Atreyu first received attention in 2002 for their mix of rock, melodic hardcore and metal on their first album Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses. Recently, band members Brandon Saller, Daniel Jacobs, Marc McKnight, Travis Miguel and Alex Varkatzas released their latest album, THE CURSE, through Victory Records.
Check out the official website of Atreyu
Daniel Robert Epstein: Hey Alex, whats going on?
Alex Varkatzas: Im exhausted.
DRE: How come?
AV: Ive just been partying pretty hard the past week and a half. Then I went to Chicago and the time change threw me off.
DRE: Whered you fly in from?
AV: Orange County. I love the O.C.
DRE: Do you watch The O.C.?
AV: Whenever I can. Its fuckin' great. People who say they dont watch it are liars.
DRE: Is it true to life?
AV: No, not at all. Its not even filmed in Orange County. There are a couple of establishing shots of Orange County, but then the rest is shot in LA County because its cheaper there.
DRE: I heard youre a fan of SuicideGirls.
AV: Yeah my friend Katie works there.
DRE: How do you know Katie?
AV: Were friends with some of the same people. Shes my home girl now.
DRE: Is it weird that shes naked online?
AV: Yeah whatever, its funny.
DRE: Are SuicideGirls the kinds of girls youre into?
AV: I like them breathing so SuicideGirls falls into that category.
DRE: You must get tons of girls though.
AV: Honestly I dont know what my deal is, but I dont get girls even though I would like to. I dont think Im hard to talk to, but I dont think I am outgoing at all. If I dont know a girl, I will never ever approach one and hit on her. Girls take note; even if you are hot, I will never come talk to you. I just have anxiety about it.
DRE: What about girls at the shows?
AV: No, I just feel weird about that. It doesnt matter where I am, I just cant talk to girls. They dont hit on me either and maybe thats because I spit, sweat and scream at stuff for a living. Also Im an asshole.
DRE: Why is the last album called The Curse?
AV: Because were fucking cursed. Everything we do turns to shit, breaks or has some last minute glitch. Our bass player quit the day he was supposed to record bass tracks, trailers break and everything.
DRE: Why did he quit?
AV: To start a family, to get married and to become a teacher.
DRE: Thats boring.
Was he a guy youve known forever?
AV: Yeah he was one of my best friends.
DRE: What inspired the new album?
AV: Vampires! Im doing art right now and I was talking with my homey Double J about vampires because they are awesome.
Actually the album isnt that much about vampires. Our lives and being on tour for a year and a half inspired it, and then we came home and realized all of our friends had forgotten about us because we hadnt been home. So that led to a lot of drinking and self medicating. The album is about drinking and self- medication, whether its in the form of the companionship of fake people, or just trying to escape. Its a pretty intense piece of work.
DRE: What made you decide to start screaming?
AV: I cant sing very well, but I wanted to be in a band, so I was pretty much stuck. Ive been in a punk band in one form or another since I was 13 years old, so it evolved into me screaming. Ive got a unique voice, so we just went with it.
DRE: How do you take care of your voice?
AV: I quit smoking, so now I just sleep and drink a lot of water. Thats the only thing to do for your voice. People tell you to drink tea and honey and do vocal warm-ups; those are people who convince themselves that that works. Sleep and fluids if you consider beer a fluid.
DRE: Why do they call you and drummer Brandon [Saller] the two-headed vocal delivery?
AV: I think someone even wrote, the two-headed vocal beast. Brandon does all the clean melodic singing and I do all the screaming. I sing a little on the new record, though. Were the twin headed hydra.
DRE: Do you guys feed off each other onstage?
AV: I can feed off him because hes a big guy. No Im kidding. Since he plays the drums, he stays away from me. We mostly feed off the crowd. If the kids are into us playing, then we will give the raddest show youll ever see, giving everything weve got. Well be sweating, bleeding and throwing up after the show from exhaustion. But if people arent feeling it, which weve been unfortunate to have to deal with, well suck. We will just stand there and hate it. Well bleed, but we do it on the crowd.
