Photos By: Andrew Bastion 

Band on the rise Interloper, has been rather busy and looking forward to 2019. In mid-2018 members Aaron Stechauner and Miles Dimitri Baker left Rings of Saturn to focus their time and attention on Interloper full time. Guitarist Andrew Virrueta has been splitting his time between Interloper and playing in The Faceless. The band also release a single ‘Wishful Thinking’, with new vocalist Mike Semesky, prior to heading out on their first full length tour with The Faceless, Vale of Pnath, Rings of Saturn and The Last Ten Seconds of Life. I was able to speak with guitarist Miles Dimitri Baker about what is next for Interloper and their new music while they were on this tour. 

GA:  It has been awhile since I spoke with you about the band. How is this first full tour going for you, and what are you anticipating from being on it?

MB: The tour has been going well. We’ve had a good time, the shows have been good, even though it’s a change playing early on the set.  It’s a little bit different, since I was in Rings of Saturn for quite some time, it’s a bit of a change of pace but it’s a good one. We are having fun, and we are out on tour with Rings and having a lot of fun with everyone. A lot of the Rings fans have been checking us out, but stylistically we are a lot different. So, it is a bit of a different demographic that we are performing for than our style of music has. The crowds are listening to us, and we are very happy to have people who have heavier tastes checking us out. This is the style of music we are doing now, and there is nothing wrong with that. It has been unique playing as a clean singing band on a tech death tour. People have been enjoying our set, and very supportive with each stop, so I can’t complain. 

GA: Former vocalist Cody Lumpkin had to step down a few months ago due to family responsibilities. He was replaced with current vocalist Mike Semesky, what was the process like to get Mike to join the band?

MB: It was Aaron who thought about reaching out to him to fill the slot. Aaron said, what about Mike, since we have a handful of mutual friends from Baltimore, like Drewsif Stalin and Ben Towles who have a new band Grey Lotus, and Sanjay. It was a shot in the dark, but we asked Mike, and he decided to join. We sent him the tracks and he was totally about it. Cody has a younger daughter and looking forward, this is one of those things that could make for a hard-touring life. We are still good friends with Cody, he came out to the Chicago date. He is a super awesome dude, but for what we are trying to do, raising an infant and playing in a band is going to be a really tough thing to do. This is something we would not want to take from him (these young years of his daughters’ life) nor be something he would want to give up, which is totally understandable. 

GA: Last I spoke with the band, there was a full-length album in the works. Has the band come up with a release date yet for the new album, or are you still adding music to it?

MB: We are still adding music to it, even though we have a lot done. Instrumentally we have ten songs done, five of those have vocals at this point. We are trying to write more than what we need, so we can pick from the best to be on the album, than just writing and saying ok we’re done. There is no release date just yet, we are still shopping to labels currently. The band has been around for awhile now, but it hasn’t been active. So, when we put out ‘Wishful Thinking’, that was the start for us. We dropped ‘Wishful Thinking’ in late October, which is more than less the true start of the band. We have already had our foot in the door from having media out already, but this is a full band production everyone can see and listen to. Now that we have a solid lineup, we will be booking more shows and trying to get label support. 

GA: Talking about ‘Wishful Thinking’, Interloper released the single along with a music video for the song. What was the writing process like for this song, and what was your thoughts behind doing the music video for the song?

MB: We all collaborated on that song, there are some parts like the chorus which I came up with, but there are other parts of this song that the other members had their ideas on. There are a lot of songs we have written where it is a member or two members who write the song, this one however we all had input on. This song was a full collaboration, and Cody wrote the lyrics and melody for the song. There were a few melody changes from the original because Cody sings in a higher register than Mike. So, there were a few adjustments that had to be made to fit for Mike’s voice. 

