{"id":23119,"date":"2014-09-18T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T21:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=23119"},"modified":"2015-02-17T17:53:00","modified_gmt":"2015-02-17T06:53:00","slug":"dan-jacobs-of-atreyu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2014\/09\/dan-jacobs-of-atreyu\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan Jacobs of Atreyu"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cSo to take that much time off and come back and it\u2019s like wow, I can\u2019t believe people are so excited to see us, we didn\u2019t even know how things would be, we have no idea what to expect, so it\u2019s kind of like the unknown leaving us now knowing how to feel yet until we get there and get to experience it.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘The beast has risen’ were the words issued by the metal world as the proclaimed kings of metal core ATREYU announced their return. They had accomplished a top 50 album by the time they released their debut ‘Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses’ in 2002 after signing with Victory Records. With their return to the live circuit imminent, the remainder of 2014 is set to be an exciting time for ATREYU. The band have already set their sights on a new album, one of which will maintain their legacy as ‘the kings of metalcore’<\/p>\n

Dan from Atreyu filled us in on the band\u2019s return and upcoming Soundwave appearance as well as new music and joining Bon Jovi\u2026<\/p>\n

Now of course we’re here because you’ve joined the massive Soundwave bill, how pumped are you to be a part of that?<\/strong>
\nOh I can\u2019t even tell you, everyone in our band is so, so excited, we\u2019ve been touring as a band for eight years and been a band for fifteen and we\u2019ve never played Soundwave and we just hear from all the bands on it how fun it is and just the way that it\u2019s booked is so cool, and this year it\u2019s done a little different where it\u2019s two shows over the weekend and then a week off and another two shows, so for us it\u2019s basically like a vacation where we get to play a couple of shows at the same time, so it\u2019s the most amazing opportunity we could ever have in terms of going down to Australia, we\u2019re super pumped, there line up is so insane this year, there are so many good bands\u2026<\/p>\n

Anyone you’re excited to be sharing the tour with?<\/strong>
\nActually this is kind of random, but I\u2019m really excited to be playing shows with Aquabats and Gerard Way because even in particular Gerard Way is awesome, but the band, the guitar player for Aquabats is a buddy of ours that we went to high school with and he\u2019s also the guitar player for Gerard Way\u2019s band, and the drummer for Gerard Way\u2019s band is a guy named Jarrod Alexander who we also went to high school with, and the two of them, Jarrod and Ian used to be in the band Death By Stereo, they were the original members. So it\u2019s just kind of cool to come full circle and come to Australia with our friends from high school and play with them and where they\u2019re at and where we\u2019re at these days, it\u2019s just really interesting where life takes you. As much as I\u2019m excited to see Slipknot or Judas Priest or Faith No More and all these amazing bands, the fact that some of these bands have our friends from high school is just a really cool experience.<\/p>\n

This will be your first time on the festival, but not your first time to Australia, do you have a great memory of touring here?<\/strong>
\nYeah, I mean two things, one to do with shows and one to now, and the one not to do with shows was the first time we ever got to Australia, we got off the plane and we have time to kill before we got to our hotel as we got there really early as we couldn\u2019t get into around 4 o\u2019clock, so our tour manager said \u2018hey you guys wanna go play with some Kangaroos and Koalas?\u2019 and we\u2019re like \u2018fuck yes we do!\u2019 we didn\u2019t even know that was an option, so we got to go do that and that was just so cool, I mean everyone that goes to Australia the number one thing they want to do is go hang out with Kangaroos and Koalas. As far as shows, I think the first time we came over there too, we just had a lot of buzz around our band and we played the show, I think it is was in Melbourne, and you guys do a lot of the underage and overage shows like early in the day you do the younger kids, we did the gig and when we walked out the back of the venue to get in our van to go to the hotel, there was just all these people out there and when we were driving away they were giving us a standing ovation and clapping and banging on the van. We felt like we were The Beatles or something, we\u2019ve never had anything like this before, this is insane! We didn\u2019t think that anybody would ever look at our band this way, this is just me and my friends playing music together, I never thought people would respect us like this and appreciate us like this, so it was just a very amazing experience and such a blessing and so cool. Especially in Australia, our first time there to be welcomed like that was just incredible.<\/p>\n

Now, this is quite cool as you guys are about to in essence return to the stage, what are the nerves like at this stage?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s been about four years\u2026 I think we\u2019re excited, but we toured as Atreyu for eight years and to take four years off it\u2019s in the path of our touring career as far as length wise, so getting back into it until we actually get back on stage and get to that first show, it\u2019s so surreal I don\u2019t think it\u2019s sunk in yet, I don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s got to feel the excitement until we get on and go for it. This Chain Reaction show, we put it on sale and within thirty seconds it sold out, we\u2019ve never had anything like that happen to us in our career. So to take that much time off and come back and it\u2019s like wow, I can\u2019t believe people are so excited to see us, we didn\u2019t even know how things would be, we have no idea what to expect, so it\u2019s kind of like the unknown leaving us now knowing how to feel yet until we get there and get to experience it.<\/p>\n