DRE: Do you cut yourself up?
AV: By accident. Chris, our old bass player, accidentally hit me in the head a lot. Ive split my head open a number of times on his bass, and he took a chunk out of the tattoo on my arm. Im not the most coordinated person in the world, but I will still throw the mic around, hitting myself and the other guys in the head. But its all for rock and roll.
DRE: Did the audience ever piss you off, and then you accidentally hit someone in the head?
AV: No, I usually use my body for that. I will just run and jump into the crowd. We played in a New England metal and hardcore fest last year. This kid was standing in the front being a douche bag, while everyone else was having fun. If you dont like us, I dont give two shits. Go stand in the back or talk shit about us on the internet, but dont ruin it for everyone else, or I am going to do something to you. I accidentally went and sang in front of him a whole bunch so kids would jump on top of him and I knocked him in the head with the mic a few times.
DRE: Thats an honor.
AV: Right. Or you can spit on people under the guise of just spitting on stage. Im paid to fuckin' spit on people. We were on the CKY tour a while ago and we were in some weird Podunk club. This old mom lady, I dont know what her deal was, came up and was rude to me. I cant deal with that shit. She had long hair and it looked like it had cum stains in it after I lit her up with saliva.
DRE: What was she doing there?
AV: I dont know if her kids were fans, or if she was a big CKY fan, but she fucked with the bull and she got the horns. Im full of witty one-liners today. I feel like Im still drunk.
DRE: Whered you go drinking last night?
AV: We just sat and drank in my house.
DRE: What do you drink?
AV: Right now Im on a Bacardi and Coke kick. It used to be Jack and Coke religiously, but I noticed, and I dont know if its an ulcer or chronic heartburn, if I drink whiskey, my stomach feels like its on fire and it will burn all night. It was vodka for a while, then Stoli vanilla, and now Im just chilling with the rum. The rum seems to go down smooth and destroy me.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official website of Atreyu
Daniel Robert Epstein: Hey Alex, whats going on?
Alex Varkatzas: Im exhausted.
DRE: How come?
AV: Ive just been partying pretty hard the past week and a half. Then I went to Chicago and the time change threw me off.
DRE: Whered you fly in from?
AV: Orange County. I love the O.C.
DRE: Do you watch The O.C.?
AV: Whenever I can. Its fuckin' great. People who say they dont watch it are liars.
DRE: Is it true to life?
AV: No, not at all. Its not even filmed in Orange County. There are a couple of establishing shots of Orange County, but then the rest is shot in LA County because its cheaper there.
DRE: I heard youre a fan of SuicideGirls.
AV: Yeah my friend Katie works there.
DRE: How do you know Katie?
AV: Were friends with some of the same people. Shes my home girl now.
DRE: Is it weird that shes naked online?
AV: Yeah whatever, its funny.
DRE: Are SuicideGirls the kinds of girls youre into?
AV: I like them breathing so SuicideGirls falls into that category.
DRE: You must get tons of girls though.
AV: Honestly I dont know what my deal is, but I dont get girls even though I would like to. I dont think Im hard to talk to, but I dont think I am outgoing at all. If I dont know a girl, I will never ever approach one and hit on her. Girls take note; even if you are hot, I will never come talk to you. I just have anxiety about it.
DRE: What about girls at the shows?
AV: No, I just feel weird about that. It doesnt matter where I am, I just cant talk to girls. They dont hit on me either and maybe thats because I spit, sweat and scream at stuff for a living. Also Im an asshole.
DRE: Why is the last album called The Curse?
AV: Because were fucking cursed. Everything we do turns to shit, breaks or has some last minute glitch. Our bass player quit the day he was supposed to record bass tracks, trailers break and everything.
DRE: Why did he quit?
AV: To start a family, to get married and to become a teacher.
DRE: Thats boring.
Was he a guy youve known forever?
