Karma: I will try to keep the standard questions to a bare minimum, but what made you come up with the name From Autumn To Ashes?

Ben: It’s kind of an analogy for someone that I knew that had the world going for her and kind of did some things that made her fall back to the ground, so now she’s been working her way back to the top from being at the bottom.

Ben: It was a strange tour I mean there were a lot of horns on that tour.

Karma: Really?

Ben: It was like the Mad Patties and a bunch of other ska/punk bands and Strung Out and Only Crime, so there was a lot of like regular punk rock and us and Boys On Fire were the only two bands that had any kind of screaming in the vocals. It worked out well half the shows were really, really good and the other half were kinda new territory for us. 

Karma: Awesome, so what are you guys plans before the Sounds Of The Underground Tour?

Ben: Actually, we’re home now. I just got home from Italy yesterday; I went on vacation for two days, me and my tour manager. I got home yesterday and we’ll be home for about a month then we’re on our way to Japan for about five days.

Karma: Okay, so is that just a tour for you guys or…

Ben: Yeah, it’s more like a press tour, we’re doing like one show in Tokyo and like two or three days of press. We have a new record coming out in July.

Karma: Yes, I know that, that’s great. Well, actually we’re going get to that in a couple of minutes.

Ben: Okay.

Karma: So, how do you feel about SOTU, do you have any projections for it?

Karma: Cool, so how is life with Vagrant?

Ben: Life with Vagrant is good they’re good people over there. They know what they are doing and they really get our name out there. They try their best to reach the markets they’re new to because we’re the only heavy band out there besides The Flood who was just signed after us but its new territory for both of us we’re still feeling it out.

Karma: Okay, well you guys are going to be releasing a new album as you were saying earlier, Abandon Your Friends and that’s due out in July…

Karma: What was your main motivation behind the creation of this album?

Ben: We got two new members in the band and there was a lot of questions coming from kids like , “Are they done, what are they doing, are they gonna sound any different, and are they gonna be a completely different band now?” But our main motivation was to prove them wrong and show them that we’re still from Autumn To Ashes and we’re better than we were before.

Karma: Awesome, so did you really get rid of your friends?

Ben: No, it's kind of an analogy, we like to hide the meanings of our titles. Basically we go on tour and the world goes on without us and it's kind of like when we leave on the road, we abandon our friends and their lives go on, but ours kind of goes on hold. It's kind of like you press pause, and you get home from the tour and it starts all over, but everything changed for the band but not for you.

Karma:  Okay, wow that poetically sums up touring, etc.

Ben: Yeah!

Karma: Are you satisfied with the way it turned out?

Ben: I really am, the first two records I'm happy with, I think they we're great records but especially with my vocals, I didn't think I got the potential I could have on the album. I tried to capture the way I sound live on the album, it came out just the way I wanted it to, and the song came out even better. Like Garth Richardson, the guy who produced it he really made the song go to it's full potential.

Karma: How was is it working with Garth?

Ben: It was great, it's the second time we've worked with the guy. It's kind of familiar territory as we walked in and no awkwardness, we we're friends with him already. So, we could get in, start working and know what he expects of us. It was a tough arduous process that for sure, we hadn't worked on a record since January and we just got done with it in mid-April. It was a long, stressful process for everyone and everyone was pretty much over it after the three months. He came in like it was a real job, like he was really waking up and going to work and kind of dreading it but, the outcome made all that worth it. 

Karma: Well, tell your fans something about the production of the album that they may not have known previously.

Ben: Hmm, let's see. Well, a lot of the songs we had different ideas for, the way they came out on the record, the incarnation that are actually on the record, totally changed from the demo that we had. Like, there were some songs where I was doing all the vocals on, actually Fran took over doing the lead vocals, and I'm doing the backups.

Karma: Oh.

Ben: Yeah, we have two or three versions of every song that we wrote, kind of interesting. So, we actually released three different records with different versions.

Karma: That is interesting, are you planning on releasing any of them?

Ben: No, they’re for more for us.

Karma: If you were asked enough would you do it?

Ben: Probably not. They're not the strongest songs, they way they were before we finalized them, they were good, we were all happy with them but the way we they turned out was even better. I wouldn’t want to release something that isn’t as good as what we released.

Karma: That I can understand.

Ben: They're more for us and the lyrics are different than when I wrote the lyrics for the songs than when Fran wrote them. Like, it's kind of just a song for myself, something to hold on to for my kids or something when I'm older.

Karma: I was reading your bio and you were speaking of the concepts behind The Fiction We Live, what are the concepts behind the new one?

Ben: Not really, there wasn't really one true concept for The Fiction We Live that was more of our old guitar player telling a story. There's no concepts to what we do, there's no overlaying idea that we try to shove down peoples throats. We want them to take what they want from the music. It's open-minded for everybody and if they see something different than what I envision the song being about, then that's what I want them to take, because they are the one listening to it and reading the words.

