In a little over a decade, Miss May I have become one of the most consistent bands in the scene in terms of putting out good albums and backing them up with a captivating live show. With their recent change from long-time label home Rise Records, to Nuclear Blast sub-label SharpTone Records, the band feels energized as they prepare to drop their new album on June 2ndShadows Inside. Ghost Cult’s Keefy caught up with front man Levi Benton to discuss the making of the album, how the band dealt with all the changes they went through, their current touring plans and more. Continue reading →
Metalcore kings Miss May I are dropping their new album Shadows Inside on June 2nd via Sharptone Records. The album is the bands sixth, and marks a new chapter in the band’s storied career. In an exclusive sneak peek for Ghost Cult, watch the band break down working with Drew Faulk (Motionless In White, Emmure, Crown the Empire), who co-produced with Nick Sampson, as well as Andrew Wade (A Day To Remember, The Word Alive, Neck Deep), who mixed the album.Continue reading →
Metalcore leaders Miss May I have released a new music video for the title track of their new album, Shadows Inside, due out June 2nd via Sharptone Records. You can see it below. Continue reading →
The start of the summer music festival season is here and Miss May I are no strangers to touring all summer, in a van or a bus. We met up with Levi Benton and Ryan Neff at The Rockin Derby in New York, and right before they headed to Europe for a tour. They also had stops at Rock On the Range, this weekend’s Amnesia Rock Fest, Chicago Open Air, and many more. We asked the guys how they survive the grind of the road in an interview with Ghost Cult.
Levi: For me, it’s been the front man, and trying to direct the crowd. Festival crowds are the easiest to direct. It’s a blast to have them do crazy, insane stuff that they can’t do at a venue. That’s my favorite.
Being touring veterans like you guys are, I’d love to ask the question what is your survival kit like? What do you need to take on tour for the summer, five things, a bag of things, specifically what is it that makes your touring experience bearable?
Ryan: We’re about to try and do the U.K. without suitcases, which is not normal for us. Normally, the tour is so long that you’ve got to have one. We’re about to do it backpack wise. I think it comes down to … You’re going to get soap everywhere, that sort of thing, you need a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, and a phone charger.
Levi: Phone charger. A phone charger that works in the U.K.
Ryan: If things work … Yes, yes. If things work out for you there, then you’re going to be in good shape. You’ll probably get good luck. You find soap. You find all that sorts of stuff. I shave my head every couple of days, so maybe some razors for me, but you really don’t need that much because you’re going to run into … the venues are usually really generous to you, especially on the festivals, they’re sort you out with anything you need. A good attitude would probably be … if you can buy a good attitude, that would get you through a lot of tours.
Since the band has a big following already in the USA, we asked what they look forward to most when touring Europe. What is the bigger draw: sight seeing or the food?
Levi: Yes, the food.
Ryan: They’ve got different food than we do.
Levi: I’m trying to think. Food, big thing. There are other things … I love the shopping there.
Levi: The stores they have. It’s really weird, like the Nike store, or anywhere else there, it’s different stuff than you see in the U.S. It’s awesome because it doesn’t cost any different, but you get that there, and then you come home, and everyone is like “Where did you get that?” You just giggle because you know they can’t get it. It’s pretty … I love the shopping over there.
Ryan: Yeah. Man, the Wagamamas and Nandos, two of my absolute favorite foods.
Levi: Two more days!
Ryan: Yeah. We’ve been counting down. There’s only two Nandos in the entire country, I’m pretty sure, here in America, and you go over there, and you find them every five minutes.
Levi: They have Wok To Wok will be everywhere.
Ryan: Wok To Wok. That’s another one. Loads of them.
We next asked about essential tour bus music:
Ryan: We are very eclectic. We are very eclectic as a group. Different guys like different things, like I go CD obsession. I don’t go song obsession. I go CD obsession until the CD is just so played out that I can’t even stand it.
Levi: I think Jared, our drummer, is the DJ of the bus.
Ryan: Yeah. He always, he finds goofy songs or like happy songs, like he just … The most outrageous things, and he always will grab the chord. No matter where we’re at, if he hears something playing that’s ridiculous, he’s over there giggling with his iPhone playing it.
Describe ridiculous.
Ryan: I don’t know if you’ve heard of … Group X is one.
Levi: Group X. Turquoise Jeep.
Ryan: Turquoise Jeep is one.
Levi: That’s a band with these two like rapper dudes.
Ryan: A lot of goofy stuff.
