Interview Atreyu: Dan Jacobs

Artiest: Atreyu

Geïnterviewde: Dan Jacobs

Interview afgenomen op: Groezrock

Label: Roadrunner Records

Na een adempauze van 2.5 jaar staat Atreyu weer op de planken, hoog tijd om gitarist Dan te spreken.

Can you start with telling who you are and what your function is in this band?

Hey, I am Dan Jacobs. I am the lead guitarist of Atreyu.

How did you get into music?

I always listened to the radio in the car. When I went to music stores I was fascinated by the instruments. When I was 12 I had class with a friend who was a drummer. He wanted to start a band with me even though I couldn’t play an instrument. He said I looked like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day so I got thinking. He had success in every possible way.

How did you end up being a guitarist then?

Well the guitar just 'called' to me. And to be honest I didn’t see myself as a drummer or lead singer. When I picked up the guitar it just felt right.

Now about Atreyu, what styles or bands influenced your music?

Well a lot of punk stuff like Black Flag, The Exploited influenced us a lot. For me ‘80s hair metal and Def Leppard were a big inspiration. The Scorpions were another big influence. I liked how they produced their music on a great scale. I mean everybody likes them.

There was a breakup and in 2014 you guys came back together, when did you decide to come back together?

Well we never really stopped, we just took a pause and we didn’t know how long that pause would be. We were kind of burned out and our fans knew this. It wasn’t the same anymore. So we decided to take a pause, that pause could be a year, multiple years, a month we didn’t knew the length of the pause. We just wanted to recharge a bit and when we would be back we wanted to be really back and be as great as we were.

How did the fans react on coming back together?

They reacted very well. When we started our shows, they were sold out very fast.

You brought out 'So Others May Live', what is the difference between this song and the older songs?

Well, this is a grown up song I think. This song is what we are all about, heavy riffs, dueling guitars, fast parts, slower parts.

What can you tell us about the upcoming album 'Long Live'?

It will come out in September. It will be more in the style of 'So Others May Live'. Our real fans will love it. We return to our old sound and the fans of the older albums will be crazy about it.

How did the writing of the album go?

It went very fast and easy. The last half of the album was written in like two weeks. Brandon and I write the music, then we go to Alex and he puts some lyrics on it. We all have a part in the songwriting. We write a lot of songs in the studio. About the solos, they just come to me.

What are some crazy things fans did for you?

Crazy fans will be crazy fans, they will do crazy things. What I like about our fans we have fans now from different ages. First we attracted young people but know we have older people that like our music and we have bigger crowds.

What songs do you think the fans like the most?

Those would be The Wrong Side Of The Bed, Becoming the Bull, Doomsday and Bleeding Mascara. I don’t know, we have fans that love a lot of songs.

And what is your favorite song?

That would be Blow. I also like that record very much (Lead Sails, Paper Anchor). It brings back that ’70 classic rock vibe.

Are you also going to watch other bands today and tomorrow?

Yeah of course. This is like school, when you had a break you all come together and then you look who had the same classes with you after the break. This is the same, we talk to artists and then we hang out and watch shows together. There are a lot of friends of us here today.

Can you give me a hint about the track list of today?

Yeah man, this track list will blow you away. Our fans will love this set. For every fan there will be a couple of songs they like and will scream. It will blow your mind.

Thank you for the interview and enjoy the festival.

Thanks for having me, enjoy the show and the other interviews.