Karma: How can you compare the songwriting/musical direction from the other two albums as opposed to the new album, The Fiction We Live?

Ben: In the early days it was basically our old guitar player Scott Graham, locked away writing the music and then the rest of us coming in adding our little pieces  to it. But this album, is a group effort. The five of us sat down together for three weeks in an isolated house in upstate New York and wrote the record together. Lyrically, I wrote all the lyrics myself, but there was input from everybody and it was a nice change for us to write the album as a band. We're really proud of it. 

Karma: What's your favorite song off The Fiction We Live?

Ben: From The Fiction We Live I would say, “Alive Out Of Habit” is my favorite song.

Karma: Now and off Abandon Your Friends.

Ben: That's tough, there are two. I know the working title but not the actual title. But, the one song, the heavy song is my favorite; the actual title is the first track off the record is called “Short For Show”, that's my favorite song, the heavy one. There's a mellow song that I like but I forgot the name of it.

Karma: If you could commission a band to do a FATA cover, who would do it and which song would it be?

Ben: I'm gonna go, and this is just for myself because I know Josh [Newton] our bass player, would yell at me. I wish that Ryan Adams, not Bryan, but R-Y-A-N, I wish he could do a cover of one of our songs.

Karma: Which song would he cover?

Ben: I would like to see him do a version of “Short Stories With Tragic Endings”.

Karma: Well on the current state of hardcore fans…are they too violent and do you ever foresee them not being so "protective" of their band to newcomers?

Ben: I think the answer to both those questions [are the same]. Back when I was going to shows when I was younger they were more violent and they latched on to the band more than they do now. I think that we have the fans that we have, we make new fans and the fans we had before, they don't complain when more kids come to the shows they actually like that. They don't question the growth of the band or what we do as a career because it is our jobs.

Karma: Absolutely.

Ben: So, I feel bad because we do have a mixture of kids. We have the poppier side of music like, Taking Back Sunday fans that come to our shows, then we have the heavy music fans. I do feel bad for the poppier kids who don't really dance like the hardcore kids, so I feel really bad if they get like jumped upon and all that kind of stuff but everyone enjoys it and has a good time. 

Karma: So, what did you grow up listening to?

Ben: I started out with the basics of classic rock like my dad played Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, the Who and all that stuff. Then it went to punk rock, hardcore, then metal. Now it goes from Yo Yo Ma up to In Flames. 

Karma: Oh okay, we are scheduled to interview In Flames for Ozzfest, do you have any questions for them?

Ben: Very nice. Tell them to take us out on tour again, that's all, because we played a couple of shows with them and we had a really good time playing with them. They're a great freakin' band man. [We both laugh]

Karma: Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing them actually!

Ben: Yeah they're amazing live, one of the best live bands I've seen in my life.

Karma: Well speaking of bands in the scene, who are you listening to right now?

Ben: [Laughs] In the scene, nobody. [We both laugh] But what piques my interest right now Every Time I Die’s new record is coming out and I'm looking forward to that because they're geniuses at what they do. I'm listening to a lot of mellower stuff, I guess you could say like, Pinback, The Stills and Ryan Adams of course, always. So yeah just softer stuff because we play heavy music, I don't want to listen to that all the time. 

Karma: I understand, so I hear you guys are huge supporters of PETA?

Ben: Ahhh, no, not really.

Karma: Really?

Ben: We are but Fran is the only real vegetarian in the group now, but we all used to be. So, we like what they do, they do good work, but no one is vegetarian, so no one really or a stance on that subject. That's what we preach and try to pull it off as a band belief.

Karma: Tell me about your stay in Nicaragua.

Ben: We were going to Nicaragua, my parents have a house down there; it is on the Gulf of Mexico. We didn't end up going there because it would've been too expensive as a band to pay for it. So, we went the total opposite route and went to Hunter Mountain, where it was eight feet of snow and ice cold everywhere. [Chuckles] I think we were better off doing what we did because if we would've been on the beach in the sun we would've been drunk all the time and not writing a record. [Laughs]

Karma: [Laughs] What mark/legacy would you like to leave on your fans?

Ben: I want them to believe in what we do and help with my lyrics to get them through situations in their life that I’d been through when I wrote about it. I’m 27, I have been through everything they’ve been through probably ten times over. Just hope they take the positive from what we do and use it in their life to make them a better person.

Karma: Awesome, speaking of your tourmates, I will be interviewing The Red Chord and Nora later today; do you have any questions for them from you to them?

Karma: Okay.

Karma: Yes.

Ben: Tell him thanks for everything because he put out two records that got us to where we are. [Chuckles]

Karma: Okay, will do! Thanks very much Ben, I really appreciate it.

Ben: I appreciate it too and hope we get to meet someday.

Karma: Yes, I look forward to meeting you and take care, have a wonderful tour in Japan.