Interview by Kenneth Morton

Based out of the influential Long Island music scene, Stray From The Path has been on tour consistantly throughout the year. Their Sumerian debut Villains was produced by Kurt Ballou of the mighty Converge, and it's an pure assault to the senses. Now on a break from touring to write a new slab of sonic terror, we caught up with Stray guitarist Tom Williams to find out more about their musical journey...

What is your music scene like in Long Island and how does Stray From The Path fit into the scheme of things?
Long Island is really awesome. I honestly never noticed how great it is until we started touring constantly. Stray From The Path gets an overwhelming response at home. We get to mesh well with all bands. We get offers to play shows with like Have Heart, and we play shows with This Is Hell a lot, and we also play with like The Red Chord and Every Time I Die when shows like that roll in town. I think that is what's the coolest with our sound, we cross over with lots of hardcore genre's.

Is there any story or concept behind the Villains title? Who are the Villains you are referring to?
Well, Villains was never meant to be a concept album. We just saw the connection in our songs as we wrote them. Before Stray became our jobs, we worked at miserable jobs like Uhaul, Leslie’s Pool Supplies and warehouses and whatnot, and we just felt depressed working those bull shit jobs. And as we worked our asses off to make 7.50 an hour, some asshole was making ridiculous salary off our depression. On the compact disc cover, it’s 4 business men all looking the same, so they are the "villains" reaping the benefits off peoples miserable lives.

What was it like working with Kurt Ballou and what did he contribute to the overall recording process?
Kurt was awesome. He gave us the record we wanted. He actually works hard, doesn’t just press record and get whatever take – he made it perfect. He helped us a lot on drums believe it or not, he had lots of input on certain beats.

How did you wind up on Sumerian Records?
We did a tour for ash back in 2006 with The Burning Season, If Hope Dies and Alove For Enemies. He remembered us back from that tour we did, he heard the pre-production of Villains and we went on from there. Sumerian rules.

Who in the band would you say is on Myspace WAAAAYYY too much? You guys post even more bulletins than Highwire Daze does :-)
Guilty haha. When our record came out, we were so excited and wanted it to do well, so we went nuts. I had an airport card to so I was posting shit in our van. Sorry I'm annoying, but I chilled out dawg haha.

You have been doing A LOT of touring lately. What is the best and worst part about being on the road all of the time?
Best is playing songs, meeting bands, having fun with your best friends. I have a lot of family back home, so that's what sucks the most for me personally. I love my girlfriend a lot, so we miss each other a lot, but she knows I can't do what I'm doing now when I'm like 40 years old, so she supports me. But I love touring so much it rules. Except when our van breaks down and I want to eat a bullet.

What is the most embarrassing song you currently have on your IPOD?
Well we played Cleveland this tour and our van was broken into and my Ipod was stolen. So you have to ask the fucking asshole who has it, and what he put on there. And if you talk to him, tell him I hope his life ends soon.

Have you ever written a song over 5 minutes? Would you want to?
Haha we have, but they are annoying. 2 minute songs rule, gets the point across. But we have some new songs written and they are around 3 minutes. Baby steps dawg! Haha

Are there any Stray From The Path groupies wandering around Long Island or beyond?
Groupie is the worst word ever. That's like a question my aunt would ask me, because they saw that movie Rockstar with Mark Wahlberg.

Any other tours coming up soon?
Nope, we are taking time off after our Tony Danza tour to write and record a new record. We have some shows set up, but no tours.

Any final words of wisdom?
Keep coming out to shows! Help touring bands stay on the road. As much as you may not know, but you kids are what keeps shit going, if a band breaks up, shows still exist because you guys come out. If kids don't do their part, there are no tours. Touring nowadays is really hard, so go out and buy shit from bands. Thank you everyone who comes out, you guys keep hardcore alive! Thanks guys, and watch more hockey.

STRAY FROM THE PATH links

Stray From The Path: Their Official Myspace Page!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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