ALL THAT REMAINS INTERVIEW
June 9, 2005

Ed Martin for Prophecy21.com: Are you looking forward to getting startedon the Sounds of the Underground Tour?
Phil Labonte Vocals for All That Remains: Yeah, it's gonna be reallycool. It's looking like it's gonna be a pretty big deal. I mean we'vehad individual shows like this before, but this is kind of like atraveling Hellfest or Metalfest. So everyone knows these shows work andI'm really excited to see what they do when they go from city to city.

P21: Is there anything that you don't like about playing bigger festivalslike this?
PL: The schedules really tight and that can kind of make thingsdifficult, but I wouldn't say that there's anything I dislike per se.

P21: Is there anything in the works in the way of a new album from you guys?
PL: Coming up in the next six months we'll finish writing it, we juststarted and we've already got our dates set in January for recording.We've also already got time set with a producer so we'll do it in Januaryand it will probably come out in April or May of next year.

P21: Can we expect there to be a different sound to the new material?
PL: Its probably going to be more metal. We've got two new members, so thatchanges things. I think the differences between these two albums will bemore subtle then those between the last two though. The biggestdifferences will be in the drums and rhythm sections probably. We willprobably have a lot more double bass. That was something that we werelimited with on the last album. It'll be a pretty overall metal album.

P21: How did you decide what song to put on the Sounds of the Undergroundcompilation album?
PL: I didn't. It didn't really make a difference to us from the bandsstandpoint. I guess it made sense because we have a video for "ThisDarkened Heart". For us it was really just like whatever song you put onthere is fine with us.

P21: Are you going to be filming anything on this tour?
PL: I'd like to. We have a DVD that's going to be coming out that wefilmed mostly on the As I Lay Dying tour and also some local shows aroundhere. So it would be nice to film a few more shows and give individualsongs from individual shows as opposed to doing just a straight live DVD.So, I'd love to be able to get a crew to come out and shoot a few showsfor us.

P21: Where are some of your favorite places to play?
PL: The Downtown in Long Island is always at the top of the list for us.Any House of Blues venue is always really nice. I love playing in likeSaratoga or Worcester cause they're close, so its like home. Long Islandis good because the kids always give us a great reaction and the House ofBlues places are just really nice places.

P21: Which bands on this tour are you most looking forward to getting togo on the road with?
PL: Different bands for different reasons. I mean this is the first timethat we've gotten to go out with Unearth and I mean Mike, our guitarist, hasalways filled in anytime that Buzz couldn't do a show for them, so I meanwe know them real well and it's going to be cool to finally get to tour andhang out with these guys we know well and are friends with. The Lamb ofGod dudes we've hung out with them before they're really cool dudes. TheGwar dudes are really cool. I'm psyched to be able to see Every Time IDie and Clutch every night. Those are two of my favorite bands. So, Ithink that it's a lot of different bands for a lot of different reasons.

P21: What's your favorite song to play live?
PL: Again, it's a couple different songs for a couple different reasons.I like playing "Deepest Gray" because people know that. That was ourfirst video and its been on some compilations and people know so its kindof cool to see the excitement in people's faces when we start because wedon't usually announce it we usually just go right into it and it takespeople those first few seconds to figure it out and then there faces lightup and they're like oh my god. It's cool just to see that look onpeople's faces. At the same time I like playing "Focus Shall Not Fail"because it's a long song and its pretty in depth and everyone in the bandreally gets a chance to shine during that particular song so I like doingthat one a lot too.

P21: If you guys were going to do a cover song what song would you wantto do?
PL: We've done a couple covers, Creeping Death we used to do that a lot.The whole trend right now is taking like an 80s song and making it heavyand that's cool. Whatever, there's a few songs I wouldn't mind doing thatwith. I don't know that there is any one particular song I'd wanna do. Ilike doing covers, but I'd wanna do like an abstract cover of likesomething I used to listen to. Id wanna do something like Carcass"Corporeal Jigsore Quandary" or "Hammer Smashed Face" by Cannibal Corpse.Maybe like an Iron Maiden song, stuff that I listened to as a kid when Iwas first getting into metal.

P21: What do you usually do to kill time on the road?
PL: I do a lot of the business stuff and a lot of press so doing all thatI don't have a whole lot of time to kill. In our old van we had aPlaystation, so I used to play a lot of video games. I'm probably going toget a PSP soon. I'm just waiting for them to come out with some decentgames.

P21: Are there any shows in the past that you went to that stick out inyour mind as one of the best shows that you ever went to?
PL: I was fortunate enough to see At The Gates on the Slaughter of theSoul tour. It was me, John Donais, and Matt Bachand. I had never heard ofAt The Gates and Matt and John were like dude you have to come check theseguys out they're awesome. I think I was in Shadows Fall at the time ormaybe just about to get into Shadows Fall. I can't remember the openingband, but I remember that Tomas Lindberg had fucking big dreads going andeverything and I remember just thinking that whole thing was the best goddamned thing ever. Then I remember when All That Remains was firsttouring we got to tour with the Crown and that's when Tomas Lindberg wasin the band and I got to meet him and just remember being all kinds oflike little fan-boy giddy and just thinking it was sooooo cool.

P21: Are you and the guys in Shadows Fall still on good terms?
PL: Totally, man.

P21: Any chance of a full-length tour with them?
PL: I would definitely like to. We've done some dates with them before. Ijust need to stay off their bus. We did a week with them in September andsome dates on the Subliminal Verses tour with them, Slipknot, and Lamb ofGod. It seems like every time I ride on Shadows Fall's bus, the next dayis just hell. You hear all the stories about people partying and theShads' drinking and they're all true. The last few times it's ended upwith me, John, Matt, and Felix the guitar tech, up at six in the morningtryin to figure out where the beer is and everyone else is passed out.

P21: Are there any bands in particular that you haven't gotten to tourwith yet that you would like to?
PL: I'd like to do a full tour with Lamb of God, but again Randy is a guyI have to take in small doses. Hanging with Randy too much will kill myvoice, it'll just kill me dead. Randy's a rager, I've gotten to hang outwith him a few times. I'd love to be able to do it every night and if itwasn't for the fact that I have to sing every night, I would. If I was aguitar player then look the fuck out! If I was a guitar player, I'd behanging out with Randy and on the Shads bus every night and wouldn't givea shit, but my voice will get killed if I do all that shit and don't getenough sleep. I'd also love to do a tour with Every Time I Die, they'reone of the reasons I'm excited for this tour like I said. I'd love to doa US tour with Killswitch. I just wanna hang out with my friends isreally what it boils down to.

P21: What bands have you been listening to lately?
PL: I've been listening to Every Time I Die a lot; I'm a really big EveryTime I Die fan. I heard the song that they have on the Sounds of TheUnderground compilation and it is sooo god damn cool. I can't wait fortheir new album to come out.

P21: Thanks, is there anything that you want to add?
PL: Thanks to everybody that has been coming out to our shows, wedefinitely appreciate it. Check out our website its www.allthatremains.cc