Interview with Travis Smith of Trivium
By Robin Steeley
Recently signed to Roadrunner Records, Florida quintet Trivium is touring in support of the release of their critically acclaimed album “Ascendancy”, which is as much an analogy to the bands rapid success as is their debut album, titled “From Embers to Inferno”. The band is young but dedicated and passionate and determined to live out their dreams. If you want to know what they sound like, I can only give you two words – Pure Metal. I caught up with Travis during an off date for this years Ozzfest tour and we sat down to talk about life on the road, living out your dreams, and even death.
Crave: The last time I talked to you, your drum tech was on his way to the hospital after he messed his ankle up in the pit, how did that turn out?
Travis: He was in a temporary cast for like two weeks, but I made him keep on working. He’s fine. He’s on the road with us now so he’s doing well.
Crave: What has the tour been like so far?
Travis: This tour has been great, this is just an off date from the big Ozzfest, and this is amazing for an off date because it’s just gigantic, it’s just like an Ozzfest basically. No complaints from us, its good times. We’ve been getting a chance to get in front of a lot of new people and make new fans and we’re just having fun doing it. People are troopers at these festival shows too, they are in the sun all day long, coming out at 9am to start seeing bands and staying until 11 at night, that’s a lot to ask, that’s just showing the real true fans of music, those are long days. Even we get sick of being in the sun, but we usually have a sanctuary to go to. I’ve been noticing with Ozzfest they have fire trucks come out and spray people with water and they have sprinkler systems set up. Before they did that people weren’t doing to well, they weren’t hydrated and some we’re passing out.
Crave: Do you have any favorite bands on the bill?
Travis: Oh yeah, Black Label Society, Mudvayne, Iron Maiden, Rob Zombie is always a treat to watch. Killswitch Engage, there’s just so many good bands on this Ozzfest the list could go on and on.
Crave: How did you guys feel when you found out you would be playing Ozzfest?
Travis: We were really shocked, we were just like WOW, it’s always been a goal and a dream of ours to do it, it’s the ultimate tour. We were definitely shocked to find out we were doing it.
Crave: How are things going with Roadrunner?
Travis: Going great! They have been very good to us and definitely no complaints in that department at all. They’ve pushed the album a lot, we have gotten a lot of support from them, they have given us 110%, and its like that with Roadrunner International too, its pretty cool we have some big guns behind us helping push us along and getting us where we need to be.
Crave: Has there been a lot of excitement since “Ascendancy” came out?
Travis: Tons of excitement, doing videos and so much touring going on, getting to go over to the UK and to Europe there is so much more to come that’s exciting; we have so many cool tour opportunities coming our way. That’s what’s so cool about this is all the excitement but it sucks cuz when you go home and its not there and you’re not being pulled in 100 different directions. You go home and you’re finally in your space instead of on a bus with all your band and crew, so when you get home, you almost don’t know what to do with yourself. Your like, I’m so bored right now what do I do? We belong on the road and we love all the excitement and the cool things that come along with having this great job that we have.
Crave: What happens on the bus when you’re driving between dates?
Travis: It’s actually pretty calm, we watch movies, play video games, make fun of each other. Every once in awhile we’ll get a little carried away with too many drinks here and there, but normally its just taking it easy, winding down, a lot of porn, a lot of sleeping. A LOT of porn (Laughing) We’ve got the Playboy channel, we’ve all got TV’s in our bunks, and the ritual at night is that you always have the Playboy channel on and you can hear it in everybody’s bunk, and you can just use your imagination on what happens after that! Especially since there is only a curtain to cover your bunk. It’s a risky business but I guess if you’re willing to do it you gotta be willing to get caught!
Crave: What was the studio experience like, and working with Andy Sneap?
Travis: Andy Sneap mixed and mastered it; we did all the tracking in Florida. We worked at More Sound Studios in Tampa, that’s where we did all the drums, and we did all the guitars, vocals, and bass at Audio Hammer Studios, which is in Florida also. We did our last album Embers to Inferno there; we did our demo album there, which basically got us signed to Lifeforce and all that good stuff so we are really comfortable in that environment and working with Jason. This time around, before doing demos and self-financing everything on our first album and it was always rush, rush, rush. We could only get like two weeks at a time so it was just rushing through everything that we had to do. This time around, for Ascendancy, Roadrunner forked out a decent amount of money for us to go in the studio and do what we wanted to do. So it was a lot more relaxed, a lot less pressure, we got to take our time with putting down tracks instead of just blowing right through it and trying to get it done. We lost about a week in the studio, we tracked all the guitar tracks and we were going back listening to all the tracks and we were thinking, none of this sounds right, what the fuck is wrong with it? Finally we got down to the problem, two of the guitar tracks on every song were out of tune, we had to go back and scratch all the guitar tracks and do them again. That added a little pressure, losing a week, but we still had time. It was a lot more relaxed environment overall. We tracked everything in about a month and spent about a month mixing and mastering it.
