BTA Q&A

[clareabell]

What was your most 'starstruck' moment of being in BTA? Like did you meet someone you really respected as an artist or play with a really cool band?

Also- could you please share a #dadjoke?

[countsethlordofdeath]

Sept 15, 2015 14:07:57 GMT -5 frostyashes said:

How many Christians expressed their fear for your soul because of your music or political views?

Haha, as a band, we did occasionally get a crazy mom at a festival come over and ream us about having a skull (a beardskull, no less) on our shirts.  It happened a handful of times and was always an uninformed parent angry about something and just venting at whoever was most convenient.  Same with occasional emails or social media messages (first myspace, then facebook).

Regarding my political views, there has been plenty of backlash from various people on social media.  It's a weird thing because social media is not a place for complex stances on complex issues.  The soundbite is needed.  If you say something lengthy, no one's going to read all of it.  If you post an article or video, it gets mostly ignored.  I've lost only one semi-friend over it (I guess that's not too bad?).  I assume many more have simply unfollowed me on twitter or facebook.  

To be honest, when there's an issue I feel passionately about, I feel it's my duty to say something and use the voice I have to express my stance on the issue.  I don't mean to be harsh, but often I do take that tone.  I also mix in plenty of non-divisive #dadjokes and football trash-talking so that people don't feel I'm constantly beating them over the head with leftish politics or theology.

It's also strange because I held almost polar opposite views on many of these issues for the first 27 years of my life (I'm 30 now).  So people want me to "hear both sides" or whatever, but man, I'm extremely well-versed in "the other side" because I believed and defended it for 27 years.  I also think the idea of viewing these issues on a spectrum of left-right is a terrible taxonomy.  Issues like foreign policy, taxation, abortion, and salvation are incredibly complex issues that demand using other, more expansive, terms for views (perhaps like colors - he has a blue view, I have an orange view, this other gal has a green view, whatever).  

I hope I haven't offended anyone here with that kind of stuff, but if I have, this is a place to air your grievances and I will address them if at all possible.

[countsethlordofdeath]

Sept 15, 2015 15:15:46 GMT -5 clareabell said:

What was your most 'starstruck' moment of being in BTA? Like did you meet someone you really respected as an artist or play with a really cool band?

Also- could you please share a #dadjoke?

Recording with Devin Townsend was amazing and my respect for Dev is nearly unrivaled in terms of other acquaintances.  But before that, I hadn't listened to very much SYL or anything, so I wasn't starstruck really.  Same with Ryan Clark.  I love the guy and text him occassionally, respect his artwork and persona and personality.  But again, I wasn't a TFU fan or a fan of DH before meeting him.  In both cases, it was afterward that I got into their music.

So the most "starstruck" moment I ever had was when I met Mike from MxPx while I was filling in for Five Iron Frenzy.  It was kind of unreal.  I've loved MxPx for years, learned to play guitar to their songs, I still love them, etc.  He is extraordinarily handsome and was in a tux.  He was filling in for Goldfinger, who was on that show with Reel Big Fish and FIF.  I'd just moved to Washington State, so I talked to him about the Pacific Northwest and good snowboarding spots, etc.  It wasn't a super long conversation, but it was long enough and he was super nice.  I didn't freak out or anything, but inside I was pretty excited.  I met him later when MxPx and FIF played Seattle.  I was visiting and reconnecting with the FIF people and Mike actually remembered who I was and introduced me to Yuri, who is hilarious.  My life is validated now.

So for BTA, we that was about it.  We didn't meet massively famous people as a band (kinda surprising to a lot of people).  Other bands seemed to not like us very much.  I met Matt, the singer of the Supertones, which was cool at the time (back in early 2005) and Josh Scoggin, but those weren't really superstars or anything.  On the FIF tour, Aaron from Reel Big Fish was nice but I didn't massively connect with him and was only a marginal fan.

Our second tour ever was with Extol and I loved them to death, but the original Ole was out of the band at the time and we hadn't learned how to appreciate Blueprint Dives yet, so we were kinda "meh" about it, which is a bummer.  They were great dudes and I wish I could've appreciated it more.

