A Conversation with The Amity Affliction’s Ahren Stringer – HuffPost 5.8.14
Mike Ragogna: Ahren, the band is part of Blessfall’s The Hollow Bodies Tour. How’s that been going?
Ahren Stringer: It’s been amazing for us, we have to punch ourselves every night. This is our 6th US tour and we’ve NEVER experienced shows like this! I can’t wait to come back.
MR: Let The Ocean Take Me is The Amity Affliction’s fourth album. What are some of the biggest events that the band has been through since the beginning?
AS: Well we’ve been a band for 11 years now so quite a lot! We’ve lost members, gained members, kicked members out, toured the world, released four albums and three EP’s, we’ve laughed, we’ve cried and we’ve almost died. We’ve been working on making a DVD about this for ages so stay tuned for a much more detailed answer haha.
MR: How do you feel Australian metalcore differs from the US’s?
AS: To me it seems a lot more honest, not to say that the metal scene in the US is bad, but I see so many bands in the ‘scene’ who are in it for all the wrong reasons. There are Australian bands like that also, but they don’t go anywhere, I feel like for some reason a lot of kids, particularly in the US, follow these garbage hype bands that have zero substance. It kind of bums me out, but all we can do about it is show them something meaningful and honest through our own music and hopefully they choose the right one. But yeah, I’m thankful there isn’t many of those kinds of bands in Australia, I hope it stays that way.
MR: The single “Pittsburgh” seems pretty powerful. What inspired its theme?
AS: Joel had a pretty serious seizure as a result of alcohol withdrawals. When I say pretty I mean very. He could’ve easily died if no one was around. That happened in Pittsburgh last year on Warped Tour.
MR: When it comes to topics, how do you and the band hone-in on what you’re writing about?
AS: Joel writes the lyrics.
MR: How do you think your recordings and performances have evolved most since your debut, Severed Ties?
AS: Well, we all obviously grew up a lot and started taking everything a lot more seriously including playing live. Obviously, working with better producers and learning everything you can from them is really eye-opening in regards to song writing. I don’t know, you do something for long enough you progress and get better and better at every aspect of it. And if you aren’t getting better, then you’re doing it wrong.
MR: Chasing Ghosts pretty much established the band as one of Australia’s great exports. What are your expectations for Let The Ocean Take Me?
AS: I mean, I always have pretty high expectations, I’m not cocky but I have sincere confidence and pride in everything we release so I’m hoping that this album will put us on the map a little more in the US and EU which are both really tough markets to crack. I mean we’re stoked with anything though I would be more than happy for it to do as well as Chasing Ghosts.
MR: How did you approach this album differently than the others?
AS: No different except we now have Dan Brown writing with us as well which was the perfect fit. Dan and I are really like-minded musically and agree on almost everything so it was a total breeze to write this record with him. We both love ’80s hits which shines through on a fair few tracks and we love breakdowns which sounds like an odd mix but I think it works beautifully.
MR: What advice do you have for new artists?
AS: Cliché but work hard and don’t expect anything handed to you. It’s not an easy game to play so don’t let a few bumps in the road get you down. Write music and never stop writing music. And don’t start a band for the wrong reasons, it’s a pretty brutal industry, there’s very little money in it for artists unless you get Metallica big.
MR: What does the future bring for The Amity Affliction?
AS: Hopefully a bandwagon instead of this bumpy ass van we’re in right now.
MR: When will The Amity Affliction’s acoustic, unplugged project be released?
AS: Whenever hell freezes over, I guess!