As Cities Burn

And while you're doing that-check out this interview. 

Hello...Can we start with your name and position in the band?

Chris Lott - Guitar, and every three shows are so I'll yell something in the
mic. 

Shwonderful.  So your tour just kicked off.  How's that treating you so
far?

It's a really strange tour. It's very mismatched as far as the band's sound
on it goes, which is good because it's bringing in three different crowds
for everyone, but also bad because it usually isolates the crowd from the
other drastically different sounding band. We are really stoked to be going
on tour with Dredg in a couple of days. It'll be refreshing to be on tour
with such a forward thinking band that raises the bar for jam style bands.

You're doing a lot of west coast dates--any east coasts shows you got
lined up yet?

In November we will do a full U.S tour with some really amazing
bands: Dear in the Headlights and the Photo Atlas on Equal Vision records
and also our friends in So Long Forgotten and Oceans Firing.
It'll be a low key high quality tour with bands we are 100% behind.

Favorite part about touring?

The over night drive when something bad happens (flat tire, near death
experience)  and we all awaken half asleep, delirious, and with a rush of
adrenaline and attempt to cope with the hanus situation.

So your new album, "Come Now Sleep" came out last month.  It is simply
amazing and powerful.  What were some of your main inspirations when writing
for this album?

Mother Nature. Aaron went on a three month self discovery journey into the
Tibetan jungle and really focused on aligning his spirit, mind, and body and
then harvesting that energy and bringing it really into focus on the new
album. Everyone else was just listening to Pedro the Lion, Neutral Milk
Hotel, and some loud rock and roll. We really just wanted to open our brains
up and compile our best thoughts. We wanted to have everything sound
completely different in terms of the recording and writing of the songs and
real in terms of mess ups and little nuances adding color to the record.

Favorite track on the album?

Wrong Body is my personal favorite. I think it conveys the most about our
new direction: simplicity, groovy jams, and lyrical integrity.

What bands can't you get enough of right now?

The entire Neil Young catalog! It blows my mind that a musician can deliver
mind blowing material even after 40 years. When does the well run dry?!
Also, I've been listening to a lot of Paul McCartney's solo stuff such as
Ram. There some super creative stuff on there and you hear where Radiohead
and Modest Mouse may have found their inspiration.

Where do you guys see yourself 20 years from now?  Any aspirations you
hope to accomplish?

Cody wants to run a studio, he has been learning and working in 1st Street
Studios in Cleveland for awhile now and is a natural with anything involving
sound. I hope to still be still making music or
living somewhere exotic...I know a big band goal for us is to
tour Europe a couple of times. Aaron and I both wish we were British for
some strange reason.

 
What advice can you give to bands trying to get signed?

You have to bring something new and meaningful to the table. Because of the
internet and myspace and all that hoopla horrible, horrible lifeless music
is thriving. There are a million bands out there and many are carbon copy
clones of the meaningless band in front of them.
The world will soon catch on and there will be a reckoning, this is only a
fad! Try something different and dig within yourselves to find special
meaning behind your music and lyrics.

And of course...vanilla or chocolate?

Pistachio almond.