Interview: A Day To Remember - 25/10/09

Alter The Press! managed to catch up with Neil Westfall and newly appointed member, Kevin Skaff of Florida's own, A Day To Remember prior to their set at the London Camden Roundhouse.

The guys spoke to ATP about Kevin joining the band, what previous guitarist Tom Denney's role is still in A Day To Remember, their upcoming video for 'I'm Made Of Wax Larry...', new material, the re-release of 'Homesick', playing Warped Tour this year and more.

Alter The Press: How is it to be back in the UK?
Neil Westfall: It's been way better than any other time so far. Every one has been super nice, very accommodating; the weather has been a lot better and we’ve actually seen the sun twice! It's been pretty sick.

ATP: Bring Me The Horizon UK tour support, how did this happen?
NW: They asked us to come over, and we really like what they are doing because we really like their music, which is pretty sweet.

ATP: Last time we saw you; Kevin was filling in for Tom (Denney - guitarist) and is now a permanent member. What exactly happened?
Kevin Skaff: I just flew in for the tour to fill in and after that I quit my old band (Four Letter Lie.) I was going to go back to school and be a teacher but ten days after being home, they called me as Tom's wrist was still pretty messed up. So I went on tour with the guys again and found out Tom was leaving to get married, and all that good stuff, so at the end of the day, they asked me to be in the band. It was a pretty crazy day; it was actually the day of Bamboozle.

NW: Tom is still going to be part of the writing process more so like pre-production; he is not going to do any touring in that aspect, but he is still a part of the band. He is trying to establish his life more at home then on the road, and it is hard to do that when on the road. I think he is trying to have a kid and do the grown up thing.

ATP: Is he active with any other bands?
NW: He is not going to be in any other bands but he is producing now. He worked with Pierce The Veil, Confide and a bunch of other smaller bands around the area.

ATP: How was Warped Tour this year?
NW: I was taken back by the numbers everyday. I don't think you can ask for a better response, we blew every expectation out of the water. Its kind of breath taking, as gay as it is, it was just awesome.

ATP: You also recorded the video for 'I'm Made Of Wax Larry...' at Warped Tour?
NW: It was recorded for a trailer for the DVD with the new 'Homesick' re-release, we had no idea that it was made, actually, until it went up. Everyone’s saying it’s the music video, it's not. We are going to be shooting the actual music video for 'I'm Made Of Wax Larry...' when we get home.

ATP: What can we expect from the video?
NW: We're going to kick the shit out of little kids, that's all I can say. I'm being dead serious. It's going to be shot in Florida somewhere.

ATP: What was the reason for it being chosen for the next video?
NW: It's a song that has had one of the best reactions from the CD, and it stands out compared to the other songs on the album. I think we are going to do a video for 'Have Faith In Me,' and maybe one other song before the cycle is over; if we can fit it in. We didn't want to do a poppy song, so we wanted to switch and keep it real. We are A Day To Remember and we want to do what we want to do; we want to put out 'I'm Made Of Wax Larry...' because it's a harder song.

ATP: Have you been working on any new material?
NW: Oh yeah, so much.

KS: We have a bunch of new ideas that we've been jamming on acoustic guitars but we'll see what it sounds like live when we get home; but we’ve got a ton of new ideas coming together.

ATP: Is it the same style as 'Homesick' or going in a different direction?
NW: We are always trying to move forward but we are never going to lose what makes A Day To Remember, A Day To Remember. We are always going to have the elements where it's poppy, heavy; it’s more how we do it that might change. That's the beauty of writing a new CD, you get to show how you've matured, and how each member in the band has too; we are still going to have the same general idea of how we are going to do it.

ATP: The 'Homesick' re-release, was this something you wanted to do or was it Victory Records' idea?
NW: We said we wouldn't do a re-release unless it's worth the fans' while. It comes with the live DVD, which we worked really hard on, and we added the acoustic tracks, the live set from Switzerland, the 'Homesick' sessions from the internet and the 50 page photograph book.

ATP: When are you coming back to the UK?
NW: We will be back in March to headline. No support has been figured out but I'm sure we will.

ATP: What is planned in the future for ADTR?
NW: After this tour, we have a break to do pre-production for the new album, some off time for the holidays, a Christmas festival in the US and then relax. The first thing next year we are doing is Soundwave Festival in Australia, then Japan, a week in the UK then, I think, Germany and then we go home and do a big city US headline tour.

ATP: So you are still going to be touring with 'Homesick' for a while?
KS: We might put out some new tracks.

ATP: Will the new album be released on Victory Records?
NW: Yes.

ATP: Anything you would like to add?
NW: Where's that beach? (When ATP interviewed Neil before, he said the UK needed to build an indoor beach.)

The 'Homesick' Deluxe Edition is out now on Victory Records.

- Jon Ableson