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Daniel Albaugh (Die Young)
SPB: What is the longest (in terms of time) tour you’ve been on? Would you be out for that long again?
Daniel: In Die Young's touring hey-day, mainly 2004-2008, we did quite a few tours that were roughly two months long. Sometimes the tours that included international dates in Asia or Europe felt the longest simply because crossing an ocean and being in a totally different place for weeks at a time gave us the illusion (see what I did there) that we had been out longer than we had. Like the tour in 2006 where we played shows out to California, hopped a plane to Japan and then toured East Asia for three weeks, flew back to California, then played up to Seattle, flew to Alaska for a few shows, then flew back down to Seattle and crossed into Canada to play about a week's worth of shows there, and then toured all the way back down the midwest to Texas. That was about 7 and a half weeks in all, but when I got home it had felt like a lifetime within a lifetime. We did several tours like that, particularly in Europe, where the crossing of borders and oceans and time zones all the time really fucked up our sense of time.
I remember Dan Yemen looking in our van outside of a show we played with Paint It Black at Gilman St. in Berkeley, CA. We were sleeping mainly on our merch bins. He was impressed, and he said, "Wow, you guys tour like real men." That still makes me chuckle and feel a little proud.
But fuck no, as glorious as all that was at that time in my life, I would never do tours that are that long ever again. All my gym gains would go out the window. I love sleeping in the same bed as my lady, and I'd worry about my dogs and cats too much. Touring is miserable, honestly, especially after you have done it for years and years. Like falling in love, it's easy and fun at first, even when it is challenging, but after time it becomes a real chore. At this point we prefer to keep things short and sweet so we can still enjoy playing shows. I really do enjoy playing shows much more now than when we were playing 200+ a year.
Juan Hernandez (Colombian Necktie – guitar)
SPB: What band has been your favorite to tour with?
Juan: We actually don't have a favorite but we definitely have a most memorable. Last year we went out on tour with friends Black Sheep Wall and we were playing in SLC. We went to this wing spot that had a spicy wing eating contest. Basically you had 12 wings that were insanely spicy and you had to eat them in 30 minutes. The singer Brandon decided he wanted to try it so we cheered him on. Three wings deep he calls it and goes pale. After he runs to the restroom the rest became interested and tried them. It was the wrong decision. It ended up being a super hilarious bonding experience but painful spicy memory.
Ryan Fleming (Black Table)
SPB: What is the most tiresome stereotype about black metal?
Ryan: We don't consider ourselves Black Metal, but I'll speak about how I view scenes in general. It's similar to Animal Farm. It begins as an exciting rebellion against the confinement and closed thinking of a situation, but it eventually becomes the same thing. A new set of rules, standards and control. Genres are created to make sense of and compartmentalize new thinking. When those rules and standards create a barrier to creativity, expression or growth they need to be torn down.
