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Interview with Andy Williams(guitarist)

September 30, 2004

Via: Telephone

By Becky

    I had never seen Every Time I Die, sometimes abbreviated ETID until last night.  It was killer.  The energy was great, the fans were going nuts and the band seemed to be having a blast.  The Starland Ballroom was filled with mosh pits.  After seeing them, I was excited to learn more about them and couldn't wait for the interview today to happen.  As always, I like to make the musicians use their brain cells and I must admit, Andy did have to think a bit to answer some of the questions, but he did an awesome job and did not hide a thing.

Becky:  How did the name "Every Time I Die" come about?

Andy:  That's an awful story.  [Laughter] There is this song called "Every Time I Dial" and we used to always thing it was "Every Time I Die".  We didn't have a name at the time, so we said Dude it sounds like "Every Time I Die" so let's use it.

Becky:  How did you meet your band mates?

Andy:  Steve, Jordan & Rat...well me and Rat have been best friends for probably the past 10 years.  We've been playing with each other and in different bands since that time.  So we know each other forever.  Jordan, we knew from going to other shows and stuff.  We both had bands going at the same time.  Jordan was in a band and we were in a band. Our bands broke up in like a week of each other.  We then saw each other at a show and we were like, "Dude, you like that guy?" and he was like, "Yeah, I like that guy."  "Wanna play?" "Yeah!" And we started a band.  So that's how it all started.  Then Keith came along in a little while.  Keith ended up getting kicked out of school.  He went to Virginia Tech and got kicked out of school.  It just seemed perfect.  Like he moved back to Buffalo and Jordan was like, "How about my brother play?"  We were like, "Alright" and that's how the band started.

Becky:  What inspires the song writing?

Andy:  Oh God, that's a horrible question. [Laughter] We've come up with...I mean, I remember I had written a song, I didn't come up with any of the lyrics or anything like that, but song wise...but timing...because we kind of mess with timing a lot.  I had a dream and in the dream I was working with like apartment numbers and I woke up out of a dead sleep and was like, "alright, I'm going to use these numbers to write a song to that timing."  Then...

Becky:  Wow!

Andy:  Yeah!  Real weird, right? [Laughter]  We've actually rolled dice before to see like the timing for songs.  We've actually rolled like 3 dice and wrote a part based on that.  Just various things.  We do like absolute idiotic things. [Laughter]

Becky:  But it works.

Andy:  Yeah!  Exactly!

Becky: How did the process for Hot Damn! differ from Last Night In Town?

Andy:  Actually, Last Night In Town we had a year to finish.  Hot Damn! we had a month.

Becky:  How do you prepare for your shows?  Any pre-show rituals?

Andy:  Yeah!  We kind of do.  I'll try to break it down into individual people.  Keith likes to get a little drunk.  Me...I like to listen to really fast music before we play, so I can like head bang to it.  So I listen to like Megadeth or something like that in the van.  And I usually do like push ups and sit ups, stuff like that before we go out.  Just to get my body like blood wise, because I'm getting a little older and my body's starting to not act like it used to.  Steve likes to break things and Ratboy likes to read nutritional things on the back before eating them and then he likes to do push ups and sit ups with me.

Becky:  What artists did you listen to growing up?  Who were your main influences?

Andy:  The Who is probably my main, main influence.  I've listened to The Who since I've been like...I remember...there are certain songs of The Who's...I remember being like 4 years old and crying because my mom wouldn't let me have like a candy bar or something like that and The Who was in the background playing and I've honestly have had The Who there my whole life.  I remember...I have the amps and everything like that, that stage wise...I want my stage exactly set up like Pete Townshend and just certain things talent wise that I do...it's just so weird.

Becky:  What sets your music apart from other bands today?

Andy:  We have fun.  Every other band that, I noticed, wants to be something that they aren't.  Music isn't supposed to be like that.  It's supposed to be having a smile, laughing and having a good time.  Music is kind of not like that anymore.  Every time you see Every Time I Die live, we always have smiles on our faces and we're having fun and stuff like that.  Even if you met us outside of that, that's the way we are.

Becky:  Is it difficult playing to an audience who may be unfamiliar with your music?  How do you win them over?

Andy:  Not at all.  As long as the crowd has...[interruption with lots of yelling and whistling from fans] Sorry about that, someone just rolled up on us. [Laughter] What was the question? [Laughter]

Becky:  Difficult playing to an audience who may be...

