The American melodic thrash/death metal band Battlecross has been building up quite a name for itself. They got signed by Metalblade that re-released their debut album. Right now, the group is touring with the Rockstar Energry Drink Mayhem Festival in the USA that also features bands as Machine Head, Rob Zombie and Children Of Bodom. We talked to guitarist Tony Asta about their albums and their crowd funding project to finance the Mayhem tour.
Pursuit of Honour (2011) is a re-recording of the self released debut, Push Pull Destroy (2010). Why did the band decide to do this?
We self-released Push Pull Destroy in 2010 with our original singer, Marshall Wood. Shortly after that we parted ways with him. That summer we acquired front man Kyle “Gumby” Gunther and decided to re-record Gumby’s vocals with a few tracks from Push Pull Destroy to submit to labels. After acquiring interest from Metal Blade Records we thought it’d be best to re-record the vocals for the entire album and release it on the label. All the lyrics are the same as they are on Push Pull Destroy with the exception of the song ‘Kaleb’, written by Gumby. Pursuit Of Honor is named after the instrumental intro track.
Do you believe Pursuit of Honour turned out better then Push Pull Destory?
Pursuit of Honor turned out more solid than Push Pull Destroy. Gumby’s vocal ability is very strong and the mix sounds much better as well. We only re-recorded the vocals, not the entire album. However ‘Pursuit’ was slightly remixed and EQ’d. It definitely benefitted the band at the time because we were able to release the music we worked so hard on. We felt it deserved a chance to be heard and thankfully Metal Blade felt the same way.
Your new effort, War of Will, was recently released. How has the band evolved in the past years?
It definitely showcases how we have grown as a band. After touring for almost two years we’ve absorbed a lot of influences from the road. We’ve also learned so much from other bands. We are a very hungry and driven band and music is our release and it shows on this album. War Of Will is a very solid album with more solos, more aggression, more melody and over all better written songs.
Can you explain why you decided to finance the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem tour via a crowd funding project?
We had to think of some way to raise money for the biggest summer tour of our career: the Rockstar Energry Drink Mayhem Festival. We could not turn down the opportunity.
After crunching the numbers we realized how expensive it would be and knew we really had to put our heads together. It worked out pretty well to try crowd funding through an Indiegogo campaign. We set a goal of raising $25k and offered a wide array of ‘perks’ including signed copies or our new album, posters, ESP guitars and ride-alongs on the bus. This was our chance to connect with our fans, offer them a way to help us out, and in return give them something special or offer a unique experience.
You’ve raised about 28.000 dollar. How are you spending the money?
We had to pay Indiegogo first, they got a percentage for hosting the efforts. A large chunk of the money was spent to fund the perks themselves. We had to purchase the CDS, posters, shirts to supply the “crowd-funders” with the merch they wanted. We were also able to afford a merch tent and display to be used at Mayhem. The biggest expense for this tour was transportation and we were lucky enough to split a tour bus with the band Huntress.
Battlecross is an active band on the internet. Take for example the crowd funding project and social media. On the other hand, downloading albums on the web damages the music industry. How do you feel about such things as a band?
We are very active on social media, it’s the best way to interact with fans outside of actual concerts. Social media is also a great way to measure who our audience is, where they’re from, what they click on, their favorite songs and how they heard about us. From my perspective downloading music hurts and helps. It’s a way for fans to get their music quick and easy and help spread the word quickly. However it can hurt because then it cheapens the music, because it’s sometimes too easy to obtain. What I’ve noticed on the road is there is definitely a resurgence of fans who love to own the physical copy (and sometimes multiple copies). People still love to buy albums and I think that true supporters will always be there for the bands.
How is the Mayhem fest tour going so far? Tell us about some of your experiences?
Mayhem is going fantastic. We had a couple bus issues off the bat with it breaking down but it’s been smooth sailing ever since. The crowds are awesome, the bands are awesome, we are having a blast! It’s amazing to play with such established bands and also not so established bands. They are all great and it’s awesome to be a part of it. Thrown Into Exile is one of my favorite bands to watch and they’re not even signed. One of my other favorites is Huntress, they have a great classic vibe but Jill’s vocals are totally killer and really sets them apart from any other band on this festival.
What does the near future hold for Battlecross?
The future holds more shows including a tour with Hatebreed this fall and more to be announced. We would love to come to Europe and right now we are working on establishing the right opportunities to make it possible. I’d love to tour anywhere people want us to come to like South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Laetitia Abbenes