Interviews
An interview with Josh Travis of Emmure
Advancing the Torch
An interview with Josh Travis of Emmure
Interviewed by: George Archibald
Photos by: Andrew Bastion
The band Emmure has always been about making a statement. After most of the band’s line up left in December 2015. Founding member Frankie Palmeri decided to reform the band with Josh Travis, Josh Miller, and Phil Lockett, members formally of The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza and Glass Cloud. This realigned band just recently released a new album, ‘Look at Yourself’ on March 3rd. This new album has a bit of the older Emmure flare, mixed with a rebirth of energy from the band; expanding music even further than on previous releases. While on tour supporting the new album, with After the Burial, Fit for An Autopsy, Fit for A King, and Invent Animate; I got a chance to meet with and speak to guitarist Josh Travis about his inspirations, and background.
GA: You have a new album ‘Look at Yourself’, that was released on March 3rd. This is the first release with the new lineup, can you tell us how the lineup came to be?
JT: It was super simple. All of us, my bass player Phil Lockett and my drummer Josh Miller, were apart of another project called Glass Cloud. At the time, we weren’t doing anything musically. Frankie Palmeri hit me up, and told me what was going on with his project. We talked about having me do a record with him. The wheels started spinning, and we started putting material together. He asked, if I had any people in mind that can come in, and outfit this whole thing. I was like, well yeah… my band. So, it was like super simple. I brought the dudes over, and here we are now.
GA: How was the recording process on this album different from what Emmure has done in the past?
JT: It would be hard for to say honestly, because I have no knowledge on what their processes were like on any other records. For myself personally, it was way different because we had a producer on this record. I’ve never worked with a producer before. I’ve had tons of engineers in the past, but to have somebody come in, and get hands on with the material was a first for me. It was a super awesome experience.
GA: How is the tour going, and any anticipated stops on this tour, or favorite stops?
JT: It is so hard to say, because you always hope that shows go well. You always hope that there are people at the shows, and whatnot. I couldn’t tell you the coolest show, because every single show has been insane. For me, I’ve done tours in the past where this one city was so sick, and that one was so sick; but it’s been literally every single show on this tour that has been insane. It has been unreal the reception we have been getting.
GA: What gear are you currently using on this tour?
JT: I use Mesa Amps, that is my direct tone. In front of the amps, I am using Line 6 Helix, for a lot of the effects; noise gating and tube screaming. Basically, for any kind of effects I am using Line 6 stuff. Guitar-wise I only use Legator Guitars. So, that’s my whole rig.
GA: You all (the newest members of Emmure) came from Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, and Glass Cloud; how has the writing (for music) dynamic changed for you since joining Emmure?
JT: Honestly it is a very easy change, because it is not so technically driven. It is more about a vibe. It is more about a bounce more so than anything else. We don’t have to spend so much time focusing on the fret board. Like, if you miss that one note, it just throws your whole vibe off, because you botched that one thing. This stuff isn’t really like that. It’s more like writing for a groove. It is one thousand percent a vibe, groove based thing we are going for. It is sick to be able to have so much fun playing the material; not to say Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza and Glass Cloud weren’t fun, but it is different from those bands.
GA: It’s a little bit of a weight off the shoulders, and can just have fun huh?
JT: Yea, absolutely. It’s really cool to have a change like that. Where we can kind of mess with each other more onstage now, and make fun of each other on stage. Like in the middle of songs, my drummer will be throwing sticks at me, and stuff (playfully). We can do that because the music is not so technically demanding. We can have fun while we are playing. It is really cool because, it is a super different vibe for us. We love it absolutely.
GA: What would you say is your biggest inspiration for doing music?
JT: Ever since I was a little kid, that is all it has ever been, is music. As far as metal goes, I guess it was the most aggressive… You know like when you are a kid, you are a bad kid. You always want to break something, or throw something. You just want to be that rebellious person. The best way to get that out was with more aggressive types of music. Fast forward here we are now.
GA: When did you start playing guitar, and then how did the progression occur from going from a 6, to a 7, then an 8, and ending with an 9-string guitar?
JT: I guess, I started playing guitar probably fifteen years ago. It sucks to say, because I should be way better at guitar, for playing for that long.
GA: I feel you on that one. I am almost 36 and I have been playing since I was 8.