AV: Yeah he was one of my best friends.
DRE: What inspired the new album?
AV: Vampires! Im doing art right now and I was talking with my homey Double J about vampires because they are awesome.
Actually the album isnt that much about vampires. Our lives and being on tour for a year and a half inspired it, and then we came home and realized all of our friends had forgotten about us because we hadnt been home. So that led to a lot of drinking and self medicating. The album is about drinking and self- medication, whether its in the form of the companionship of fake people, or just trying to escape. Its a pretty intense piece of work.
DRE: What made you decide to start screaming?
AV: I cant sing very well, but I wanted to be in a band, so I was pretty much stuck. Ive been in a punk band in one form or another since I was 13 years old, so it evolved into me screaming. Ive got a unique voice, so we just went with it.
DRE: How do you take care of your voice?
AV: I quit smoking, so now I just sleep and drink a lot of water. Thats the only thing to do for your voice. People tell you to drink tea and honey and do vocal warm-ups; those are people who convince themselves that that works. Sleep and fluids if you consider beer a fluid.
DRE: Why do they call you and drummer Brandon [Saller] the two-headed vocal delivery?
AV: I think someone even wrote, the two-headed vocal beast. Brandon does all the clean melodic singing and I do all the screaming. I sing a little on the new record, though. Were the twin headed hydra.
DRE: Do you guys feed off each other onstage?
AV: I can feed off him because hes a big guy. No Im kidding. Since he plays the drums, he stays away from me. We mostly feed off the crowd. If the kids are into us playing, then we will give the raddest show youll ever see, giving everything weve got. Well be sweating, bleeding and throwing up after the show from exhaustion. But if people arent feeling it, which weve been unfortunate to have to deal with, well suck. We will just stand there and hate it. Well bleed, but we do it on the crowd.
DRE: Do you cut yourself up?
AV: By accident. Chris, our old bass player, accidentally hit me in the head a lot. Ive split my head open a number of times on his bass, and he took a chunk out of the tattoo on my arm. Im not the most coordinated person in the world, but I will still throw the mic around, hitting myself and the other guys in the head. But its all for rock and roll.
DRE: Did the audience ever piss you off, and then you accidentally hit someone in the head?
AV: No, I usually use my body for that. I will just run and jump into the crowd. We played in a New England metal and hardcore fest last year. This kid was standing in the front being a douche bag, while everyone else was having fun. If you dont like us, I dont give two shits. Go stand in the back or talk shit about us on the internet, but dont ruin it for everyone else, or I am going to do something to you. I accidentally went and sang in front of him a whole bunch so kids would jump on top of him and I knocked him in the head with the mic a few times.
DRE: Thats an honor.
AV: Right. Or you can spit on people under the guise of just spitting on stage. Im paid to fuckin' spit on people. We were on the CKY tour a while ago and we were in some weird Podunk club. This old mom lady, I dont know what her deal was, came up and was rude to me. I cant deal with that shit. She had long hair and it looked like it had cum stains in it after I lit her up with saliva.
DRE: What was she doing there?
AV: I dont know if her kids were fans, or if she was a big CKY fan, but she fucked with the bull and she got the horns. Im full of witty one-liners today. I feel like Im still drunk.
DRE: Whered you go drinking last night?
AV: We just sat and drank in my house.
DRE: What do you drink?
AV: Right now Im on a Bacardi and Coke kick. It used to be Jack and Coke religiously, but I noticed, and I dont know if its an ulcer or chronic heartburn, if I drink whiskey, my stomach feels like its on fire and it will burn all night. It was vodka for a while, then Stoli vanilla, and now Im just chilling with the rum. The rum seems to go down smooth and destroy me.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 18 of 18 COMMENTS
slowtostanding:
yeah, i can totally shake my ass to the new atreyu record. it's catchy as shit.
poseidon:
Bought The Curse the other day, love it, fucking awesome album. I just need to find a record store with their other stuff.