Thrasher Talks Escape The Fate, New Album HATE ME, And The Meaning of "Just A Memory"
Hello Kevin Thrasher, How are you today? What’s up hommie! Escape The Fate’s fifth studio album titled, HATE ME will be released on October 30th, 2015. What made Escape The Fate choose the title HATE ME and how did the…
Escape The Fate’s fifth studio album titled, HATE ME will be released on October 30th, 2015. What made Escape The Fate choose the title HATE ME and how did the song HATE ME come about?
We are stoked on releasing this album! I wish it was coming out sooner! Hate Me came out of one of the first tracks I wrote with Craig. I made this crazy hip-hop inspired rock track with a really laid back beat and Craig started singing a chorus and melody to the Title track. Then ,when we were at the studio talking about potential album titles Craig thew out “Hate Me.” And it was honestly the first thing that everyone could relate to and didn’t completely disagree on. For me, the album name represents basically saying “Fuck It.” Hate Me for not being an original member, or Hate Us for not wanting to release the same record over and over again. It’s almost freedom from judgement as an artist and being a free thinker.
What inspired the new album HATE ME’s artwork?
The albums artwork with the tarot cards came about from our fascination with fate and the curiosity of past, present and future events. It seemed pretty fitting given our past.
You already released a single off the album titled, “Just A Memory” with an incredible music video. What is the meaning behind the song “Just A Memory” and what has been the fans reactions thus far?
The meaning behind “Just A Memory” is literally written in the lyrics. It comes from a point of anger and frustration by encountering people who we’ve brought into our lives and treated like family.. OR could be a family member that totally fucks you over. I know there was talk about it being about a specific person on the internet. But to me, its more of a general thing. Living in Hollywood and being a part of the music industry you can come across some twisted people who will stab you right in the back. Of course, there is another side to the song. And that is the fact that those people cannot harm you anymore.. They are just a distant memory, forgiven but you certainly won’t forget.
IF you had to choose a top 3 songs to listen to off of, HATE ME. Which 3 songs would you choose?
1. Live For Today
2. Let Me Be
3. Alive
How would you say HATE ME differs from Escape The Fate’s previous album UNGRATEFUL?
Hate Me is definitely a record that has some very different stuff than Ungrateful. To me, this record has a certain vibe of angst but also beauty. Every song offers something unique and I think its a fairly unsafe record. Everything from the subjects lyrically and tone wise is pushing the boundaries of what a typical rock band would do. It’s a record where we just went mad for a brief time and captured it.
This is your first time playing and writing extensively on an Escape The Fate album, How was that process and did you enjoy writing?
The process was cool. We did most of the demoing at my old apartment in LA. There must have been 40 songs written before we went into the studio. It was pretty easy off the bat to tell which songs really stuck and didn’t. I’ve always been a songwriter and my “day job” aside from the band is producing records and engineering. So a lot of things came together very quickly.
Escape the Fate’s sound has definitely evolved and you’re sound has definitely become a define very distinctive sound to the band. For instance if you hear a Escape The Fate song you never have heard before you know its ETF. For a lot of bands to change their sound like you guys have done, there’s always that risk of losing that core fan base. But it seems like you’ve not only kept that fan base, but have grown your fan base extensively. How would you say Escape The Fate has evolved musically and as a band together?
The Escape the Fate vibe is definitely there and i think you could say that this record would have a strong This War Is Ours vibe. But of course, we are constantly evolving and changing as people. So for our music to change is inevitable. Other wise you’d just have a band trying to re-create something that’s already happened. That would be a very boring record. So I think actually what has caused this band to continue to grow and have an active fan base is the evolved music!
You recently just got off Vans Warped Tour 2015, How was that for you guys?
Vans Warped Tour 2015 was incredible. The very first show in Pomona felt like a homecoming. We had the most insane crowd of the day, and it had felt like we’ve never been better! Aside from the insane heat and intense shows, Warped had a bunch of cool bands this year. Really grateful for Kevin Lyman’s support of the band and we hope to return in 2016 for sure!
You have an upcoming fall tour to promote your new album HATE ME coming up beginning on October 13th, 2015. What is Escape The Fate most looking forward to on this tour?
We are most looking forward to playing the new songs for the first time. We just have played pretty much the same setlist for about a year now. So it’s going to have a completely fresh feel when we design the new set. One benefit from playing headliners is being able to play as long as you want.
Can fans expect to hear some of the new music on this tour, if so what could they look forward to within that tours setlist?
^^
Anything else you wish to say to your current or future fans? Where can fans find your album online to purchase?
Check out our new video for “Just A Memory” from our new album ‘Hate Me,’ coming out on 10.30.15
For awesome experiential opportunities like playing video games with the band or watching Walking Dead with Craig, head to our pledge campaign now! http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/escapethefate