I met "Head" formerly of Korn, and he was actually super cool, but we only talked briefly, although he did genuinely pray with Daniel about woman problems (he was facing his own at the time, apparently?).  

I interviewed Jordan from As I Lay Dying for HM shortly before the Tim Lambesis news broke.  That was on the phone, though.  He was nice and I always wonder how much he knew at that time.

I also interviewed Dustin Kensrue of Thrice for HM on the phone and it was fine.  He seemed preoccupied.

The Zao guys were not nearly as cool as we'd hoped.  Mostly just drunk and high and incoherent most of the time (the long-timers, anyway.  The new guys and fill-ins were pretty cool).

Daniel and I walked around and talked to John from Skillet for awhile at Sonshine Fest one year.  He initiated the conversation, so regardless of your taste for their music, he should command some respect for being a legit dude.

Which brings to my best "celebrity" run-in.  On that same day at that same festival (Sonshine), Mike, the "singer" in The Devil Wears Prada, walked into the eating tent for all the bands.  He had this entourage with him.  I saw him walk in, and I turned to the guys around me (bandmates and a few guys from Sleeping Giant) and said "hey, let's go introduce ourselves and say hi to him!"  Everyone was like, "no way, man, absolutely not."  So I was like, "what's the worst that could happen?"  They were serious about not doing it and told me I could go alone if I wanted.  So I did.  I stood up, walked to the end of our row of tables, down a couple rows to their row of tables, and down to the start of Mike's entourage.  They all looked at me and I said something to the effect of "Hi Mike, my name is Seth Hecox from Becoming The Archetype.  I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself and say hello!"  

And they all just looked at me.  Not one person said a single word.  Mike slightly nodded his head (with his shades on), then they all stood up, and walked out, right past me.  I said out loud as they passed me "Wow, seriously?"  And the Sleeping Giant guys laughed their asses off.

[countsethlordofdeath]

Sept 15, 2015 15:15:46 GMT -5 clareabell said:

What was your most 'starstruck' moment of being in BTA? Like did you meet someone you really respected as an artist or play with a really cool band?

Also- could you please share a #dadjoke?

#dadjoke

My son can choose to eat green beans, peas, or spaghettios for dinner on most nights.  Often he chooses peas and ends up spilling at least some of them in his lap while eating.  I tell him "you pea'd your pants" and he laughs and laughs because he's a 4 year old moron who thinks that's funny.

[joshua]

I remember seeing you guys once in London, Ontario, that tour was the only Canadian run you guys had I think.
I remember talking to Jason and Alex, and then buying a T-shirt and CD off of you at the merch stand.
It was a pretty rad show.

[countsethlordofdeath]

Sept 15, 2015 16:22:24 GMT -5 joshua said:

I remember seeing you guys once in London, Ontario, that tour was the only Canadian run you guys had I think.
I remember talking to Jason and Alex, and then buying a T-shirt and CD off of you at the merch stand.
It was a pretty rad show.

Not true.  We toured Canada once in 2008 with Lopez and Alex and once in 2011 with Daniel, Chris and Abishai and Brad from The Overseer.  Both were only a few dates.  I think your show was on the 2008 tour.  It was the one that covered the East side better and the other one hit the central and western cities better.  Lopez only did 3 tours with us, I think, so it was interesting taking an Oklahoma good ole boy into Canada "why the f**k don't they drink Bud Lite man?"  Jason and I also somehow forgot our passports and left them at home.  So we had our parents send us copies.  Alex said we wouldn't get in, but of course we did.  Back then, the Canadian-US line was a cinch.

[jeepnut]

Sept 15, 2015 15:25:47 GMT -5 countsethlordofdeath said:

Sept 15, 2015 14:07:57 GMT -5 frostyashes said:

How many Christians expressed their fear for your soul because of your music or political views?

