Photos By: Andrew Bastion

Julien–K has been rather busy since speaking to them this past summer while they were on tour with Bush, The Cult and Stone Temple Pilots. The band has traveled to Europe and back and is now on tour with Jonathan Davis, and The Birthday Massacre. During this time the band has grown even more, getting bigger shows, and bigger opportunities along the way as everyone waits in anticipation for their latest album Harmonic Disruptor to be released. The new album is still in the works as the band has been constantly touring to finish out the end of 2018. I was able to catch up with the band and discuss touring, and what is to come for the band in 2019.

GA: Last time we spoke the band was working on Harmonic Disruptor, which was set to release in 2019, have you narrowed it down to a release date yet or is the band still developing songs for the album?

AD: We are still in the middle of it, we have written a lot of material for the album already, but we are going to go home and have a lot of work still to do. We probably will end up writing more songs.

BC: Amir and I talked a couple of days ago, that we have been so busy touring, that I just pulled up the folder in the Dropbox and picked one saying I think this is my favorite. He replies, saying I haven’t listened to any of it because I want to go home and listen to the songs with fresh ears. Its kind of producer standpoint, (taking a big break from the music and coming back to hear it again later). You take a break, then come back and now you have fresh ideas. I think we will go back into writing this album with a whole new perspective that will still compliment the album.

GA: Speaking of the album will the band be releasing another single soon?

AD: Not right now, no.

GA: I also remember that the crowdfunding campaign was a big thing for this album, and that you hit your goal pretty early, is the campaign still going?

AD: It is, we left the campaign “in demand.” We have been touring so much, we figured why not leave it open and people can contribute. It has been going great.

GA: The band has been touring quite extensively this year. When I saw the band, you were a part of the Stone Temple Pilots, Bush and Cult tour. Then I see you went to Europe briefly and now are back in the US continuing on. What’s it like for you to wake up in a different place every day for months on end?

AD: That is the easy part, honestly. It is a big blur.

BC: It is the name of the game; it is a part of what we do in our life now. We do get a little homesick, but I really enjoy being up on stage. When I am up onstage I have so much fun.

RS: It’s fucking awesome, but it is a skill set. It is dedication… the thirty to forty-five minutes we get onstage is really fun, and the other fifteen hours are work. You have to understand that when you do this job that it isn’t just drinking whiskey, having a great time, and a ton of hot chicks.  There’s a lot of driving, a lot of hours on the road;there is an incredible amount of work we all have to do during our day. Just to get from point A to point B. For Me, I wrote our day out for our publicist and it was a foot long. There are some spots to take a rest but there are some straight up fifteen hours days.

 GA:  Jonathan Davis has been a close friend with the band, especially Ryan for a long time. What is it like to be able to hit the road with such a good friend?

RS: It is amazing, Jonathan has been fantastic. Nothing has changed in thirty years with that guy in terms of how cool, and consistent, and authentic he is. His talent level has gone up a hundred-fold. He is killing it right now. The emotion he brings to his performances is palpable. He has been so sweet to us everyday of tour. It is like no time has past between us. It really makes me feel awesome.

GA: One of the things that stood out to me from the last interview is the band is very genuine and candid. Ryan spoke of how to be successful in music, and it really hit home to me. With all the success, how do you guys stay grounded through everything and decompress after multiple tours?

RS: I don’t know how to decompress yet, and I also don’t think we are successful. I am not sure that we ever have been. I am not sure I have ever felt like, ‘we are awesome or successful.’ I don’t feel like I’m a badass or I’m fucking great. I just always feel like we have a lot more work to do, and that we can do better, and there is something better coming. I think that if I ever felt like ‘yes we made it, where’s my massage chair.’ That it would be time for the coffin. I don’t feel that cool. I don’t feel that successful. I feel like we are really on the cusp. I have noticed that this band is getting bigger, and we are getting bigger opportunities. That the band is getting better. I do feel that, and I like that. I like the climb, and I love doing that, but I don’t know what it is like at the top. I know we have “been there” because I have the records on my wall, but I don’t really live in it though. I don’t live in success, I live in perseverance.