​For the music video, the song is about alcohol abuse, and drug abuse, as you can see it is a fun party video. We all like to do a little too much, and we feel it is a very relevant thing especially in rock and roll, and we think some people struggle with these things. Some of us have struggled with it in our lives as well, so it was a cool video to do to shed some light on these things. We also wanted to do something a bit light hearted as well, and not some super dark video. The video we wanted to have fun with, even though lyrically it deals with some darker issues. It was a fun video to make, we have girls making out, drinks flying all over the place, tons of our friends there just having a party.

GA:  Aaron and you were members of Rings of Saturn, who vacated your spots to focus your attention on Interloper fulltime.Now the band is currently on tour with Rings. Is it awkward to be touring with the band that you left, or is it like touring with any other band?

MB: It is like touring with any other band, we have done so many tours together, that we are all friends. At least the touring members that are there, it is nice to see them and hang out because we have spent so much time together in the past. Outside of that there is nothing weird about it. It is a little strange watching other people play music you wrote, not in a bad way it is just interesting. I have never seen it from this perspective before, watching the last Rings record that I had a process in writing being performed by a totally new band. They are doing a great job, and sound awesome on this tour. They are doing some things different which is interesting. It is a cool experience getting to tour with them, and everyone has been very cool to hang out with.  We all get along wonderfully. 

GA: Any updates on the gear you currently using on this tour?

MB: I am still using Schecter Guitars, Elixer strings, Seymour Duncan pickups, Hosa Tech cables, Blackcraft Clothing, and StacksFX by Fractal Audio. My guitars are Sun Valley Super Shredders, that have had some customization done to them. For a backup guitar I have a C7 SLS Elite. More or less everythingis pretty much the same gear I was using with Rings of Saturn for touring, it is just plugging in a different guitar, these 6 strings are sick. 

GA: Where do you see the future of Interloper, like is there a planned path for the band or are you guys riding things out?

MB: There are plans in the works right now. We are shooting a music video at the end of this tour. We want to get into different markets as well. It is unfortunate with Aaron and I spending so much time with Rings and with Andrew now in The Faceless playing and getting to know all these bands in this scene; which isn’t necessarily the bands Interloper needs to be playing with. We are trying to develop a base in more of the rock scene, with bands like Between the Buried and Me, Protest the Hero, and The Contortionist. 

GA: So, you are looking to hook up with more of the progressive styled bands?

MB: Yes, prog and rock, with a little less of the extreme stuff. Just building off that, I think the big thing is getting those new fans. I think some of the Rings fans won’t carry over, due to the stylistic difference in the music. It is completely fine, and I get it, but we are going from breakdowns and gutturals, to clean singing and melodies. It is a totally different ball park, which is fine. It is entirely different, and we understand it might not be for everyone. 

GA: Last I talked to you, there was talks of possibly working with a label; is there still talks or has the band settled on signing to a label?

MB: Yes, we are still talking to a handful of labels, and exploring our options. Through the touring community, we have the ability to get ahold of people, which makes this process a bit easier for us. We are exploring what will be good for us, and to find someone that is going to push us and be a good fit for them. We want to be with a Label, Management or Booking that fits with what we are doing as well and believes in us. Our goal is to find a good solid workforce, and we want to do everything right for the band. With other bands we all have had the opportunity to learn from prior mistakes either from things we’ve done or others we known have done, and to try and avoid going down that path again. Just want to do it right, have some fun and work with some awesome people. 

GA: What is next for Interloper after this tour? 

MB: Well the last tour date we are shooting a music video. After that we may be having a short tour run. Then we are going from there, everything is still new for us, so we are just taking it from there. Just working hard and being diligent. We are looking out for what to do next and remain relevant. 

GA: Anything else you would like to add? 

MB: Thank you to all the fans, friends, and companies who we have worked with and support us through everything for coming out. We think it is very awesome and we appreciate you all. 

Contact info for Interloper: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InterloperOfficial

Instagram: @interloperofficalgram

Big Cartel (merch):https://interloperofficialmerchstore.bigcartel.com

About Author

George Archibald

See author's posts