Haha, as a band, we did occasionally get a crazy mom at a festival come over and ream us about having a skull (a beardskull, no less) on our shirts.  It happened a handful of times and was always an uninformed parent angry about something and just venting at whoever was most convenient.  Same with occasional emails or social media messages (first myspace, then facebook).

Regarding my political views, there has been plenty of backlash from various people on social media.  It's a weird thing because social media is not a place for complex stances on complex issues.  The soundbite is needed.  If you say something lengthy, no one's going to read all of it.  If you post an article or video, it gets mostly ignored.  I've lost only one semi-friend over it (I guess that's not too bad?).  I assume many more have simply unfollowed me on twitter or facebook.  

To be honest, when there's an issue I feel passionately about, I feel it's my duty to say something and use the voice I have to express my stance on the issue.  I don't mean to be harsh, but often I do take that tone.  I also mix in plenty of non-divisive #dadjokes and football trash-talking so that people don't feel I'm constantly beating them over the head with leftish politics or theology.

It's also strange because I held almost polar opposite views on many of these issues for the first 27 years of my life (I'm 30 now).  So people want me to "hear both sides" or whatever, but man, I'm extremely well-versed in "the other side" because I believed and defended it for 27 years.  I also think the idea of viewing these issues on a spectrum of left-right is a terrible taxonomy.  Issues like foreign policy, taxation, abortion, and salvation are incredibly complex issues that demand using other, more expansive, terms for views (perhaps like colors - he has a blue view, I have an orange view, this other gal has a green view, whatever).  

I hope I haven't offended anyone here with that kind of stuff, but if I have, this is a place to air your grievances and I will address them if at all possible.

I'm mostly fed up with the two party system. I lean slightly liberal on economic/immigration issues and strongly conservative on social/sexual issues. But I think it's the same way with Christianity. You can't pin it down to one political view. Anyone who says Jesus would have been liberal or conservative is deceived.

[ilovejesus96]

Is it true what Tim Lambesis said about Christian metal artists?

I love AILD, BTA, Underoath, etc and when he said that 90 percent of Christian artists are faking it..I have to admit I got a little upset.

Please tell me this is false!!!

[yourfriendconner]

Sept 15, 2015 16:13:40 GMT -5 countsethlordofdeath said:

Sept 15, 2015 15:15:46 GMT -5 clareabell said:

What was your most 'starstruck' moment of being in BTA? Like did you meet someone you really respected as an artist or play with a really cool band?

Also- could you please share a #dadjoke?

Recording with Devin Townsend was amazing and my respect for Dev is nearly unrivaled in terms of other acquaintances.  But before that, I hadn't listened to very much SYL or anything, so I wasn't starstruck really.  Same with Ryan Clark.  I love the guy and text him occassionally, respect his artwork and persona and personality.  But again, I wasn't a TFU fan or a fan of DH before meeting him.  In both cases, it was afterward that I got into their music.

So the most "starstruck" moment I ever had was when I met Mike from MxPx while I was filling in for Five Iron Frenzy.  It was kind of unreal.  I've loved MxPx for years, learned to play guitar to their songs, I still love them, etc.  He is extraordinarily handsome and was in a tux.  He was filling in for Goldfinger, who was on that show with Reel Big Fish and FIF.  I'd just moved to Washington State, so I talked to him about the Pacific Northwest and good snowboarding spots, etc.  It wasn't a super long conversation, but it was long enough and he was super nice.  I didn't freak out or anything, but inside I was pretty excited.  I met him later when MxPx and FIF played Seattle.  I was visiting and reconnecting with the FIF people and Mike actually remembered who I was and introduced me to Yuri, who is hilarious.  My life is validated now.

So for BTA, we that was about it.  We didn't meet massively famous people as a band (kinda surprising to a lot of people).  Other bands seemed to not like us very much.  I met Matt, the singer of the Supertones, which was cool at the time (back in early 2005) and Josh Scoggin, but those weren't really superstars or anything.  On the FIF tour, Aaron from Reel Big Fish was nice but I didn't massively connect with him and was only a marginal fan.

