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Interview with All That Remains
By: J Sherrod
 I got a call around 10:00am the day
of All That Remains' Nashville show informing me that I had
a 2:00pm interview with All That Remains singer Phil
Labonte. I knew an interview was scheduled but was thinking
it would be somethin' just before the show. I had no idea it
would be so early and therefore had to change my schedule
to adjust to the request.
In hindsight I couldn't be happier. I found myself wishing a
camera was rolling to catch the fun we had. We both
laughed, had various interruptions, agreed and disagreed,
got lost in what we were talking about to begin with, and just
let things flow so naturally. I sincerely hope Phil feels the
same.
This interview felt so real - and the large part of that due to
how much of a down-to-earth and genuine human being this
man truly is. In the few months I've worked for NowOnTour
I can say without a shred of doubt this is, hands-down, the
most fun I've had thus far.
Before the interview begins I would like to say thanks to Phil
and much continued success to a more than deserving band.
I hope this interview could only be as fun to you the reader
as it was for me the writer and I hope to make that transpire
with the following...
NowOnTour: I've gotta be honest when I say that
somehow I never heard your music until about four months
ago when I got a copy of the new album (The Fall Of
Ideals) to review. I was massively impressed and I
felt I was onto some hot new band I could tell the world
about. I then learned it was your third album and started to
wonder what the hell was wrong with me and who put me
under the rock I've apparently been hiding under.
Nevertheless, how's the tour goin' so far and do you find that
your fan base is growing since the release of the new
album?
Phil Labonte: Well, the thing is All That Remains has really
always been under the radar. I mean, there's underground
and the stuff like that but we've always been right on the
fringes of the underground. We've done tours with GWAR,
Prong, Death By Stereo and a lot of bands that are actually
very different from our genre. It's taken us a long time to
get added onto tours that we're really in our metal genre
that we basically fit in.
There's a lot of people that saw us on last summer's Ozzfest
that would always say, "Hey, I've never heard of you guys."
We did the first Sounds Of The Underground tour and that
was huge for us. Obviously everything just kind of
snowballs, the more you do the more people will find out
about you. We're always happy to make new
fans.
I read that the band was originally a side project
back in '98 that you and Oli formed. What was it a side
project to and how did you decide to stick with All That
Remains instead?
Well, I kinda started it myself, Oli didn't join the band until
eight or nine months after the band got together. We'd
record a three song little CD demo to pass around to people
and then Oli joined the band. I was in Shadows Fall for about
two years and sang before Brian. I started writing for this
band on guitar because I intended to play guitar in the band
because I haven't done that in a long time and that's what I
got into music doing.
I'm sure you get tired of people asking you about
the new drummer but since I'm a newcomer to the band and
a drummer myself, how did you find Jason and what're the
differences and similarities of his version of the phenomenal
drum work your former drummer Shannon put on the
album?
[Before Phil has a chance to begin his answer a guy from the
venue tells me I should really move my ride or the tow Nazi
would either put a boot on it or have it towed and charged
$80 to bail it out. Phil and I looked at each other and I said,
"I better go move my shit man 'cause I don't have that
kinda money," and had to pause the interview for a
moment.]
Last night was the first show of the tour and it was the first
night we'd ever played with Jason and he is absolutely
amazing. Just a great drummer! Shannon actually quit the
band twice because he figured quitting once just wasn't
enough [chuckles].
So once he first quit we had talked to Jason - who himself
had quit Die Cast and was really looking to take some time
off - but we asked him to come out. He didn't even play with
us, but we had him come out and we hung out with him and
spent some time to kinda get to know each other. We
wanted to make sure the dude that got in the band after
Shannon got along with us, because with us and Shannon,
he was always just the odd man out and a pain in the
ass.
We went on tour in the UK and Europe with a [replacement]
drummer that wasn't quite what we were lookin' for.
Meanwhile Shannon had started sending e-mails sayin' "I
wanna come back, I wanna come back!" He's talking to our
manager and talking to mutual friends of ours and just doin'
all the politics to get back. So we figured, ok he's a great
drummer and hopefully he's learned his lesson and he's not
gonna be a pain in the ass.
