Eighteen Visions is made up of James Hart, Ken Floyd, Keith Barney, Mick Morris and Trevor Baby. Their latest work is a self titled album and I got a chance to talk with Hart about its creation and their upcoming tour.
Buy the self titled album by Eighteen Visions
Daniel Robert Epstein: Where are you guys today?
James Hart: I dont exactly know what city were in. Were in California but were not on tour or anything right now.
DRE: Are you guys hanging out together?
JH: Just me and Mick. Were about ready to head over to rehearsal.
DRE: What are you working on today?
JH: We just got to go over the stuff for the new tour. We always rehearse for a couple weeks before we head out on a new tour to make sure everythings right.
DRE: How was the last tour with Coheed and Cambria and Avenged Sevenfold?
JH: It was awesome. We hadnt been on tour in eight months so we couldnt really ask for a better tour to go on than that. Avengeds image and their music goes hand in hand with us for the most part. That made it a good opportunity to get ourselves out there and play to not just 500 or a thousand new kids but 3000 to 5000 new kids every night.
DRE: Who headlined?
JH: The portion of the tour that we were on Avenged closed out just about every night and then once we got towards the East Coast, they started to switch a little more often and Coheed was closing out.
DRE: How did their fans respond to you guys?
JH: We got nothing but great feedback from both Avenged fans and Coheed fans dug it too surprisingly. We werent sure how we would go over with those kids as opposed to the Avenged fans.
DRE: Who are you going out with on the next tour?
JH: Were doing the second portion of the Warped Tour with a ton of bands on it. I dont even know who the big name bands are on this thing. We just go out and do our thing and dont really worry about who else is on the bill.
DRE: Have you done the Warped Tour before?
JH: Yeah, we did it a couple years ago and up until this most recent tour, it was the most beneficial tour that weve done. We saw immediate results in record sales and kids coming back to the shows. So were stoked to really do it again, especially right around the release of the new record.
DRE: What was the inspiration for the new album?
JH: Musically we wanted to make a complete record with 12 great songs top to bottom. We left the door open for any ideas musically whether it was soft and poppy or really heavy, gritty and dirty. So because of that because we didnt have any limitations so were really excited about it. If you want to talk about direct bands for influences, we definitely went back and took ideas from how Def Leppard and Skid Row could get real hot with those big gang vocals in the chorus. We focused on doing stuff like that so it would make the live show even bigger and make the record a little bit more fun.
DRE: Do you think theres less of that now?
JH: I dont see too much of it. There are bands who may have done it like AFIs older records. But bands just dont do it anymore for the most part. You throw on Def Leppard Hysteria and every song has got one of those parts which makes that record fun to listen and sing along to. When we wrote the intro to the record I wanted to make it big with the gritty vocals. We did it and it sounded really cool, so we started to demo other songs with that method and when it worked we left it in and when it didnt, we didnt force it.
DRE: Whats the writing process in the band?
JH: Ken or Keith or Mick will come to the table with song and vocal ideas because it is an open forum. Then Ill sit down and work on it. We try to figure out what is best for the song. It comes to the point where you got to set your ego to the side and do whats best for the band.
DRE: How was it working with Machine as producer?
JH: Hes fucking great. When we interviewed him he had this idea for this band that was the same exact image and idea that we had. That made working with him on these songs that much easier. He was very hands on with getting us to rewrite parts and getting us to try new ideas.
DRE: W\hat was the image that you guys agreed upon when you interviewed him?
JH: He was into making those big choruses, making it sound produced and even over-produced. We wanted a big, slick record and he was the dude that wanted to make it. Every idea that we had he either had the same idea or a better idea.
DRE: Why did you guys decide to go with a self titled album?
JH: We felt that with the current lineup and since weve gone through so many so many changes with our lineup that it feel like a new book in the life of Eighteen Visions. Its kind of like here we are again.
DRE: How do you like having the song, Victim, as the theme song for the WWE?
JH: Its a beautiful thing. There are so many great bands that have done stuff like that in the past and I grew up watching wrestling. I know it has definitely already helped out with getting new fans and making people aware of this band and the record thats coming out.
DRE: Are you guys going to get back into wrestling now?
