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| w/ LEO MILLER |
| Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: First off, I'd like to say I'm sorry for your loss. Lyrically, I know the album was written just after the death of your girlfriend and can be deeply felt in the song You Can't Win, as well as others on the album. Can you tell us a little bit about this and what you were experiencing at that time, because you were quoted as saying, "that the last two years have been the worst time of my life"?
Leo Miller: This album served as an extraordinary emotional outlet for me. I have a really hard time expressing myself especially in sorrow and these songs are very helpful. That being said, I didn’t write any of the songs to expose my personal life to the world, but rather to help me get my mind straightened out. There is nothing I can say or really want to say about any of this. The point of the album as far as listeners should be concerned is not focused on my personal troubles but rather the general experience of love and loss, and the frailty of our lives as animals in an untamed world. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: When recording for the album, what was it like working with Kurt Ballou (Converge), as well as having Guy Kozowyk (The Red Chord), Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation) and Bob Meadows (A Life Once Lost) contribute to the album? Leo Miller: It was a blast. Kurt became a great friend of ours and despite the lack of "things to do" in the small town, Salem that God city studios is in, we grew attached to the place and really enjoyed our time. Being out there for 3 weeks was difficult at times. We stayed in a friend’s one room apartment, which was a blessing but could start to warp our minds after a while. Kurt has a unique and creative outlook on recording music and by going about things in his own way; he was instrumental in getting a lot of the sounds that we achieved. As far as the guest vocalists, they are all friends of ours from the road and it was awesome to bring them in and have them lay down some vocs. For me as a vocalist myself, it was cool to see the way these other guys do their thing in the studio. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The song writing was a little more fine-tuned this time, with some very well structured arrangements. Would you agree and do you feel the band has developed since your last release? Leo Miller: Absolutely. It is just a result of us playing together more, having more time focused on creating this album and having two more years in our lives of listening and being involved with music. We wanted to totally crush anything that we had done before so we put the proper work in. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Did the song writing approach differ with Animal, as opposed to your previous releases? Leo Miller: On previous releases, we just randomly put together songs until we had enough for a release. On Animal, we set aside about three months from touring and focused on writing the album. This was something new for our band and was really fun. The formula for the songs is the same though. Navene and Frank write riffs, sections, and come together to make songs and afterwards I add the lyrics and vocal patterns. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What tracks do you feel best represent Animosity off the album and why? Leo Miller: To me, the entire album is somewhat of a continuous flowing track. Each song is very different to me musically and lyrically, but to represent the band, they all must go together. That is why our albums are all around the 30-minute mark. It is always meant to be listened to in its entirety and perhaps repeated. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: With Headbangers Ball being popular, are there any plans for a video release, and if so, which single will be used? Leo Miller: We have talked about making a video for the song Toothgrinder, but there aren’t any really plans yet. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What do you want the listener to get out of Animosity's music? Would you say the new album is the best place for a new fan to get their first taste of Animosity? Leo Miller: People get all sorts of different stuff from our music. Some people have told me that certain songs have literally helped them survive fits of suicidal depression, others say that our music makes them want to go out and kill random people. There isn’t really a specific goal for the listener. We make this music for ourselves and I know what it means to me. Raw and passionate aggression emanates from our music. This is a positive thing for us and I hope it can be for listeners as well, but in the end, it is not really that important to us. We are fans of music not of music fans. For people getting into Animosity, they should definitely hear Animal first because it is what we are currently playing. It is cool if they want to listen to older songs, but those songs no longer represent us. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What's next for Animosity? Leo Miller: Along with a friend of mine, I am going to be self-releasing Animal on Vinyl as well as an interesting collaboration project that has yet to be announced. Other than that, I am sure we will be back on the road sooner than later. Coming up at the end of this month, we are doing a short tour of Mexico. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Leo, great talking to you again. With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!? Leo Miller: Listen to Animal. OFFICIAL SITE "ANIMOSITY": http://www.myspace.com/animosity HOME |