Interviews

Interviews: Will Haven

Check out Will Haven whenever they're in town and support them. They are one of the best new bands to break out of the California scene. Check out their self-titled debut EP and their new album "El Diablo" on Crisis Records.

Check out Will Haven



Smother: Alright so you guys are from Sacremento, CA. So you guys are friends with the Deftones right?

Jeff: Yeah we grew up with them.

Smother: So what was it like growing up in that kind of an area?

Mike: I don't know. Boring.

Smother: So you guys are pretty different than most traditional "hardcore" bands, where did you guys develop your sound?

Mike: When we started the band, we didn't really have any major influences. We were all into hardcore, but there wasn't one band that we really wanted to mold ourselves by. We just liked everything and we just started writing stuff—it was different to us at the time, stuff that didn't sound like anybody else. We just wrote music for ourselves basically. I wanted to make stuff that I wanted to listen to and stuff I hadn't heard before and it kind of grew into this.

Jeff: Basically you know there were no influences when we started out. We were all into different stuff, you know, hip-hop, hardcore, and metal. We weren't like "hey let's sound like Earth Crisis or Snapcase", who were pretty big at the time.

Smother: How was touring with the Deftones? I love all the bands on that tour, so you know it looked pretty killer.

Mike: Those guys are the nicest guys, they took such good care of us.

Smother: Did you guys like Europe?

Jeff: Yeah it was crazy.

Smother: Was that your first time touring as a band in a major kind of scale tour?

Jeff: Yeah, it was pretty weird. It was the first time, we'd been over there and every show there was like 2000 to 3000 people. I think it was probably pretty weird for these guys, I've played in bands for years but this being their first band and going over there, that's got to be pretty weird I would think.

Mike: We got used to it with the US tour with the Deftones.

Jeff: Yeah the US tour really helped us out.

Mike: But still we were in another country.

Jeff: And the shows over there were a lot crazier. You know they waited to see these bands for so long and there was so much hype behind that tour.

Smother: Isn't it a trip to hear all these foreign kids singing along in English but they don't know how to speak English?

Jeff: Yeah it is pretty crazy.

Smother: How long have you been together?

Jeff: Three years since the first day we ever practiced.

Smother: I read somewhere that Wayne in order to join the band learned how to play drums. Is that true?

Jeff: Yeah, he played bass in another band, they weren't big or anything. But I was in another band with Grady (editor's note—It was called "Sock" and also featured Shaun the guitarist from Far) and he was a fan of that kind of music so we broke up and we kind of told him we were getting back together but we didn't have a drummer. So he says "Oh I'll learn how to play drums" so he quit playing bass and took up the drums.

Smother: You know I play drums and he's doing pretty good for a beginner.

Jeff: It kind of helps us form our own music because he doesn't like have any influences himself. He just kind of goes up there and does his own thing. So he's still learning but I'm sure…it took me ten years cuz I played drums for ten years (editor's note—he played drums in "Sock") and I didn't learn as fast as he did. I'm pretty proud of him.

Smother: So have you guys ever felt kind of intimated by crowds that are kind of looking at you kind of weird you know? Cuz they've never heard you before.

Mike: Well at first we did. But you know after a while you do it so many times. We did like forty some shows with the Deftones here and like 38 shows over there, and after a while, we're playing for ourselves rather than trying to win over the crowd.

Jeff: When you write music too, you write music that you know when you walk on stage you're going to be confident about. Even if the kids don't like, but you know you still like it and you just fucking know in your heart that you blew shit up, and that's just the kind of music you gotta write. So on stage you just don't have to worry about that. You know that you're going to come across both ways, personally, if the kids don't get it, well then whatever. You got there and played your heart out.

Smother: Do you think you've had a positive influence on the kids? Do you think that the response has been good?

Jeff: Yeah it's been overwhelming in Europe. Here we're still struggling. Each one of these shows, there's one or two or three kids who have actually heard of us. But over in Europe, it's pretty crazy right now.

