Interview Keith Buckley Every Time I Die

MISS MACHINE GETS PREGNANT TOUR Dillinger Escape Plan Every Time I Die Zao Misery Signals Drowning Man 10/5/04 Metro Interviewer & Photo: Karma E. Omowale

Lineup: Michael Novak Jr. - Drums Andy Williams - Guitar Jordan Buckley - Guitar Steven Micciche - Bass Keith Buckley - Vocals

"It's not me doing the vocals, it's a bum!"

Believe it or not, Keith Buckley, lead screamer of New York's Every Time I Die, is not all about sex, alcohol, and rock n' roll; however underneath the guise of the clown, the show monkey that he plays so well on TV, so to speak, beats the heart of an extremely intelligent and serious being. It is shameful that the press and public expect him to be this way constantly. Do not get me wrong, I am not painting him out to be a saint, to say this man doesn't like to party and hang out would be a fallacy; however after reading this interview I am sure you will form a different opinion seeing a different side of the man, the myth! After being asked if given the option of being any cartoon character which one would he be, Keith chose Aladdin but in truth, he does lead the life of this character. In a sense Keith is a genie fulfilling wishes of his fans when he graces the stage and performs then hangs after the show.  Read on and you will meet the talented side of Keith Buckley, the man I met at the Metro. Due to technical difficulties portions of the of the interview were lost ...sorry!**

Karma: First off, thanks for doing the interview.

Keith: No problem!  [Smiles as he takes a puff of his cigarette]

Karma: How has this tour faired for you versus Ozzfest? 

Keith: It is a lot calmer than Ozzfest and it's a lot more intimate, obviously.  Ozzfest was all about egos; Dillinger's [Escape Plan] friends of ours and is one of our favorite bands to tour with.  I mean I know that Ozzfest is supposed to be one of the biggest tours in the world but there was a lot of professionalism lacking on our part because we were so in awe of every thing.  We didn't take anything seriously…a lot of bands were just using it as a good time, as a way to get drunk and party in which you witnessed yourself!  [We both laugh hysterically]  We've kind of settled down, toned down a little bit now. 

Karma: Okay, so tell me about Hot Damn! your latest and greatest effort…

Keith: Oh!!  [Smiles]

Karma: …which track is your favorite?

Keith: "She's My Rushmore” It’s actually a very personal song for me as you may not be able to tell but it was written [specifically for someone] involving a relationship I was in.

Karma: Tell your fans something about the making of the CD they might not have known previously.

Keith: Oh boy!  Let me think…  It's not me doing the vocals, it's a bum!  [Boisterous laughter fills the area]  I think that's about it.  [Said with a poker face]

Karma: If that is the case that bum has a damn good voice!

Keith: [Snickers] You got it!  He did all right for himself!

Karma: Think of all the money you saved; it is a good thing you did not have to pay him either.  That's the best part!

Keith: Right, all we had to do was just buy him a hotdog!  [We both laugh]

Karma: Career wise, where do you see yourselves 5 years from now?

Keith: Celebrating the five-year anniversary of this interview!  [Snickers]

Karma: All right then!  [As we both laugh]  Tell me about the inspiration for the video for “I’ve Been Gone A Long Time”? 

Keith: When they wrote the music for that song they were kinda in a rut.  Andy had written a bunch of parts for another band he was in at the same time.  So we were all like, 'Oh come on let's hear it!' and I was like 'We can make it an Every Time I Die song.' When he played it for us we were swayed by the tempo of the music and the style of the song.

Karma: It's a great video by the way!

Keith: Thanks!

Karma: Who are some of your personal musical influences?

Keith: I've been around music all my life because my dad was a guitar player so he introduced me to music.  I grew up listening to Simon and Garfunkel all the time and would go to sleep listening to stuff like that…  I mean I still pull it out and listen to it every once in a while.  [Smiles]  But lately it has been a lot more experimental stuff I guess, things that I can sing along to and do different kinds of vocal exercises.  I really want to learn to use my voice as an instrument rather than scream and stuff like that.  People like Mike Patton definitely know how to take advantage of their voice so that is a direction I want to go in.

Karma: That's great!!

Keith:  Thank you

Karma: What do you think needs to change in the music industry?

