs, and lows of the music industry.

HB: Let’s start talking about your comeback. You spent around four years on hiatus. How was to return to the music scene with Atreyu?

It was good! We took about three or four years off, mostly because, at the time, we were really burn out. It was time to take a break for a while. We just wanted to see what life was outside of Atreyu. I got married, Alex (Varkatzas, singer), and Brandon (Saller, drummer) were already married, and Alex was expecting a child. We just needed time to step back, and reassess everything.

We took things for granted, and that’s why the coming back was more [pauses], we were more energized, more excited. It made us appreciate what we have.

HB: What was the main inspiration behind “Long Live”?

I’m not sure there was like a main inspiration or any kind of concept to it. It was just the five of us getting together again after five years. We haven’t released, written or recorded any music in about five years. It was like dusting off the cobwebs, so to speak. Once we got set in the motion, everything just fell into place.

HB: What about the lyrics? We read that the song “So Others May Live is inspired by one of (Alex) best friends who is an ex-military…

I can really say because I don’t write the lyrics. Alex does, and he likes his lyrics to be open to interpretation, so he might say one thing, and the listener might thing it is about something else.

HB: You signed to Spinefarm Records, and worked with producer Fred Archambault (Avenged Sevenfold, Alice Cooper, Lostprophets). How was the writing process compared to previous albums?

We told ourselves: “we are going to try the best to do everything on our own service”. Trying to keep outside influence to a minimum, so when we were writing the album, it was very much that. We didn’t say: “OK, we need this single for the album, a ballad here”. What came out, came out.

Jumping on to a new management, and a new label is exciting, but a little scary at the same time because your future is in this people’s hands. That is what is like for everybody who does music for the living. It has highs, and lows.

HB: You got more experience now…

Yes, we are not as young, and naïve as we used to be. The management, and the label, so far so good.

HB: How the reception of the new songs has been so far (live shows)?

It’s been good! A lot of people singing along at the shows, especially over here in Europe where the first language may not be English, but they still know the words. For us it’s kind of hard to get our heads around. We still see ourselves as the five douchebags from California. The fact that our music has come halfway across the planet, it’s pretty awesome.

HB: Talking about your current tour, what can we expect from your live shows?

A lot of energy. We are a band that our live shows sometimes can be really intense, and really serious; and other times, it just can be super silly.

We never take ourselves that seriously. With a lot of metal bands, it tends to be all “skully”, which is awesome, but we are five guys who like to make each other laugh.

HB: The idea is to have fun…

Absolutely! That’s why we got into music. If we have fun, and the crowd have fun, our part is done!

HB: You played at Download Festival, Hellfest, and with bands like Bullet for my Valentine, Bring Me The Horizon, Alkaline Trio or Megadeth. How was your experience?

Download was awesome! I think it might have been the biggest crowd we ever played in front of. It’s weird because when you are on stage in front of that many people you don’t really realize how many people are really out there. I could see the first few rows of people, and then I looked at the video afterwards, and I was like: “Oh my God, all these people are looking at us!”. It’s a dream come true. We feel really lucky to be able to have that experience. Not a lot of people do.

HB: What is your favourite piece of gear?

I have an ESP Custom guitar that was made for me a number of years back, and it’s like my baby. I used to take it out on the road with me all the time because it plays really nice. I liked to showed it up. It’s been broken three times now, and I get it fixed over, and over again, so it think it’s a sign to leave it at home. That’s probably my favourite piece of gear.

HB: How would you define yourself as a guitar player?