JH: My Mom ordered pay-per-view this weekend just so she could hear the song. A few of us are going to go to some events. Im looking forward to checking it out.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy the self titled album by Eighteen Visions
Daniel Robert Epstein: Where are you guys today?
James Hart: I dont exactly know what city were in. Were in California but were not on tour or anything right now.
DRE: Are you guys hanging out together?
JH: Just me and Mick. Were about ready to head over to rehearsal.
DRE: What are you working on today?
JH: We just got to go over the stuff for the new tour. We always rehearse for a couple weeks before we head out on a new tour to make sure everythings right.
DRE: How was the last tour with Coheed and Cambria and Avenged Sevenfold?
JH: It was awesome. We hadnt been on tour in eight months so we couldnt really ask for a better tour to go on than that. Avengeds image and their music goes hand in hand with us for the most part. That made it a good opportunity to get ourselves out there and play to not just 500 or a thousand new kids but 3000 to 5000 new kids every night.
DRE: Who headlined?
JH: The portion of the tour that we were on Avenged closed out just about every night and then once we got towards the East Coast, they started to switch a little more often and Coheed was closing out.
DRE: How did their fans respond to you guys?
JH: We got nothing but great feedback from both Avenged fans and Coheed fans dug it too surprisingly. We werent sure how we would go over with those kids as opposed to the Avenged fans.
DRE: Who are you going out with on the next tour?
JH: Were doing the second portion of the Warped Tour with a ton of bands on it. I dont even know who the big name bands are on this thing. We just go out and do our thing and dont really worry about who else is on the bill.
DRE: Have you done the Warped Tour before?
JH: Yeah, we did it a couple years ago and up until this most recent tour, it was the most beneficial tour that weve done. We saw immediate results in record sales and kids coming back to the shows. So were stoked to really do it again, especially right around the release of the new record.
DRE: What was the inspiration for the new album?
JH: Musically we wanted to make a complete record with 12 great songs top to bottom. We left the door open for any ideas musically whether it was soft and poppy or really heavy, gritty and dirty. So because of that because we didnt have any limitations so were really excited about it. If you want to talk about direct bands for influences, we definitely went back and took ideas from how Def Leppard and Skid Row could get real hot with those big gang vocals in the chorus. We focused on doing stuff like that so it would make the live show even bigger and make the record a little bit more fun.
DRE: Do you think theres less of that now?
JH: I dont see too much of it. There are bands who may have done it like AFIs older records. But bands just dont do it anymore for the most part. You throw on Def Leppard Hysteria and every song has got one of those parts which makes that record fun to listen and sing along to. When we wrote the intro to the record I wanted to make it big with the gritty vocals. We did it and it sounded really cool, so we started to demo other songs with that method and when it worked we left it in and when it didnt, we didnt force it.
DRE: Whats the writing process in the band?
JH: Ken or Keith or Mick will come to the table with song and vocal ideas because it is an open forum. Then Ill sit down and work on it. We try to figure out what is best for the song. It comes to the point where you got to set your ego to the side and do whats best for the band.
DRE: How was it working with Machine as producer?
JH: Hes fucking great. When we interviewed him he had this idea for this band that was the same exact image and idea that we had. That made working with him on these songs that much easier. He was very hands on with getting us to rewrite parts and getting us to try new ideas.
DRE: W\hat was the image that you guys agreed upon when you interviewed him?
JH: He was into making those big choruses, making it sound produced and even over-produced. We wanted a big, slick record and he was the dude that wanted to make it. Every idea that we had he either had the same idea or a better idea.
DRE: Why did you guys decide to go with a self titled album?
JH: We felt that with the current lineup and since weve gone through so many so many changes with our lineup that it feel like a new book in the life of Eighteen Visions. Its kind of like here we are again.
DRE: How do you like having the song, Victim, as the theme song for the WWE?
JH: Its a beautiful thing. There are so many great bands that have done stuff like that in the past and I grew up watching wrestling. I know it has definitely already helped out with getting new fans and making people aware of this band and the record thats coming out.
DRE: Are you guys going to get back into wrestling now?
JH: My Mom ordered pay-per-view this weekend just so she could hear the song. A few of us are going to go to some events. Im looking forward to checking it out.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 10 of 10 COMMENTS
They've got a convert here thats for sure!