1. Introduce yourself; tell me what you do in Escape The Fate, and how the band got together.
This is Robert I am the drummer and on tour I am the locater of the hive. What's the hive? Dude... That's where all the honeys be swarming.. But seriously. Escape has been together for almost four years. But I met max and our old singer when I was in high school... We played around in different bands. All the while our guitarist was doing the same thing. And our old guitarist was in LA doing the same thing. One day all of our paths just met and we became Escape The Fate. Not through MySpace like many people have heard.
2. What is the Las Vegas music scene like and how does Escape The Fate fit into the scheme of things?
It’s hard to say what it’s like since I'm never really home anymore. But like anywhere else, there's a lot of ambitious people some have. More drive than others. So there's bands that achieve moderate. Recognition and a lot that you'll never hear. Our band is one that. Many people envy. Panic at the disco and the killers blow up so big and so fast those local bands find it hard to relate to them. But they look at us and say they did it, so can we. Because we came from the same shitty clubs and had the same fans.
3. Is there any story or concept behind the CD title "This War Is Ours"? Where did you get some of the lyrical ideas this time around?
The album itself isn’t a full out concept record. Each song sort of has. Its own life. However they all seem to be based around the idea that we’ve been constantly battling just to stay alive. Craig being the new member had some issues eating him inside that fit perfectly into the situation that the rest of the band was going through. We looked around at everything around us. It felt like a war. But it’s a war that were going to win.
4. How does it feel to be on your second record and have it come out? Did you ever think that Escape The Fate would last this long?
I know escape the fate will be around forever. Its going to last as long as we live and longer. I never gave up on it. Even in the darkest hour when I reached the breaking point and said no more, I stopped and turned around to work it out. The same goes for the rest of the band. But truth be told. The odds were against us. To make it work things would have to change dramatically. We were in a shit hole. Everyone hated us. And worse yet, we hated ourselves. There were times when I would go to sleep hoping I wouldn't wake up just so I wouldn't have to deal with it. But the difference between someone who is successful and someone who never gets anywhere is you've got to do something about it. If this record were to absolutely just tank. I wouldn't care. I already made the biggest achievement of my life by just making it. This shows me that I can do whatever I want in life.
5. What's one of your most favorite songs to play live?
I have no idea... They all have a certain thing about them that feels great.
6. What did you think when you performed at the Troubadour in West Hollywood in June 2007?
I was at that gig by the way. Guns n roses played on this stage and so am I... Insane…But it was a bit smaller. But I had fun.
7. How do you compare yourselves today to when you first got together as a band and toured?
Were professionals now. As musicians it’s night and day. Were so much better now. And just showing up. We might be a little late.. But we show up... When we first started we were ambitious and we were kids. We didn't know how to handle things. And as some of us grow up. Others didn't. So we had to weed out the bad seeds.. And now were way better for it. Back then it was a 'we can do this, were taking it to the top' attitude. Now its. Were actually getting there and we know what steps to take to get there.
8. Are the tracks on "This War Is Ours," more heavier to "Dying Is Your Latest Fashion" or are both albums even?
This album is a lot more of everything. Yes some of the songs are a lot heavier. And yes some of the songs are a lot more straight forward and catchy. We are just a lot more focused. And with John Feldmann on board, there was no room slacking. As for heaviness.. I would say it evens out. We had to do it all. We love metal, we love pop. We could just do one.
9. What was it like when Radke left the band? And how does it feel to have a new replacement the former singer of Blessthefall on your line-up?
When who left? What? That name sounds familiar.. But I can't quite put my finger on it. Well.. It sucked it was like my whole life was crashing in front of me.. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. But it wasn’t because he left. It was because my dream of being a musician was falling apart. It felt good to put that aspect of my life to rest. It felt good to not have to be around Ronnie. But the reality was that I had to get it together and get it going because at that point I had nothing. So that's when Craig came in. It was hard at first because emotionally, we were wrecked. So to bring someone else into that was bad. But as enough time passed and when it came time to buckle down, we got passed out emotions and made it happen. And I absolutely love him. He blew me away vocally and as a performer I don't think I’ve seen anyone better. And he's my party buddy too so it’s a bonus.
10. Have you guys ever thought about going on tour with hard rockers Story of the Year?
I noticed you guys are both on Epitaph Records.Yeah. They were a huge influence on our first record. So we thought it would be great to do it. But it’s not something we've actually pushed for. But I would do it.
11. What happened that made you get kicked off the Bullet for My Valentine tour in 2007? Have you guys thought about touring with them again?
I would love to tour with them again. I liked those guys. We didn’t really connect to them, but they were really nice and I looked up to them. They had their shit together. That was the first band we toured with that were totally pro. They partied. But they took care of business first. Only problem for us was, their vocalist had recently had surgery and took a lot of days off between shows. So when you're in strange towns with nothing to do, you start to go crazy. And sometimes at the expense of venue bathrooms. And sometimes crazy fathers come around after years of absence and try to force their way back stage by fighting security. I would've kicked us off too.
12. What are the future plans for Escape The Fate? Anyone tours this year or anything?
In the fall were touring with Silverstein and Chiodos. It’s going to be huge. and of course were unleashing the new record. I'm so excited. I can't wait for 09 though. This is going to be our year
13. How did this tour with Chiodos, Silverstein, Alesana, A Sky lit Drive, and you guys come about? How you guys been planning this?
Originally we were planning on going to the UK and doing a headlining tour. But the timing for this is much better. It’s a chance to for us to reach out to new fans and perfectly in time for the new record. But were bummed about the UK.. Hopefully early next year we'll be there. I can't wait to tour with Chiodos. I hung out with their bassist on warped tour. I just remember him offering me a drink. The next day sucked. But that night was fun.
14. Lastly thanks for taking the time to do this interview, and any other thoughts or comments you'd like to make?
This war is ours.
http://www.myspace.com/escapethefate
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