JT: Are you a super shredder?
GA: Umm… not really, I am more of a groove kind of guy. I do, do some lead stuff.
JT: So, you and me, are kind of in the same boat then. I feel like for me to say I have been playing guitar for fifteen years. It’s like I should be able to jump on a guitar, and just destroy that thing; but at the same time lead stuff was never my thing. I love rhythm, there’s a lot of weird quirky stuff you can do with it. I never really got into the lead stuff. When I first started playing, I got my first 6 string, I can’t remember what brand it was. I had it for two weeks, and after that I went to the local music store, and they had a 7-string guitar there. So, I got that, and immediately I was done with 6 strings, because I always gravitated towards lower tunings. The standard E tuning was cool, but sonically it couldn’t get me to where it felt like this is home.
I never got any training on guitar, I don’t know any theory, I don’t know anything about anything. All I know is what it sounds like in my head, and I try to bring that top my hands. So, immediately 7 strings forever! Then when 8 strings came around I jumped onto that, then I played 8 strings forever. I was lucky enough with my guitar company, Legator, that they would go into the whole idea of making a 9-string guitar. Here we are now man.
We actually went all the way back to 6 strings, because a lot of people that are into low tunings, they don’t want to play 7, 8, and 9 string guitars. It is like you can put the biggest strings in the world on whatever guitar, but it is probably not going to sound very good. So, we made a 6-string guitar with a 30” scale, so you can tune that thing absurdly low.
GA: Kind of like a super baritone?
JT: Yea, now you don’t have to have these humongous neck guitars. That you know, you are trying to fiddle around on; not everyone has a big enough hand to get around on them. We are just trying to push the envelope, but keep things proper at the same time.
GA: What was your first Job/ if you weren’t doing music what would your profession be?
JT: First Job? I worked at a truck wash. I washed eighteen wheelers, like you know the insides of these things… Man one story I can tell, they must have been transporting chickens or something like that. Dude it was not cool. When I opened the doors, it looked like a bomb went off. Like something must of happen, because it was just blood, guts, and feathers everywhere. That day I quit. I guess if I wasn’t doing this (playing music in Emmure) ideally, I would be doing movie scoring. That is something I really want to get into. It is kind of hard to get into that, if you don’t know anyone in that world, and I don’t.
(Andrew Bastion, Empire Extreme Photographer): Elaborating on movie scores and soundtracks. What do you think of the Doom soundtrack?
JT: The Doom soundtrack was super awesome! I’m not super big on who is out there with internet presences, I don’t know anything about that; but when I heard the music. I could hear immediately that this was something brutal. I jumped on YouTube and saw the guy who made it all, and he was using a 9-string guitar. So, when I saw it, I was kind of jealous. I was like, ‘man why couldn’t I get on something like this.’ That would be so rad to be able to be in that kind of environment, and doing something like that. If they do a 2nd Doom and that guy is writing the soundtrack, I would love to be able to do it with him. Please let me be a part of Doom 2!
GA: I know some of you guys like to game, what is your favorite video game to play while on the road?
JT: I’m going to tell you, but I am tired of people getting all over my case about the two games I love in this world more than any of the other games. This is just what it is for me. (Andrew holds up a copy of NBA Jam) Yea, you got NBA Jam up there, I don’t put NBA Jam on this list because it lives in a world of its own man. My top two favorite games have to be, Forza Horizon the newest one that came out, and Fifa. Those are my games, that’s it. I will play anything else, I guess; but some of these newer, scarier games, I’ll have nightmares so I am not trying to play them. The guys are playing the newer Resident Evil, and stuff is jumping out at you, and you are running all over the walls…get out of here dude.
GA: There is a new Friday the 13th game coming out soon.
JT: And you know what, I’m not going to play it! That’s not going to happen!
I would like to thank Josh Travis for hanging out, and talking with me. I wish well on tour, and may the record sales continue to grow for you and the guys. Emmure’s latest release ‘Look at Yourself’ is out now. It is available at your local music store, and currently streaming online. The band is currently on tour with After the Burial, Fit for An Autopsy, Fit for A King, and Invent Animate.
