Image courtesy of http://www.underoath777.com


We met up with Spencer Chamberlain, lead vocalist/screamer for UnderOATH, in Minneapolis to discuss the band's past, present, future, and of course, plans for Halloween. I might add that the interview took place on UnderOATH's (warm) tour bus, and we were certainly not ready to step back out into the cold post-interview...

So how's it going tonight?

Spencer: It's going all right. It's going good good.

It sounds like you had a lot of interviews scheduled tonight.

Spencer: Today... Yes.

Are you sick of them yet?

Spencer: No, no. It's fine. [Laughter]

What's the most commonly asked question you've been asked so far?

Spencer: Uh... Maybe about the name... the changing of the sound... blah blah, stuff like that.

"What do you play in UnderOATH?"

Spencer: Yeah, oh well. [Laughter]

We'll move on. [Laughter] So what's it like touring with bands that don't share the same beliefs as you? Are they supportive?

Spencer: Yeah, yeah. Normally bands are pretty respectful. You know, like, it's something that we're open about and we're not preachful about. It's like, people that party or do whatever, it's like, we're not gonna be forceful or, you know, whatever about it. It's normally not a big deal at all. We've toured with so many bands; We're all friends with them, and they all respect us. Just like we respect them. We don't get on them about not believing in what we believe. You know? It'd be the same as them, vice versa, and... "I can't believe you did that" or "I can't believe you do that", so it's normally really cool.

On October 4 you guys released your special edition CD/DVD of "They're Only Chasing Safety"...

Spencer: Yeah.

Whose idea was that?

Spencer: That was the record label's idea... They wanted to do that. A lot of record labels are doing that lately, I guess? A lot of CD's... And we've been just shooting stuff with a video camera for the last, I don't know, two years or something like that. So we originally had this idea to do just a DVD, and we thought if they were gonna do that, it would be a cool idea to make it all inclusive, and it not be anymore money and be worth it more than just trying to get kids to buy more records.

From what I understand, the band is going into the studio in January...

Spencer: Right.

You're releasing the new album next March?

Spencer: It'll probably...be more towards the summer. Last time, we recorded in January; It didn't come out till like June or something like that, I think.

Okay. And then you're going to tour for a year after that?

Spencer: Yeah, I mean, we'll be touring before that, as soon as we're done recording.

Are you taking any breaks in between?

Spencer: This is it, man. When we get off this tour, we'll get to have a few days off, and then we'll be pretty much rehearsing every day. Then we'll have Christmas off, get to see our families, and then be in the studio. We don't like going home or having time off.

No?

Spencer: At least I don't. I go crazy really fast. [Laughter]

You need something to do all the time.

Spencer: Yeah. I really... I can't be home for more than two days without just losing it.

What do you guys do on the road when you're not playing or doing tours?

Spencer: We normally don't have that many days off. On a day off, it's kind of fun because you're kinda worn out, and go to a mall or go to a movie. Like, it's great to get to see the movies when they come out, getting to see... There's a couple movies that just came out that we want to see... Getting to be able to eat at a decent restaurant or take a shower. We only take showers on our days off so it's nice to just kind of do like the 'I'm at home' thing - take a shower, do laundry, go see a movie, go to a nice dinner, or, you know, all of our good friends. It's just like hanging out at home, I guess.

The first time I saw UnderOATH was in 2003 with Atreyu, God Forbid, and Darkest Hour...

Spencer: Right.

I remember, there were probably less than 50 people there, but when UnderOATH got on stage, everybody was kind of like, "Whoa... What is this?" I think it's the same today. When I saw you guys on Warped Tour, people were almost...shocked. I think a lot of your success has to do with the fact that you put on great live shows. Do you agree with that?

Spencer: Yeah, I hope so. We're not a band that relies on music videos or radio. I mean, we've made music videos, but they've never been played. We're not a band that wants to go throw ourselves all over the radio. We'll never be that band unless like, radio changes for what bands are doing now. We'll never change for them. You know? I seriously just think it's nonstop touring, and we don't retire to our bus and hide. You know? We hang out with kids. You know, you have thirty minutes. You know, there are a lot of kids that would die to be doing what we're doing. If you can't give it all you have for thirty minutes, then go home. That's the way we view playing live, and I think kids appreciate it and enjoy it. I mean, hopefully. And that's what we enjoy doing. And there's a lot of kids out there that enjoy it. I know we're totally different live than we are on our CD. We can't stand our CD. It's dry and feels just so cut to the core. Just... blehhh. You know what I mean? And when we play live it's like... That's why we're going with someone different this time we feel that can capture the way we really are on our record.

I heard it was going to be a lot heavier?

Spencer: Yeah, yeah it's a lot heavier. We've been working a lot harder. This is the longest the band has ever been, in the history of this band, without a member change. So everyone's just happy, and we're all best friends, and there's no weirdness, and there's no like, 'this guy hates this guy' and 'this guy doesn't get along with this guy'. It's just like we've all been working really hard for this record, and hopefully that will come through, and we'll have a great time recording it, and you'll be able to hear that in the record. I mean, the last record was so stressful, and you can tell in the record that we're just not really... It was so under the gun, you know? The label was like, "You guys gotta get this stuff done now, blah blah blah"...

How many songs do you have completed off the new record?