So I guess the question is, why was now the right time for the beast to rise?<\/strong>
\nI think the reason we stopped in the first place is we were getting a little burnt out, we were touring way too much and we weren\u2019t doing it because we wanted to anymore, we were doing it because we felt we had to and I think when you start touring when you\u2019re a teenager and you tour for eight years straight, I basically grew up on the road and in a van and you\u2019re in never never land all the time and you never really get to find yourself as a person outside of the band and I feel that was something we were all really craving as a band and as individuals. So we got to take a step back and do our thing for four years now and finally when everyone got hungry again and felt comfortable with themselves outside of the band it was like alright, now\u2019s the time for us to be in the band again, and go full throttle. It was the best thing we could\u2019ve done for our band and we didn\u2019t even realise that\u2019s what our band needed, and by doing it we can feel the excitement again, the fans are excited and it was just good. It was really helpful, it was one of those too much of a good thing was becoming a band thing so we needed to kind of do it in moderation and have that ying and yang kind of thing and it\u2019s working out really good and it feels really good.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been quite some time since your last album, so obvious question is can we expect to hear some new music from Atreyu soon?<\/strong>
\nYeah we\u2019re releasing a song called \u2018So Others May Live\u2019 it\u2019s a free download, but yeah on our website and facebook there\u2019s links to get it and for fans that like our record \u2018The Curse\u2019 it\u2019s kind of like \u2018The Curse\u2019 on steroids, it\u2019s really fucking heavy and it\u2019s just awesome, it\u2019s one of the best songs we\u2019ve ever written and I\u2019m not even just saying that, it\u2019s really good, and if you like Atreyu in general especially old Atreyu, well fans of old Atreyu are going to be really, really stoked and I\u2019m so happy for them in particular to hear it.<\/p>\n

In the five years since \u2018Congregation of The Damned\u2019 has it been an interesting exercise to collaborate after so long apart?<\/strong>
\nYeah I think it was good and healthy to take this time apart and write with other people and with other bands just to round off your game, I feel in general to be the best song writer you can be and best musician you can be that your vocabulary has to be huge, you have to be very open minded to all styles of music and try to write all styles of music so that when you do want to come back to whatever it is you want to write you can be the best that you can be and your vocabulary is so much bigger that you can bring a lot more to the table and make things a lot more interesting.<\/p>\n

Has it also lit a bit of a fire under you and made you realize that Atreyu had to come back?<\/strong>
\nYeah we\u2019re basically about to bend this world over and fuckin\u2019 do it up the ass. It\u2019s about to get it pretty good right now\u2026everything we\u2019ve written is just heavy as shit, there\u2019s so much energy and we\u2019re all so excited that when the five of us put our minds together and do what we want to do and focus on the same goal, we\u2019re unstoppable and I just can\u2019t wait, I know the world\u2026 and like I said, anybody who is a fan of Atreyu is going to love what we\u2019re about to do.<\/p>\n

So with the single coming, can we expect an album following?<\/strong>
\nNot for a little bit, if an album comes it will be next year, we don\u2019t want to rush anything, we want to make sure everything is done meticulously and strategically and I think for now to just keep that hunger for ourselves and more so for the fans, we\u2019re just gonna put out this one song for now, just in case you\u2019re wondering what the new stuff is gonna sound like, here\u2019s a little somethin\u2019, somethin\u2019 and it\u2019s gonna be awesome.<\/p>\n

I do have to ask as I\u2019m a huge Bon Jovi fan, but any chance you can bust out \u2018You Give Love A Bad Name\u2019 when you\u2019re here in Sydney?<\/strong>
\nThere is a very strong possibility of that\u2026<\/p>\n

Good because you didn\u2019t do it when I saw you last time here\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah in particular the shows we have coming up it\u2019s in our set list, and it\u2019s always a fun song, especially in Australia, I wish we could play it there more often, I mean Bon Jovi\u2019s big everywhere but last time we were in Australia Bon Jovi was playing like a week later and you felt like they were already there because everywhere you went there were banners up everywhere like Bon Jovi\u2019s in town for the next couple of days and people would see us in our hotel and say \u2018hey you guys look like you\u2019re in a band, are you guys with Bon Jovi?\u2019 and I\u2019m like \u2018What? No\u2026\u2019 *laughs* I\u2019d love to be with Bon Jovi, that would be great, but we\u2019re not yet I guess\u2026 maybe one day we\u2019ll be part of Bon Jovi.<\/p>\n

Have you got a message for your Australian fans?<\/strong>
\nJust prepare yourself because we\u2019re about to fuck some shit up.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let\u2019s predict the remainder of the year, so finish this sentence, by the end of 2014, Atreyu will\u2026<\/strong>
\nHave re-staked its claim as a badass worldwide metal band and is coming to take names.<\/p>\n


\nCatch Atreyu as part of Soundwave 2015 at the following dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY & SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY, 2015<\/strong>
\nBONYTHON PARK, ADELAIDE<\/p>\n

SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY & SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY, 2015<\/strong>
\nFLEMINGTON RACECOURSE, MELBOURNE<\/p>\n

SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY & SUNDAY 1 MARCH, 2015<\/strong>
\nOLYMPIC PARK, SYDNEY<\/p>\n

SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY & SUNDAY 1 MARCH, 2015<\/strong>
\nBRISBANE SHOWGROUNDS, BRISBANE<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Catch their sidewaves with Of Mice & Men and The Devil Wears Prada<\/strong><\/p>\n

MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY<\/strong>: MELBOURNE, THE CORNER \u2013 18+
\nhttp:\/\/cornerhotel.com\/<\/a>
\nwww.oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

WEDNESDAY 25 FEBRUARY:<\/strong>\u00a0SYDNEY, THE FACTORY \u2013 Licensed All Ages
\nhttp:\/\/factorytheatre.com.au\/<\/a>
\nwww.ticketek.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For tickets and more information head to<\/p>\n

soundwavefestival.com<\/a> \/ facebook.com\/soundwavefestival<\/a> \/ twitter.com\/soundwavefest<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Orange County, CA, USA<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong> Dan Jacobs \u2013 Guitar, Marc McKnight \u2013 Bass, Travis Miguel \u2013 Guitar, Brandon Saller – Drums\/Vocals, Alex Varkatzas – Vocals<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.atreyuofficial.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release: So Others May Live (single out now \u2013 Download for free from HERE<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n

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