Mike: This is a really good bill for us. There are four little bit different bands.

Smother: Yeah they're almost hardcore, but not really.

Jeff: Yeah, it'll be a while before we're even at the VoD stage. That's why we're trying to hop on as many tours as possible. The kids have to see you just to know who you are. That's the only way you sell records is by touring.

Smother: So how long is this tour?

Jeff: It's only about two weeks long. It was kind of put together at the last minute to promote VoD's seven inch. I've been wanting to do something with VoD for a long time.

Smother: Yeah, I've seen them five or six times and they get better and better every time I see them.

Jeff: Yeah it's great, I actually get to see them know. I keep missing them every time they come to Sac.

Smother: I know Grady isn't here yet, but he seems to write real intense lyrics. It's funny when I first heard you guys I had your EP, and I was kind of wondering if you guys were a straightedge band. I heard that song "Veg". Is that about any sort of thing in particular? To me it seems kind of like a vegan point of view.

Jeff: I mean we're all vegetarians. We're pretty strict vegetarians I guess.

Mike: Some of us deal with animal rights.

Jeff: Basically that's the only reason we became vegetarians was for animal rights and stuff. So that song is kind of our deal with vegetarianism. But it's not really a straightedge song it's just for people that are into vegetarianism and understand why they are. No, we didn't start out wanting to be a straightedge band or anything, I mean we all were in that scene for a while and it definitely played a part with us being a hardcore band but…

Smother: You're definitely not an Earth Crisis type of band…

Jeff: No, no. But this band grew up playing with Earth Crisis. We toured with those guys so many times and Snapcase. The Firestorm EP and all.

Smother: Yeah that's my personal favorite album of theirs. I like their older stuff a lot more than their newer stuff.

Jeff: I'm a big fan of theirs. But we didn't start off hoping to play with Earth Crisis, we were just kind of put on bills with them and stuff. And a lot of kids…I mean that's how we got kind of thrown into the hardcore scene, which I don't mind, cuz I love the hardcore scene, it's rad. It's a good strong scene. But we didn't start out trying to be the next Earth Crisis or whatever. We had our own personal views.

Smother: Where do you guys see yourselves in the future in another year or so?

Jeff: I don't know where we'll be.

Mike: I'm ready to start writing new stuff. We've been playing this stuff for the last couple years. We've been touring pretty much straight since last August.

Smother: That's got to be hard on you.

Mike: That's a lot of shows. Yeah, even though our sets are only half an hour long. I'm ready to go in and write new stuff.

Jeff: We'll have a new album out within a year and then we'll start touring again.

Smother: Are you guys going to stick with Crisis and distribute through Revelation?

Jeff: Actually all the bands on Crisis got bumped over to Revelation. Which is cool cuz a lot more people will take Revelation seriously. Nobody was really running Crisis within the last three months and Rev was taking care of it. And now they got some guy to take care of Crisis and he didn't want any Crisis bands on there. They've been trying to get that thing going for years. The guy taking it over now, Darren, he's really into the hardcore scene, so he'll probably help it out a lot.

Smother: So you guys are going to stick with Revelation then?

Jeff: We got two more records on our contract.

Mike: We really haven't had any major label interest. We don't really have any options to go anywhere else.

Jeff: I'm happy with Revelation.

Mike: We can't complain. They sent us over to Europe twice, which is great.

Smother: I was actually surprised to see how much tour support Rev. gave you guys.

Jeff: I know a lot of major label bands that haven't gotten to do half the stuff we've gotten to do in the last year.

Smother: Are you guys planning on doing any videos or anything in the future?

Jeff: We have a friend of ours in Europe who's putting together a video for "Climbing Out This Bottle". He's kind of doing it as a school project, but he wants to make it real good so he can maybe submit it to MTV or something.

Mike: We're supposed to get it sometime in September.

Jeff: So hopefully he'll release that and it turns out good. So we'll see. Who knows what'll happen with that.

Smother: What do you think of something like Ozzfest? Down the road do you see yourselves playing that?

