It's ok. You're going to die soon anyway.

I spoke with Every Time I Die's vocalist, Keith Buckley very recently. We discussed the progression of the bands sound, Warped Tour, fans, and his dog, Lemmy.

ST: Is Warped Tour over for you guys?
KB: Yeah, Warped Tour ended on the 13th for us
ST: How did you like the tour?
KB: I thought it was the best tour we’ve ever done.

(bassist, Chris, makes sure he has a firm grip on his pick)
ST: Wow
KB: Yeah. To be modest. It was perfect for us. Crowds were into it. I just feel like it’s sorta what we were meant to do. It went over extremely well and I had a great time on it. It was really long, but other than that…
ST: So last winter you guys had a van accident, are there any exhilarating stories from this year’s Warped tour?
KB: As far as like traumatic stuff goes?
ST: Yeah. Anything exhilarating.
KB: Oh. (laughs). We missed the show in Boise, Idaho because our van broke down. There were some extremely good karaoke parties. There was one outside of the buses. They had a tent set up and I did “Careless Whisper”.
ST: (laughs) Wham!?
KB: Oh yeah. Yeah.
ST: Now, is this the Playstation 2 game they had set up?
KB: Oh, no. We have that one, we do that one on the bus a lot with the guys from The Bled when we have our own karaoke parties, but this one was like a legit system they had out in the parking lot. I owned it, needless to say.
ST: Did you guys play every date of the tour?
KB: Yeah. Well, except for the one that we missed in Boise.
ST: I met you guys at the first date of the tour at your meet and greet. You seemed a little out of it, maybe. I got up there and I heard you mention that you wish you could have cardboard cutouts of yourselves…
KB: (laughs) That’s a big problem of mine when we do the meet ‘n’ greets and stuff. Everyone wants to come behind the table and pose for a picture. Meanwhile, there’s kids in line and you’re trying to make everybody happy. Then there’s people that don’t know how to operate cameras while their friends are behind the table fumbling around. A bunch of times, dudes came behind the table and knocked over a bunch of merch and stuff. It’s just a hassle. Rather than pose for all of these pictures, if we just had cutouts, they could just do whatever they wanted.
ST: Are you guys required to do those?
KB: No, we’re not required. It’s really good. We like doing them. Sometimes I get a little pissed off at people who treat us more like props than like people.
ST: What do you think a fan of yours could do to really impress you at one of the meet ‘n’ greets when they walk up to meet you? What could they say or do?
KB: That’s a good question. I don’t know. Bring me some booze or some cigarettes? (laughs) Tell me they’ve never heard of Myspace. The coolest dudes are the ones who wait and line and say, “No, I don’t want anything signed. I just wanted to say ‘Hi’”. That’s cool. As opposed to the people who want you to call their friends on the phone and leave a voice message, or come behind the table and take pictures. I like the people who just appreciate the music, but the people who just want it as a status thing on Myspace, ya know?
ST: Yeah. So speaking of the fans, “Gutter Phenomenon” has received some criticism from the older fans. What kind of explanation would you like to give those kids in regards-
KB: Oh! I thought you meant older fans like 65 and above. (laughs) Some senior citizens don’t like the new record too much. So what I would say to them is, “it’s alright. You’re going to die soon anyways.” (laughs)
ST: Oh, ok. Well, I mean if you want to give an explanation to the ones who are bigger fans of Hot Damn! and Last Night in Town. Would you want to give them an explanation at all or…?
KB: There’s no way we should have to vindicate ourselves. It’s a band. It grows and it changes just like anything that grows. We’ve been together for nine years. Why would we keep the same formula? It’s not our goal to have a select demographic and cater to them all the time. We’re in this for us. We want to try new things. A majority of the people realize that change is good. It’s exciting, but there are still those who are hung up on the old tactics and formulas. We can’t seem to keep them happy. So, sorry! Sorry, bro.