Crave: There is one thing; in all my research that I saw constantly in regards to Trivium is that..
Travis: Those guys are ASSHOLES!!!
Crave: No, (laughing) that’s not it. They are all calling you the “Next Metallica”
Travis: We’re not going to be the next Metallica. We are just Trivium, and Metallica is Metallica. When we say we want to be the next Metallica its not that we want to be the next Metallica, we just want to be that next band that breaks through like that and leave a lasting impression, we want to be around for twenty-five years. I want to be here 20 years from now, doing the same thing, so that’s what is meant by that, every time. This is our passion, it’s what we love to do and we want to make it last a long time.
Crave: You’re the oldest guy in the band right, how old were you when you first started playing drums?
Travis: I’m 23, I’m the grandpa of the band. I’ve been playing for ten years. I started pretty early, my Dad was really into music, he played a little guitar but just from being around him and having so much music in our house and always playing different styles of music I jus t picked up on it and I decided this is what I want to do. He got me my first drumkit and I just started pounding away and I said THIS IS IT! This is what I want to do. I can remember back when I was five years old on the weekends my dad would pull out albums, Tom Petty, The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd and such and I would get all my moms pots and pans out, and the lids and I would make this massive drum set and I would be hanging the lids off rubber bands hooked to the table for my cymbals and Id be beating away on them. Eventually they got me a set, some lessons. They are very supportive, to this day; my dad is my number one fan. He knows what I’m doing usually before I know what I'm doing. It’s really cool to have parents that have always been so supportive.
Crave: If you could have a drink with any dead rock star, who would it be?
Travis: I’m gonna have to say Kurt Cobain. Just because I was a huge Nirvana fan growing up, I still am. I got a chance to meet Dave Grohl once and that was the coolest thing ever.
Crave: What do you do when you are in a big city and you have the day off?
Travis: Probably jack shit, maybe some laundry. That’s what I did yesterday. I just had my perfect day off because getting to do laundry is a treasure, really, getting those fresh clothes and putting them back on is awesome. It’s a treat to get to do it, but when you don’t get to do it that often and you have to wear the same ones over and over again, shit I took three showers today just because I could! Just relax, watch something I wanna watch instead of trying to share a TV with 13 other people that all want to watch different things. It’s just the little things. The most perfect day off in the world would be if I could just fly home for a day and do something, be with the family, that would rule. See my friends. I do get a little homesick. You think you will get used to it but you don’t, you always get homesick. That would be the ultimate, besides the laundry.
Crave: Do you have any advice for new bands that want to get where you are?
Travis: Dreams do come true. This was a dream of ours for many years since we were little kids, that’s the way for all of us in this band, we have had this dream since we were youngsters. We are living proof that dreams do come true. You can get what you really want as long as you work hard enough. No matter what your dream is, as long as you work hard enough and you are passionate enough about doing it, it can happen. Trivium is living proof of that.
Crave: Are there any new bands on the scene we should be looking out for?
Travis: There’s a band called Sanctity, right now, they are in Florida doing a demo at Audio Hammer studios and they are a great band, looking for a break right now and they have some really good stuff. Its total metal. Those guys have a good chance of breaking out.
Crave: What’s the craziest think you ever saw happen in the pit?
Travis: I’ve seen peoples heads get split open, seen peoples eyes get swollen to like a baseball size, people breaking legs, breaking fingers. People passing out and getting trampled, not that it’s cool to see that but from where we are, you do see it. Sometimes it’s a little grim and you’re like, DAMN! So be careful, if you’re at a Trivium show and you’re in the pit, be careful!
Crave: So what’s after Ozzfest?
Travis: We’re gonna head to the UK and Europe and do a headlining tour over there and in Europe we are meeting up with Arch Enemy. We have a long ways to go, a lot of miles to do. A lot of shows to play. We’re gonna keep pushing, doing what were doing, were gonna fight to get where we want to be, and that’s at the top and we'll do whatever it takes. Working hard, and staying focused.
Crave: If you could choose how you die, how would you want to go?
Travis: I’d go in my sleep. Just fall asleep and never wake up. The right amount of painkillers. There is no pain and suffering involved. That’s how my grandfather died, fell asleep and never woke up and he is still sleeping peacefully.
Trivium Is
Matt Heafy - Vocals/Guitar
Corey Beaulieu - Guitar
Travis Smith - Drums
Paolo Gregoletto – Bass