Keith: Oh God, EVERYTHING!  Every thing on the radio because they only cater to the "mainstream", they don't cater to bands like us and bands that we are touring with.  They are not making us change our style at all to get more publicity.  Then you have bands that are doing publicity and promotions on their own and are selling thousands of copies of their CD’s without any major label help so then they see we are all doing something right.  Now they are, I don’t want to say infiltrate, but they are trying to…

Karma: What do you think you can do to change things?

Keith: I can just keep doing what we’re doing and we will get as big as we want on our own terms.  What’s great is people can come to the shows and see the kinds of bands they like and actually hang out and talk to them and communicate when them on a personal level.  Then when the fans are looking at a band from the floor onto a stage that’s 30 feet high behind a huge barricade and seeing the people who are there to see YOU.  After the show you just do not want to walk by and ignore them, the kids are there to see them [any band in general].  I hate that!  And there was a LOT of that at Ozzfest!  Not from us, as you can attest to that!  [We both laugh].  We are always willing to hang out so I think we that sort of attitude it will make people want to see you more.

Karma: What’s your favorite 6–8 syllable word?

Keith: Sesquipedalian…that’s 6, right?  Yeah!! [He chortles, we chuckle]  That's good!!  I never use it, I never use that word.  It really sounds like a monster, but its really just a person that uses big words. 

Karma: [Laughing]  [By the way for all of us out there that do not use this word in our daily vernacular here's the definition of the word according to Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: ses·qui·pe·da·lian
Pronunciation: "ses-kw&-p&-'dAl-y&n
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin sesquipedalis, literally, a foot and a half long, from sesqui- + ped-, pes foot -- more at FOOT

1 : having many syllables : LONG <sesquipedalian terms>
2 : given to or characterized by the use of long words <a sesquipedalian television commentator>] [Thanks Merriam-Webster]

Karma: [Laughs] Rather reptilian

Keith: Yeah, like a dinosaur!  [Guffaws from both]  Yeah, I think that’s a good one!

Karma: Well that’s awesome!  [Snickers from both]  Okay, here’s a speed round of questions.

Keith: Okay!

Karma: How many candles were on your cake this year and which did/will you blow them out?

Keith: On mine, in a month, will be 25.  Am I right?  [Looks appalled and bewildered]

Karma: [Laughing hysterically]

Keith: Yeah!  Jesus Christ, I actually forgot how old I was.  25!

Karma: Which day?

Keith: The 19th of November.

Karma: Well Happy "Birthday"

Keith: [Smiles] Well thank you!

Karma: What's your favorite word in the English language?  Is it not sesquipedalian?  [Giggles]

Keith: Well, yeah!  One of 'em!  [Beams]

Karma: And your second one?

Keith: Oh boy!  In the whole English language…[as his voice trails off] Dude!

Karma: Dude!

Keith: Yeah!  Dude!

Karma: And just to think it can be used in so many different ways!  [Titters]

Keith: Oh, it's great!  [We both laugh again]

Karma: Are you a gracious loser?

Keith: Yeah!  I just accept the fact that I usually lose so I have to be.  I wasn't at first when I first started loosing but it all just went down hill from there!  [Laughs and stares off in to the distance]

Karma: [Laughing]

Keith:  You have to be!! 

Karma: Can't be that "down hill'' you're here, right?!?

Keith: Yeah, I know!  I'm just kidding!! [Smiles]  Being a gracious loser makes you very humble so when you do win it feels better.

Karma: If you could be a cartoon character who would you be?

Keith: Uwwww!!!  [Starts to play with his lips to make a bubbling sound]  Out of like any movie, cartoon or anything?

Karma: [Nods head] Out of any cartoon or anything…

Keith: Wow!  Okay, I'll would be probably…okay…Aladdin!

Karma: Aladdin?  Why?  [Curious look now crosses my countenance]

Keith: I don't know!  He's kinda like a wizard and like a knight.  Is he a wizard, right?

Karma: He's a genie

Keith: He's a genie?  Is he a genie?  Yeah, I'd be him!

Karma: Yeah!

Keith: But he fights too, right?  He has a sword too, right?

Karma: Yeah, he does have a sword!