Our second tour ever was with Extol and I loved them to death, but the original Ole was out of the band at the time and we hadn't learned how to appreciate Blueprint Dives yet, so we were kinda "meh" about it, which is a bummer.  They were great dudes and I wish I could've appreciated it more.

I met "Head" formerly of Korn, and he was actually super cool, but we only talked briefly, although he did genuinely pray with Daniel about woman problems (he was facing his own at the time, apparently?).  

I interviewed Jordan from As I Lay Dying for HM shortly before the Tim Lambesis news broke.  That was on the phone, though.  He was nice and I always wonder how much he knew at that time.

I also interviewed Dustin Kensrue of Thrice for HM on the phone and it was fine.  He seemed preoccupied.

The Zao guys were not nearly as cool as we'd hoped.  Mostly just drunk and high and incoherent most of the time (the long-timers, anyway.  The new guys and fill-ins were pretty cool).

Daniel and I walked around and talked to John from Skillet for awhile at Sonshine Fest one year.  He initiated the conversation, so regardless of your taste for their music, he should command some respect for being a legit dude.

Which brings to my best "celebrity" run-in.  On that same day at that same festival (Sonshine), Mike, the "singer" in The Devil Wears Prada, walked into the eating tent for all the bands.  He had this entourage with him.  I saw him walk in, and I turned to the guys around me (bandmates and a few guys from Sleeping Giant) and said "hey, let's go introduce ourselves and say hi to him!"  Everyone was like, "no way, man, absolutely not."  So I was like, "what's the worst that could happen?"  They were serious about not doing it and told me I could go alone if I wanted.  So I did.  I stood up, walked to the end of our row of tables, down a couple rows to their row of tables, and down to the start of Mike's entourage.  They all looked at me and I said something to the effect of "Hi Mike, my name is Seth Hecox from Becoming The Archetype.  I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself and say hello!"  

And they all just looked at me.  Not one person said a single word.  Mike slightly nodded his head (with his shades on), then they all stood up, and walked out, right past me.  I said out loud as they passed me "Wow, seriously?"  And the Sleeping Giant guys laughed their asses off.

the zao stuff makes sense

that mike from TDWP story is hilarious. i guess i wouldn't have expected that but now that I think about it it's believable

what are the august burns red guys like, if you can even say? i've heard stuff about them being the coolest ever, and others about them being douches

please seth, tell me what to believe

also, did you find the songwriting process for BTA easier or more difficult as the band went on?

ALSO, how do you feel about the current "state" of the music industry? like, it seems easier than ever to get started and build a fanbase, but EXTREMELY DIFFICULT GEE WHIZ to create sustainable income. where do you think it's headed?

[countsethlordofdeath]

Sept 15, 2015 22:30:39 GMT -5 ilovejesus96 said:

Is it true what Tim Lambesis said about Christian metal artists?

I love AILD, BTA, Underoath, etc and when he said that 90 percent of Christian artists are faking it..I have to admit I got a little upset.

Please tell me this is false!!!

Whether his statement is true or not is difficult to say for sure.  I would say that my experience has shown me that lots of bands and band members are faking it, but to estimate a percentage is very difficult.  Obviously we weren't faking our spirituality.  Also, sometimes bands and band members change, so they maintain an appearance because it's what's expected of them by their fans.  That's their lifeline to any income, so they're not going to risk it.  

I also don't know who all claims to be Christians.  For instance, we toured with The Agony Scene.  Great dudes and they were up-front with us that they weren't Christians and told Solid State they weren't.  Their drummer was, but no one else was.  The lyrics were not from a Christian perspective.  But perhaps fans thought they were since they'd been on Solid State.  So are they faking it?

I also think it's bad to view it as a yes or no question.  People are varying sorts of Christian.  Josh Scoggin is genuine, but his faith looks quite a bit differently from mine.  Others are more passive about their faith (such as guys like Mike Herrera who is a believer, but prob not in the way lots of people would've thought back in the 90s).  