Andy:  Oh yeah. No, not at all.  As long as they have ears, that's all we care about.  The thing is no matter who you play to, if it's geriatrics, people of 70 years old and they are sitting there eating pudding the whole time, they still have ears.  They're going to listen and take something away with it.  I'll play to anything.

Becky:  In one word describe your music.

Andy:  God! [Pause] I think I heard this before or read this before in a porno magazine...animalistic. [Laughter]

Becky:  And yourself?

Andy:  Animalistic. [Laughter]

Becky:  Okay, so you and your music are animalistic.  Interesting. [Laughter]  What CD's are an absolute must have with you on tour?

Andy:  Miles Davis, The Who, I'll just go with one more, uhh, Circle Jerks.

Becky:  If you could be a female for one day, who would you trade places with?

Andy:  Probably Bjork.

Becky:  What is your favorite junk food?

Andy:  Ahh!  This is a great question for me.  Umm...my favorite junk food.  Oh God!  I'm lactose intolerant and I love milk shakes.  I drink milk shakes all the time.  Hmm...that's not really junk food, though.

Becky:  It is ice cream, so it kind of is. It works.

Andy:  Yeah! [Laughter]

Becky:  If you were told the world was ending in 10 hours, what would be the first and last thing you would do?

Andy:  Oh God!  The first thing I would do is probably go to Nestor's in my hometown and get a banana milkshake. [Laughter] And the last thing I would do is probably and hopefully have sex.  I want to die satisfied. [Laughter]

Becky:  What is your favorite alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink?

Andy:  I don't drink.  I kind of stopped drinking soda, but I really like Mr. Pibb a lot.

Becky:  I had that for the first time in July when I went to Florida.

Andy:  It's really good.

Becky:  Yeah it is.  I liked it a lot.  What was the last song stuck in your head?

Andy:  Hmm...Oh!  I had one yesterday, too.  I can't remember what it was.  Oooh that's what it was.  This is so lame. [Laughter] It was...Do you remember...Are you familiar with Saga video games?

Becky:  Not really.

Andy:  There was a Saga video game called NHL 93 and the song was (begins to sing the "dead ant" song with a twist.) [Laughter] The NHL 93 song.

Becky:  Okay. [Laughter] Were you playing that game?

Andy:  Not at all.  I probably haven't played that game in like 8 years. [Laughter]

Becky:  It's amazing how these things happen.

Andy:  That's great.  That song.  Now it's gonna be stuck in my head, thanks.

Becky:  I'm sorry. [Laughter]

Andy:  It's alright. [Laughter]

Becky:  What is the wildest thing you've ever done?

Andy:  What is the wildest thing?

Becky:  Yes.

Andy:  Holy shit!  The wildest thing I've ever done... [Pause] This ones rough. I've done a lot of stupid shit in my life. [Laughter] Wow! [Pause]  We're not supposed to say things like this in interviews, but I'll say it anyway because no one says things like this. But one time, with a girlfriend I had...we had sex on a cat walk 100 feet in the air at a job that I had.  I worked at a sewer plant. I was on the catwalk...it was so weird...she like comes to visit me...and we just like...yeah...so we like...on a catwalk 100 feet in the air with people walking underneath. It was insane. [Laughter]

Becky:  I bet! [Laughter]  If you could go back in time, what era would you like to revisit or visit?

Andy:  Oh God. Probably the 70's.  That's like all the music I listen to and there were just awesome things happening in the 70's.

Becky:  What do you see happening for Every Time I Die in the next 3 years?

Andy:  World domination!  That's the only goal we have now.  Every other goal has been met now.  We toured with Black Sabbath that was pretty cool.  What else happened?  I met Corey Feldman. Yeah, world domination.

Becky:  Message for your fans?

Andy:  Come to Every Time I Die show...get fucked up and get high.  Have fun!

    As we were ending our conversation, Andy began singing that damn NHL 93 song, which got stuck in my head.  Thanks Andy! [Smirk]   Even though, I'm going around humming this song that I have never heard before, I would like to thank Andy for taking time out before his Connecticut show at Toad's to speak with me. Be sure to check out www.everytimeidie.com for up to date information on the band and a tour date near you!

Myspace:  http://www.myspace.com/everytimeidie