Jeff: We tried. We tried for the Warped Tour and everything but we haven't been so lucky. I'd like to play those and there are a lot of bands I'd like to see live anyway so to play it would be even better. Yeah we've tried to get on all those festivals. I mean obviously it helps out bands, like VoD and Earth Crisis, I mean those can only do good for you.

Smother: Yeah I'm kind of pissed cuz a lot of kids in the hardcore scene say that "you guys are sell-outs because you signed to Roadrunner now." The same thing with Vision of Disorder.

Mike: Those guys just want to get their music to a bigger audience. They're not sell-outs. I mean I know VoD isn't making any money. They're still vanning it just like we are. They're not traveling huge or living huge, they just want to keep on doing what they're doing right now.

Jeff: Earth Crisis are strong individuals and they'll never sell out. I mean people say that's this is gonna change 'em but it's not. They're just trying to…as musicians you know that it's tough to live and do what you want to do. To do that, you've got to look for a bigger investment.

Smother: You've said that you've been touring since last August, has that been really hard on you guys?

Mike: I've been living on my own for the last five years and I had to move back in with my parents and I'm 25. I can't afford to live on my own right now. We all know that once we stop touring we have to go back to our jobs and then we'll record then. But we all had to move back home cuz we just can't afford it.

Jeff: It's been tough but it's worth it. I would never complain about it though. I've seen more stuff the past year then I've ever seen my whole life. There are bands that'll never ever tour and they've been around years. Our first album and we've only been together three years and we've toured Europe twice. But shit I would never change anything.

Smother: What about girlfriends? Is it hard on you in that way?

Jeff: I'm a single guy.

Mike: It is hard but I'm not tied down to anybody right now. Grady's engaged and I know it's rough on him. It's unfair, but that's where I come from.

Jeff: I mean I guess you could take a girlfriend out with you.

Smother: So do you guys ever get to stop at hotels and take showers and stuff like that?

Jeff: Yeah on this tour we're able to get hotels every night, cheap little $3 hotels. We're actually in debt going into this tour, but we're just taking our show money and getting hotels and stuff. On the Deftones tour, we roughed it really hard on that tour. We slept in the van all the time. On this tour we're actually doing real well.

Smother: What would you react to a guy named Carbomb?

Jeff: It's a cool name, does he get a lot of chicks? It sounds pretty punk. Anything that is different from the norm is awesome to me.

Mike: Does he live up to his name? As long as he gets away with it and they deserve it.

Smother: What do you guys think about the current state of metal?

Jeff: It's kind of weird cuz metal's changing so much…I love it. I mean you have your Korn, your Deftones, and then you have Neurosis all these bands are changing metal music. I mean even dayinthelife is just totally different. Vod is kind of breaking the boundaries between metal and hardcore, it's pretty cool. So many bands are doing so many things, but it's still considered metal. It's not like Poison, Cinderella, Motley Crue, anymore.

Mike: I like metal too, but I was a little bummed out. I heard the new Slayer today.

Smother: Oh you don't like the new Slayer? I just saw them the other day, they were killer.

Mike: Oh yeah, seeing them live. Oh yeah the Reign in Blood stuff.

Smother: Yeah, they only played two songs off their new album.

Mike: Yeah, that's what I heard, as long as they're playing the Reign in Blood, Seasons in the Abyss. That's metal right there.

Jeff: What do you think about the metal scene?

Smother: I like it sometimes. There are a lot of bands that are trying to sound like the Deftones. There are a lot of bands trying to sound like Incubus and Korn. It's funny because I review a lot of unsigned bands. You won't believe how many bands I get that sound exactly like that. I hate giving them bad reviews but I gotta do what I gotta do.

Jeff: With any popularity you're going to get the copycats. In the whole scheme of things, the way Deftones broke ground as well as Neurosis and Korn, it's kind of cool. Even though there's going to be bandwagon jumpers. There are so many metal bands but a lot of them sound different. They're hard to classify. Like Korn you can't really say they're a metal band, but you can't say they're anything else either.