Keith: Yeah, okay!  I'll do that!!  [Laughs]

Karma: What's the last book you read?

Keith: Last book I read completely was called The Life of Kai.  It's a book about this guy who's stranded on a boat with a Bengal tiger and he gets to sort of make friends with it and accept his position in a broader sense until he got rescued and he needed to tame the tiger.  It wasn't that good of a book and it won a bunch of prizes.  When I see a book or a movie with award things on it [smiles] I'm a sucker, I'll buy it and I'll watch it and read it and then when it ends up sucking, I don't want to admit that it sucks!

Karma: [Snickers]

Keith: [Laughs] But I'm reading this one right now [bends over to unzip his bag and gets the book out] it's called The Lucifer Principle [A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History].  And it's just about…oh. [As he tugs on the book, flips it over and begins to read the description]  "A revolutionary work that explores the intricate relationships upon genetic human behavior and culture to put forth the thesis that evil is a byproduct of nature strategies for creation and then it is woven to our most basic biological fabric…"

Karma: Wow!  [Stunned]

Keith: Yeah!  It's amazing! By Howard Bloom just in case, anybody wants to read it.  Not MY copy, but they need to go out and buy their own.  [Chortles as he puts the book away]

Karma: [Laughing] Well you are still reading your copy anyway!!

Keith: [Laughs] Yeah, yeah!

Karma: What's your guilty pleasure song?

Keith: Song?

Karma: Or CD?

Keith: Hummm, that's rough!  I love Counting Crowes (I think I mentioned that to you earlier on) [as in the last interview] but I haven't been into that lately.  I love, love Simon and Garfunkel.  I went to see them; a lot of people think they're really pompous and overrated.  [Whispers]  I like them so much!!  [Titters]

Karma:  We found that out the last time [as in the last interview with Trevor] we talked I remember you saying you were into music like that to the tune of you taking your Mom to one of their concerts for Mother's Day.

Keith: [Smiles widely] Exactly!

Karma: What are your top 5 favorite movies?

Keith: Rushmore, City of Lost Children...

Karma: Great movie!

Keith: Oh, I LOVE that movie!  Dancer in the Dark for certain reasons…like, it's not really that…I don't know. It's kinda hard to watch most of the times because when you've seen it so many times, the musical aspects sort of get in the way of the whole plotline I think for me personally!  I hate to say that because usually I appreciate stuff like that but it's very moving.  That movie moved me a lot out of all of the movies that I've seen.  Let me see, I also hate to say Requiem For A Dream because it's just the most depressing movie ever made.  But any movie that can get that kind of response out of people to watch it is good for me.  And It's A Wonderful Life which is a holiday movie

Karma: Right

Keith: so I don't watch it too much.

Karma: What's your favorite comfort food?

Keith: Ohhh, hotdogs!  Doesn't matter what kind!

Karma: Favorite drink?

Keith: Alcoholic or Non-alcoholic?

Karma: Both

Keith: Non-alcoholic is probably chocolate milk but alcoholic is definitely Jack Daniels & Coca-Cola. 

Karma: If not music then what?

Keith: Ummm, probably suicide.  [Said with a straight face and blank countenance then he laughs]

Karma: [Look of horror creeps across my face] Okay!  [Titters]  Some how I just don't believe that!

Keith: [Softly speaking now] NO!  [Laughs heartily]  I'm just kidding!

Karma: Oh, okay!!  [Laughs]

Keith: It would probably be just a really shitty 9-5 job.  I'd have to find something, somewhere!  [Then all of a sudden indistinct humming draws closer to the door]

Andy: [Singing aloud without knowing what awaited him behind the partially closed door] Do do do do doo.  [Door opens]

Karma: Hey Andy!

Andy: [Huge smile crosses his face] Not you again!!  [Laughs]

Karma: But it's not you this time [In reference to the interview I had done with him during Ozzfest]!

Keith: [Laughing]

Andy: Did she ask you about the dining set yet?

Keith: No, not yet! I don't know if that's coming up yet or not.

Karma: I wasn't planning on asking him that!  I recycle my questions.  [Laughing]

Andy: Oh, well it will be something else!  [Smiles]

Keith: Yeah!