Spencer: Right now we have eight songs done. We have the other two in the works. I don't know if it'll be ten or eleven. Normally, we just do ten.

You work on those on breaks or...?

Spencer: Yeah, well when we headline, and we have to sound check, and spend... You know cause bands are here at the venues at like 1:00. Playing a show is an all-day event, getting the sound right and everything. When it's our tour... We had two tours in Europe and one in the U.S that we got hours every day just to mess around. Tour wrote a lot of it, or someone would write something, and we'd all sit down, put it on a computer or something and then figure it out, and then when we'd get home... We were home for five weeks for the first time in a long time, and every day we practiced. Just hacked it out and switched up, around, or however; changed it here or there. Then we went and demo-ed the best of it so we got eight songs pretty much the way it's gonna be on the record.

Do you have a pretty good working relationship with your record label, Solid State?

Spencer: Yeah. They're pretty awesome. They're really good dudes. I don't agree with some things that any label does, you know? But there's gotta be a business side to everything or it doesn't work. I just don't really want to be a part of it. But they're my friends first, you know? So it works out pretty good. They're definitely the coolest dudes. They're my friends, and they do a good enough job, I think. That's why we worked with them. I couldn't go somewhere where I don't even trust the guys there, you know? Putting my record out for sale. Yeah. It works. We're not trying to be like a platinum-selling band. We just wanna play shows every night for the rest of our lives; we're stoked, you know?

I've always wanted to know... During the bridge in "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door", the choir sings "drowning in my sleep", and I know the crowd sings along to that part at your shows. Was there ever a time when you first started performing the song that nobody knew the words? What did you do for that?

Spencer: Oh, yeah. Our keyboard player has all our stuff on his thing, and it plays in the PA. And even now when kids sing it loud, he still has it playing cause with all the electronics, everything has to be synched up. And kids...speed up. When you get people to clap, they'll always start clapping faster. If you notice, like if you're at a show, just pay attention. When they start doing this [clapping], they'll be like, ['choo choo' train sound (starts slow and gets faster and faster)]. I mean, that's just the excitement of the show. But everything we have... We have so much electronic stuff that has to be synched up so we have to keep it going so it can always be on the same tempo. But yeah, there were times when no one knew it.

It's probably a hard question to answer, but who would you say your favorite band to tour with has been?

Spencer: Probably Killswitch Engage. They're so funny, and they're so good. They're an awesome band. They're really nice guys, but at the same time, they're like totally not serious half the time. And that's kind of how we are. And the kind of band that we can just nonstop mess with, and no one ever gets mad or anything. It's fun. I mean, every band we've gone on tour... Now that I'm just thinking about it, I can name every band we've gone on tour with and say the same thing. That's the first one that comes to mind.

On the Taste Of Chaos DVD, I saw that you guys do exercises before the show? High energy stuff?

Spencer: Yeah, we kinda get pumped up a little bit. Jump around and get excited about it. Kind of like that built-in nervousness, no matter what. You're not like nervous... Nervous is kind of the wrong word, but there's that feeling that you get, and that'll never go away. That kind of thing that I guess is kind of nerves, but just like, you're about to play. It just hits, and you start getting in the zone, I guess, as cheesy as that sounds.

I had a question about Aaron's side project, The Almost. I was under the impression that that was just his thing, but I had also heard that it was all of UnderOATH minus you or something...

Spencer: Nah, it's just Aaron. He just...likes to...write really cheesy pop music. [Laughter] He just recorded two songs. He doesn't play shows or anything. It's just like a...whatever. We don't let him do cheesy pop stuff so he goes and does it by himself sometimes.

Does anybody else have any other side projects or are you all pretty much focused on UnderOATH?

Spencer: I have one that, I haven't recorded anything yet, but some of the dudes from my old band... My brother is in my old band, and this friend of his and mine, and a guy that I learned how to play guitar with when I was like twelve and I've played in every band I've ever been with with him except for this one. There's just that natural, like, we hang out together and just write songs so we're gonna probably record it next time I have a chance to do it. Just put it out. It's something that will probably never... It's not my main focus. We're all definitely, this is our main focus. No one's planning on touring side projects or anything, but some people like to. I'm a guitar player; That's what I do. I write really weird stuff that we don't really use, like I'll record it on the side thing.

So are you guys doing anything for Halloween?

Spencer: Yes. We're dressing up as a collective. But I don't want to say it in an interview cause I don't want it to get ruined... It would ruin the surprise. It's gonna be pretty awesome, I think. I'm really excited about it. Most of the time we just dress up, like whatever, but we're doing one thing, and it's really involved. We actually had to practice it. It's really cool.

Wow. You're doing this at a show?

Spencer: Yeah, during the show. It's gonna be cool.

I think I looked at it... You're going to be in New Jersey that night?

Spencer: Yeah, yeah it's gonna be in New Jersey.

We need to fly out to New Jersey to witness the UnderOATH Halloween. [Laughter]

Spencer: We're gonna video tape it and it will probably be on our next DVD, I'm sure. It's gonna be funny. It's gonna be awesome.

Sweet. Well, I think that's about all we have for you.

Spencer: Cool. Awesome. Thank You!

Thank You.

Spencer: It was nice meeting you guys.

You, too. Good luck with the show tonight.


Interview By: Nicole and CJ