Interview Keith Buckley Every Time I Die

Lineup: Keith Buckley – vocals Michael Novak Jr. – drums Andy Williams – guitar Jordan Buckley – guitar Chris Byrnes – bass

The Truth Winter Tour 2006 Bleeding Through Every Time I Die Between The Buried and Me Haste The Day 2/26/06 HOB Interviewer: Karma E. Omowale Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

“We’re just low profile kind of dudes! It’s better than seeing all these bands that try to sell themselves to anyone they encounter rather than prove themselves”.

Having the fortune of meeting Every Time I Die in the summer of 2004 when the band played the second stage on Ozzfest, it amazes us just how far they have come! The transformation is as monumental as the metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Their phenomenal climb to the top includes the release Gutter Phenomenon, a spot on last years’ inaugural Sounds of the Underground Tour, as well as their own headlining tour. This go round the band’s in direct support for Bleeding Through on The Truth Winter Tour, not to mention these busy beavers have landed a spot on this year’s Warped Tour. Phew, now that was a mouthful!

Speaking of the Truth Tour, if you read the review for this show, then you know what an overall clusterfuck it was and this interview was no exception! During my prearranged scheduled interview with frontman Keith Buckley, BT’s tour manager (even though very late for their own scheduled interview) demanded my imminent presence; therefore, my time with Keith was cut short. Although hungry, Keith obligingly resumed the interview after their set opting to dine later. Join in conversation with this utterly intelligent human being you know Mr. Buckley never fails to entertain!

Karma: Thanks for sitting down with me again, Keith!

Keith: [Smiles] No problem!

Karma: Much has happened since our last interview: you guys did SOTU, you had your own headlining tour, a new album, and then there was that “wonderful” accident you had!

Keith: [Laughs] Yeah… [My phone rings temporarily derailing the flow]

Karma: Please tell me what really happened with accident.

Keith: You really want to hear about the accident?

Karma: Well yeah, I do.

Keith: [Laughing] You like envisioning us flailing around…screaming!

Karma: [A look of horror fills my face] Oh my god Keith! No, I do not… not unless you were on a rollercoaster or something! [We both laugh]

Keith: I don’t know, we hit a patch of ice driving through the mountains in Wyoming. We didn’t expect it because it didn’t seem cold enough to have ice like that. I guess it’s a pretty bad spot for vans. I know it’s claimed a lot of vans and a life actually from another band, Bayside.

Karma: Oh right, sadly enough Johnny Beatz.

Keith: Yeah, yeah! We were going around a turn and hit [the patch of ice], the trailer started fishtailing, it pulled the van around a 180°, and then we sort of hit regular concrete and sort of flipped a little bit.

Karma: Wow, at least you guys are lucky enough to live and tell about it.

Keith: I know! [All of a sudden, my phone rings AGAIN as I am forced to take it this go round] I wanted to see it; it would have been awesome to see it…

Karma: [Mortification replaces my serene countenance] Sorry, can you hold that thought one quick second? I need to take this…[Being it was BT’s tour manager in which my original interview time got bumped unfortunately I needed to prematurely end/postpone my interview with Keith so I could conduct my interview with Brandan]

Keith: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Luck eventually got back on our side, as we are now able to resume our conversation

Karma: All right, I guess we can pick up where we left off.

Keith: All right!

Karma: You were talking about…

Keith & Karma: The accident.

Keith: [“Sardonicism” overtakes his facial expression] Thanks for making me re-live it again!

Karma: I’m sorry!

Keith: [Laughs] No, no…so what did you need to know about it? It was intense, it was intense.

Karma: I’m sure it was; I am just so sorry it happened.

Keith: I wanted to see it from the outside. We were going to try to re-enact it for our DVD actually. We’re gonna try to flip over another van.

Karma: Okay!!

Keith: Why not!

Karma: Well it’s not like you don’t have photos and stuff like that but at least this go round you’re acting.

Keith: Yeah…we’ll just rent a van and flip it! We’re ballers!! [We both laugh] [Note: earlier on Keith’s theme for the day was balls, this will come into play later on. Not that I made it any better.]

Karma: I meant to ask you how the headlining tour had gone.

Keith: [Cocks his head and smirks] How my hairline is for this tour?

Karma: Head-lining tour Keith, stick with me. [Laughter ensues] [Slowly said] The Good Music For Bad People Tour.

Keith: Oh! [Laughs] It went good, it was a weird, weird combination of bands with us and High on Fire, really.

Karma: Yes, it was!

Keith: You know they have the sort of fans that don’t come out if they play before midnight [snickers] and our kids have to sort of be home by midnight. [Laughs] It was awesome! I really think it was a true testament to who really likes good music, you know what I mean!