Levi: Talk about fertilizing some eggs. Yeah, so that’s the stuff we listen to.
Despite possessing one of the least pernicious of names imaginable, indeed one that summons memories of primary school lavatorial permission-seeking (could their moniker imply anything less metal if they tried…?), metalcore quintet Miss May I have been around long enough to use the facilities of their own free will, with Deathless already their fifth album (all Rise Records) in seven short recording years.
Stacking up against its predecessor, the anaemic Rise of the Lion, it was imperative that Miss May I brought the thrash, aggression, groove and above all conviction to banish their previous misstep. And, thus, lo, and ye-gads, they do, as crushing ‘I.H.E.’ (I Hate Everyone/thing) makes the required statement of intent from the off, seguing from a dark build up to hit thrashing triplets and a feral almost black metal howl to one slab of a breakdown. It might not be the most progressive move they could have made, but there’s something about doing what you do, and doing it well, that a lot of bands would be served paying attention to.
It has to be said, most of Deathless could be glibly dismissed as metalcore 101, but to do so would be to deprive yourself of what is close to a masterclass in the art. Roll up, roll up, for we have Avenged Sevenfold melodic twin guitars, we have breakdowns, we have ‘core throat vocals, we have clean choruses (that either pick a track up and take it to sing-along town, or provide a darker twist) and we have Adam Dutkiewicz inspired post-classic metal entwined with thrash riffery, but what we also have is the sound of a band who have returned to their roots to show that they can smoke the opposition when it comes to metalcore.
Most bands, at their core, are genuinely best doing one thing and while there is often a rush to abandon a sound or style because it’s not “cool”, anymore, there will always be those who want to hear their favourite style performed well. There is no denying Miss May I are convincing and amongst the best of the current second wave of American metalcore acts. There may not be any need to abandon ship if they keep delivering the goods.
The members of Miss May I have spent this past summer promoting their upcoming albumDeathless (Rise Records) on the Vans Warped Tour, giving the crowd a taste of new music. While the previous summer had also taken part on the Rockstar Mayhem Energy Drink Festival to promote their previous album Rise of the Lion, both frontman Levi Benton and bassist Ryan Neff both shared their experiences on both tours and how they each view the differences between the audiences who are seeing their band.
“I think age is obviously one piece, but when you divide the crowd by age, the genre that they like changes a lot as well,” says Neff, explaining the differences between the two festival demographics. “You won’t find DJ stuff at Mayhem, where as here they’re younger kids. There’s a lot more people discovering new music at Warped Tour than at Mayhem.”
“If you show up as an Avenged Sevenfold fan and with an Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt, you leave with a couple more on your shoulder and you might pick up a few new bands. But here, it’s almost guaranteed you’re going to learn about five new bands before you leave.”
“There’s so many more bands. There’s five times more bands. It’s crazy,” added Benton, about the Warped Tour experience.
While being on the Warped Tour, they have easily become the modern metal act playing amongst the roster of acts ranging from singer-songwriter acts to metalcore to electronic acts to hip hop (and even some pop punk, believe it or not).
“That’s the best part about this tour, especially from our point of view watching,” said Benton. “You can see people watching a ska band or a punk band from afar and see them walk by and sort of stop and listen. That’s awesome. We get a lot of people that aren’t metal fans and they leave Warped Tour as a metal fan. That’s one of the best feelings ever. I remember when I was a metal fan and I got into metal bands and was like ‘that’s cool we could be the band for you.’ “
“Mayhem’s not like that. Everyone comes there and it’s like ‘I’m metal and I’m ready for the pit.’ “
Neff explained that despite it being Miss May I’s third time on this tour, age turnover with the constant changes within the scene helps attract new fans who are unfamiliar with them. He has found that the open mindedness of the attendees on this tour has worked in their favor into winning over new fans.
“With it being there’s a turnover in the fan base at this tour, it’s always the same age kids. It’s obvious you don’t stay the same age forever so for it to be 14 or 15 years old kids to be at this tour every year, you’ve got to have a complete new group of kids every year. So a band like us who haven’t done this tour in three years, there’s a good chance that a third or more of the people who buy tickets today have never heard of our band. That’s why it’s such a beneficial tour for bands to hop on because with the turnover and the new group of fans every year, there are so many people who are going to hear about you for the first time, just because you are on the tour.”
