Straight Line Stitch is living proof that hard work pays off. The band has spent the past few years following a rigorous touring schedule, winning fans across the country. “The Fight of Our Lives,” its second release for eOne Music, is set for a March 22, 2011, release, and its biggest break to date is on the horizon: a slot on this summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. While at the Quarter in Baltimore, Maryland, recently for the first show of its tour opening for Times of Grace (the new band featuring Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and original Killswitch singer Jesse Leach), Straight Line Stitch vocalist Alexis Brown talked with Live Metal’s Greg Maki about the new album and more.
LIVE METAL: You’re in Baltimore tonight for the first show on the first tour for Times of Grace. That’s got to be pretty exciting.
ALEXIS BROWN: That is correct, and yes, we’re stoked.
What is it like on the first day of a new tour?
The first day is always a little crazy ‘cause you don’t really know anybody. So we’re just getting to know people. Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. The next couple days, I think, will be a little bit more smoother. Right now, everybody’s trying to get situated and find their footing.
Have you had a chance to meet Adam and Jesse and those guys from Times of Grace yet?
I’ve seen them. They’ve been at practice or whatever, running through their songs. I just didn’t want to be all up in their face. I imagine I’ll get time to meet them. Jesse sent me a lovely email before we started this tour. So I imagine we’ll get face time. I’m just letting them do their thing right now.
Is Killswitch a band that has influenced your band?
I don’t want to sound like a butthead, but we’ve been influenced by so many things. Our own backgrounds are really eclectic, so I think a lot of things influenced us. Killswitch is probably something thrown into that mix somewhere.
You’ve played in Baltimore a few times recently. I saw you there last summer. Is it a place you enjoy coming to?
Yeah, I really like this venue. It’s awesome. The people are really cool. They seem to really dig the music. And not to mention, they’ve got a really cool, swank-like backstage area, so it’s nice.
The big news that became official yesterday is that Straight Line Stitch is gonna be playing the Mayhem Festival this summer. That’s got to be really exciting for you.
I’m so elated. I know we all are. We’re so stoked to being playing Mayhem this year.
I’m sure you’ve seen the lineup. Anyone on there who you’re especially excited to get to see or meet?
I’m looking forward to seeing In Flames and Machine Head definitely. Definitely want to check out Suicide Silence. There’s a lot of bands. I’m looking forward to checking out all the bands, but those are the bands I really want to see.
Straight Line Stitch, the new album “The Fight of Our Lives” comes out March 22. Is there a story behind the album title?
Definitely. There’s definitely a story behind the album title. It’s basically a tribute album to us still being together, still doing what we do, especially as far as the economy, everything sort of breaking down and things like that. It’s just a tribute, saying that every day is a fight to be here. We can’t forget that, no matter how good things get or how bad they get. It’s just a tribute of saying this is the fight of our lives. It’s something that we really want. When we wrote the record, we were of the same mindframe, all of us. We were in accord. We had the same goal, and we were on the same page. That’s pretty much what the album is about, just us fighting it out, whatever the odds, to keep doing what we’re doing, what we love, and that’s playing music.
It seems like you’ve been touring constantly—
Everybody says that! [laughs] To me, I feel like we don’t tour any more or any less than any other band. But everybody says we tour like crazy, so I guess we do.
So I was wondering, how much time did you actually have to write and record the new album?
We actually recorded the album in probably, I want to say, a month and a half. And then we were right back out on the road. It was relatively quick, whereas the first record it was like three months for myself recording. It was definitely a change.
Talking about the sound of the album, how would you describe it, especially as compared to “When Skies Wash Ashore?”
I would say it’s still the same formula. You got the singing, you got the screaming. But the difference between the albums is this is more our effort, whereas our first album was “Do this here, do that, put this in here.” It was like, “OK, this is our first game, so we have to do what we’re told.” This album is more “This is our record. We’re gonna write what we feel and what we want.” So it was different in that area. As far as musically, it’s still the same formula.
I guess experience has given you more confidence. Is that what you’re saying?
Yeah. It gave us confidence that we could stand on our own two feet as a band and you don’t have to be controlled like a doggone puppet.
You’ve had a little bit of a lineup change since the last album. There’s a different drummer, and you only have one guitarist now. How did that affect the new album?
Yeah, we did have some member changes. Our other drummer before we got Kanky (Lora) had some deaths in the family, so obviously he couldn’t go on. And our other guitar player that left, who’s on the record, he got tired. And that happens when you’re in a band and you’re touring like we tour. He just had some issues he needed to work out. None of it’s bad. Everybody likes to think it’s big drama, and it’s really not. We still talk to our past members from time to time, see how they’re doing. It’s nothing dramatic. People grow up, and they decide to do different things to take another path. That’s all it is.
On this new album, you worked with a couple names familiar to a lot of people, (producers) Johnny K. and Ben Schigel. What was it like working with them? What did they bring to the album?
Ben is a really, really laid-back, chill guy, so it was really cool to work with him. He wasn’t so overly, I guess, in your face. He was cool. It was an experience working with him. Johnny—very cool to work with him, too. He is a very sweet, chill, laid-back guy. They were all really not intense, which was awesome. They were just, “Let’s do it, get it right and move on.”
Ben Schigel was the singer in Switched, so working with another singer, was that big for you?
It was totally awesome because he could get what was going on in my head. He had some things that were like “Oh, snap! Only a singer could know that.” Not to mention, I am a Switched fan, and I always liked the patterns and his vocal range. So it was awesome to connect with him in that sense, that he’s a singer like me. That was just amazing.
“The Fight of Our Lives” is gonna be your second album on eOne. They definitely seem like an up-and-coming metal label. How has that relationship been for you guys?
They’ve been really, really good to us and for us. Definitely have to give a lot of credit to our management, Raging Nation, and the Good Fight, as well. These are the team that we have that’s really pushed for us to get the things that we need. Our label’s been amazing. They’ve always been there. Our whole team has been phenomenal. They’re the last label that I really think is out there that really still cares about our genre of music.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Always, always, always, I want to just thank our fans, the people that are insanely dedicated to this band ‘cause if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have gotten this far. I definitely want to say thanks to the listeners and everybody else who’s Team SLS, and they can always keep in touch with us through Facebook, MySpace and all that stuff.
www.myspace.com/straightlinestitch
www.facebook.com/straightlinestitch
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