Karma: Yeah, totally.

Keith: A lot of people were like, “Oh, I’m not gonna pay that much to see a band if they’re not playing with four other bands that I really enjoy” but the fact that we could tour with a band like High on Fire that we all respect so much, it was awesome! And as far as I’m concerned, it was a success.

Karma: And you did it twice over, as you toured with the band for Sounds of the Underground last year.

Keith: [Eyes brighten] Yeah! Exactly! For sure!! It worked out cool.

Karma: In retrospect you have kept a relatively low profile these days prior to the accident, was this done on purpose toning down?

Keith: We’re just low profile kind of dudes! It’s better than seeing all these bands that try to sell themselves to anyone they encounter rather than prove themselves, you know. We’ll prove ourselves; we’ve been around for so long, we’ll just keep doing it.

Karma: Well I think you have already proven yourself with this album.

Keith: I think so too. We’re still gonna be hush-hush about. It’s a lot more flattering and sort of inspirational to meet someone that doesn’t realize that they are as sweet as they are. [Scoffs] I mean you meet dudes that just want to talk about themselves and that’s for sure not us. You know you get tired of those people really quickly and we don’t want to be that.

Karma: [Laughs] That works out because you are sweet guys.

Keith: [Laughs] Well of course, we are sweet guys…I’m not gonna tell you that. [Laughter ensues] I’ll wait for you to say that. I was just waiting for you to agree

Karma: There you go, lucky for you that I did!

Keith: Exactly!

Karma: How was SOTU for you; do you think it opened new doors as fan base is concerned?

Keith: No, I really don’t think it could have done say playing with My Chemical Romance did for us in Europe. But it was good because you get to be around friends and it’s sort of a testament to the music that’s growing up together. You’re playing with all these bands that you’ve toured with for years, and years, and years. Now it’s sort of finally being accepted on such a bigger scale that you just appreciate everybody that’s there, you know what I mean. It’s not like you’re using anybody else to get more fans. It just sort of…I mean we’ve played with Poison The Well, we’ve played with Chimaira…things like that. We just happen to be on tour with friends that we’ve been touring with forever seeing them finally make it.

Karma: Do you think it important for a band to do a summer tour in order to keep their name out there for American audiences?

Keith: Yeah, for sure! It’s kind of weird because we just got off Story of the Year, which was a big tour and MCR before that which was a really big tour. Now we’re sort of going back to more of our fans. We’ve been playing smaller clubs but it’s refreshing, you know. [Smiles] It’s not like you really have to put on a show as much as it is being a part of a show.

Karma: Pros and cons of you doing Warped this year.

Keith: [Sheepishly says] I have no idea yet! I know the cons are the heat; I'm sure the pros are the fans we’re going to be playing to. I really don’t know what to expect, [chuckles] I just hear horror stories about how to devote time. Just try to keep my sanity, really.

Karma: I can understand all of that on how best to manage your time vs. keeping your sanity and it was hot as hell last year!

Keith: Yes, yes! I’ve only been to one Warped Tour and I was like passed out from the heat within three hours of it so we’ll see how it goes.

Karma: Well good luck on that!

Keith: No kidding, thanks.

Karma: So how are things going with Gutter Phenomenon still…

Keith: …good, good! It’s out because it’s not…we sort of came to the realization that we’re the kind of band that could so really well at shows but there’s two different calibers of bands. The kind that sells a ton of records but then people aren’t really interested in their live show or the bands that have people mainly interested in their live show but don’t really go out and buy records, you know. I think we’re the latter of the two, I think we can do pretty well on tour but it’s not reflected in the record sales, but that’s really not what we’re concerned with. We’re not sitting at home and counting money that’s coming in, you know. [We all laugh] We’re just going out and touring all the time and if people are coming out to the shows and being interactive, then that’s the payoff.

Karma: With the cover, it’s really nice actually.

Keith: Yeah, it is.

Karma: Why was it done in matte finish?

Keith: Gosh, I don’t know, that’s a good question; it’s some artsy-fartsy stuff. [Laughs] It was the design guys, we just left it up to them.

Karma: In addition to the color pink…

Keith: Yeah, yeah, that was up to them to. They presented us with a bunch of colors and [scrunches up face] there was green and brown and pink and pink looked the best.

Karma: Now as far as musical direction is concerned, do you see the band staying in the "I don't give a fuck rock out with your balls hanging out rock n' roll good times" vein as in with the new release?

Keith: [Laughs] Uh-huh, yeah! [Smiles] I like that one! I like my balls hanging out so I guess the style sort of accommodates it, but I’ll stick with it!

Karma: It’s a good fit for you plus you can always use some breathing room.

