A WILHELM SCREAM’s Trevor Reilly
By Tyler GibsonToday AMP Magazine brings you an interesting look at the current doings of A WILHELM SCREAM. They give us an insight on how the band is pushing forward in 2011 with a new record, and highlight some of the rad stuff they’ve done in the last year.
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So dudes, how has 2010 been treating you so far? Did you guys do anything completely rad and totally gnarly while on the road?
This year has been fantastic, thank you! We got to play Brazil for the first time which was both completely rad and totally gnarly. We just did the Fest in Florida, which is always amazing, Canada with COMEBACK KID kicked so much ass. PENNYWISE and STRIKE ANYWHERE tour in Europe was gnarly as hell. Just been around the world all over the place again this year, another great one in the books and we’re jazzed for what’s to come.
You guys are coming up on the 10 year anniversary of “Benefits Of Thinking Out Loud”. How has the band dynamic/attitude changed in the last decade? What sort of wisdom have you gained over that span of time that helps you guys survive as a band now?
It’s crazy how time flies. The band’s attitude, well, it really hasn’t changed all that much. We’ve seen a lot of trends come and go, had a lot of friends in music come and go. We really just try to be the constant out there keeping it real. We love the people that come see us play; that listen to our records. We still have more fun than anybody else out there on stage. Put that in bold letters. That’s the secret: Fun. The dynamic may have evolved with member changes over the years, but this band’s always been five guys on a mission, working hard on their music. This will never change and that’s why we still survive.
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Has the touring process for you guys changed for the better since the early days? Or has it for the most part stayed the same?
It’s definitely changed for the better. We have a good core of guys that we tap to do merch duties for us who take their work seriously, along with tour managing, and sound! For the past three years or so we’ve been traveling with our sound guy Hoops and I can’t imagine how we did it for so many years without someone taking care of front of house sound. Especially for a band like us. I mean, someone’s gotta turn my vocal mic down! We trust our crew out there, they’re great people who get along great with our fans (and us!) and they represent the band well. That’s why other bands try to steal them from us!
What things are currently giving you the most inspiration in life and in music at the moment?
Nothing in life really gives me the same feeling as writing, and finishing a good song. It’s like a life-reaffirming thing. That’s where I’m at right now, writing new Wilhelm songs. Mentally for me, with writing, the lows are low and the highs are high. Right now I’m riding high, and seeing what the guys have been coming up with to play on these songs is inspiring me.
Are there any rad up-and-coming bands that you guys are getting stoked about?
Living with Lions are awesome. So catchy, they make you wanna shake your ass. Keep an eye out for Smartbomb, too. Pop punk with balls, not that high school the musical bullshit that passes for pop-punk these days. Heartsounds were great on tour, they’ve got the right positive attitude and great hooks. The Stereo Sound, Outbreak, No Trigger’s new songs are awesome, great to see them back in the game.
If you could tour 1 place in the entire world that you haven’t been to yet, where would it be and why?
This question gets tougher every year cause every year we go to some new crazy places I never thought we’d ever get to play. We’re about to do Central America next week, but you know, we’ve never played Hawaii. And Alaska. Hopefully those will be on the radar soon. I wanna eat what they eat in Hawaii and Alaska. Why? Why not!
In the newer albums there seems to be a bit more of a thrash influence. Are any of you big metal heads? If so, what types of metal bands are you into?
I think a lot of our thrash influence comes from bands like RKL, early-ish NOFX, Propagandhi and other punk bands that probably listened to alot of early Metallica. Fast riffs. All about the fast riffs. The kind of shit that gets the blood pumping. Can’t deny the influence of bands like At the Gates, Pantera, In Flames. I like metal but I can’t sit here and tell you who played on what Venom record or whatever. Mike is really into metal. That comes with the long hair. Black Dahlia Murder’s a sick metal band. Give me fast music. There’s all these new metal bands slowing way down and detuning, which is cool, don’t get me wrong. This means fast power metal is just around the corner, waiting for a big resurgence. I’ll be there for that.
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How well do you think the process of producing the S/T EP yourselves went? Were you happy with what you were able to do without a producer at the helm? Will you be doing the producing of your next efforts yourselves?
I think it went really well. So well that it inspired me to refurb the studio, with hopes to do the next one ourselves too. Bill and Jason have done amzing things for us in producing our records. They’re fucking wizards! But I think they’d be the first ones to tell you that we are capable of producing ourselves to some good performances. I mean, we work really hard on our parts, and we know what we want. There’s always been a method to the madness. The challenge is exciting. I do want to have Bill and Jason invlolved in the new record. I feel a strong musical kinship with Bill and I’m sure we’ll figure out something cool to get some of that magic on the new album.
What’s on the horizon for AWS in 2011? Anything cool going on that isn’t super top-secret that you can tell us about? NEW RECORD MAYBE?!?!
My mind doesn’t go past the new record, it’s all I think about and it’s driving me mental! There’s a lot of material to still go through and arrange. We’re all contributing music, and I’m collaborating with Nuno on lyrics in a way we haven’t since we were in high school. It’s recharging my batteries. We’re all working hard on it and I think it’s going to be a very special thing for us when it’s done.
And now I’m just going to ask random questions that pop into my dome. How do you feel about the new Cee Lo Green single “Fuck You”? Catchy as hell or boring P.O.S.?
Cee Lo is incredible. That song is catchy as hell. Something in the water down in Atlanta.
Have any of you ever gotten completely wrecked on Four Loko? Any favorite flavors?
That was the unofficial booze of the fest this year. I took a sip or two of that stuff. Buy em while they’re still legal. Then sell them for four times the price for four times the loko. Now that’s economics.
Ghostbusters or. Jurassic Park? Which is a better film and why.
Umm, Ghostbusters got Bill Murray, Jurassic Park’s got Jeff Goldblum. Murray’s the more loveable a-hole, so Ghostbusters wins. Both movies are great though, good question.
Tell us an embarrassing story involving one of your band members.
There’s so many I forgot them all. On purpose.
In a 4 way brawl between these 4 Massachusetts bands, who would win? Godsmack, Aerosmith, Extreme or Boston?
Well, Extreme’s got a Nuno in their band… that’s all I got, man. All those bands can take a fat shit for all I care. Thanks and have a happy new year!
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