Thirteen years after forming, Unearth is still standing—on stages around the world for about two years at a time. That dedication both to hitting the pavement and refining its sound over the course of five studio albums has taken Unearth close to the top of the underground metal scene in the United States. With the July release of Darkness in the Light, another touring cycle has just begun, starting with a slot on the Jägermeister Stage of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, the band’s first U.S. festival run in five years. At the tour’s stop at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J., Live-Metal.net sat down with vocalist Trevor Phipps to get up to date on the latest Unearth happenings.
Live-Metal.net: You’re out here on the Mayhem Festival. It’s been a little while since you guys did a festival tour, so what’s it like back in this sort of scene?
Trevor Phipps: It’s our first one in the States in five years. We’ve been to Europe for a couple festival tours and Australia a couple times for festival tours. But to be back stateside is awesome. It’s always fun. You’re out here for about five, six weeks and hanging out every day, playing huge shows and partying with your friends’ bands. It’s awesome.
How much weight do you think you’ve lost in all this heat, sweating up there?
We actually gained weight from the heat. There was a 10-day stretch where it was 100-plus degrees every day, so we couldn’t work out, really. You would play your set and you’d do your signings for an hour-plus, and you kind of hide at catering or in your bus to try to stay cool. It’s been a little nicer lately, so we’re all starting to work out again.
Yeah, it’s only 95 today.
Yeah, so that’s not that bad. There was one day it was like 117—in St. Louis, that was the heat index. It was brutal. I felt bad for the people in the crowd. It was intense.
So on those days, when you’re hiding in your bus, what do you do to pass the time?
Drink beer. Watch movies. Play games. At night, it gets better. It’s boring when it’s that hot. If it’s like this, it’s not too bad and you can hang out outside.
With Mayhem Fest and any other festival tour, you guys are probably chomping at the bit to get on a tour like this. Is it what you prefer? Why choose the Mayhem Festival?
They asked to us play. It’s a fest that we’ve been trying to get on the past couple years. 2007, 2008, we didn’t want to do any summer touring. 2008, we were in the studio; 2007, we wanted to go back into the club circuit instead ‘cause we had done three straight summers. But the past two years, we’d been trying to get on it. This year, they actually asked us ‘cause we have a new record. We’re psyched to be here. I like playing festivals ‘cause you get the broad audience like you said and you get to win over new people. Same time, though, I think I prefer headlining a small club because it’s your fans, it’s more intimate—a lot of times, there’s no barricade, there’s a lot of stagediving. It seems like it’s a really high-energy, cool atmosphere. At the same time, I love these festivals. It seems like everyone’s here to have a good time. They’re all just here to support the bands all day. There’s no people with their arms crossed, like “I can’t wait for the next band.” People are just here to party, and that’s a really good vibe here.
Don’t you feel most metal fans have heard the name Unearth by now? Do you still truly feel like you’re reaching out to a new spectrum?
Yeah, I think so because there’s a lot of people that go to the Mayhem Fests—we’re in the underground of metal and there’s a lot of people that are here for Disturbed and Godsmack—that’s why they’re the headliners—and those people might not have heard of a lot of the bands on the second stages. So we do have to reach out to them because we’re not on the radio. Those bands are on the radio; we’re not. Not everyone is going to go into the underground and seek out the bands. That’s why it’s awesome to play with these bands, to open for them and try to grab their fans and show them what our band is about.
You’ve got a bunch of albums now. How hard is it to pick a set list for such a short set?
It is difficult. You have to pick the bangers.
I’m sure you want to play a lot of new ones.
Yeah, we do commit to two new ones a day. When we headline—‘cause there’s off-day shows—we play four new ones. We play an hour-plus on the off-day shows. So we do get to balance it out. You’re here to showcase your songs and try to win over new people while also making your fans happy that are here. So you have to pick the hits, the ones that get the best reaction.
I’ve seen you guys a bunch of times before, and you all get pretty crazy, running around, jumping. Has anyone taken any nasty falls or spills on this tour yet?
Not yet. [knocks on wood] It happens once in a while. We’ve all eaten shit numerous times. This tour, we’ve been lucky. The Jäger Stage is actually a little bit smaller, so dudes haven’t really eaten shit. We all get down to the barricade, and (guitarists) Ken (Susi) and Buz (McGrath)—the Jäger truck that pulls the stage has a ladder, and every show one dude will climb the ladder and play on top of the truck for a few seconds or whatever. It’s just hijinks and trying to have fun and get the crowd amped.
