An act that drew one of the biggest crowds for the 2nd stage at Knotfest, was none other than the metal heads from Massachusetts, ALL THAT REMAINS.  Delivering a high paced and very heavy set, to a crowd that seemed to eat it up, All That Remains pretty much owned that stage! By their last song, “Two Weeks”, which is also featured on the video game Rock Band, the crowd was overjoyed and seemed to have been just waiting to hear it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire crowd knew the words, judging by the way everyone sang along and threw their horns in the air, in support of what seemed to be a favorite act amongst a jam packed day 2 of intense performances at Knotfest. All That Remains certainly delivered! Phil Labonte (vocalist) and newly acquired bassist Aaron Patrick, were kind enough to sit and chat with me.  Look below for my interview with them, and a few photos from their set.

J - Good set guys! Everyone was eating it UP, and it was absolutely bad ass!

ATR - Cheers man!

J - So, “The Order of All Things”, your 7th studio album, debuted at #25 of the Billboard Top 200. How does that feel?

Phil - It’s Cool! I mean any time you can have a band thats, honestly, as heavy as us, you know, chart on Billboard in the top 30 or top 40, it’s a success. There’s not a lot of bands out there that make it in to the top 30/40.

J - Is the the highest you guys have made it?

Phil - No, we were 19 when...I think when “Overcome” came out.

J - We gotta get you higher then! We gotta get people to buy this new record!

Phil - Yeah, try gettin’ people to buy records. (laughs)

J - It’s tough these days...

Phil - It’s like trying to get people to buy air.

J - So how are the audiences reacting to the new album?

Phil - Great! We’re kind of one of those bands that really encourages people to sing along...if they know the words and stuff....and you know like...certain songs will come on, and it’s like...I don't have to do anything if I don't want to....and that’s really the best metric of how people are responding to the show. At least for us. We’re not one of those bands that’s got like, super moshy parts...we’re a heavy band...we’ve got fast aggressive stuff...but, we’re not one of those bounce bands...you know what I mean? So, when you have people singing along, it’s sometimes really the best way for us to tell that people are listening.

J - So how does it feel to have the song “Two Weeks” on Rock Band? How awesome is that?

Phil - It was cool! You know, getting any kind of song on a video game, especially the music video games, is huge for a band. Because, if you’re playing anything that’s challenging...when you put iton expert...kids sit there and play it over and over and drill the song into their head to beat the game...to beat it on expert...to get the high score... and they compete with their friends. It’s more than just them hearing the song, it’s really getting drilled into their heads and stuff...and that really opens it up for people to say, you know, I really wanna find out more about this band and check out other stuff they’ve done.

J - So, Aaron, how’s the chemistry...being the new bass player?

Aaron - Tight!

J - You guys have known each other for a long time....right? So, have you guys been writing anything together yet?

Phil - Not yet..he’s only been in the band for less than a month...maybe a month now. He joined the band about a week before we left for Japan, right? (Aaron - Yup!)

J - I bet Japan eats it up, right?

Aaron - It was unbelievable. They were far beyond expectations. They were so loud, and singing, and going nuts. (Phil - it was incredible) Especially for me, for my first show, ya know...just seeing that...such an intense reaction, it was amazing.

Phil - his first show with the band was at Saitama Super Arena Aaron - 20,000 humans in 1 place.

J - That’s awesome! Is that the biggest show you’ve played Aaron? You’ve been with a few other touring acts....who’ve you been with?

Aaron - Uhhh not the biggest. I’ve been with Bury Your Dead, Devildriver...filled in for In Flames, Lamb of God..a bunch of stuff. But I think the biggest show I’ve ever played was in...probably somewhere in Europe...one of those big festivals out there..not sure which one. At least 80,000 (people).

J - How is it playing festivals like that, with so many people...as far back as the eye can see? Do you kind of have a disconnect? It’s not like this (Knotfest) where it’s a little smaller and people are a lot closer. How does it feel to play festivals that are THAT big?

Phil - I think that...really, the deciding factor is how far away is the front from the stage. Like, we played Download (festival) this year, and, I don't know how many people were watching us, but there was a good 50 feet at least, between the edge of the stage and the first row. So that really has a big disconnect. They had a big ramp that went out... that you could walk on...I wasn’t supposed to, but I did...(Aaron - Laughing) Oops! So yeah...but that’s when you get the real disconnect...when you’re really far. You know, if there’s a shit ton of people, but the front row is rather close, you still get that...that... that’s really where the connection is. When you can really look people in the eye...you can see their mouths’ moving...you can see that they’re singing along...they know the words...that’s really the big deciding factor for me. I mean, once you get passed like, the 10th row...it’s just...barely...the faces just stop.

J - If you could pick 3 bands to go on your dream tour with, who would they be?

Phil - Metallica, Metallica, Metallica

Aaron - Yeah, I think all 3 of those on one bill, would be cool.

Phil - Just in case one of the Metallicas decided they didn’t wanna tour or something. (laughing)

Aaron - Yeah, we could have the Master of Puppets Metallica...the “Justice” Metallica...I think we gotta show. I think people would come! (laughing)

J - How about having them open for you guys?

Phil - ummm...I think everyone would leave. J - nooooooo come on!!! Phil - now granted, there’s probably enough people that Metallica would draw, where we’d still be playing for like, a few thousand...3 or 4 thousand people you might say... and still 90% of the people would leave, you know what I mean? (laughing)

J - So, last question....how soon do you guys think you’ll begin writing a new album, even though you guys just recently put one out?

Phil - We’re probably gonna tour...ummm...we’re busy until the end of the year. And then we’re probably gonna take January off...just cuz there’s not a lot of stuff going on in January, cuz it’s the middle of winter...ummm...and start again probably in February, and go for most of the spring and into the summer time. We might do a summer tour... and then in the fall we’ll look at, you know, what’s gonna happen with recording and writing and stuff.

J - Aaron, you looking forward to layin’ some stuff down with the new record?

Aaron - oh I cant wait...it’s gonna be fun to collab with...you know, they obviously have a system and they have, you know, brought to the table so many awesome songs and riffs and this and that, so it’s gonna be really exciting to bounce ideas off other real musicians and to see what kind of incredible, organic product we come up with. For me being in a band, that’s one of the most exciting things, especially being in the studio..you know like, you’re literally watching your ideas and your thoughts come to life, you know like, immortalized...on something for people to hear and uhhh...I don't think there’s a better feeling in the world, you know...it’s something eternal and tangible, ya know?

J - Hell yeah! Right on! Well thank you guys very much for taking the time. We appreciate it. It was great...you guys killed it, and have a fun rest of the time man!

Phil - Cheers! thank you! No sweat man!

Aaron - It was a pleasure...thank you so much!

Phil - Cheers guys!