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IVE BEEN SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THE UPCOMING TOUR FOR EIHWAR. I FOUND THEM ON THE INTERNET AND THEY BLEW ME AWAY WITH THEIR VIKING/FOLK/PAGAN MUSIC MIXED WITH ELECTRONIC. EIHWAR WILL BE COMING TO THE RECHER IN TOWNSON MARYLAND ON AUGUST 30TH. EMPIRE EXTREME GOT TO ASK THE DUO A FEW QUESTIONS BEFORE THE SHOW.
ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT DOING YOUR FIRST AMERICAN TOUR? ANY AMERICAN THINGS OR PLACES YOU WANT TO EXPLORE?
ASRUNN: For now, I have to admit I’m still completely stunned. I’m not excited or imagining it yet at all. Right now, I feel like I’m about to go to a country that only exists in TV shows, so I’m still kind of wading through disbelief.
Once I’m actually there, though, I’ll probably start talking way too fast and way too loud, and I’ll want to go way too everywhere.
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN VIKING WAR TRANCE AS A GENRE OF MUSIC?
MARK: Viking War Trance is basically what happens when you mix Nordic folk influences, tribal rhythms, electronic music and something much more primitive and aggressive. We wanted music that makes you want to dance, fight and enter some kind of trance at the same time. So instead of trying to fit into an existing genre, we just called it Viking War Trance. And about the word “war”: it’s not a war against others, but a war against ourselves. Against our rigidity, our limiting beliefs, our fears. Victory is letting go.
WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT WHEN SEEING THE BAND LIVE?
MARK: Our concerts are much more physical than people sometimes expect from listening to the albums. We want people to dance, scream, jump, crowd surf and completely lose themselves for an hour. It’s somewhere between a concert, a rave and a pagan ritual, but with a lot of joy. “Joyful chaos” is the word that Asrunn often use.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE PLAYING HELLFEST AND WACKEN?
ASRUNN: It’s basically spending an entire hour on stage thinking, “Seriously, what the hell am I doing here? This makes absolutely no sense,” and then, the second it’s over, thinking, “Fuck, that was WAY TOO SHORT!”, hahahahaha!
In reality, it’s a mix of intense concentration and this explosion of joy inside when we manage to bring such a huge crowd into our madness with us. It’s as if, all of a sudden, we’re no longer men and women, but one human tribe, united by joy and raw energy.
HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR STYLE OF VIKING MUSIC AND IMAGE DIFFERS FROM OTHER VIKING AND FOLK METAL?
MARK: What sets us apart from folk metal is simply that we’re not metal. We don’t use distorted guitars or acoustic drums. As for pagan folk, I think the differences are pretty obvious too. Most pagan bands take a fairly ceremonial approach, resulting in atmospheric, ambient music. Some of them are even very serious. From our point of view, seriousness is a symptom of bad digestion. We prefer to fool around.
As for the peace you find in atmospheric ritual music, we don’t know much about it. Asrunn, our leader, is nothing like a priestess in a linen dress singing with butterflies in the forest. She’s living anger. Our music is joyful and brutal, primitive techno made to dance to until the end of the night.
The biggest difference is also, and perhaps above all, harmonic, in the musicological sense. With ancient instruments, it’s difficult to modulate frequently or to play every note in every octave. We use machines, and that gives us much more freedom to create melodies and chord progressions that evolve constantly and are far more pop-oriented than ancient instruments would normally allow.
DREAM TOUR: YOU CAN GO ON TOUR WITH ANY 2 OTHER BANDS, WHO DO YOU CHOOSE?
ASRUNN: MmmmdzgebhfugzFDBZueisfg that’s WAY too hard to choooooose HAAAAA! I’d say……….. NIN and… well, Sofia Isella, lately. She’s tooooooo good to be true.
MARK: The Prodigy and Peter Gabriel
FAVORITE GAME OF THRONES CHARACTER?
MARK: Don’t know, but I like the soundtrack.
ASRUNN: Bree Van De Kamp.
IF YOU COULD RESURRECT ONE HISTORIC VIKING WHO WOULD IT BE?
MARK: Honestly, my memories from that time aren’t clear enough for me to really know. But I was very fond of the monk Eadwig of Durham, and I’d be curious — and happy — to see him again.
ASRUNN: Lagertha, to prove to Mark that he’s wrong when he says she had bigger boobs than me.
