by Kenneth Morton
Alove For Enemies has returned with Resistance, their most powerful recording to date. Those familiar with this compelling Facedown Records entity know of both their spiritual leanings and brutal hardcore compositions. We recently spoke with vocalist Erich to catch up with the happenings of this dynamic Long Island-based band.
How does the new album Resistance compare to the previous Alove For Enemies releases?
I’d say it’s completely different in a lot of ways – not only the sound and the feel of it – but just the way it was put together. The writing and recording process was completely different. It’s more along the lines of what we’ve been trying to do and what we wanted to accomplish. It’s more honest I guess you could say.
Is there any story behind the title of the album Resistance?
Yeah, actually a lot of it had to do with the emotion that we’re all pretty much obsessed with called equilibrium. And that’s where a lot of the song titles came from. And it kind of has a dual meaning because it’s also has a spiritual meaning in a sense of how youth is bombarded by what the world say is cool and what’s not cool. So it’s kind of like a calling to get these kids to think on their own and resist the pressures of what the world is putting on them.
Can you cite any specific songs on the album and where you came up with the ideas for the lyrics?
One of the examples would be a song called Will Of Father – that particular song deals with the experiences that I’ve had with some churches in the last year and how a lot of them have made me upset because of the way they’ve been carrying themselves as far as who they are accepting and who they are not accepting. And the whole idea of our faith in the first place is that we’re supposed to accept everybody, no matter who they are.
The artwork on the cover looks creepy. What gave you the idea for that?
The way the artwork ended up was all Dave Quiggle’s idea. My original idea didn’t make it to the final cut, which kind of worked out better. Dave took was I was telling him – I sent him the lyrics and tried to describe the feel I was going for – and he came up with irall of that on his own. He sent me this huge definition of what the artwork is – how the skulls represent death and the poisonous gas, and the snakes are kind of representing the devil. And in that particular piece, the rose growing out of the skull is supposed to represent Jesus and what he did – and how that’s life resisting to death – it signifies the resurrection and the resistance of the devil. That’s how Davey put it to me, and I think it’s really cool. He went all out – I think he really stepped out of his comfort zone as far as the artwork he’s that used to doing. He really pushed himself, which we’re super grateful for, because the artwork really matched the music.
Would you say the music and lyrics are a little bit darker this time around than before?
I would say a lot. It’s more objective as far as lyrics go. Whereas The Harvest was kind of blunt as far as what I was saying and very easy to understand – this time around I wanted to go back to the way I use to write, with no kinds of reservations as far as what people would think. I think with The Harvest, maybe not consciously, but I definitely wrote with the concern about what people were expecting from us, and what people were expecting me to say. This time, I really wrote from my heart and was as honest as I could be, without being too artsy.
What did you think about this year’s edition of Facedown Fest?
It was really cool! The barricade kind of affected the atmosphere a little bit. We played the first time, and by the time the bands before us played, I was pretty much revved up to hop over the barricade so kids could sing along. The security guard tried to stop me, but it didn’t really work. That kind of gave the green light to all the rest of the bands to interact with the crowd. But it was cool. We got a really good response from the new material – which we were very nervous about. We got to see all the new Strikefirst and Facedown bands, which are all very, very good. It was definitely one of my favorite Facedown Fests.
Wasn’t there one year where the audience came onstage and nearly trampled you guys?
Yeah, I got really hurt. That was during Broken Pledge in 2005 at the Showcase. I think the real background of that story was that we put a live video of ourselves playing at home on our website a couple of years ago. At home, it’s a little different as far as the intensity that you would expect, rather than being on the other side of the country. Something I said was, “If you know the words, come up and sing along.” I didn’t mean literally come up on the stage, but that’s how people in this particular video took it. In the video, that’s what they did. So I think when kids started to see that, they thought that was our thing – and that’s what happens during the song – everybody gets up onstage. I didn’t really see it coming. I was kind of bracing myself for a pile on, which I’ve become a little bit acclimated to – but not entirely. But I wasn’t expecting to get completely crushed. Our equipment got knocked over and my left knee went through one of the stage monitors. It was pretty bad. It was cool though. I wasn’t upset in the slightest – I was in a little bit of pain. I had already torn my knee, and that was the knee that got hurt there too – so that’s what really made it bad. I wasn’t upset – I was kind of overwhelmed that I got that kind of reaction out of people. It was quite surreal, to be honest with you.
What’s going through your mind when all of these kids are piling up on you?
Well, at that particular point, is like “Watch out for my knee!” It was already hurt to begin with. Other than that, I get real outside myself – it’s almost like I’m watching from somewhere else. It’s really cool, inspiring – especially for that kind of song. It was not something that we wrote for ourselves – that’s definitely a song that’s for the kids. It’s nothing kind of tragic or any kind of personal story in the song – it’s kind of a “for everybody” song. So it’s really cool when that happens.
Did you have to go to the hospital that night?
I probably should have. I ended up resisting it because I have an irrational fear of doctors and hospitals – and I convinced my friend not to drive me. But I went to the doctor when I got home. I still, to this time, need my knee surgery, but I haven’t been able to swing it yet. It’s alright, but I have to wear a knee brace every once in a while.
<So at this point, do you consider your band a ministry at all?
Yeah, we’re still very much a ministry. I always take time out at every show to let people know who we are. I don’t necessarily give a sermon or anything like that. I really feel like that’s what God is using us to do. I definitely tell kids who we are and where we’re coming from. I encourage them to come up and ask questions, which they very frequently do – which is awesome. It’s easy to talk to kids who are going to be receptive because they’re coming up to the table to talk to you. We play very few Christian-only shows, and the kids there came to see a hardcore show. And if we start alienating people at that point, you’re really counter producing what you’re doing. That’s the kind of approach we take, but we’re still very open about who we are and what we’re doing. I never try to hide it. I don’t say that we’re just Christians in a band or anything like that. We’re a Christian band and that’s how it is.
Have you ever had any problems on the road because of that?
Very few. I think a lot of times, even the people that are opposed to it – they at least respect you for being open about it. I think that’s one of the reasons why Few Left Standing went over so well in the secular scene – because Chris was so passionate and honest about it that even the people that were completely on the opposite side of the spectrum had to respect it. At least he was going up there and saying something. So that was the inspiration for me to be the same way. A lot of times I have people say, “I don’t believe in that stuff at all, but I really respect you guys for saying what you said,” – and stuff like that. We’ve had very few run-ins. A couple hecklers and stuff like that, but nothing that is worth me saying that it was a major incident.
What did you think of all this recent hype about the date 6-6-6?
I didn’t really give two thoughts about it. It’s kind of a silly thing. I happen to be a student of the Book Of Revelations. I’ve been studying it for the last 2-3 years now. It’s such an objective book in the bible and it’s so full of imagery and metaphors. People just grew up with the association that the 3 sixes are the sign of the devil ultimately – and a lot of kids that don’t know any better got real hyped up about it. That movie came out and everybody was just freaking out, but I really didn’t give too much thought to it. All I did was release one of our new songs on Pure Volume that day just to be funny, I guess. I figured, why not? So I kind if used it for my own shameless self-promotion.
If The Omen could do it, so could you!
Yeah, why not!
Do you have any messages for your fans in the LA/OC area?
I wanna thank the fans who are out in that area, because they’ve always been really good to us. California is definitely our favorite place to play, and I’m not just saying that. We always have a good time there. They are very supportive of what we’re doing, and I really appreciate that.