(Keith at the Bristow, VA date of Warped Tour)

ST: (laughs) Ok. Yeah, I’ll let them know you said sorry.
KB: When you see them next with their big wallet chains and baggy jeans, you tell them I said “Sorry, bro”.
ST: When you listen to the older stuff like Last Night in Town and Hot Damn!, how do you feel about the evolution of the sound? Are you happy with the way it’s evolved?
KB: Yeah, I am. I think that the songs themselves have just gotten better and bigger. Some of the recordings aren’t the best. I don’t know which one has captured us as a band the best, maybe none of them have. Maybe we’re still waiting for that one. I think that if you recorded every song that we’ve ever written at the same place with the same person, I think it would make a lot more sense. I think a lot of people think we are changing the sound or the style, but maybe not. Maybe we’re just changing the recording process. I think for all of those Nay-Sayers, it would be a lot better to see the natural progression…oh my God, my dog is f***ing nuts! (to dog) Lemmy, where’s your bone?! (into phone) He is attacking me right now.
ST: (laughs) Are you serious? What kind of dog do you have?
KB: He’s a little English bulldog.
ST: Aww
KB: His name’s Lemmy, but he lost his bone. I don’t remember where his- oh I remember, (to dog) YOU PISSED ON IT so I threw it out! No bone for you.
ST: Is it just the one dog?
KB: Yeah just the one…he’s got a little chewy hot dog now. He drools so much, I can feel it on my feet right now. He slobbered so much, I can feel it seeping through onto my feet.
ST: That’s disgusting.
KB: Yeah, it is.
ST: (laughs) Anyways... Do you feel you’ve changed at all with your lyrics and lyrical content?
KB: Nah, not really. What’s important is that I think I’ve found a nitch in my writing style. Independently, if you read lyrics, I think you’ll be able to pick mine out. Out of hundreds, really. I don’t think it’s changed. I think I’m getting better at it, hopefully.
ST: I really admire your lyrics, actually. It leads me to my next question. What lyricists impress you? What do you read for inspiration?
KB: I guess like overall, I like Thom Yorke. I like Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows. I really like Stephen Jenkins of Third Eye Blind. I think he’s a really good lyricist. If I sort of need a jump start to get things going when I’m writing, there’s this book I have called “Word Virus”. It’s part of William S. Burroughs collection. Usually if I just read a story, I have all of these new images in my head. It’s sort of like jumping onto a moving train. It’s really fast and powerful. You just gotta get on and think about it, and you’ll have a bunch of new ideas to work with. But, you know, that’s just one tactic. Another tactic would be to just get incoherently drunk and see what comes out (laughs).
ST: When you’re writing do you feel that deadlines might hinder your creativity when writing?
KB: Definitely. That’s the one problem I have with the way we write. We have never written a song without knowing when we have to be in the studio. There has never been a time when we’ve been like, “Hey let’s write a song!”. Once we find out what the date of our recording is, the deadline is always hovering.
ST: Pressure’s on.
KB: Definitely. (To dog) Hey! Lemmy! Lemmy! Sit down!
ST: I’ll try to get through these questions so you can go play with your dog.
KB: (laughs) I don’t want to play with him, that’s the problem.
ST: Well, speaking of deadlines, when can we expect new material?
KB: Well, I believe we have to be in the studio in March? No. May 13th. I think that’s the deadline. So, by next summer we should have a record out.
ST: That’s cool. So are you guys just going to be touring a lot?
KB: Yeah, we’re going to be touring for about two more months. Then we’re going to start writing when the winter starts.
ST: Yeah, well my advice is to take your time.
KB: Yeah I know. I think a lot of people work best when they are panicking, though. There’s things I look back on and I’m like, “Oh man, I should’ve written that differently”, but no matter how much time we have, that’s always going to happen. You know? Staircase syndrome. Where you think of what to say immediately after.
ST: Yeah. Of course. So that new DVD, “Shit Happens”, When is that actually due out?
KB: Halloween.
ST: I saw a preview for the DVD and (laughs) I noticed Jordan setting his hair on fire. I wanted to know, besides setting your own hair on fire, what else helps to pass the time on the tour bus?
KB: Nothing. We just set our hair on fire. (laughs)
ST: (laughs)
KB: Typical stuff. Imagine being locked in your apartment all day. What would you do? Video games, I read, drink. You know what’s cool is, when I’m at home I write music on my laptop and stuff. I finally buckled up and bought a portable little keyboard. That’ll take up a lot of time on the road. I can write music on the road instead of waiting until I come home.
ST: That’s cool. What kind of books are you reading?
KB: All basically short stories because my attention span lately has just been like nothing, so..
ST: Yeah, I understand that. So what kind of music have you been listening to these days?
KB: Oh man, let’s see. I just took a bike ride and listened to Iggy Pop. This band called Mutemath that was on the Warped Tour, they’re really good. The new Thom Yorke is amazing. It depends on what I’m feeling, really. When I’m showering I like to listen to Jimmy Eat World. If I’m eating I like to listen to rap music.
ST: So, do you have a favorite Every Time I Die music video?
KB: The newest one for “The New Black” was a lot of fun to shoot. I wanna make an epic, epic video. I don’t think our band is ever going to have a song to match the caliber of an epic video, but I want to do something enormous.
ST: Any ideas?
KB: No. I just want it to involve space travel.