Keith: Yeah, air ‘em out some!!

Karma: What has been your greatest challenge thus far that you have been able to overcome, which has led you to this point in your career…

Keith: [Face deadpans] This interview!

Karma: Keith, allow me to finish my question before you cut me, huh? [Laughs]

Keith: [Laughs] I’m just kidding.

Karma: You love giving me shit, don’t you!

Keith: [Eyebrow rises as a mischievous look creeps across his countenance]

Karma: I’ll repeat the question…

Keith: Okay. [With that ever so innocent schoolboy just got scolded look, he sits up straight patiently awaiting his turn]

Karma: What has been your greatest challenge thus far that you have been able to overcome, which has led you to this point in your career? What lessons have you learned thereby not committing the same errors?

Keith: I think that the biggest challenge, that I don’t see a lot of other bands getting over is the ego, really. I could play a show that has twelve people there and not go back and would say, “Fuck this, I’m going back to a fulltime job!” working in a coffee shop, you know. If it’s in your heart, you’ll do it no matter who’s listening, really. I think that was the biggest thing to get over. There was a time when it was like, ‘hang it up, nobody cares’; but we just kept pushing, and kept pushing, it’s really all we know how to do. You know, I think just getting used to the fact that not everyone’s going to like you all of the time is really a huge challenge, which causes a lot of bands to break up, but not us.

Karma: There you have it. Are you planning to do another video or more for the DVD?

Keith: On April 6^th, we’re shooting a video for “The New Black”.

Karma: Coolness! So you will release the DVD soon, right.

Keith: Yeah, we’re doing the DVD soon; the finishing touches are being done during this tour. We have some crews to shoot for the DVD just for two more weeks just to wrap it up.

Karma: Sweet! Since you have traveled all over the globe, what is your take on Europe in regards to their societal differences? What strikes you odd about their society if anything at all?

Keith: I LOVE the UK!

Karma: Why the UK?

Keith: I don’t know. I’m just awestruck by the culture there. I just think that being around London and personally studying writers that have come from London, I don’t know, it was kind of amazing to see. Dublin, being in Ireland James Joyce and stuff like that, so for personal interest, [passion fills his eyes] I love the UK. Germany is the worst; we’ve never had a good show in Germany ever. Paris is okay, it’s kind of hit or miss. I know a lot of people don’t like Americans there. We’ve never done Spain before but we did Italy a few months ago.

Karma: How did that go?

Keith: It was all right, it was all right I liked Italy a lot. I really liked the scenery really, no matter how big the shows were. I’ve never had a problem with anybody, personally running a show or at a show except in Germany. I don’t know what it is…I don’t know if it’s our band, I don’t know if it’s the way they view music but I’ve never had a problem with promoters or the fans except in Germany. Sorry Germany!

Karma: Maybe things will get better next go round.

Keith: They’ll probably get worse. [Laughs]

Karma: Here’s the infamous Speed Round Questions! I made up some good ones just for you.

Keith: Okay.

Karma: If you could have plastic surgery, what would you have cosmetically altered?

Keith: My huge balls, I’d have them shrunk. [Laughs] They’re just too big.

Karma: [Blank countenance] Okay.

Keith: [Laughs]

Karma: What's a phrase that's overly used with you guys?

Keith: [Face deadpans] My huge balls!

Karma: Guess, you’re on a roll. Who are you a fan of these days?

Keith: Balls Mahoney. [We all laugh] What do you expect from me?

Karma: [Laughs] Pretty much stuff like this! Favorite hangover cure.

Erika: Probably more drinks!

Keith: [Laughs hysterically] More drinks.

Karma: A) Bitchy, B) slutty, C) demure, or D) all of the above?

Keith: Oh man, demure. Yeah.

Karma: If ETID were a cocktail, which drink would you be.

Keith: Oh boy, that’s a good one. I want to say Jack and Coke pretty much because that’s my drink of choice but uh, if it’s going to be a cocktail we’ll be the biggest cocktail there is.

Karma: With some balls!

Keith: That’s right, with some balls.

Karma: So what drink would that be?

Keith: Jesus, I don’t know. [Snickers] Just beach balls in a martini glass.

Karma: Oh that would be classy, it’s just that the balls would be hanging over the rim…

Keith: Yeah, yeah but we could put an umbrella in it. [Laughs] That rules!

Karma: Last show attended as fan not as a performer.

Keith: As a fan, oh. Simon & Garfunkel with my mom on Mother’s Day. I bought my mother tickets and it was AWESOME!

Karma: That’s right, you told us about that before. Ohhh!

Keith: Yeah, I shed a tear during “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.

Karma: What was your last vivid dream about?

Keith: [Horror crosses his face] Oh this is weird!

