Show & Tell - Every Time I Die, an interview with singer Keith Buckley

EVERY TIME I DIGRESS

an interview with keith buckley of every time i die, 07.21.04

The first time I sat with Every Time I Die front man Keith Buckley felt a lot like a tennis match; I'd serve up a question, he'd return something left of center, I'd volley with a response out of the field behind left field. It didn't take long before we spiraled down into some non-sensical land of leprechauns and gummy bears.

Less than a minute, actually.

Before we could hurt ourselves, the interview was cut mercifully short and we agreed to pick up, or start over, several days later.

Round two was far more discernible.

S&T: Hey Keith, how are you?

Keith: Good. How are you?

S&T: I'm pretty good. We actually started to chat the other day.

K: We did?

S&T: Yeah, at PNC Art Center at Ozzfest, back at the Media tent.

K: Oh, yes, yes.

S&T: There was something about "ejaculating leprechauns" and…

K: Oh yeah, I do remember you [laughs]!

S&T: Very likely the most bizarre 5 minutes of interview I've ever done. I don't know if I should thank you for that or just be fearful of how the next few minutes are going to go.

K: No, I'm sober now. I'll be fine [laughs].

S&T: You sound like you have a good time (doing interviews). I went and read some other interviews that you'd done and it sounds like (going off on insane tangents and non-sensical rants is) sorta standard operating procedure for you.

K: Yeah. That's kinda how things turn out.

S&T: Have you always been like that?

K: Yeah, I guess so. It really just depends on the state I am in and it's really hard not to be in a good mood on Ozzfest. The better the mood I'm in the more I will talk... or maybe it's pretty random. I apologize.

S&T: No. No. You don't have to apologize, man. It's fine. Actually it reminded me a lot of what I was like probably 15 years ago.

K: Yeah! I'm just trying to make something worth reading.

S&T: Did you write your (band bio)?

K: Yeah, I did.

S&T: I'm reading some of your interviews and then I went back and read the bio and I'm going, "Oh, he definitely wrote this"!

K: Yeah, cool. [laughs]

S&T: Do you do any writing outside of your music?

K: I try. There was a stint there when I was trying to do something like once a month. I am really, really, really critical so I hate to sit down and do anything that I will hate or that I'm not going to appreciate the next day or anything I will have any doubts about. I really just come down pretty hard on myself and won't touch it again for a long time.

S&T: I understand.

K: So that's why it's just few and far between before I devote all my energy into writing something and now it's usually just for the band.

S&T: Just for the band. No creative writing?

K: Yeah. There was a time when a friend and I were trying to get a bunch of stuff amassed and try to have it published. We were making some headway and I was writing pretty consistently. I was doing something about once every three or four days and (it was) work I was pretty proud of and that I considered keeping and trying to get published. Then he bailed on me and I sort of lost that "spark" and went back to just focusing on the band.

S&T: Right.

K: But once in a while I will return back to that to sort of keep myself up on it.

S&T: I understand. I actually graduated college with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in painting.

K: Oh really?

S&T: Yeah, man. I'm a mess. I actually run two businesses and then I have (Show & Tell Online), so I'm constantly doing something. There's no free time. But just the other night I finally got to paint for the first time in months. I was horrible [laughs] but I couldn't believe I had waited that long. It was just so important to get back to it. So I understand even if it's frustrating and you aren't taking a step forward that it's important to kinda always get back to it.

K: Definitely. That's the problem a lot of people have, including myself. That first step… you know it's going to be a failure and you have to not get discouraged by that and then work through it and then do it again and again. You just have to get out all the kinks, but those kinks can be so disheartening that it's kinda like, "Ah, fuck it"!

S&T: Yeah. I try to remember that it used to be less about the product than about the process.

K: Exactly.

S&T: And that it was more, for me, about the smell of the paint and just doing it, doing the work (was more important than) finishing it.

K: That is very true.

S&T: Which came first for you? Wanting to be a writer or a musician?

K: Oh, definitely a writer.

S&T: Since you were a little kid?