(guitarist, Andy, flicks off the crowd as guitarist, Jordan, runs all over the stage)
ST: I wanted to know if you guys had fun with the lion and Michael Matteson.
KB: Yeah, Michael Matteson was scarier than the lion. But it was f***ing awesome. He was just drunk and hanging out, being great. The lion, we weren’t really allowed to be around too much. It was a good time anyways.
ST: So getting back to the tour, how do you keep your live performance so intense?
KB: That’s a good question. I think it’s because the days are so boring. We just look forward to the show so much because the days are so boring. On Warped Tour there was a lot of stuff to do, but on the club tours there’s f***ing nothing to do but sit around and wait to play. No act really, it just is what it is.
ST: So who did you think had the best stage presence on the Warped Tour?
KB: Stage presence on the Warped Tour…good question. I don’t know. Travis from Gym Class Heroes was an amazing front man. When Mutemath was on the Warped Tour I really liked watching them. They were always doing something different.
ST: Did you guys change the set list at all on Warped Tour?
KB: No. Unfortunately. We wanted to real bad. We had an idea that we were going to make two or three set lists. Once we got comfortable with the one, we were comfortable with it. Why change it up? By the last two weeks, we were so bored of playing those songs. When we wanted to change it up, we were like, “Shit. I don’t remember how to play that song.”
ST: How did you decide what would go on the set list?
KB: We just wanted to split it up with old stuff and new stuff. That’s the worst part of getting ready for a tour, the set list. I f***ing hate making set lists. Nobody agrees on anything. Everyone ends up pouting. I don’t know. Trial and error.
ST: I noticed that you guys always close with “I’ve Been Gone a Long Time”. I was wondering if it’s because of the cowbell…
KB: Yeah, that’s the big finish.
ST: Yeah. I love that cowbell. Were there any good tours this summer that you missed because you were doing the Warped Tour?
KB: I would’ve liked to have gone and seen an Ozzfest. I’ve never been to an Ozzfest besides the one we played. Hm, I don’t know. I’m really out of the loop. I don’t know what the hell was going on.
ST: On the Warped Tour this year, NOFX and Underoath got in a little tiff. Was there any band that you would’ve like to see kicked off the tour?
KB: Um, I don’t know. Yeah. Yeah. I’m going to reserve that though. There was definitely one band. The singer is like the biggest douche bag ever. He came out to dinner with us once, and the singer got obnoxiously drunk and was being totally out of line. I was like, “F*** this dude”. I couldn’t even stand to see him every day. Just to spite that dickhead singer, I’d like to see them kicked off. I’m not going to say who it is. If anyone knows the band that went out to dinner with us in Philadelphia, then they’ll put it together.
ST: You guys have an upcoming tour with Atreyu and Chiodos again. If you guys could pick any musical act to take on tour with you, who would you take?
KB: Man, good question. I want to tour with Converge really badly.
ST: That’d be awesome. I saw you guys at the Virginia date. Jordan was puking off the side of the stage at one point. Do you remember when Jordan was puking?
KB: Oh, Yeah.
ST: Does Jordan throw up a lot?
KB: Not as much as me, but I think he drank warm Monster energy drink before we played. Him and I throw up a lot.
ST: On stage?
KB: Not as much on stage, usually a lot before.

Expect a full article soon.