Interview with Architect

Excerpts of an interview by Nick Viccione, Entertainment Editor at The Recorder. Because we pretty much ignore anything metal. 

Recently, I was able to sit down and talk with Keith Allen, front man of the Syracuse- based hardcore band Architect. 

Nick Viccione: For our readers who may not be too familiar with Architect, how about a brief history, why you guys got together and what you had envisioned as a band from the beginning?

Keith Allen: Well it all started around 2004. The two bands that we were all apart of at the time, which were Found Dead Hanging and World as a Virus, both broke up and out of the ashes of both of those bands, the first incarna- tion of Architect was born.

When we first got together, we all just wanted to form a band that we could use as a platform to help push our strongest ideals and thoughts through. When it came down to it, we wanted to be a hyper aggressive and pissed off band that we could really spend some time with and a band that could grow with us as we grew into young adults. We have changed a lot since our inception including a slew of members, but overall, the theme has retained. Heavy fucking music for pissed off people.

NV: We’ll get into your thoughts and ideals in a few. Did all of your original members come together right from the start or did you have to go looking for some?

KA: When Found Dead Hanging and World as a Virus broke up, it fell right into place very eas- ily. I was in FDH with our bass player TJ and he played with Jay and Shawn from WAAV. So it was the three core members of WAAV including myself. We shared members and gear. It came together rather quickly.

NV: Were you guys were all on the same page musically? Sometimes, when new bands form from old bands, it is either really easy to gel, or some of the members have different mind- sets. Did you have to work out any kinks?

KA: For the first few practices, we met up and just talked about sounds and tones. As time went on we talked a lot about song structures as well as content and lyrics. As far as the actual song writing went, we screwed around with transitions with certain parts.

As it stands right now, we have a crazy song-writing process. It can take months and in some cases, even a year to finally get ourselves stoked on a completed song. We still have riffs from three years ago that will be on upcoming records. We are releasing our new album on Nov. 25 and there are even riffs that we wrote years ago, that will be on another record after that one even; the record that we plan to release in 2009.

NV: Let’s talk a little bit about Ghost of the Salt Water Machines, which is your new record out soon via Metal Blade Records. Was this record harder to write than your previous record, All is Not Lost?

KA: Ghosts of the Salt Water Machines was not harder to write. It was just different. All is Not Lost was just a bunch of songs we had written quickly and the recording was done in three days or something like that. We are happy with those songs, but overall, it was not so much a record as it was a collection of songs. Ghosts of the Salt Water Machines was written as a whole record. It took about six months for the bulk of the material to surface and be organized. We had a lot of ideas just mashed in our heads and we spent a lot of time just trying to get them all out.

The tone of the record was set as raw. We wanted a very heavy, live feeling. Basically, we wanted our stuff to sound the same as it would live. For the most part, aside from a few fun edits and effects, everything we do on Ghosts record will be heard in a live setting. We did our own pre-production for it. From there it only took a week to get it recorded and mixed. It is very straightforward and in-your-face and ultimately, we think it is a logical progression. Sonically, it is not very far removed from All is Not Lost. The only things that changed were our personal lives and the world around us.

NV: Any specific reason for the name?

KA: Well, basically, people are the salt water machines. The ghost is what we believe to be the collective karma that we make for ourselves by doing what we know is inherently wrong, things like greed, war, destruction to our planet and ourselves. Everything is building and stacking against us and eventually it is going to come crashing back down. The few in power make the rest of us suffer. This record is just a glimpse of that through our eyes.

NV: Since this will be printed in a college newspaper - there are a lot of people on cam- pus that care deeply about the state of this country, but on the other hand, there are many that could care less. Which brings me to a timely question and something that I know you guys are passionate about. Should we vote?

KA: Well, the short answer is yes. It really sucks that our systems have been corrupted so much that you can pretty much count on your voice not being heard on a national level. It is terrible to not have a candidate that you feel remotely comfortable with.If you can help elect an alderman or decent judge in your community, you might actually help make a difference. It might not be huge, but it could be enough to keep the crazy fundamentalists on an even keel.