This interview was conducted in-person by our on-the-scene reporter Alex O. at the House of Blues in Orlando during on OFF-FEST date before the final day of Ozzfest 2006. Special thanks to Dave Himes from Connections Magazine, and Jensen from Adrenaline PR for arranging this interview!
Alex: First off, I would like to thank you for taking the time to sit down and do this interview with me. So, How is Ozzfest Going?- Phil: It’s good, umm it’s a real tough schedule, But its really really, I mean, it gets you in front of more people then any other tour at all. It makes you play at 9:30 in the morning, And then, doing an off-show the next night, Where you’re playing at 9 at night, And the next morning you gotta play at 9:45, so it’s a really tough schedule and it really kinda beats you up, but I mean it’s also the premier metal tour, you know.
- AO: It’s the metal event of the summer
- Phil: Yeah exactly, Especially for bands like us, were one of those bands that hope to break through and do this for a living and actually make money and be a somewhat realistic job at it make some kind of life in itself, it’s a great opportunity for us.
- AO: So how is the reaction been to the new material being played on Ozzfest?
- Phil: Good, Umm, "This Calling" which is the song we shot a video for is getting really really good reactions, People are ya know, there really into it, were doing another song on the Ozzfest set, it’s called "Indictment" people don’t know that one as much cause its one of the ones later in the record and kind of hidden away, plus we don’t have a video for it, but it’s been really cool, People seem to know the words already, there’s always a couple kids that are singing along to "Indictment" and the chorus in "This Calling" and people really really know it and there already singing along.
- AO: What bands have enjoyed being able to watch, day after day on Ozzfest?
- Phil: Dragonforce, absolutly, they’re my favorite band on the tour, no question. They’re amazing to watch, Ther’re so metal and so just everything over the top. You haven’t seen a band like, even the drums, everything, the whole band is so proficient at what they do, And they are so flamboyant and just so over the top metal and it’s just so much fun to watch.
- AO: Following Ozzfest, you will be touring with Dragonforce & HORSE the band, what can fans expect from that?
- Phil: Oh Yes, ummm, I guess we’re getting a 40 minute set, So we’re probably going to do, you know, half old, half new stuff, umm, we may have some kind of guitar solo or something like that, Oli is a really good guitar player, He’s been playing a long time And he knows his stuff, so, you know, and what better tour, ya know, If you’re on a power metal tour you might as well go ahead and have a little guitar wankering on there, Should be a good time.
- AO: Hope that tour comes to Florida
- Phil: To my knowledge it’s not, the closest that were going to get, is maybe DC, but I don’t know for sure. It starts in LA and goes up into Canada for 1 show, Comes back, goes across the country and then northeast and then from Washington it goes, Washington DC, Oklahoma, Arizona, and then San Diego .
- AO: So no East coast dates?
- Phil: Just North East, not really Southern, not much in the South East.
- AO: Has there been any bus problems, any incidents on tour?
- Phil: Not since the beginning, We had problems getting the bus
- AO: To get to Ozzfest?
- Phil: Yeah, we were gonna go with one bus company, We missed the entire Canadian tour, cause we were talking with one bus company and basically they were telling us that the buses got to be fixed and stuff, and the bus was never broken, it was just, they were selling it to someone else to make more money, It was a drag, but what are you gonna do? So we went ahead And did whatever we had to do, to make the tour, and get the tour started, and it is what it is, But nothing ís broken on the bus, We had an issue with a tire and that was it, We missed the show in Vermont because we had issues with it, and that was it, but it wasn’t an Ozzfest show
- AO: The new cd "The Fall Of Ideals" was recently released, And Kicks A LOT of ass I might add!!
- Phil: Thank you very much!
- AO: But, It was produced by Adam of Killswitch Engage fame, & Peter Witchers of Soilwork fame engineered it, What was it like working with them?
- Phil: It was really cool, I mean, Adam, I’ve known for awhile, He’s been a friend of the band, pretty much, the entire time the band has been a band, So its cool, were comfortable, That’s a big part of the reason, you know, we trust him, We know that if were looking for a certain sound, he knows how to get the sound were looking for, We feel comfortable with him being like "No, That sucks, Do it again!" We don’t feel like it’s a dig against us or like it’s anything personal, it’s just like "Hey, you didn’t do it right, Do it again!", So it was good, Peter was really really cool, It was kind of nice to meet him cause I had never met Peter, And I’m a pretty big Soilwork fan.
- AO: yeah, I know what you mean, Soilwork is actually my favorite band!
- Phil: Yeah, there a great band, good stuff, can’t complain, It was a lot of fun.
- AO: What are the plans for the Fall/Beginning of 2007?
- Phil: We’re going to have to get over to Europe, The record is getting really good reviews in Europe and stuff, so were going to go over there and tour some, not sure when, I’m hoping, the early part of next year will go over to Europe, There’s talk of doing support for another band, after Dragonforce, Which is very good, Bigger tours and stuff like that, will be pretty much on the road fairly straight, we’re going to get a little more time off on this record, then we did on the last one, That one was tour, tour, tour, when you’re done with a tour, you get 2 days off, start another tour, done with the tour, you get a week off, start another tour. This one, we’re gonna go home after this, get 2 and a half weeks off. After the Dragonforce tour will probably get another 2 or 3 weeks off, maybe a month off, before we start another tour, but you know, that’s how a band like us makes our money, bread & butter, living on the road, It’s like any other job, ya know, you’re on the road, that means you’re working, if you’re working, you’re getting paid.
- AO: Anything you would like to say to the fans of All That Remains?
- Phil: Go to our website and join our message board, we’re nice over there, www.AllThatRemainsOnline.com OR on our myspace, www.myspace.com/allthatremains
