Atreyu

Atreyu’s brilliant album In Our Wake has seen the band break new ground around the world and now it’s Australia’s turn, as the ‘icing on the cake’, as bassist Marc ‘Porter’ McKnight explains on the eve of the tour.
It’s been incredible, when we look back on this touring cycle, what we have accomplished. We have 1.4 million Spotify subscribers from 400,000. We’ve been to Japan, South Africa, all around the US, a brief European run. People like the record, this sound, it’s been incredible and Australia really is the icing on the cake.

Your band seems to have a special relationship with Australia?
Very much so. It’s truly one of our favourite places. The people there are incredible, the venues, the cities, it’s all very special. Each city has its own unique feel and experience. I love it so much.

If this is the end of the In Our Wake cycle, what happens next?
We go back into the studio and finish the new album. We currently have about sixteen songs right now. I don’t know if I’m suppose to talk about this but fuck it!

We’re currently waiting on producer John Feldmann and the engineers to do a rough mix and make sure everything’s ok, which boxes are ticked. Do we have a certain ‘feeling’ song, do we have a ballad, do we have a single cause you gotta play the game you know? We are all anxiously awaiting the engineers, I’m contacting them every three days for an answer!

What can Australian audience expect from the show?
If you’ve never seen an Atreyu show, it’s five idiots running about, making mediocre jokes and having the time of our lives. We want everyone in the room to feel the same way. With every show, the connection we have with the audience is truly special. We gonna go hard, loud and fast, we’re gonna leave every ounce of what we’ve got out there.

Last year, as part of the bands twentieth anniversary, you let the fans choose the setlist, will you be doing something similar?
Not this time. We always kinda play the ‘hits’ when we do shows and we don’t go there as often sadly to do something different. We did the 20 year thing last year and we wanted to celebrate that but now it’s twenty one years and we don’t want to do it again. To be frank, twenty songs was way too much. It was so long. I was drinking pre-work out during the set to make sure I could do it all. It was crazy. I mean it was an incredible experience and amazing. The shows every night were spectacular but we debated again doing it and it’s like no. You know like a jam band that play for three hours, but they’re just chilling? Well we’re running around being sweaty and screaming, head-banging you know? It’s really hard to do that. I like it at 16 songs, those extra 4 songs make all the difference.

When the fans chose the songs were there some surprises?
Certainly, though we were all laughing when the first ten got chosen , the top ten were solid but they were every song we ever play. The obvious choices. We were like ‘cmon guys are you gonna choose something different’ then they chose the next 20 and that threw in some surprises.

Does that change your mind about set lists in the future?
Yes and no. Some of the songs the fans chose just don’t translate live and that’s part of the reason we never played them live, the fans realised that too. Some things just don’t work and you don’t know why, there’s no reason. This tour we are doing what we know works and four songs from In Our Wake.

Interview By Iain McCallum

Catch Atreyu on the following dates, tickets through Silverback Touring…