SplatterTribe: First off, please introduce yourselves...

Tavis Stanley: I’m Tavis of Art of Dying. I play guitar and sing the back-ups.

Jeff Brown: I’m Jeff from Art of Dying. I play drums

SplatterTribe: You guys are WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) connected, with them using your song 'Get Thru This' for 'Survivor Series 2009' and their 'NXT' program. Are you wrestling fans or did it just sort of work out that way?

Tavis Stanley: Yeah, it definitely just sort of worked out that way, but when we were kids we were all definitely fans. I went a bunch of times when I was a kid. I just sort of lived and breathed wrestling for a few years. I think we all had our. I think we all had our moments and we think it is pretty cool that they picked up our song.

Jeff Brown: I love wrestling. It’s super fun and I have a lot of respect for those guys. It’s cool to understand what they do and how it coincides with music.

SplatterTribe: Did it open up a new fan base to your music?

Tavis Stanley: Well, we had, ‘Get Thru This' on the Survivor Series about a year and a half ago. So I guess like 10 million pay-per-view viewers are gonna hear it. So, of course people are gonna hear it. It definitely generated a response online for the single.

SplatterTribe: So what’s the longest touring stint you guys have done so far?

Tavis Stanley: I think this is it, yeah, three months and counting. It’s been pretty intense, but it’s awesome.

SplatterTribe: Has it been tough?

Tavis Stanley: I think it’s tougher coming home, after you have been on tour for so long. Just getting back to that doesn’t seem quite as exiting. We have so much fun out here and everyday when we are in a new town we play for great fans. You fall right into that (way of life) right away. It’s never a chore…

Jeff Brown: Your adrenaline is going everyday and then you get home (laughs) and all you hear is birds. You’re like, uh, I love this…Is that…Is that a duck? (laughs)

SplatterTribe: Can you name the track listing for the newest album?

(Both smile at each other and say): Yeah, Yeah.

Tavis Stanley: Die Trying

Jeff Brown: Get Thru This

Tavis Stanley: Sorry

Jeff Brown: Whole Worlds Crazy Now

Tavis Stanley: Completely?

Jeff Brown: Yeah, I Will Be There

Tavis Stanley: Raining

Jeff Brown: Best I Can

Tavis Stanley: Straight Across My Mind

Jeff Brown: Breathing

Tavis Stanley: That’s it…

SplatterTribe: Close, but what about You Don’t…

Jeff Brown: What’d we miss? 'You Don’t Know Me'…Ahhh!

(Both shake their heads, laugh and kick in frustration)

SplatterTribe: Now I’m going to mention the name of each of those songs and want you to say whatever comes to mind. First off, 'Die Trying'...

Tavis Stanley: Don’t ever give up.

Jeff Brown: Be hopeful…Today’s today and tomorrows a new day

SplatterTribe: Do you remember anything about the writing of that song?

Jeff Brown: Yeah, it was a while ago. Greg (Bradley-Guitars) came up with a riff and Johnny (Hetherington – Vocals) is a monster when it comes to melodies and lyrics and stuff like that. It actually came together pretty quick. When we heard it tracked the first time we went “Woah, there’s something there.” Then we played it for a few people and they were really stoked. You know, it’s not a complicated song. It is what it is. I personally feel it’s a very powerful song.

SplatterTribe: 'Get Thru This'...

Tavis Stanley: That’s kinda got the same kind of vibe to it as well. It’s like definitely don’t give up. Like Jeff just said, 'tomorrow's a new day'. A lot of our songs have that underlying, hopeful theme. That’s what’s cool about writing in this band. We’re not just talking about the darker side of life. We’re trying to give a positive message and inspire people to be better. To live their life to the fullest.

SplatterTribe: Is that a conceptual idea or does it just work out that way?