Karma: How so?

Keith: I kinda spooked out about it because I know that dreams about birth have to do with death. Last night me and my girlfriend both had a dream that we had a baby but in my dream after I had a baby, my mom told that she was originally going to name me Phantom, which is more leaning towards the death reference that I already hate and am really spooked out about it. So yeah, I just read it, if you dream about birth, it means death. Here my girlfriend and I both had dreams about birth and my personal name in my dream was supposed to be Phantom, which isn’t good.

Karma: [Stunned] Okay!

Erika: Don’t claim it!!

Keith: What do you mean?

Erika: If you don’t believe it, it means you haven’t embraced it.

Karma: Thereby not giving it any power.

Erika: If you don’t declare it…

Erika & Karma: Then it won’t happen.

Keith: Really! [Sighs in relief as it washes over his body] Oh, okay. I mean I’ve already looked for alternative ways to describe it and I think that the whole phantom thing is just the fact that I'm never around.

Karma: That’s a good assessment.

Keith: Yeah, because I’m always on tour.

Karma: Use it as a metaphor.

Keith: Exactly! I very rarely take dreams literally.

Karma: There you go.  

Keith: That’s what I believe but that was my first interpretation of the dream when In woke up this morning. Maybe it just means that I’m not around.

Erika: Maybe it also means you need to be in contact more with your loved ones.

Karma: Making your presence known to them not just being an apparition or a ghost as they remember you from your last interaction.

Keith: Exactly!

Karma: Feel better now?

Keith: [Laughs in another sigh of relief] I do! I do feel better now. I’ve been bummed out by that dream all day! Thank you guys so much!

Karma & Erika: You are very welcome.

Karma: If your job were to interview bands…

Keith: [Now perky] Uh-hmmm…

Karma: …name one that you would want to interview and something you would definitely want to know about them.

Keith: If I had the courage to ask any band any question, what still plagues me is I wanted to know why Metallica recorded that last album. I just don’t understand it. [Said with revulsion] St. Anger, I just don’t understand. I can’t get it through my head why anybody would put that out. I am really disappointed because I've been a Metallica fan for a really long time but I really lost a lot of faith in that band. I think more than any other band ever, normally I can see some sort of artistic direction going this way or that way and I could appreciate it but that’s one band that I think made the wrong decision. And I really want to find out what's going on, in fact I try to find interviews, like what were they thinking. But I don’t ever think that I could sit down with a guy in Metallica going, “what the hell were you thinking?” [Laughing] So hypothetically, if I could do that, that would be what I’d ask.

Karma: Hypothetically speaking, you already did by putting it out there.

Keith: Yeah, yeah, yeah…so if anybody in Metallica wants to get back to me, please! [We all laugh]

Karma: One more on the role reversal questions, do you have any questions for me?

Keith: Yeah! Why do you still interview me? [Laughs boisterously]

Karma: Oh Keith, why not? You are always entertaining and besides, there’s always something to talk to you about.

Keith: Was I fun though?

Karma: Yes! How could you even think it wasn’t?

Keith: Our interviews are fun! The problem is I hate interviews, I hate them. In fact, I won’t even joke around anymore. I’m just so bummed out, but ours are fun.

Karma: Happy I can oblige! Thank you!! Why are you bummed though?

Keith: Because people don’t know their shit! They’re just not creative enough. Like “what was the last dream you had”, that’s a good question! Everybody wants to know, [intonation drops] “How did you get Michael Madsen in the video”? I’ve answered that question a billion and one times, I don’t want to talk about that anymore. Now I'm just making up things like I met him on the internet, I hooked up with him under a bridge…[hysterical laughter ensues] It’s just shit! People who are creative about their questions are just awesome; I love talking about fun stuff. I just hope that you guys appreciate me like I appreciate you.

Karma & Erika: Aww.

Karma: Oh well of course we do Keith. Plus I know you are one of the only people that would appreciate these ridiculous ass questions!

Keith: I love it, I love ‘em!!

Karma: Yup, I pulled these out of a hat, next time they will be even more off the wall, I promise!

Keith: Good! Please do!! Even today we were looking at the list of stuff and had all these shit interviews it’s like “stupidwebzine.org”… I’m like, “UGHHH”! Then I’m like “Karma! Sweet, that’s gonna be a good one!”

Karma: [Smiles] Oh well thank you! Now do you have any last comments or special messages for your fans?

Keith: Nope! [Laughs]

Karma: Thanks Keith!

Keith: [Still laughing] Thank you!  

Thanks Keith, you rock, really you do!!! We love you at FourteenG. I’d like to thank the band’s tour manager and the rest of the ETID camp for their roles in making this interview a possibility.

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