BAND: Shadows Fall
INTERVIEWER: Liz Wise (liz@bandvibe.com)
INTERVIEWEE: Paul Romanko, Bass
DATE OF INTERVIEW: 04.28.07
BAND MEMBERS:
Brian Fair- Vocals
Jonathan Donais- Lead guitar, vocals
Matthew Bachand- Guitar, vocals
Paul Romanko- Bass
Jason Bittner- Drums
Shadows Fall has always been a big name on the metal scene. Now, as a new addition to the Atlantic Records family, they’re gaining even more recognition and respect. I sat down with bassist Paul Romanko during their stop in Denver, Colorado with Stone Sour on the Jägermeister Music Tour. We talked about a little bit of everything, and I could see that even with the band’s success, they’ve remained levelheaded, humble guys.
BV: Your new album, Threads of Life, came out April 3rd, less than a month ago. How’s it being received?
Paul: We’ve gotten a lot of good press on the new album, Threads of Life. We’re pretty stoked about it. For us, I think it’s actually the first time we’ve had an album come together how we envisioned it when we started the album. I think it really represents what we’ve been trying to do musically and with songwriting and everything. I think we captured what our sound really is. So that’s great. Press has been giving good reviews, and the kids have been digging the new songs live, so it all looks good right now.
BV: When you guys look back at Of One Blood, your Century Media debut and compare with Threads of Life, what in your mind are the biggest changes?
Paul: I think we’ve grown. I think with every album we’ve grown as musicians and songwriters. A lot of that growth just naturally occurs, but also Of One Blood being our first album on a smaller label and a small budget, this time we just had more time to go in and do things that we weren't able to do on some of our other records because the clock was ticking and we had to keep things moving. Just having time was the biggest change.
BV: What effect did having a larger recording budget have on the final product, since now you’re signed with Atlantic?
Paul: That’s kind of going back to the same thing again. The biggest thing about the budget for this record was that the additional money created more time to get exactly what you want in the studio when you’re tracking instead of having to settle for something that’s just ‘close enough’.
BV: All of the leads on Threads of Life have a very strong 'fuzz' character, as if you cocked open a wah pedal to full treble on all of them. Were you going for this from the beginning of the recording process?
Paul: There was no real set idea for anything. We just went in and experimented. I know when John was doing solos, he used a different amp on almost every solo. We went song by song when we did the record as far as sonically how we wanted things to sound. We changed the snare drum from song to song, changed amps for different songs so it wasn’t really a conscious effort to get a certain sound until we messed around and said that’s the one. And again time factored in. Instead of saying okay, it’s solo day, let’s do the solos for the whole record, we played with different things every time we did anything.
BV: So did you get all those sounds initially or do you guys change some sounds in the mix after everything is recorded?
Paul: Well, generally we work with what the tones are and sometimes you have to go back and change parts because certain things will clash a little bit. This time we didn’t have to. Everything was pretty much good. I think this is the most organic record we’ve ever done. It was recorded to ProTools, but there was no looping or any bulls**t like that, we tracked it until it was right. We didn’t rely on technology too much with this record. We did it like you’d do back in the day. That’s good, but it was a lot of work.
BV: You mentioned technology. Is it easier recording now digitally than it was with tapes and everything?
Paul: There’s no doubt. If you want to you can go in and bang out a song in a couple of hours because you can take every chorus and loop it, same with verses. It’s sterile, but it can be done. Our producer will get demos from bands, and he’ll tell them it sounds great- now set up some mics in your practice space and send that to me because anybody can sound great with some editing in ProTools. He wants to hear what he’d really be working with, the live tracks without all the studio trickery. And that’s how we did all our pre-pro demos.
BV: In a time where bands are lucky to sell 50,000 records, what’s it like to be a band that has sold 4-6 times that amount with albums like The Art of Balance and The War Within?
Paul: You know honestly, I don’t think that any of us really sit back and think about those kinds of things too much. For me, we exceeded what I thought we were going to sell years ago. So now it’s kind of like just enjoy the ride. Don’t take it too seriously but also, don’t NOT take it seriously. You know what I mean? We’re just regular dudes that play music and are in a lucky position. There are a million bands out there and a lot of great bands that don’t ever get as far as they deserve. I think it’s just playing shows until somebody cuts you a break and we kind of had a combination of both and we’re not forgetting about that.