BC: I don’t think we have had any time this year to try to bask in any sort of glory. I feel like with the touring it has been work, work, work. Get shit done and put out good music, perform well. I think as time goes by, we push ourselves to do even better. If I am not trying to perform better or sing better, then I am doing something wrong.

GA: What is next for the band after this tour with Jonathan Davis and the Birthday Massacre wraps?

RS: Harmonic Disruptor.

GA: So, no more touring? (joking)

RS: No, no, no, no more tours for 2018. We are going to finish the album and we will see what happens from there.

At this point in the interview I didn’t want to upset the band with my next question. A few months ago, the band was interviewed in Baltimore and the interview went south very fast. The interviewer had a series of questions that were in my opinion bad taste and irresponsible to ask the band. The interview came off as if the interviewer was trying to bait the band into a negative reaction and to catch it on video. After this event the interview post the video online, where the band and their management tried to have the video taken down. The interviewer refused and made nasty posts about the band. I personally think this was a horrible thing to have happen to a great group of guys, and that none of them deserved to have been treated in this way. With all that being said, on with the rest of the interview…

GA: There was a bit of an issue with an interview that happened in Baltimore, I don’t want to get into details because it was upsetting to watch, but since then has the interview pulled the video and things been resolved? If you want to elaborate on things by all means, you have the forum to speak.

RS: I think the video has been pulled finally. I am still shocked. The guy wrote our publicist and was indignant. He complained, “What the fuck, they didn’t have a proper place for me to interview them.” He made it all about him and the things he was upset about. I have some news for him, don’t try to conduct interviews like that with anyone, you are liable to get knocked the fuck out. Also, we are not rich dudes, with special interview spaces, and private dressing rooms, or a tour bus. We are an indie band, out here sweating. We pulled the only place we could at the time to interview with this guy, but with people who don’t claim responsibility for anything like that guy; they always look to blame everyone else. The reality of the situation was, he had inappropriate, disgusting, TMZ-like questions.

AD: The thing is I have text message conversation threads, just like I have with you this evening. At the end of the night you can make up all these stories, and I can show you the conversation we had, and how everything was arranged. I can show how he fabricated all this stuff after the fact, because he didn’t like the way things went. His questions were way out of line. The way he asked it, he preempted the question that we knew Chester already. If anyone knows anything about us, knows he is one of our best friends. So, for him to say that, then ask the other question it was like wow.

GA: To me, that is irresponsible journalism. It is completely insensitive.

BC: He is a journalist, and you are a journalist, you are to act with a certain level of professionalism. I liked how you approached this question with saying, ‘you don’t have to answer this question we can talk about something else.’ You did it with tact and said it in the right way. This guy was out for some sort of weird reaction. With sensitive questions you have to know how to approach them. That is the job, you are to ask questions but know how to say them the right way.

GA: You have to be respectful, working in media; this is all about artist representation and respecting that. I take an honor in speaking with artists and learning more about their day-to-day lives and the music they create. I look at it like this: follow the golden rule and things should be more than fine. Let’s move along. How did you enjoy playing for the people of Pittsburgh tonight, and also how has been to play for so many people through all your touring this year?

RS: Tonight, and every night has been amazing. It has been a repeat every night.

AD: This tour has been a great pairing with these bands. There are a lot of kindred people on this tour and it seems to click with all of us. We also can’t say enough good things about The Birthday Massacre. We have been friends with them and toured with them years ago here with Mindless Self Indulgence. We have been friends for them a long time, and touring was something we have talked about, and now it is happening which is crazy. They are like family now, it is so good. Great people.

GA: Do you have plans yet for 2019?

AD: Harmonic Disruptor, we still have to fill all the campaign perks and finish the record. We will be having our annual acoustic show coming up, which is a part of everything. That show is always fun, and it is different every year. No other plans outside of that because that is a lot of stuff to get done.

GA: Anything else you would like to add?

RS: Thank you to everyone. Thank you for such an amazing fourth quarter. We did seventy or eighty shows along in the fourth quarter. It is kind of unbelievable for an indie band. So we thank you all

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George Archibald

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