K: Yes. Everyone said I sorta had that dream, but my family is very musical so I was around music my whole life. (Writing) was always such a pipe dream that I never really focused on it. I guess that dream appeared first, you know what I mean, but then I was like, "Oh, that's never going to happen," and I need to be realistic about things and I really just focused on writing and doing that and then being in a band as a vocalist is the best of both so I get to write and make music [yawns through his last words].

S&T: Are we keeping you awake? [laughs]

K: No. [laughing] The only place it's quiet (on the bus) is in my bunk and I'm lying down and realizing that I'm so tired.

S&T: Okay, so if I ask you a question and you don't immediately respond I'll give you 20 seconds and assume you've dozed off?

K: Yeah. [laughs] Start singing something soft and then just hang up.

S&T: [laughs] Did you guys play already today?

K: No. We're playing today in Cincinnati. We're on our way there now.

S&T: You're not there yet? What time do you go on?

K: [Realizes we think he's talking about an Ozzfest gig] Oh, no, it's an off-date. We have a show tonight.

S&T: Ozzfest has a lot of off-dates this year. (Ozzy) doesn't have to or want to maintain that kind of pace. But in order for you guys to make money you have to fill those off-dates, right?

K: Absolutely. We're not getting paid to do Ozzfest dates so we have to try and make income in another fashion and that means selling ourselves to the smaller clubs.

S&T: Who did you pick up dates with?

K: Lamb of God, Atreyu, Unearth and us.

S&T: That's cool. So it's all (bands represented by) Adrenaline PR.

K: Yeah! Absolutely. It's a great show.

S&T: We started to talk about this (the other day). Tell me about "Hellfest". We talked a little about how important is to you guys. Tell me about the decision to do the show. You're actually out West and you fly back to Jersey?

K: Yeah. I think we go from Tennessee to New Jersey (for Hellfest) and then back to Denver. So we will probably be at Hellfest for about 4 hours before we have to get back on a plane.

S&T: Wow. And Unearth as well.

K: Yeah. They're coming with us.

S&T: What are you doing for equipment?

K: We're going to bring our guitars and stuff, but I'm assuming we're going to borrow everything else. Our manager has that all worked out. I'm really not in the loop as far as the details. All I know is I have to get on a plane, play and get back on a plane. That's all I have to worry about.

S&T: So explain to people who aren't in New Jersey what Hellfest is.

K: It's pretty much the Hardcore Carnival of the year. It's a once-a-year opportunity to see the best of the worst [laughs]. It's like it's own metropolis. You go there and hear the best bands and the worst bands and all those people. It's the best times and the worst times. It's one huge dichotomy, but I think its absolutely essential to go if you really want to understand what hardcore is about. You have to go to Hellfest. It's a Mecca.

S&T: Three days this year; Friday, Saturday and Sunday. What day are you playing?

K: Friday, the first day at I think 2:25pm.

S&T: In the afternoon?

K: Yeah.

S&T: Rough time with travel.

K: Yeah. It's really the only time we can afford to play and then get back to Denver on time for Ozzfest.

S&T: Okay, so it's Ozzfest on Thursday in Tennessee, Hellfest in New Jersey on Friday and then back to Ozzfest Saturday in Denver. That's a lot of driving and traveling.

K: Oh yeah. There's a lot of driving on Ozzfest.

S&T: I looked at the schedule and it's pretty bizarre. You actually come back now in a month and do New Jersey again. Camden this time.

K: Yeah. And then it ends in Florida, which is very odd.

S&T: And you don't do any dates in the desert like Arizona.

K: We have one date in New Mexico. None in Las Vegas and not Arizona.

S&T: I would imagine that has to be rough in that heat especially for the kids to be outside all day. It's tough enough in New Jersey at 85 degrees.

K: It's going to be insane when we're in New Mexico and it's 110 degrees in the shade. I can't imagine what these kids are going to be like.

S&T: So have you played the first slot yet [second stage acts on Ozzfest use a rotating schedule.]?

K: Oh yeah. We did it the other day.

S&T: How'd that go?