Smother: How would you guys feel if there was a band that sounded just like you?

Jeff: It would be pretty cool.

Mike: It would be kind of nice.

Smother: You wouldn't feel any resentment? You know you'd be all like "hey that sounds like one of our songs"? Or would it be a total pride thing?

Mike: It would be kind of both, I mean we've only been around three years. I'd be flattered.

Jeff: Yeah, if we were as big as the Deftones, I'd get kind of annoyed. Knowing them as people, I know they get kind of annoyed. All the bands from Sacremento want to sound like them. I think it would be kind of both for me. I'd want them to go out and experiment on their own. It's all about individuality. It does, as the Deftones, hurt them with all these bands that sound like them, cuz their scene is just going to totally die out. It's going to be dead. I mean the people who made it what it is today are just going to go down with it. I mean it's just a trend and trends always die out.

Smother: Are there any trends you completely despise?

Jeff: The metal hip-hop thing.

Smother: The smart blend of hip-hop and metal.

Jeff: I mean we know the people who started this whole thing, and they're not getting half the credit they deserve. It's pretty disappointing.

Smother: Yeah the other day I got this bands bio in the mail and it said up at the top: "Tired of the same old sound? Try this new blend of hip hop and metal." I was all like wait a second, how many demos do I have that are the exact same thing. Oh well.

(Laughter and more sarcasm ensued)

Smother: How does the crowd react around you in your area?

Jeff: At home it's weird. I mean you can say we're a big band in Sac, but when we play it's not like a lot of people come out. If you ask about us around town, people know who we are. Sac is just a weird scene basically.

Mike: It's the same with the Deftones. I mean they're big there, but they're not massive. I mean, personally, I'd be proud as fuck.

Smother: Yeah, I remember seeing them open for Pantera and White Zombie a couple years ago and the crowd was just kind of like what? You know they were kind of into it, but they were just all tripped.

Jeff: Yeah, they've told us stories about how they played Atlanta to fifiteen people. They've paid their dues, every band does. The other night we were playing to a crowd and they were all tripped out and afterwards some kid came up to me and said "Don't worry about that crowd man, you guys are way ahead of your time." So that was pretty cool. I've never heard that one before.

(Right about now Grady-the singer—walks in)

Smother: Okay, now that you are here I'm going to ask you a question.

Jeff: Oh, man you're in trouble now.

Smother: What do the lyrics to "Climbing Out This Bottle" mean?

Grady: They are about a bout with my alcoholism. And that's what it's all about.

Smother: Reading that song, and hearing "Veg" and whatnot, I thought you guys might have been a straightedge band.

Grady: I throw it in there, I don't want to be preaching at all. It's how I feel about certain subjects, it's not live or die towards certain subjects. "Climbing Out This Bottle" was my bout with alcoholism. I used to indulge a little too much. But you gotta have fun, you take fun into your own hands and how you do it..

Mike: You get herpes...

Grady: Towards the second verse of that song are about a couple of cats that I know that totally diehard straightedge and I'm talking about that and how people are trying to change me, but I don't want to mold to a certain effect. I did lead a somber life for a few years so I saw the other side. I was born somber. I indulged a little bit and lived a somber life, so I've seen both sides. I don't want to preach.

Mike: He's living a happy medium now.

Grady: You know I don't give a fuck what people try to preach, it's about how I'm trying to live my life and I don't give a fuck.

Smother: So what are some of your other songs about?

Grady: What do you want to know about? Which one? Go on, I'm timing you, now.

Smother: Well my favorite song by you guys is "Fisk" off of your EP. I don't know if you heard me out there, but I was asking you to play it.

Jeff: Yeah we just played that the other night so we didn't play it.

Grady: That song is about vegetarianism. I'm trying to portray that I'm not the perfect vegetarian—I'm not a vegan, which would be the extreme. But I'm vegetarian, I eat cheese, I eat eggs, I drink milk seldomly but you know...

