Ozzfest 7/27/04
Interview with Andy Williams from Every Time I Die
By Joe Prophet
Ferret Records recording artists Every Time I Die got their start in New York in 1998 and have toured relentlessly ever since. This has to be the craziest interview I have ever transcribed, since it was recorded backstage at Ozzfest while Dimmu Borgir was playing.
It has an eerie soundtrack behind the words spoken between me and guitarist Andy Williams.
Crave: So how has Ozzfest been so far?
ETID: It has been a crazy time. I’m always nervous because Black Sabbath is my favorite band ever, you know, I see those dudes and I just turn into a little girl. Weird things happen, like I talked to Hank III once, and now were really good friends. Zakk Wylde is my favorite ever so every single night I’m just blown away by them, seeing them play in front of thousands of people.
Crave: So what do you guys do on the down time when you’re not on stage?
ETID: A bunch of guys on the second stage have started this thing called the “Shirts-Off crew” or The SOC, they actually talked about it recently on MTV. Basically what we do is walk around and act like assholes with our shirts off, and try to get people to take their shirts off, night girls, or guys, just ANYBODY who will take their shirts off and just follow us around, and at the end of the night we all go up for Black Sabbath all of us like 41 of us and we chant “Ole, Ole” during Black Sabbath and then Ozzy does it. It’s awesome. And we just have a good time, its just basically an idiot way to get all the bands to have camaraderie, there’s like 41 band members who just walk around the second stage and main stage with their shirts off and just try to get people to take their shirts off, its just funny.
Crave: How’s the response been to “Hot Damn” so far?
ETID: Awesome so far. Everyone I have talked to has liked it. People were skeptical when it first came out, and then out of nowhere these same people are coming back and saying they can’t stop listening to it. It’s been going great so far.
Crave: Do you think the music has changed a lot since the last album?
ETID: Composing wise, yeah, the way we compose and write the music is so different now. Just due to the fact we are really writing songs now, instead of writing like fourteen parts, its like were writing choruses and bridges. We’re trying to be a real band! We are still the same, were just trying to clean it up a bit. Take out the bad parts, and put in better parts.
Crave: Your getting ready to tour with Dillinger Escape Plan after Ozzfest?
ETID: Hell yeah, we did like two weeks with those guys and they are the nicest guys on the entire planet. They have every right in the world to be egomaniacs and the thing is the egomaniacs are usually the guys that can’t play, but man these dudes can PLAY! And they are the coolest guys ever.
Crave: Have you bought or listened to any new music lately?
ETID: I’m trying to think of a few, I just got a bunch of CD’s. I got the new Converge record, it’s pretty amazing. I’m into really dirty metal, like exhumed, so it was perfect.
Crave: I hear you’re a big Iggy Pop fan.
ETID: Oh yeah, I love Iggy Pop. Him, and the other two bands I think that are like our sound and energy on stage are The Stooges, and The Who. Just because they never stopped, they always pulled it off. Live, performance wise those are my two biggest inspirations.
Crave: What has been your favorite city on the tour so far?
ETID: My favorite city so far has been probably New Jersey but food wise it’s definitely Seattle. I just ate the best meal I have ever had.
Crave: Got any advice for new artists?
ETID: The only thing I can really say is stick with it. When I first started playing with Every Time I Die, I thought the biggest thing we would do is a weekend with Converge, just because they are friends of ours. The next thing you know we are on tour with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. It’s perseverance, and just going with it, sooner or later its going to pay off!