IF YOU HAVEN’T BOUGHT UR TICKETS YET GET THEM HERE
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EMPIRE EXTREME GOT TO INTERVIEW KURT DEIMER ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM “A GROG IS BORN” HIM WORKING WITH GEOFF TATE AND JOSH TODD AND BEING KILLED BY MICHAEL MEYERS AND HORROR MOVIES
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by Josh Drespling
I was at Preserving Underground to cover Filth and Resistor. I was all set with my photo pass and cameras at the ready. And then this young band exploded onto the stage. No grand entrance, no intro music, no flashy lights—just a wall of noise from the first guitar chord and a guttural growl that seemed to come from somewhere below the floorboards. I was blown away. Thoroughly impressed.
This band was Inferious, out of Dayton, Ohio. If you look up the word “inferious,” most dictionaries will tell you it means something low-status, submissive, or fit for sacrifice. But this Ohio metalcore outfit Inferious has spent the last several years proving that definition couldn’t be more wrong. Tonight in the basement of a converted church, Inferious delivered raw, sweat-soaked fury to all who were smart enough to show up early.
Before their set was even half over, I made up my mind that I had to talk to them and let our readers know about this band. Here is how it went:
Empire: This was the first time I have ever seen you guys. I’ve heard your name before but never had the chance to listen. The show tonight was freaking awesome. I loved it from the first few notes. The vocals and the guitar tone just hit ya right in the chest.
Since I am a new fan, can you give me the nickel tour of how you came together and I understand you are from Dayton, Ohio.
Shaun O’Shaughnessy – Guitarist: I live in Dayton, and the original band members all formed in Dayton, but it was kind of a collage of multiple band folks. People from the southwest Ohio area. Gabe [McQueen – vocals] and I were there at the beginning, and then through some line-up changes, this is our current and most solid touring line-up so far with Cody and Kyle. They also are from the area and have been in several bands. So they were always in the same circles, at the same shows, talking to the same people. It all worked out one day.
Empire: Given that, it seems like there is a healthy music scene in Dayton. Are there any good clubs, any fields to play in?
Shaun: It’s hard to say Dayton, Ohio, specifically so much as just southwest Ohio because of the way that Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati form like a little triangle. You’re only an hour apart from each other. So we can get into that larger music scene pretty easily. So Dayton itself has venues, but the whole collective area has stuff. There’s some house venues, like Gnome House, there’s Bob’s, but then Cincinnati has Madison Live, and Design Collective [DSGN CLLCTV] was doing shows for a while, but I think they got in trouble.
Cody: Yeah, it some code stuff.
Empire: I think there are a couple decent places in Akron, and even across the border is Huntington, WV?
Shaun: Yeah, that area still does have sick stuff. It’s just farther away from our personal local scene. Cleveland is kind of separate from us too.
Cody: That’s not necessarily our scene, but there is such a good underground local scene from the Huntington / Athens / Charleston area. Shout to Feverwar.
Shaun: We were just at the Grog Shop [outside Cleveland].
Cody: We were at the New Foundry not too long ago.
Empire: Oh, yeah, like upstairs?
Shaun: No, it is Foundry’s new location.
Empire: I’ve not been there.
Shaun: It looks basically like the old one, but it’s new.
Empire: You mentioned the Grog Shop. Were you guys there with Filth and Resistor?
Shaun: Yeah, we’ve been on tour with Filth and Resistor. The first half of the tour had Two-Piece on it; we missed them, but now Mono’s [Monochromatic Black] on for the second half, and they’re homies.
Gabe and I toured with them in Inferious a couple years ago with band called AMTAE, and Monochromatic Black. So, those are long-time homies as well. So, we’ve known Tanya [Elizabeth (Beickert) – Vocals] and Eddie [DeCesare – Drums] for a long time, and Pierce [Akers – Guitar] is our new best friend as well.
Empire: So, it’s just like a big hang for you guys.
Shaun: Yeah, all the homies are back. We’ve toured with Filth before too; we were out with them on the Oceano tour, and then actually a year ago, I think like right now, like today a year ago, we toured with Filth also. So, it’s Filth and Oceano, and then Filth again.
So, it’s been fun to have a full circle of friend hangs, and every night’s been sick. The show turnouts have been amazing, and then just hanging out with all our friends has been amazing.