Mike: He kills cats...

Grady: Yeah and every once in a while I run over a squirrel. It's all good. Alright, what else do you want to know? Come on, pick one.

Mike: "Baseball Theory".

Smother: Alright, "Baseball Theory".

Grady: "Baseball Theory"—you opened a can of worms right here kid. Nah, it's about a girl, a lot of songs are about girls cuz women rule the world. Nah that song is about someone that opened me up, but I was involved with someone else and I wanted to give in to you know whatever. That's not a good song to you know bring up...come on what's another one.

Smother: What's "Foreign Film" about? Cuz my little shit band Fistagon covers that song and it would be nice to know straight from you what it's about.

Grady: Oh man you're walking out with broken legs now. Nah. It's about a different situation with me and my fiance, where things weren't going right so she wrote the whole thing. We had this song and I hadn't written anything for it and they wrote this song and I was totally scared and I was like "damn". I really didn't have any clue what I was going to do for this song and Courtney busted out with this stuff. I read it and checked it out and we recorded and I didn't have anything vocal style for it. So I read it and sang it out how I felt it was and it was just some fucked up shit where I was going away from my relationship and all the evils that come from that. And when I need to be headstrong into that relationship. I mean I'm in this band with a bunch of fucking guys with these huge penises and they live through these huge penises. (Laughter)

Smother: You know I'm going to quote that...

(More laughter)

Grady: Nah, nah it's true, cuz these guys need to know. They live through these huge penises. They live through these huge penises and I swear to God they don't think. They have no fucking idea what love is. Wayne might have a clue. But Jeff and Mike they have no idea what love is.

Mike: My heart was broken...

Grady: They thought they were in love but you know they weren't in love. They've been in lust too many times.

Mike: My heart was broken too many times...

Smother: That's the way to do it, nah I'm just kidding.

Grady: No. If that's the way you want to do it, that's the way to do it. But these guys they go on stuff, they don't know what love is. Jeff has lived his life through his mom's wallet and he'll never know what love is.

Mike: What about me? (Laughing)

Grady: He'll never know, I'm scared for him, cuz he'll never know what love is.

Mike: What about Mike?

Grady: And Mike. Mike is just fucking chilling. He doesn't give a fuck. (More laughing)

Smother: Is there temptation for you to mess around with anyone else?

Grady: Temptation is always there.

Smother: It's got to be really hard cuz you're engaged and shit.

Grady: Yeah you just got to roll the dice and figure where you want to go. I mean I finally figured out where I want to go. (Jeff walks up and sticks his hands all over Grady)

Smother: That's one sexy blonde standing right behind you.

Grady: Yeah. Fuck that slut. But no. I know where I want to go and that's the way it's going to be for me.

Smother: Was it hard for you guys to write your album, because you really didn't have much time to do it in? Was it like two weeks?

Grady: Nah. They had a deadline date and we pushed back from that. We were under pressure and we came out with what it is. I enjoy it.

Smother: Do you think that hurt or helped your album?

Grady: It kind of helped. It's fun being under pressure. Cuz you just bust out.

Smother: Now I'm going to ask you guys a question you're going to hate. If you had to label your music, what would it be?

Grady: (Instantly) Metal.

Mike: Noisecore.

Wayne: Rainbow core.

Smother: How about applecore?

Mike: I like noise.

Wayne: Who said applecore?

Grady: Metal for the masses.

Smother: You guys sponsored by anybody?

Mike: Jeff has an ESP endorsement. I'm broke as fuck.

Smother: Wayne, it sounded like you broke a cymbal tonight?

Wayne: Yeah, it sucks.

Smother: That blows what are you going to do?

Wayne: Nothing, play with a broken cymbal. I got a box of three Ziljdians at home waiting for me.

Smother: End my interview with something cool. You guys got a good joke?

Mike: What about the Tarrie B. joke?

Grady: Oh no.

Mike: What do you do with your asshole after sex? Drop him off at band practice. That's a quote by Tarrie B.

J-Sin