Win Trivium Tickets
Trivium rock up at the Students' Union on March 5th. So to celebrate we grabbed a quick word with bassist Paolo Gregoletto and blagged a few tickets to give away.
Sprout: Trivium are veterans of playing to UK crowds now, what is it that you most look forward to when coming to play the UK and what can we expect to be different this time?
Trivium: There was a time when it felt like we were coming over to the UK almost every other month. I can truly say that if wasn't for what happened for us in the UK, I don't think we would be as far along overseas as we are now. What people can expect to be different is this time around the show will be more punk rock then arena rock. Less bullsh1t more music should probably be the tour slogan. We haven't had the chance to do this many tour dates all across the country since the headlining tour in 2007. Don't get me wrong, I love playing massive venues and having all the bells and whistles that go with it. But getting up on stage in a packed club and being able to be in people's faces is an amazing experience. Some of our newer fans have never seen us in this type of setting so it should be fun for us and them!
S:What’s your favourite city to play in the UK and why?
T: Wow, this is one of those questions that will come back to haunt me I think! I really love all the cities we been able to play, I almost always go out around town and find some killer things to see or eat. I think three of my favourite places we have played are London, Manchester, and Newcastle. The reason I picked them is that I remember some of the best food being there. I had some of the best Indian curry in Manchester! Show-wise I would never be able to pick because each city goes crazy!
S: You’re recording an exclusive track for the computer game God of War III, can you tell us anything about it and will you be including it in your set?
T: The title of the song is Shattering The Skies Above it has been in the works for a bit actually. The first main riff I came up with on the Slipknot tour we did in the US in February 2009. I was having trouble coming up with anything that followed it well. Once I heard we had the chance to be apart of the games EP, I really wanted to give this riff a chance to be in the song. We started collaborating on the riffs, structure, and started jamming it at rehearsals. We are definitely planning to play it on this upcoming tour and we are excited to get it recorded and out there! Everyone keeps asking what it sounds like, more like Shogun or Ascendancy, and the only way I can really describe it is as being very intense and energetic. We are also recording a cover and possibly re-doing an old song.
S: You’re bringing Chimaira with you for the UK tour. Was that your decision and have you toured with them before?
T: Yes, once we asked Chimaira to be apart of our US tour, we asked if they would be interested in coming to the UK to be apart of this leg of our tour. My first tour ever with Trivium was with Machine Head and Chimaira in 2004. Seeing both bands live every night really showed us that we had to bring it live. The Impossibility of Reason is a very influential album for us, it didn't leave my CD player (remember those?!) the last year of high school. Also White Chapel is also on the tour, if you haven't heard or seen them live, prepare to be bludgeoned by their music. This is not the tour to miss!!
S: Do you have any plans to play any UK festivals this summer?
T: As of now we don't have any set plans. If we did play one it would probably be a later summer festival, but we are also planning on hitting the studio around this time. There are many variables as to what our plans will be for next year. If we don't play one in 2010, we definitely will be back in 2011 with a whole new albums worth of tunes!
S: You've toured with some of the biggest and best metal bands on the planet, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Machine Head to name a few. Who’s been your favorite band to be on the road with thus far?
T: All three of those bands have been amazing to us and allowed us the chance to play in front of their fans and really give us a good head start in Europe. Machine Head have been very supportive of us since we began touring and I am honoured to call them our friends. The Iron Maiden tour was a dream come true, if I never got to make another album, I’d just be happy with the fact that I did that tour. Slayer was very much the same for me, between the ages of 15-17 was my Slayer years, and I remember watching them from the crowd when they played South Florida wishing I was opening up for them. Then it all happened and I am very thankful it did! I hope Machine Head's next album and our next album come out around a similar time, I want to do another Black Crusade tour.
S: For those who’ve not been to a Trivium show, why should folks come out and see you play?
T: People should come out because they will get a straight up metal/rock show. It's just the four of us playing with no backing tracks and just having a good time doing what we love. We like to make sure everyone leaves feeling like they just went to an amazing party.
S: Do you find any genres of music inspiring other than rock/metal? If so which?
T: I can listen to anything but country, I hate everything about it. I have really become a fan of electronica lately. The melodies and progressions are very much similar to metal music, just played/programmed different. It has so much energy and it really helps me come up with cool and different ideas for writing the music we make.
S: What would you say is your biggest achievement of your career so far and what are you most proud of?
T: The biggest two achievements so far that stick out in my mind is playing Download 2005 and receiving a Gold record for Ascendancy. Those two experiences really proved to me that dreams can come true and have inspired me to keep working hard to take Trivium to the next level.
S: Your latest studio offering Shogun was widely viewed as somewhat of return to form. Why do you think this is and what was the inspiration behind the artwork/theme which seems heavily rooted in Japanese culture?
T: I think we lost our way quite a bit after Ascendancy. We are all very young still, but as we went into to make The Crusade in 2006 I think we had a very immature outlook on things and not to mention a very hard album to follow. In hindsight I wish we took more time off and gave ourselves a chance to reflect on what we had just been through, our first world tour and an album well received by people all over the world. We came very close breaking up during this period, and the album wasn't made the way a band is supposed to make it. With Shogun we knew we had to start working together and figure out what we want to really make, not just record our first ideas and call it a day. I think Nick, who produced our album, really helped reign us all in and made us work hard again. It was a good experience overall to make it and I am happy that people see it as a return to form.
With the artwork we chose to use a lot of the Japanese imagery to try and capture the vibe of the album. It looks epic and powerful, and when I think of Japan I think of how their culture revolves around honour and tradition. The song and album title was inspired by a tour we did in Japan. Matt went on a bus tour of Tokyo, and they started giving the history of the samurai and the Shogun. When he told us about it, I think we all unanimously agreed that was it, and it never was a doubt what we were going to do for the album art. We did all have many opinions on what the final art would be, but the cover is pretty much where we met in the middle. The actual kanji was done by a friend of the band's wife who is actually trained in the proper way to make the kanji. For Matt I think it's somewhat of a tribute to his heritage and as a band I think it fit the music and overall tone of the album.
Right now down to business, if you want to win tickets to see Trivium in Cardiff Students' Union on Friday March 5th, then email Ryan@theSprout.co.uk by Friday 26th February.
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