Chiodos
Interview with rhythm guitarist Pat McManaman and drummer Derrick Frost
L to R: Pat, Elyse, and Derrick
S&S: What changes have been made from "All's Well That Ends
Well" to "Bone Palace Ballet?"
Derrick: I think there are some major changes and minor changes,
obviously. I'd say a major change is definitely the sound overall of the
entire record. The general sound of it is so much better. We have a lot
of orchestrated parts on it. We had this guy Phil do a bunch of cello and
violin for us. We have some horns on one song to give it more of a driving
feel. I think it's a lot more musical, and hopefully, it will stand out
to a lot more people. Hopefully, musicians will appreciate it as well, like
a Circa Survive thing. It seems like every band on this tour loves them
and they watch them and the kids love them. We don't really have the band
support; we have the fan support. Other than that, the softer parts are
softer and catchier, and the harder parts are heavier. That's the major
difference. There are obviously some songs where [you could say], "Oh,
that sounds like Chiodos. I know that's Chiodos." There is a song or
two that sounds like that to me.
S&S: Where was "Bone Palace Ballet" written and recorded and
how long did each process take?
Pat: Writing took maybe a total of 3 months. Half of it was done
where we live at our practice space. The other half was done in the studio
in Lexington. Actually recording it took a month and a half, maybe.
Derrick: It was very strange, because for our first album, we went
in there and recorded all of our songs right away. We had the whole record
done. Like he said, [this time] we showed up with a half a record and then
wrote a bunch more songs. As we wrote, we were also recording. So, we recorded
about 3 tracks a day, and we would do little spurts of different tracks,
at least for the drums, because we were still writing songs. We would do
a song or two, then we'd spend a couple days writing, then we'd do another
group of 3 or 4 songs. It was cool, because you just went with it. It definitely
made the recording process a lot more fun for me, because I didn't feel
like I was sitting around doing nothing the whole time. We were pretty constantly
busy. You had your time to chill and do whatever you want, and a night,
they would obviously lock the studio.
S&S: What will be the first single off "Bone Palace Ballet"
and what can we expect to see in the video for it?
Pat: I don't think we decided that yet.
Derrick: I don't know what it will be, but I don't think it will
be the new song we released on our Myspace or the one we've been playing
live. You never really know. I know it's kind of been up in the air, but
it's not at that point where we need to desperately make a music video.
It's not like anyone plays our music videos anyway.
S&S: Who is your favorite band on Warped Tour this year?
Derrick: To watch or hang out with?
S&S: Either/or.
Derrick: That's so hard. There are so many good bands. That's
like someone saying, "Pick your favorite band you listen to." It's
hard to narrow it down. I'd say a few though are Scary Kids [Scaring Kids],
My American Heart, Circa Survive, [and] Coheed is amazing. They are pretty
much the main ones I usually catch if I do catch a band. My American Heart
and Scary Kids are really fun to hang out with. Underoath have been hanging
out a lot this year, too. That's pretty interesting. Last year when we
were on Warped Tour, we never saw them. They're a really good band to
check out. They put on a good show. I don't know how they do it every
day, but they do.
Pat: I'd say New Found Glory. I like to watch them.
Derrick: They take you back to your high school years, because they
play a bunch of old songs and then they play a couple new songs. It's
a lot of variety of New Found Glory, so it makes it really fun.
Pat: Bayside are awesome.
S&S: What are some funny things that happen behind the scenes on
Warped Tour?
Pat: A lot of people being wasted. That's pretty entertaining,
I'd say.
Derrick: There hasn't been really anything that was too typically
out of the normal for me, especially just seeing a bunch of drunk people
on Warped Tour. You're in a field in the middle of nowhere. It's kind
of natural. My friend Steve gets a little crazy and doesn't know where
he's at, so it's hilarious. They can't roam very far.
S&S: Tell me about when you prank called your fans.
Pat: We were in the studio that has a phone there, so Matt posted
a bulletin saying, "Send us your phone numbers." So, we picked some
out.
Derrick: They randomly picked out of all these numbers. They called
people really late at night.
S&S: If you were to make a horror film starring the band, what would
the plot be and who would the characters be?
Pat: I'd really like to see us all as zombies, except for Matt,
because he's so scared of zombies. So, we could just really go after him.
Derrick: Matt would be on the quest for the holy beer. We'd be
the zombies trying to stop him from getting his holy beer. I think that's
what it would have to be.