Q: Tell us about the band (short version)
A: Andrew: We're just a buncha dudes who like to hang out and play music, have fun and do so in a positive light. We do what we do for the glory of God. He has blessed us with the ability to play this music so we owe it to Him.
Q: Your band definitely qualifies as metal/hardcore, but there's much more to you than that. You talk about having spiritual, heartfelt messages, but also of smashing the “Christian hardcore band” limits. Talk about these ideas, what this all means to you and how it is expressed through your music.
A: Andrew: Our lyrics show messages of hope and love to people who need to hear it, myself included from time to time. We defy the Christian hardcore band label by introducing our own feel and taste on the genre, stepping away from the synth and random guitars you see a lot of today. Instead we play what we like, hardcore mixed with heavy breakdowns.
Q: What can you say you've learned about the music world and metal music, in your experiences of rocking out with a positive message? Have you had some good and bad experiences?
A: Andrew: We have had a lot of both, really! We have learned that it takes a lot of work and practice to be able to play a show haha. Good experiences, traveling to San Diego, CA to record our debut album! So much fun, good times! Bad experiences, too many haha. We have had our van break down, blow tires, wrecked our e350 van, had members quit or skip shows, not show to practice, the list goes on. But what the important thing is, you have to look past all that and focus on the positive side of things, realize where you want to go and stay focused! Set goals and plan to reach them.
Q: Playing out of Lexington, Ky, what can you tell us about the music scene out there?
A: Andrew: Its lame haha. Pretty much no music scene really, due to no venues around the area. If there were an all ages venue it would be pretty sick I would say, need to look into that! We usually have to travel and tour to play shows, so we are always on the road.
Q: Your website talks about your music as, “From hammering melodic riffs followed by explosive breakdowns, machine gun sounding drums and such brutal vocals.” Talk a bit about how this comes across, what your methods are like, etc.
A: Andrew: Well, we write sort of melodic metal, coming from influences in our genre, the hardcore scene and so forth. Our breakdowns hit hard and our drummer uses a lot of double bass - hints the machine gun reference haha.
Q: Your debut album, “The Arctic Front” is now completed and available online. Talk about how it came together, what concepts and ideas you had in mind when you recorded it, how long it took to make, etc.
A: Well, it will be available on October 1st on iTunes world-wide. It took a lot of work and effort to make this record happen, and I mean A LOT of work. We sold pretty much everything we owned to friends, having yard sales, etc. just to raise the money to cover the costs. Then we had to buy plane tickets and everything, pay for all our food and lodging at the studio. We spent 2 weeks tracking at Lambesis Studios in San Marcos, California. Before the studio, we would spend days writing and piecing together what you hear now, up all night writing and re-writing because something didn't sound good enough or we weren't pleased with it. The idea of the album comes with the title, "The Arctic Front", dealing with the topic of the world we live in today. It has so much hate towards everything. It basically says that love will return and we all have to work together to make it happen.
Q: “Order of Oceans” gets off to a quick start that leads into some growling vocals. What was the process like that led to this song coming together?
A: Andrew: Basically, we wrote that song in the studio, Jared had ideas written previously and took them with us to the studio and we pieced them together there. The whole topic of that song is about saving grace and how it is such a big deal and we often over look, even as Christians.
Q: You guys have a busy schedule of shows coming up. How are you keeping yourselves on top of your game and ready to bring it every night?
A: Andrew: RedBull.
Learn more about Beyond the shore at:
MySpace- www.myspace.com/beyondtheshore
Facebook- www.facebook.com/beyondtheshore
Twitter- www.twitter.com/beyondtheshore
Their debut album "The Arctic Front" is out October 1st! Check it out on iTunes world-wide!
Stay tuned for more from this band, here in the Continuum.