Tavis Stanley: It just comes out man. Sometime we work on an idea an explore lyrics and sometimes the lyrics write themselves, you know? It’s weird. Johnny writes most of the lyrics. We all have our input and ideas. But yeah, he’s definitely the lyric master of the band.

SplatterTribe: Next up, ‘Sorry’...

Tavis Stanley: My bad…

(Both laugh)

SplatterTribe: We can go with that…

Tavis Stanley: (Laughing) Go with that...

SplatterTribe: 'The Whole Words Crazy'...

Tavis Stanley: You ever watch CNN?

(Both laugh again)

Tavis Stanley: We try not to watch it, but that’s basically what it’s about. The crazy stuff goin' on in the world and trying to relate to people in everyday situations. We all have crazy stuff happen in our lives.

SplatterTribe: 'Completely'...

Tavis Stanley: Break up song. It’s just sort of about taking your power back after getting out of a bad relationship.

SplatterTribe: What about 'I Will Be There'?

Jeff Brown: Just that…

Tavis Stanley: That song, it speaks for itself.

Jeff Brown: I will be there through the toughest times and even after that. And again, (it’s) another song of hope. Somebody being a rock for somebody else, no matter what happens in your life.

SplatterTribe: 'You Don’t Know Me'...

Tavis Stanley: That’s sort of a song telling people that judge you to go fuck themselves. It’s as simple as that, man. We don’t like that and I’m sure a lot of people don’t. So that’s kind of a cool and also empowering song.

SplatterTribe: More of a statement song, I guess.

(Both) Yeah

SplatterTribe: 'Raining'...

Jeff Brown: Raining's a song about what’s going on in your head and trying to do your best.

Tavis Stanley: It’s a little bit about going to a dark place and saying ‘we all have this dark side and it’s ok’. You know, 'I’m scared to be me because I look like you'. We’re all the same. We all resonate in that way, at some point. It’s just like saying, ‘it’s ok’. The lyric of the song is ‘I’ll make all of this go away’. Everybody goes through that.

SplatterTribe: 'Best I Can'...

Jeff Brown: Doin the best I can in everything I am. That’s the one song that keeps coming up. We’ve met a lot of younger kids that keep coming up, with their parents, and they both have the record and they both mention that song. We look at the world today, with the economy and everything, and it’s just ‘who isn’t doing the best I (they) can?’ So it’s really just trying to shout that out and say ‘hey are you hearing me? I’m doing the best I can?'

SplatterTribe: There definitely is and underlying positivity with this band…

Jeff Brown: Oh yeah...

Tavis Stanley: Yeah, it’s true and we get these weird little coincidences that happen to us too. I remember right after we all wrote ‘Best I Can’ and we were setting in Vancouver on the patio and we looked up on this window across the street and some guy in his apartment building had written, ‘I’m doing the best I can’ on the window. It was (written) backwards, from our point of view, but we just all looked up and had this sort of moment of like ‘wow, what a strange coincidence’. So, it definitely resonates and rings true. Everyone is just doing the best they can.

SplatterTribe: 'Straight Across My Mind'...

Tavis Stanley: Basically more (about) a bit of the darker stuff, like addiction or maybe overindulging in some vices, I guess. Hence the album title.

SplatterTribe: 'Breathing In'...

Jeff Brown: Finally breathing again, being honest with yourself and being honest with everyone else. You know, we put it at the end of the album for a reason. Finally giving what you want. (It’s about) Opening your heart and acknowledging (things) and just (realizing that) no one is perfect. And finally making that 1, 2, 3, or 5 decisions you needed to make and screaming, ‘I can finally breathe again’.

SplatterTribe: What about the bonus tracks? 'Better Off'...

Tavis Stanley: 'Better Off' was actually written about another bad relationship and sort of telling someone I am better off without you. It actually started off being 'you’re better off without me'. When we recorded it with Adam Gontier, he suggested we switch it and say ‘no I’m better off without you’ and take the power back. And then say like, ‘I don’t need you anymore. Thanks, but I’m better off.'