Then you have mixed bands such as FIF is currently.  With 2 members who are no longer Christian, what are they?  Reese writes great theological lyrics.  It just all depends on how you count a band being Christian:  their claims, their lyrics, their actions, their goals as a band (money vs ministry), etc.

[countsethlordofdeath]

Sept 16, 2015 0:45:28 GMT -5 yourfriendconner said:

Sept 15, 2015 16:13:40 GMT -5 countsethlordofdeath said:

Recording with Devin Townsend was amazing and my respect for Dev is nearly unrivaled in terms of other acquaintances.  But before that, I hadn't listened to very much SYL or anything, so I wasn't starstruck really.  Same with Ryan Clark.  I love the guy and text him occassionally, respect his artwork and persona and personality.  But again, I wasn't a TFU fan or a fan of DH before meeting him.  In both cases, it was afterward that I got into their music.

So the most "starstruck" moment I ever had was when I met Mike from MxPx while I was filling in for Five Iron Frenzy.  It was kind of unreal.  I've loved MxPx for years, learned to play guitar to their songs, I still love them, etc.  He is extraordinarily handsome and was in a tux.  He was filling in for Goldfinger, who was on that show with Reel Big Fish and FIF.  I'd just moved to Washington State, so I talked to him about the Pacific Northwest and good snowboarding spots, etc.  It wasn't a super long conversation, but it was long enough and he was super nice.  I didn't freak out or anything, but inside I was pretty excited.  I met him later when MxPx and FIF played Seattle.  I was visiting and reconnecting with the FIF people and Mike actually remembered who I was and introduced me to Yuri, who is hilarious.  My life is validated now.

So for BTA, we that was about it.  We didn't meet massively famous people as a band (kinda surprising to a lot of people).  Other bands seemed to not like us very much.  I met Matt, the singer of the Supertones, which was cool at the time (back in early 2005) and Josh Scoggin, but those weren't really superstars or anything.  On the FIF tour, Aaron from Reel Big Fish was nice but I didn't massively connect with him and was only a marginal fan.

Our second tour ever was with Extol and I loved them to death, but the original Ole was out of the band at the time and we hadn't learned how to appreciate Blueprint Dives yet, so we were kinda "meh" about it, which is a bummer.  They were great dudes and I wish I could've appreciated it more.

I met "Head" formerly of Korn, and he was actually super cool, but we only talked briefly, although he did genuinely pray with Daniel about woman problems (he was facing his own at the time, apparently?).  

I interviewed Jordan from As I Lay Dying for HM shortly before the Tim Lambesis news broke.  That was on the phone, though.  He was nice and I always wonder how much he knew at that time.

I also interviewed Dustin Kensrue of Thrice for HM on the phone and it was fine.  He seemed preoccupied.

The Zao guys were not nearly as cool as we'd hoped.  Mostly just drunk and high and incoherent most of the time (the long-timers, anyway.  The new guys and fill-ins were pretty cool).

Daniel and I walked around and talked to John from Skillet for awhile at Sonshine Fest one year.  He initiated the conversation, so regardless of your taste for their music, he should command some respect for being a legit dude.

Which brings to my best "celebrity" run-in.  On that same day at that same festival (Sonshine), Mike, the "singer" in The Devil Wears Prada, walked into the eating tent for all the bands.  He had this entourage with him.  I saw him walk in, and I turned to the guys around me (bandmates and a few guys from Sleeping Giant) and said "hey, let's go introduce ourselves and say hi to him!"  Everyone was like, "no way, man, absolutely not."  So I was like, "what's the worst that could happen?"  They were serious about not doing it and told me I could go alone if I wanted.  So I did.  I stood up, walked to the end of our row of tables, down a couple rows to their row of tables, and down to the start of Mike's entourage.  They all looked at me and I said something to the effect of "Hi Mike, my name is Seth Hecox from Becoming The Archetype.  I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself and say hello!"  