Going back in the day, however many years it was, the whole “metalcore” scene, starting back then to where it is now, are you proud to be carrying that torch still?
We’re still here. A lot of bands aren’t. So I think that means we’re doing something right. People can put whatever tag they want on it. When the term started becoming uncool or whatever, I know we took kind of exception to it. But it’s 2011. We started in 1998. So I don’t care at all. We’ve seen so many bands come and go, and so many subgenre things that get tossed out there. I think it’s all metal at the end of the day. I understand subgenre titles exist so it gives people an idea of what the bands sound like, but I don’t think people should judge the band unless they hear it. ‘Cause if you hear one band in a subgenre that you don’t like, you might immediately classify the rest of the bands as a band you might not like. I like all kinds of music, and I think most people do. So if you just give it a chance—there’s deathcore bands I don’t like, there’s deathcore bands I love. So I think that can really hinder music for fans and for bands if you put too much emphasis on the subgenre titles.
It was your goal, obviously, to still be around at this point. But did you ever think you’d make it this long, this far?
You have to think it’s possible, but you don’t know it til it happens. We just go out there and make the best record we can every cycle and put on the best show we can every day. You have to play every show like it’s your last one. That’s part of what the lyrics are in a song called “Arise the War Cry” on the new record. It’s not just about that, but that’s kind of where I got the inspiration. I wrote that song at the end of the album cycle for the last record—beat up as hell; we had toured two years straight. It was like the third to last show, everyone was tired and we’re backstage feeling like we want to go home. And I was like, “Fuck that,” and I just started writing the song. You have to play every show like it’s your last ‘cause you might not get to play again.
The new album came out earlier this summer. It’s your fifth, so you’ve done a bunch of these now. Going into this one, what did you hope to accomplish?
We just wanted to further our sound. We tried to get the strongest elements of our first four records. Each record sounds like Unearth, but each has a different element, and we tried to capture those strong elements while also trying to move the sound forward. Added more guitar harmonies, more solos. There’s some more dynamics with the vocals from both my side and Ken, who’s actually singing again for the first time in seven years. He hasn’t put his clean vocals on a record since 2004.
Yeah, why did you decide to do that this time?
The big reason was, there’s a song that was on (The Oncoming Storm) called “Endless” that is a staple in our set. It’s a fan favorite. It’s on four songs on this record out of 11, so we’re not turning into Killswitch Engage or All That Remains. But it’s an element of our music that didn’t go away. It wasn’t a song that was in our set for a couple years and then disappeared. It was a fan favorite. Our fans like it, so we put it back in. Ken has a good voice, so it works.
What do you think about Killswitch and All That Remains maybe polishing or commercializing their sound on some songs?
That’s what they like to do, and they’re good at it. A bunch of bands try it, fail and they lose their fan base. But if you’re good at it and you can do it and you enjoy doing it and you’re not selling your soul, then that’s great. Those bands, you can tell that’s what they like, ‘cause it actually sounds really fuckin’ good. I actually like those bands a lot. It’s not what I would want to produce for music, but I think what they do is great.
What’s after Mayhem?
After Mayhem, we have 10 days off and then we go to headline a tour in Europe called the Hell on Earth tour. Then we go to Australia directly after that for the Soundwave Festival. Van Halen’s headlining that—it should be fuckin’ killer. [NOTE: The Soundwave Festival was canceled after this interview was conducted.] Japan is after that, as well. There’s talks about China and Taiwan. And then we’ll come back to the States November, December. I think we’re playing a headliner for then. It’s not confirmed yet, but it’s in the works. Then 2012, I’m sure we’ll be touring a lot. The record just came out. Usually, we tour 20-plus months on a record.
When you see that much time in front of you, is that daunting or are you just looking forward to getting out there?
Just take it show by show. It’s good to know that there’s plans to do it ‘cause it is our job. It’s cool to know there’s work ahead of you, people care enough to book the band and people are coming out to shows. That’s why we do it.
Anything you want to add?
Thanks to the fans. Like I said, this is our 13th year being a band, 10th year touring, and a lot of bands don’t make it this far. Bands only make it this long if their fans care about the band and are awesome fans.