BV: Do you think those big album sales contributed to your offer to sign with a large label like Atlantic?
Paul: There’s no question. I mean lets be real- capitalism is how it is. As soon as any labels smell that money, they’ll all be sniffing around. And we did have a lot of offers, about eight labels in the mix, including some Indies. For us, it wasn’t a deal where someone came in and bought us away. We were done with our contract with Century Media, so it was a free market for everybody. We said heck with it, lets see what’s out there, and this could be the last contract we ever sign. The people from Atlantic backed us fully. They didn’t sign us to make us something different or what they thought we could be, they signed us because of what we’ve done. It was really comfortable, and it doesn’t feel much different being on a bigger label. The day to day is the same- doing interviews and shows. It’s nice to have a little more muscle behind us to get things done.
BV: Do you feel more pressure being one of the very few metal bands signed to a big label like Atlantic?
Paul: We’re selfish, we write records for us. They took a chance on us, so we do what we do and if you want to work with us then that’s cool. We’re not doing this to appease other people. I don’t feel any pressure. We write songs and if people like them, that’s cool and if they don’t then they don’t. We’re going to write what we want regardless.
BV: You guys used to come out and sell your own merchandise at shows. Was that to meet fans? And how come you’ve stopped?
Paul: Well, as much as the fans are a big part of who we are, just like anything else in the world, people need a break from stuff. When you’re on the road ten or twelve months a year, you can’t be out there selling t-shirts too. And for every 150 great people that you meet, there are those one or two that are just going to make you go insane. And Matt, or any of us, doesn’t deserve to have to do that if we don’t have to. When we were on tour only making $100 a night, we couldn’t afford to pay anyone to do it. But now it’s a little different world. We didn’t have some huge attitude change or anything but why work a job when you don’t have to, right? I don’t know what to say to that one- it’s a tough question. (Laughs) No one wants to sell t-shirts anyways.
BV: In the beginning, you toured with a lot of "metalcore" acts (Himsa, Every Time I Die), but you always looked and sounded much more "metal" than the bands you toured with. Was it a conscious decision to tour with these bands, or did you just know a lot of these guys initially?
Paul: Probably a little bit of both depending on the band you’re talking about. People like to lump everything into these categories and genres but it’s all just metal music when it comes down to it. You’ve got to tour with different bands to get in front of different audiences. You don’t want to be constantly banging people over the head in the same scene with your music. They either love you or they hate you and that’s the way it is. So we try to expand out and go out with different types of bands. Last summer we had Poison the Well out with us and we had Suffocation. It’s pretty diverse but we all listen to a diverse range of music. Some of it’s friendship oriented, some of it’s business oriented, it’s just the way the tour worked out.
BV: Do you think Threads of Life will sell as many copies as some of your previous records? Especially with MP3s and the internet?
Paul: You know, the way the whole market’s going right now, I don’t know what to say to that. Sales in general are down for everybody. Who knows, just in the last few years things have changed so much. But we don’t even look at that stuff. Obviously, everyone wants to see something right in front of you that can translate into success. When people are at your shows and you see them in the crowd, that’s where the success is for me.
BV: I didn’t even write this down, but when you’re up on stage can you really see all the people out there? Even with the lights?
Paul: Yeah, usually. There’s some places or times where you can’t but usually you can get a good grasp of what’s going on. And that’s the fun part.
BV: Do you think that with the new technology that is present these days that the recording industry (RIAA) should reevaluate its numbers for gold and platinum album sales?
Paul: Maybe that or something else because I think it’s just eventually going to turn into something where everything is downloaded. They’ll do away with manufacturing cost and realize everything can be done for a higher profit with downloads. I see that happening at some point but as far as the stats go, labels like to have those trophies to put on their walls so maybe if they lower the numbers they’ll see everyone could have a few more gold records on their walls. It’d be cool to have something like that but I’m not going to kill myself worrying about it. But I see what you’re saying.
BV: Anything you’d like to add?
Paul: Just thanks for the interview. Thanks to everyone who’s been supporting us for ten years. As long as you guys keep coming, we’ll keep doing it.
For more official information on Shadows Fall, please log onto:
http://www.shadowsfall.com
http://www.myspace.com/shadowsfall
http://www.threadsoflife2007.com
Check out Bandvibe's photo coverage of Shadows Fall:
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