SplatterTribe: 'Watching You Watching Me'...

Tavis Stanley: That ones a bit of an epiphany song too. It’s funny, the old name of the song used to be ‘Fits of Clarity’ which is like that moment when everything just kind of makes sense. And that’s sort of where it started. So it’s just kind of one of those serendipitous songs, as well.

SplatterTribe: You mentioned how some lyrics come easier than others, what about the whole songs and why do you think some do come easier than others?

Jeff Brown: Some stuff does come easy. You get the idea on an acoustic guitar or something but then when you actually go into the studio, you might spend more time on it than you thought you were going to. Maybe it’s a tempo thing. Maybe it’s just a ‘feel’ thing. We’ve come in sometimes and we were out of there super quick and (other times) we’ve spent hours on just one song. Just trying to find that magical feel and the cadence of it; just trying to figure it out, you know? Then when you got it, you got it and you know it. It’s art right? It’s takes a while sometimes.

SplatterTribe: How many songs did you guys have for this album?

Jeff Brown: 50

SplatterTribe: How do you guys play the narrowing down game?

Tavis Stanley: A lot of emails and a lot of arguments (both laugh) No, I mean, everyone has their own opinions, but we all agree on the best songs and it’s just a process of elimination. It’s a good problem to have, I guess. To have too many songs that you really like and you’re really passionate about.

SplatterTribe: What happens to the others?

Tavis Stanley: Well, we’ll probably record some for the next album. Since then we’ve probably written another 30 or 40, so there’s a bulk of material to choose from. So we can always make sure we have the best songs.

SplatterTribe: What about the songs for this album?

Tavis Stanley: Some came together in the studio. Some were written 6 or 7 years ago. It’s just all across the board.

Jeff Brown: Some of those older songs were the reason we got signed and some of the newer ones, as well. And so, Intoxication (Records) and Warner (Bros. Records), they really wanted to showcase those songs and get a broader audience. Hence them making the record.

SplatterTribe: What was that initial step that led to you guys getting signed?

Jeff Brown: Johnny answering his cell phone when Dan Donegan (guitarist for the band Disturbed) called...

SplatterTribe: It was that simple?

Jeff Brown: Yeah, he just phoned and said ‘I got your record and I am a huge fan of the band. If there is anything I can do to help you guys out, let me know.' So we got off the phone and thought, ‘that’s really cool.’ Then we hear back from him, sure enough... If you get to know Dan Donegan, he’s a man of his word. He phoned us 6 months later and said, ‘I want to bring you guys out on a 'run’. So we met up with Disturbed and there was 4 or 5000 people every night. It was killer. And they were on the side of the stage every night. So what started as a killer tour with Disturbed… We realized on the 2^nd tour with them that, ‘Oh, we’re showcasing right now. They are coming out to watch us.’ At the end of the day, we got told they wanted to sign us to Intoxication and here we are today.

SplatterTribe: That’s a pretty big deal, right? I mean 'Disturbed' could pretty much picked anybody they wanted and they picked you guys.

Tavis Stanley: Yeah, Dan said they spent almost 7 years looking for just the right band to sign. They didn’t want to sign just anyone, because they could’ve, you know? To be their first signing, we felt super honored that they really liked our music, what we did and our work ethic. It’s been a great partnership. (It’s) a great team.

SplatterTribe: Do you have anything you would like to add before we call this interview done?

Jeff Brown: We just want to say thanks to everybody and yourself for all your support. It’s not going unnoticed. We’re thrilled to be out and finally showcasing 'Vices and Virtues' and we’re on Twitter and Facebook, everyday. People that reach out to us we will get back to. It’s not just someone in an office responding. (Also) We will get to your city. There’s a lot of people that say, 'Oh you’re not coming to…' We will get there. We’re just starting.

Tavis Stanley: The Art of Dying is Your Life to Live...

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