Ashes
Of My Regrets: Interview
with Lead Vocalist- Chris Ferland
with
Song River
Sometimes
life is stop and start and we are rising from the ashes to create
what we had always intended, this is the story of the New Jersey band
that first hit in 2011 but now proudly proclaims their true beginning
as January 2013. Band mates: Chris
Ferland – Vocals;
Brandon
Rodriguez – Guitar;
Brian
Glennon – Guitar;
Adam
Ferland – Bass and Juan Londono - Drums
all claim Bergen County, NJ as their hometown. It is this combination
that took the guts and pushed all of what they could bring forward
releasing their debut EP in 2014, “We All Have Our Demons” and
showing the world the sound of metalcore reaching from the depths of
darker worlds would be heard.
Their
first EP was only the rip in the seam, the pitch into the metalcore
chasm that opened ever wider as their sound matured and their
confidence grew into creating the latest Ashes Of My Regrets release,
“Caricatures.” This album just released on November 4th
shines the light on what talents these metalcore heads bleed. Each
song reveals a character sketch in lyrics and in full lust letting
screams. Torching the rhythm and bringing in the riff and melodies
“Caricatures” holds itself with the best.
Lead
vocalist Chris Ferland took a little time while they had just
released their newest album and have started on tour this December
and are making plans to hit your hometown soon come 2017. Catch the
sketch and take the lit fire of Ashes Of My Regrets newest shot of
tunes, you need “Caricatures” in your stocking... hint, hint
Santa.
Song
River: The first thing that catches the eye is your EP cover
for your new release: 'Caricatures.' How does it connect with the
tracks and package you have created?
Chris
Ferland: The
EP cover is meant to display that every person has different
emotions/ different parts of their personality hiding inside them
whether they be good or bad. The title Caricatures
is supposed to revolve around that idea.
A
Caricature in art is a drawing that exaggerates a physical trait on
somebody. With this EP we decided to do our own spin and have
Caricatures
mean a human emotion.
Song
River: Who did the artwork for it and how did you go about finding
them?
Chris
Ferland: Carol
Aldrighi owner of Moonlover Visual Arts did it. Our drummer found her
a long time ago after taking interest in some artwork she made for a
different band. She is extremely talented and we couldn’t be
happier with how the artwork came out.
Song
River: Where have you taken your sophomore release? Sometimes the first
debut to the sophomore is a continuation and other times it
is more of what the band feels.
Chris
Ferland: We
feel like we have matured and improved our sound a lot. We feel like
this EP is us. Lyrically these new songs are way more personal and
deep.
Song
River: This is a six track EP. Almost a full length some would say.
Seems like each title has a ring of truth within it. Talk about the
track, "Incorruptible" a bit.
Chris
Ferland: “Incorruptible”
was one of the first tracks to start being written for this EP but it
was one of the last to be finished. This song focuses on depression
and our vocalist wrote it about his experience with it. Its one of
our favorite tracks on the EP by far.
Song
River: "Fooled Me Twice, Now Pay The Price" probably in
some ways rings anthem truth.
Chris
Ferland: This
song is about our about one of our vocalists Ex-girlfriends who ended
up cheating on him after they were together for a really long time.
This is by far the heaviest, angriest song on the EP.
Song
River: Something I am always curious about is the care needed for
vocalist. Especially for those who mix high/low screaming to singing
clean/unclean. Is their a proven method that keeps them from
being damaged?
Chris
Ferland: I
mean for me I personally do fry screams which are proven to be less
strenuous on your voice then false chord screaming. A lot of
screaming and damaging your voice one of the biggest things that
people need to know is that it isn’t supposed to hurt in the
slightest. A lot of people think it’s supposed to and will continue
screaming and screaming in pain and there pretty much destroying
their throat.
Good vocal hygiene always helps a lot as well. For
example making sure to warm up and cool down before and after every
practice/show. Steaming your throat at night is another really
helpful one.
Song
River: There is a sound that defines AOMR in the land of metalcore.
As you all came from a variety of influences can you define in your
current sound what each influence is?
Chris
Ferland: For
our current sound I mean its really hard to pick and choose specific
influences. I really believe that a lot of it is just kind of keeping
an eye on how the music itself in this scene is evolving and watching
our long time influences evolve with it.
Song
River: Metalcore takes a ton of work to accomplish. It almost seems
there are more complexities to it than most people realize. Would you
agree?
Chris
Ferland:
We would. A lot of people think that you just make some guitar riffs
throw screaming and drums over it and there you go. However it’s so
much more complicated to make a song sound cohesive.
Song
River: Caricatures has now dropped, when is AOMR planning on touring to
support the new EP? Any ideas on how many cities you all plan on
hitting?
Chris
Ferland: Especially
in 2017 we want to be able to tour as much as possible. When it comes
to 2016 we are setting up a tour in December planning to hit the
Midwest! Don’t know exactly what cities but we know that some
states we will be hitting are Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan etc
Song
River: Independence is a supreme quality that many bands, especially
the 21st century bands, are totally digging. What has it meant for
you all to maintain your independent label choice and are you open
for being signed? If so, what are you looking for?
Chris
Ferland: Getting
signed to a record label is the goal. When it comes to what we’re
looking for we just want to find a label who we believe can take us
to the next level and get us to where we want to be.
Song
River: New Jersey, hometown of Ashes Of My Regrets and about a
thousand other musicians. What is in the water in NJ that has
and continues to produce some of the best music in rock?
Chris
Ferland: Not
sure about the water but it might be the terrible smell on I-95 that
drives us all crazy. (laughed)
New Album- "Caricatures"
"Daydreams"