And they all just looked at me.  Not one person said a single word.  Mike slightly nodded his head (with his shades on), then they all stood up, and walked out, right past me.  I said out loud as they passed me "Wow, seriously?"  And the Sleeping Giant guys laughed their asses off.

the zao stuff makes sense

that mike from TDWP story is hilarious. i guess i wouldn't have expected that but now that I think about it it's believable

what are the august burns red guys like, if you can even say? i've heard stuff about them being the coolest ever, and others about them being douches

please seth, tell me what to believe

also, did you find the songwriting process for BTA easier or more difficult as the band went on?

ALSO, how do you feel about the current "state" of the music industry? like, it seems easier than ever to get started and build a fanbase, but EXTREMELY DIFFICULT GEE WHIZ to create sustainable income. where do you think it's headed?

So yeah, I guess I should've mentioned ABR.  We played a small show with them in 2005 in PA before they signed.  I think we were a bit stand-offish and that started our relationship in the wrong direction.  Then we were both on that Demon Hunter tour in 2006.  We never really gelled very well, and when Matt asked Duck to borrow a cymbal, Duck said no, which is a no-no between musicians on the road.  I think that rubbed Matt the wrong way (as did lots of stuff our various members did on that tour).  So there was a little bit of coldness between our bands since then.  Of course, they went on to be massively successful, so it was easy for them to not deal with it.  I still harbor loads of envy.  Seriously.

However, it should be stated for the record, that none of them was every unkind or a jerk to any of us.  I think they understood we were kinda lame as people and too acute musically to have much widespread acceptance, so they made connections with bands that made more sense for them to have connections with.

The songs I wrote on TD came naturally over a year or so.  My songs on Physics were fairly easy as well, at least initially, but became difficult working out kinks with various instrumentation and recording.  My songs on Dichotomy were difficult and I was too possessive.  I really regret not letting Dev tinker with them like he did the other tracks.  My songs on Celestial Completion got a lot of help from Jason and Daniel, because we wrote that album sort of together.  And I wrote very little on I AM.  That was almost all Daniel.  I wrote the piano and singing vocals on O Holy Night and a few of the riffs in Necrotizing Fasciitis, but both were collaborations (one with Daniel and the other with Jon).

Does that answer your question?

For the record, before I AM, I'd written about half of the time length of all the BTA songs.  Partly that was because I had a lot of the long songs (Elegy and the last track on Physics come to mind).  I also wrote lots of intros for songs as well as instrumental bridges, etc.  Jason always did the lyrics until I AM and even helped a little with that.  I did just about all the rest of the lyrics on I AM.  And I had a hand in writing singing vocals for every album except Physics.  That was all Alex.

The music biz is headed the way everything else like that is: toward being a hobby.  The days of it being a money-maker will continue to dwindle until it isn't much of a money-maker anymore.  That'll never change, barring a complete reset of civilization.  If you enjoy doing it, then treat it as a hobby.  Otherwise, it'll lead you down a spiralling hole of depression until you become a hardened, bitter old man who can't find joy in anything anymore.

[Solid]

Sept 16, 2015 17:20:08 GMT -5 countsethlordofdeath said:

 If you enjoy doing it, then treat it as a hobby.  Otherwise, it'll lead you down a spiralling hole of depression until you become a hardened, bitter old man who can't find joy in anything anymore.

[jeepnut]

Sept 16, 2015 18:09:16 GMT -5 Solid said:

Sept 16, 2015 17:20:08 GMT -5 countsethlordofdeath said:

 If you enjoy doing it, then treat it as a hobby.  Otherwise, it'll lead you down a spiralling hole of depression until you become a hardened, bitter old man who can't find joy in anything anymore.

He left out the rest:

"Unless you're in a band by the name of Sardis. Those guys are going to be rich I tell you! RICH!"

[jeepnut]

What's the best single thing you ever did to improve your guitar playing?

[countsethlordofdeath]

Probably the 2 years I spent as a classical guitar major in college. It didn't help a whole lot in terms of finding a profession, but it helped in BTA and a little bit with music director jobs at churches and technique in general.

Sept 16, 2015 18:30:19 GMT -5 jeepnut said:

What's the best single thing you ever did to improve your guitar playing?