Miss May I has been known to be one of the hardest working artists on the heavy music scene today and rarely leaves much downtime in between recordings. They spent the summer on the Unicorn Main Stage on theVans Warped Tour, in support of their forthcoming album Deathless (out August 7, 2015 via Rise Records).
“It’s important to have something new and exciting to do these summer fests. We dropped [the last] record a little bit before the summer tour last year and it worked really well for us, so we pushed real hard to write a really good one for this year. Luckily we got it done just in time,” explained bassist Ryan Neff, about the quick turnaround on the new album.
“We didn’t have any breaks really. We just slept after it was done for a month straight,” said vocalist Levi Benton.
“It was three or four weeks off right before this [Warped Tour], but we’ve pretty much been out solid, between touring and going into the studio to do this record, since January,” added Neff.
The band had debuted a new song within their set list “I.H.E.,” giving fans a taste of what was coming from Miss May I.
On Deathless, the band reunited with producer Joey Sturgis, who worked on their Rise Records debut – 2010’s Monument. While they worked with someone familiar, the subject themes on the album took on a heavier yet darker overtone.
“It’s mainly written about the struggles we went through as a band. I know we’re young but we’ve been around for a long time. It’s our fifth album,” explained Benton.
“We had a rough year behind the scenes. I think it’s the first time we’ve ever gone into a recording session with a…I don’t want to say a negative attitude because we were obviously very excited about doing a record…the meanings behind the lyrics that Levi would write and then I would write with him a little bit. There’s a lot more aggression on this record than we’ve ever had before,” added Neff.
Miss May I at Warped Tour 2015 (via Facebook)
Following a year’s worth of solid touring behind their last album, 2014’s Year of the Lion, they began working on new material immediately following the conclusion of their album’s touring cycle. They began writing new material and got the creative juices flowing.
“We came into the studio with over 20 songs on the last record, and then we slim it down to ten. Our guitar players (Justin Aufdemkampe, B.J. Stead) are our main writers. They’re on their computers making riffs all day. So we’re always constantly writing.”
“We wrote songs right when we left the studio. We left the studio, went home for a couple of weeks and there were already a couple of songs. They’re like ‘ah…we’ve got some ideas,’ “ explained Benton.
“It’s a lot different than we used to do it, where we went and got started until that time to record everything. We’d try to have everything done, or at try to start it so the ideas are forming and we can starting working on stuff a little bit earlier now,” added Neff.
Miss May I Deathless Sessions (via Facebook)
They spoke about reuniting with Sturgis, and how working with him differed from working with two different producers on the past couple of albums.
“He definitely brought the heavy back out of us, like the first couple of records, which was fun. We haven’t worked with him in a while so it felt like high school again. It was nice to jump in there,” explained Benton, about the working environment with Sturgis.
Joey Sturgis Producing Miss May I (via Facebook)
“We did one with Machine [2011’s At Heart] and one with Terry Date [2014’s Rise of the Lion]. We bounced around for a couple of records, and the thing about those two records was, with those two particular fellows, we didn’t know them before we started the recording. So you kind of have a two week period where you’re getting to know each other and try to figure out how things work, and with Joey it was Day One and we were already friends, ready to go and the working atmosphere was really great for us,” said Neff.
“We brought a whole new sound too. We’re the band that hates releasing the same thing twice, so it’s nice to jump back to Joey because it’s completely different from the last record,” added Benton, about the musical direction on Deathless and working on it with Sturgis.
Miss May I Warped Tour 2015 Crowd
As they are now reaching five albums with the release of Deathless, Neff admits building a set list covering a cross section of their catalog has become a lot tougher to please both themselves and their fans watching their shows.
“It’s such a pain in the ass! It is the longest discussion that we have as a group. We all have the same goal – make as many people who are watching our band as happy as we can, and everyone has a different opinion about what particular songs to use. For us, it all still comes down to we only get 30 minutes to play and we’ve got five records with at least 30 minutes of material on it. So we can play one fifth of what we’ve created in our career. Maybe a little bit less. It’s a lot more difficult than it used to be.”
“I remember when we did this tour the first time when we had two records obviously we would play these six or seven songs. Everyone would know these six or seven songs. It was easy. It was a lot more difficult this time.”
While pleasing both themselves and their fans on what songs to play, they have occasionally thrown in Miss May I’s versions of deep cuts, which is met with mixed results.