Empire: That’s part of what makes it fun. Whether you have 50 people or 1000, you have that camaraderie and shared experience.
Empire: So do you currently have an album out? Where do you guys stand with that?
Gabe: We have music out everywhere, on all music platforms: Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and YouTube Music. Shit, if you even got to rip that shit, YouTube to MP4, do it, man!
Shaun: We got your back. We got three full lengths and an EP. We are working on a new EP with a label we’re signed to that we’ll announce here soon, but that’s going to be really exciting stuff, and just stoked to be able to get that out soon.
Empire: Cool. So don’t say the label name, but your deal is in place, and then the new album in the fall, winter, spring?
Shaun: Yeah, the EP should be coming out sometime this year, if all the schedules align and everything, but that’s in the works.
Empire: Cool. Filth tour, what’s after that?
Shaun: Finishing up the EP. Record release cycle, and then hopefully touring in support of that. Whether it’s co-headlining with somebody or doing some more support stuff, we’re down for whatever. Hopefully we can fill up the rest of the year.
You know, touring is hard financially, so while we’re able to still make ends meet on the road, it’s hard to pay all the bills, so we’ve got to go home, stack our bread back up, and then be ready to go back out again.
Empire: I understand. Is this your first time in Pittsburgh?
Shaun: We’ve actually played Preserving. This is at least the fifth time.
We played the DIY room, we played this room, this orientation, we played this room when it was facing the other direction. AJ, the owner, has been good to us. He is a rad dude.
Empire: AJ is great.
Shaun: The record shop and merch store upstairs is sick, I just bought a shirt, a Never Ending Game shirt, because we have to do a laundry soon, and I bought a shirt to extend one more day to get through.
Empire: Anything you guys want to add, anything going on? Shameless plugs?
Shaun: This has been a kind of sick tour, because I think we’ve all got to see family members. Gabe’s dad dropped him off, so we got to see Gabe’s dad. We got to go get breakfast with my mom and some family, I saw my aunt. Cody’s mom let us stay at her crib, and we got to hang out with her and his family. Kyle’s family came out last night and hung out, and that was pretty sick, so it’s been a good time.
Empire: Kyle hasn’t said anything, so tell me about your family coming out and seeing the show.
Kyle: I mean, it was my sister’s first time seeing us live.
Empire: What did she have to say? I mean, I’m sure she knew the style.
Kyle: Oh, yeah, she’s conditioned to it.
Empire: She’s not like a Britney Spears fan at a hardcore show?
Kyle: No, no, she’s by far not a normie, but close to it.
Empire: Thank you, gentlemen. That’s all I have today. Appreciate it, and thanks for the show. It was great; loved it.
Shaun: See you next time.
Before that night at Preserving Underground, I’ll be honest: Inferious was just a name on a show flyer. Another opening band before the acts I actually came to see.
That’s the thing about this level of heavy music. The headliners get the lights, the longer set, and the crowd that’s already warmed up. But the openers? They get twenty-five minutes, a soundcheck that barely counts, and a room full of people who are mostly looking at their phones. Inferious didn’t just overcome that. They incinerated it.
What struck me most, sitting down with Shaun, Gabe, Cody, and Kyle after the show, was how unpretentious they were. No egos. No rock-star posturing. Just four guys from southwest Ohio who’ve been grinding in the same circles, playing the same basement venues, and slowly building something real. They talked about the small venues with the same reverence other bands reserve for stadiums. They shouted out Feverwar. They bought merch from the shop upstairs to make it through one more day on the road.
That’s the part you don’t see from the crowd. The financial grind. The van trouble. The “stack our bread back up” reality of modern touring. And yet, here they were—genuinely stoked to have seen family members at shows, genuinely grateful for AJ at Preserving keeping the doors open for underground bands, and genuinely excited about an upcoming EP they couldn’t even name the label for yet.
Inferious may have a name that suggests something low-status, something sacrificial. But after watching them level a converted church in New Kensington, and after listening to them talk about their scene with the easy confidence of people who have nothing to prove, I think the definition needs an update.
Check them out on all the streaming platforms. Catch them when they roll through your town on the next tour. And for the love of God, show up early.
You never know which opening band is going to blow your doors off.
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