So he comes back and we obviously wanna have the
paperwork to cover us because he's already quit the band
once and screwed us once by leaving us high and dry two
weeks before our European tour. We had two weeks to find
a dude because he just up and said, "Ah man, I'm not gonna
do it I quit." So when he finally comes back in the band we
get all the paperwork and contracts written up AFTER Ozzfest
and AFTER Dragonforce and he sees the paperwork and just
starts cryin' about it and yet again quit the band and we
were just like whatever.
So we contact Jason again - and this is like seven or eight
months after we initially asked him to hang out and possibly
join up. We knew that Jason was badass and there was no
question at all whether or not he had the drumming ability. I
know he can play, he's an amazing drummer and was one
of the most sought-after dudes in Massachusetts for years,
so we knew that he could do it, we just wanted to make sure
that he was cool and would fit in. For the first time in years
he was taking time off and hadn't played drums in almost
eight months but I told him that when we came back from
the UK I would like to get together. Now he's our drummer
and it's awesome.
When I received the CD I only had an advance
copy and
not the actual CD with the liner notes. So when I did my
review I guessed that you did all the vocals since the info
the PR Company sent didn't have mention of any other
member contributing vocals. Did you do all the vocals on the
CD yourself?
Yeah.
Damn! I'm glad I put that in my review then
because that's incredible! You're just all over the place with
the vocal styles - like Mike Patton or somebody like
that.
Oh wow! I don't know, man. Those are some really big
shoes right there though. I did them all myself though, so
thanks.
When you're not listening to metal what do you
prefer to listen to?
[Without any hesitation or moment of thought] Justin
Timberlake.
Get the fuck outta here! [I start laughing
uncontrollably, only to find he wasn't
bullshittin'.]
I swear to God man, I really like Justin Timberlake. I
downloaded a lot of rap and I love Jay-Z, Eminem, Snoop
Dogg, Ice Cube and all the stuff Dr. Dre does. I actually
really honestly like just Top 40 garbage-type pop stuff too.
It's not heavy music at all! [Actually starts singin' JT's
"Sexyback" and dancing in his seat.]
I'm sorry I laughed about the Justin Timberlake,
man. I thought that was a joke because I never expected his
name to come up. I tried a question similar to that one last
summer with a couple of members of Suffocation with hopes
of gettin' an answer like yours, but they just weren't havin'
it. Those guys are metal to the bone.
Really, well that kinda makes sense, I guess, because those
guys are one of the heaviest bands ever, so I guess I can
see them listening to nothing but heavy metal. Make no
mistake I listen to metal all the time but I like to change
things up some.
As far as your individual style (not the band's but
yours) who are some of your influences and
why?
Actually, Frank Mullen from Suffocation, Keith DeVito from
Pyrexia - and he actually sang for Catastrophic with Trevor
the guitar player from Obituary as well. I love the work he
did on that record because it's really, really heavy but it's
also good and clear. Even though it's very heavy you can
still understand what he's sayin'. I also really like the early
Cannibal Corpse albums. Tomb Of The
Mutilated and Butchered At Birth are
fuckin' awesome, but you can't make out a word he [Chris
Barnes] was sayin', but I just remember that they were just
SO heavy!
Speaking of being so damn heavy, I mentioned in
my CD review the song titled "Six," and how brutally heavy it
is.
Are you talkin' about "Six" or are you talkin' about "The
Weak Willed?"
I'm talkin' about "Six," which is the sixth song on
the album.
You mean the really Death "Metally" one?
Yeah, track six.
No, the sixth track on the album is "The Weak Willed" and
the seventh track is "Six."
[Confusion breaks out for a brief moment because in my
mind I know I'm right but it's his CD and he knows he's right
as well, so we're both totally lost by now. Luckily, I look at
him and say that I have the advance disc in my newly
re-parked van and that I would go get it and find out if I was
crazy or not.
I bring it in, and as it turns out, we both get a good laugh
because we were both right! The sticker on my advance lists
track six as being the song "Six" when in reality it's the
seventh track on the actual CD, and had the eleventh song
listed, but not as a track and it was all fucked up. We both
laughed at little more and moved on about the interview.]
Ok, so you were talking about "The Weak Willed." Yeah well,
it's very Death Metal inspired very much like Morbid Angel.