K: I didn't mind it. It was kind of nice. You sort of set the pace for the day. There is a lot less pressure. Some people might think "Oh man, you're the first band they see for the day," but at the same time we're not following anybody and nobody has anything to expect yet so they're just coming out. What you see is what you get at first, especially that early in the morning. If you can get kids interested that early in the morning it's an incredible feeling.

S&T: I would think, especially listening to other bands talk about it, that it's a great spot. One, your day is over at 10AM and you have the entire day to hang out or drink or visit fans or whatever. The other part of it is however many kids are there that early those fucking kids are there at 9:30AM because they're there for the music.

K: Exactly.

S&T: I was amazed the other day at the sort of lack of response Lamb of God (who went on much later in the day) got.

K: Yeah. Huh?

S&T: I've seen them a bunch of times and I've never seen a crowd that sort of disinterested. (The crowd was) pumped when (Lamb Of God) first came on and then (the crowd) just fizzled out. I just think it's such a long day for them that by the time the headliners come out they're toast.

K: The thing is that kids plan to go to Ozzfest how many months in advance then they get through those gates and they're just fucking maniacs. It's like Christmas morning for them. They run up to the second stage and right away they want to be against the wall. So yeah, I think sometimes the earlier you go on the better it is. You may play for less people, but the people you play for will probably be more interested.

S&T: They're not crabby yet, they aren't wasted yet and... we do see that every year. The other day there was a guy at 11 in the morning and he was just done. It's like "Hey, bro? You just paid $85 for your ticket plus $6 a beer. You've spent over $100 to be done and it's only 11am. Dude, you missed Every Time I Die!"

K: Yeah! [laughs] The other day I saw some dude passed out in his seat during Black Label Society, which is like you almost just made it to main stage. I mean it was just starting but he was out.

S&T: Well that was his goal. He's like "Dude, I'm going to make it to main stage."

K: Yeah. Yeah.

S&T: And he did. He plopped right into his seat.

K: Yeah. And just passed out.

S&T: Do you guys get to check out main stage?

K: Yeah.

S&T: Are you a fan of Priest?

K: Oh yeah! Definitely. It's so fun. It's an odd experience that they're still playing. How does somebody become that or do that where they actually can get away with wearing a studded robe, come out on a motorcycle and do the theatrics that he does and be like a Heavy Metal God?

S&T: You know what man, he set that standard.

K: I know.

S&T: I had never seen them growing up so at the PNC show the other day it was an absolute thrill for me. I will tell you this. He had like 4 wardrobe changes in the first 5 songs. And I turned to my wife and I was like, "Rob Halford has become Cher."

K: [Laughing] For sure, he has.

S&T: But that voice… wow. He's like the wellspring from which all other Metal voices flow.

K: Absolutely.

S&T: Anybody stand out for you? ‘Cause for me I would think that has to be one of the best parts. Most musicians are such big fans of music that it has to be cool to get to see all these bands and hang out with them.

K: Honestly it was Judas Priest who floored me the first night. I had never seen a spectacle like that. Everything else I had kind of expected. I mean, I love Superjoint Ritual but I kind of expected what I saw. Phil being all belligerent and then saying sweet stuff and then throwing up. It was awesome. Even Black Sabbath, I had seen DVD's and videos so I knew what to expect. Priest just always had so much mystique to me so seeing that was the only thing that was like, "Wow". I had no idea it was this experience.

S&T: He might have had to modify some of the ways he sings certain parts of certain songs but he can still hang! He hit some serious notes. "Victim of Changes" and it's like, "Whew!" He's just still kicking everybody's ass.

K: Yeah. He is.

S&T: How about Second Stage?

K: Hatebreed every night. Every night is incredible. The energy they have is phenomenal. It's like, man, all I wanted to do was be in Hatebreed. That was the goal. If you wanted to be in a hardcore band you wanted to be in Hatebreed.

S&T: Do you get to meet them and hang with them?

K: Oh yeah. Everyone on second stage is becoming really good friends already. All of the bands talk to each other and some of the bands are becoming really close. It's a great feeling.

S&T: Barbecues?

K: Yeah. It's a lot of fun.

S&T: Sounds good. Okay, Keith, that'll do it for me. Thanks for your time.

K: No problem man. Thank you.

interview by scott sisti