“I remember we tried in the winter with August Burns Red, we threw in this song ‘Tides’ off of our first record. It’s a diehard fan from the early days would know that song, but we played that and it was a whole lot of arms crossed like ‘what the hell is this?’ We’re on stage having a great time, like ‘I remember this song!’ It’s a lot harder to do those to go over real well. Like I said, the whole point of the show is to make the people buying the tickets happy. Sometimes what we feel like playing is not exactly what they want to hear.”
Ohio metalcore stalwarts Miss May I spent this past summer on the Rockstar Mayhem Tour, and vocalist Levi Benton shared his thoughts on completing Day One at Devore, CA’s San Manuel Amphitheatre.
“Day one was awesome! We had the prep day yesterday, which was very helpful. We made it on stage. We played all of our songs. The crowd was great. Now we’re winding down doing our press. I’m gonna get some food soon. Overall day was great.”
Playing on the Rockstar Mayhem Fest placed Miss May I in front of a varied crowd largely made up of fans of harder and heavier styles of metal. Benton said this was the most metal crowd the band has played in front of.
“In America, yeah. I really think so which is really cool for us. We’ve done the outdoor festival thing but it’s a lot different to do the outdoor festival thing with this kind of lineup. It’s really exciting and a lot fewer bands so you have a lot more of the crowd funneled in to watch you when you play. [It is] really high exposure for you. The set went over better than we could ever expect today. [It] makes me excited to do this again tomorrow.”
“During the signing we saw a lot of mix in our fanbase. We really enjoy this tour already. It’s day one and we’re pumped about the rest of it. Beating under the sun or not, it will be a great time.”
They got used to being the heavier band on most bills they previously played on. But having the tables turned became a bit of a challenge they were up for. Regardless, Benton was excited to play for new people who previously had not experienced Miss May I.
“We feel the same way being the lighter band on a tour like this. We’re used to being the heavier band on a lot of the stuff we do. It was scary but the first day went over very well. I think the touring we’ve been doing the last year has been starting to win the fan base over. I’m looking forward to the rest of Mayhem – converting the metal kids while keeping the scene kids. They’re coming over and hearing about new metal bands and new scene bands. We’re just trying to bridge the gap. We want everybody that’s a fan of metal to enjoy our band. It doesn’t matter to us. We just want you to like our band.”
Miss May previously ventured on the Vans Warped Tour and US festivals was nothing new to the band. “These outdoor festivals in America are huge for you. They expose you to so many people every single day and as long as you’re performing well, you’re giving back to your fans, doing your signings, hitting up your merch table and meeting everybody – you’re only going to benefit from the tour.”
They are currently touring behind Rise of the Lion, Miss May I’s fourth record overall. Produced by Terry Date (Deftones, Pantera), the songs on this record took a different angle and included their fans for inspiration.
“We wanted to do a little more of a fan base record where we used topics given to us by fans in letters and by meeting them and behind the scenes stuff by getting to know them,” said Benton. “We took those topics and that allowed us to write the songs from a different perspective instead of being our personal problems. We were writing through the eyes of someone else, which was different for us, but it made it a personal record for our fans.”
He shared the band’s writing process behind Rise of the Lion, and how their approach differed from past records.
“The way we wrote the songs this time was a lot different this time as well. There wasn’t as much of the record written on the computer or demoed out like that. This record we wrote this record in a live group.”
“We did a live recording of the album before we went in to track it. Every song was written in a tempo that we wanted to play it live, and any part that was overly aggressive and didn’t feel right. Sometimes when you write songs the other way and you go to play them, it doesn’t translate the same way. I think this time writing live as a group this time changed things for us. It definitely changed the tempo of things a bit. We like to do things different each record. We felt the last record was extremely aggressive, so we dialed it back a bit on this one in some ways. Other tracks are more aggressive than anything we’ve done. I think you can expect to hear another drastic change on the next record. For us, you only get so many shots to write a record. We want to do as many of the cool things that we can while we have all of these great fans.”
Miss May I has been signed to Rise Records, one of the fastest rising recording labels on the scene today. Benton shared his thoughts of being part of a company who has shaped their careers.
“We saw friends from our area start on that label and do great things. When we started working with them, we told them we were in it for the long haul. They were in it for the long haul as well. Because of that we had a good relationship. We’re on our fourth record with them with another one coming. We get along with them great. I think that’s the big thing. They trust us. When we get bent out of shape about something, we trust them enough for them to come back to us with a reasoning why we’re [either] doing something or not. Since we trust each other, we could go back and forth and really make a difference when we need to make big decisions. We’re not working against each other, which is an unfortunate thing that happens to a lot of bands out there.”