Karma: But just for your benefit, would you like me to ask him that question?

Andy: I was just kidding!  [Laughs]  Their probably white or something…

Keith:  They are actually a floral pattern; a flower pattern of orange and blues.

Andy: I'll let you guys get back… 

Karma: Yeah!  [Sticks tongue out then laughs] 

Andy: [Laughs] I'm sorry!  [Smiling]

Keith: No problem!  [Laughing]

Andy: Sorry, sorry!  [Closes door behind him, starts singing again]

Karma: [Laughs] If stranded on a desert island, which member of the band would you eat first?

Keith: Oh, that's tough to say; I'd like to say Andy because he'd be the biggest meal since he's the biggest guy but he's probably the dude that I would need to keep around to do things that I couldn't do.  Like reach things that I couldn't like coconuts and stuff.  It would probably be Zach, our sound guy.  [We both chuckle]

Karma: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Keith: Oh man, shit!  I know I have one and I freak out about it all the time and I can't think of it right now.  Oh, when people say 'Fuckin' uh…' when they're talking and they can't think of what to say.  And they go, 'Fucking uhhhhh'.  [We both laugh]  People say it so much, they use it as a crutch all the time, or when people will go, 'I'm just saying'!  Because that's just a cop out!  To say you're just saying, I HATE when people say that!  [Laughs with the look of vehemence welling in his eyes]

Karma: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Keith: [Smiles] That's good because I'm glad that I'm not grown up; I'm glad that I have a grown up to get to!  [Smiles as I laugh]  But I always wanted to be a Fighter Pilot.

Karma: Really?

Keith: Yeah!  I almost dropped out of high school to attend the Academy of the Air Force.  My dad's friend was a renowned fighter pilot and he was always coming over and showing me metals that he had won and things like that.  It's all I wanted to do when I was little and I'd still like to think that I can do it someday.

Karma: [Smiles] And I think you can!

Keith: [Smiles]

Karma: What's the ringtone(s) on your cell phone?

Keith: It's "Smoke on the Water"

Karma: For our female audience: boxers, briefs, or commando?

Keith: Briefs

Karma: Okay.  What's the most…

Keith: Wait a minute [proceeds to pull pants away from body then looks down them] I'm commando right now, actually!

Karma: [Falls over with laughter]  [Blushes]

Keith: [Beaming] I forgot, I haven't done laundry in a long time but that's not very typical of me!  Okay!!  [Smiles as he resumes his infamous poker face]

Karma: Okay!  [Laughs]

Keith: Okay, go ahead you were saying…

Karma: What is the most ridiculous thing a lover has ever requested of you?

Keith: Umm, to stay off her lawn, stay out of her bushes!!

Karma: [Snorts]

Keith: Come down from that tree!  [Snickers with satisfaction]

Karma: Okay!

Keith: [Laughing] Yeah!!  Sign the papers!

Karma: Okay then!!

Keith: [Still laughing]

Karma: If you could go back in time, which era would you return to?

Keith: Definitely the 20's, the 1920's, prolific mob in downtown New York.  Actually, that's what I would like to live through but if I could just see it, it would be the dinosaur era.  I would not last very long I'm sure!  It would probably be a weekend vacation until I got gobbled up or something!

Karma: [Laughs aloud]

Keith: [Smiles] I would love to be able to touch a dinosaur

Karma: Do you speak another language?

Keith: No!  [Laughs]  Wish I did though!

Karma: Which one would you take up?

Keith: **[Response lost, tape got gobbled up by the tape sirens]

Karma: Whom would you ask these questions of?

Keith: [With a stone countenance] You!  [Laughs hysterically]

Karma: Me? [Laughing hysterically myself at this point]

Keith: Yeah!  You!!

Karma: Okay!!  [Laughing continues from both of us]  [Regaining composure]  Final words?

Keith: Fucking, uhhhh…[Uncontrollable laughter ensues from the both of us] No, that's about it!

Karma: Well thank you very much!  [Laughing]

Keith: [Laughing] Thank you very much!!  [Imitating Elvis]


Thanks to Maria/Jensen at Adrenaline PR and the band's Tour Manager, Biggie, for making this interview a possibility.

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