[I agreed that the song reminded me of a song off their
album
The Covenant.] That's kinda how the lyrics and
the vocals were also inspired because we do a lot of
different styles of metal ourselves. If a particular song calls
for something - and it's cool, then we'll try it - and I'm just
really happy that we can pull that stuff off.
This is always a tough question for band members
because it's referred to almost as picking a favorite child of
yours but, what are your favorite songs on this album and
what are some of your favorites from the bands
catalog?
[Thinks for a minute] I like "This Calling" and "Not Alone" off
the new record. I'm into a lot... there's different things in
every song... for example, I like the way that "Six" starts
off. I like "Six" a lot. That's definitely one of my favorite
songs. I like "Tattered On My Sleeve" from our last record.
"Focus Shall Not Fail" is one of my favorite songs and I'm
really happy with the lyrics to that song and the way they
came out, so those would have to be some of my favorites I
guess.
Finish this famous rock lyric: Hold your mouth for
the war/Use it for what it's for...
Speak the truth about me.
[Both together] Determined! [Lyrics from the Pantera song
"Mouth For War"]
[Pound fists and smile]
Come on man you can do better than that! That's the
chorus; I can understand somebody not knowing the verses
but the chorus?
Sorry man, that just got stuck in my head when I
was writin' my questions, so I went with it. I'll do better next
time. What in your opinion is the scariest movie ever made?
Scariest movie ever made? Wow, I don't watch a lot of
horror movies but I would have to say the original
Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I remember when
Leatherface has the girl over by the van and kills her with
that hammer. It's fuckin' awesome!
Okay, now do you think that's as terrifying as those
Burger King commercials?
[Laughs uncontrollably either at the question being funny or
the fact that I asked it.] He's fuckin' scary and he is not
somethin' that would make me wanna go to Burger King! He
truly is a very scary motherfucker.
I've always wanted to ask somebody that question
man.
I have a book at home called The Complete
Headbanging History Of Heavy Metal. If they ever
released another installment of it what would you say All
That Remains has contributed to the legacy of the metal
genre thus far?
[Answers without pause or hesitation of thought] NOTHIN'!
[Laughs]
Do you just wanna leave it at that?
Yeah. [Continues anyway] We play shows and we're lucky
we get to do that and people enjoy it. If people someday
think we're a historic band then that's cool, but right now
we're just happy for the small things. I'm just happy we've
got a bus now and we're not in a van anymore. We pay our
bills and take care of our crew - who work very hard - and
we take care of ourselves playing music. That's all it
is.
What do you do enjoy doin' in your
downtime?
Playin' Halo II on my X-box and anxiously waiting with
sweaty palms for Halo 3 to come out. That's it!
Every artist claims they have a way of knowing
they've made it. What would you use as a sign of assuring
you that the band has struck the big time and finally gone all
the
way?
Can we pay our bills, take care of ourselves and our crew
and make enough money to have a little fun in the process?
That's how you know you've made it.
What band do you dream of one day opening for?
Well, obviously a band like Iron Maiden or Metallica, but
most Iron Maiden fans would hate us I think. I can honestly
say if we ever had a chance to open for Carcass that would
be the best. I love that band!
Just so you know I ain't makin' this shit up, I'll
show you my list of questions to prove I was gonna ask you
a question that, surprisingly, you pretty much answered
earlier. Here it comes anyway. If somebody like Britney
Spears, Jessica Simpson or some pop star in that realm
heard your work with All That Remains and asked you to do
some guest vocals for a song on one of their albums would
you do it?
You goddamn fuckin' know it! I can come up with four
reasons to do somethin' like that and all four of them are on
their chests. What could be greater than to stand around in
the studio for a day and look at their boobs then cut a
record? I would fuckin' beg for Nick Lachey's sloppy
seconds. [Both crack up laughing.]
On my hands and knees I would beg for his sloppy seconds!
Last question, what do you see in the band's
future?
I think as far as the sound of the next record it will be close
to The Fall Of Ideals, although now with Jason
in the band - and him being a very schooled and very
talented drummer - it will be interesting to get him to try
new stuff. As for now, this is our second show of this tour
and we're gonna do this and take it from there.
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