Interviews: From Autumn To Ashes

Want to read about Vagrant's newest acquisition? Angie Lalonde scored the first interview post-contract signing with Fran and Scott of From Autumn To Ashes. Click READ MORE to hear about the band's obsession with Dawson's Creek, their book idea, their sexual encounters north of the border, and much more.

FRAN: So what’s this for?
ANGIE: Punknews.org.
F: Punknews.org huh!
A: Have you ever heard of the site?
F: Ahh I don’t like the computer too much but it’s probably a very good site.
A: Oh so that’s why you didn’t answer your emails when I asked for an interview.Okay so your name is Fran and that is.
F: Scott.Hey Scott come here and do you voice identification for the recorder.
A: Okay Scott, say your name and something explicit
SCOTT: Okay I am Scott, umm explicit?! I often wear boxing shorts with animals on it.
A: So you guys have a new record coming out, when do think it will be released?
F: It’s looking like probably the first week of September.
A: And it’s going to be entitled ‘The Fiction We Live In’ would you say the title applies to your lives right now?
F: Ummm, no. In fact I try to live quite the contrary but it applies to most peoples situation I would say.
A: And there’s been lots of gossip about what label this record will be released on but nothing confirmed can you reveal anything? It’s definitely not with Ferret Records though, right?
Fran-No, actually we’re about to go sign the papers so we could probably say now.
S: yeah, yeah.
F: It’s going to be on Vagrant Records
A: Nice! Who produced this record I know one of your last record you got Clarke from the Guns N’ Roses to help.
F: Ah yeah he did a song for us.
S: GGGarth Richardson did this one and that’s Garth with 3 G’s, no I’m serious.
F: Yep three G’s for genius, he’s a very smart man.
A: You guys recently toured the U.K, I heard something with Metallica happened out there?
S: Oh man they played a festival we played. It was the best thing we’ve ever seen in our entire lives.
A: So you got to meet Metallica?
S: Oh yeah we did!
F: We got to hang out with Metallica and walk around with them. We peed next to them in the same toilet! We ate at the same table! We played on the same stage, that’s the most important though.
A: And you’re on Warped Tour.
F: Yes.
A: Bus or van???
F: Bus!!
A: Oh nice guys! Have you ever done it in a van?
S: yes we did it in a van last year and it was terrible!
F: We did six days in a van and we all wanted to kill ourselves.
A: What my friends in District 7 and Hope did 46 dates in a van together!
F: Oh shit, that’s fucking insane.
A: They said they’d wake up every morning in the van and be so soaked with sweat they thought they’d pissed themselves.What would you say is the longest you’ve gone without showering on tour?
S: Haha, a couple of weeks
A: A couple of weeks!!
S: On purpose though, on purpose to be funny.
F: We sleep in a hotel every night and we could shower if we wanted too but we’re, um we’re a.
S: We just like to test the limits of our bodies’ natural oils.
A: So your body just starts to self-maintain.
S: We’re good smelling people by nature it’s amazing, we just smell good.
F: Here smell my armpit, do you want to smell my armpit I haven’t showered in a long time. Can you smell me from there?
A: No actually I can’t
F: Ya see it’s alright, I’m an environmentalist I am trying to conserve water.
A: So who is the stinkiest out of you guys?
F: We call him Rainman and he has flatulence in his sleep.
S: Oh he smells bad all the time.
A: So who’s the prima donna, any of you shower?
F: Yeah I think Brian usually hits the shower every morning when he wakes up, he usually goes straight in there but he doesn’t wash his hair or anything I think he just likes the hot water hitting him.
S: Ask me one more question so I can go pee then Fran will finish it up.
A: The name Autumn isn’t in reference to the season, mind elaborating, what does it mean, what’s the story, I read lots of weird reasons you guys have said in other interviews will you ever give the right one?
S: You see that’s exactly why we named the band that and no you are absolutely not going to get the right answer on this one because that would pretty much end the band , it’s a word that can be taken into many shades of light, you don’t know the reason, they don’t know the reason, no one is going to know the reason and we are going to keep it that way and you asked me a question and I didn’t give you an answer, that rules and I am going to pee.
A: You were once quoted (Fran) saying ‘it’s almost like we’re a band with an identity crisis’ would you agree.
F: I guess if I said it I’m going to have to agree, who am I to disagree with myself right. No you know I think we got direction now, I think you’ll hear it with the new record, we’ve harnessed what we are trying to do and we’re just doing our thing.
A: On the new record will there be any female vocals again?
F: You know what I am going to tell you the truth right now, there’s female vocals but we’re not sure if it’s going to make the final cut, it might not be on the record.
A: And your other song ‘Short Stories with Tragic Endings’ have you ever performed that live?
F: You’re going to see it tonight
A: With a girl!
F: No with me (laughing)
A: But have you ever performed it live with a girl?
F: Yeah we’ve done it with Melanie who sings it on the record before.
A: Everytime I read up on you guys Dawsons Creek was mentioned what’s up with that?
F: Yeah you know that was a favorite back in the day but then we started touring so much we don’t really get to watch too much tv anymore except like late night infomercials. We used to all watch it though, I don’t even know what’s going on, on it anymore I haven’t gotten to check it out in a long time. I watched the first two seasons, it was cool for teen type drama stuff.
A: And is it true you guys are supposed to be publishing a book too?
F: That’s right, that’s goddamn right!
A: And what’s this book about?
F: It’s about things that go through our minds everyday like this interview, me talking to you could very well end up in the book. It’s not going to be a novel it’s going to be like thoughts manifested on paper, it’s going to be fragments.
A: Is it going to be about From Autumn to Ashes or about one of you specifically?
F: Maybe they’ll be some From Autumn To Ashes occurrences in it but it’s not necessarily going to be about being in a band. It’s going to be all over the spectrum, like one minute we’ll be writing about eating breakfast at I-Hop in Kansas City then the next chapter we could be talking about buying crack in Brentwood.
A: Are you guys all in on this book, or is it just one of you?
F: Um kind of Scott’s doing his thing and I’m doing my thing and we’ll probably put them together and they’ll make their own thing and we’ll see what happens.
A: When do you plan on publishing this book?
F: I don’t know.
A: I heard a few of you have had to have re-constructive surgery from mishaps at shows, who’s had the most?
F: I’ve had to have my face sewn up a couple of times, I’ve just had a lot of stitches in general, I used to skateboard a lot when I was younger, I’ve had my share of hardships from that. Scott’s the only dude I think that’s had major surgery, he had to have a nerve taken out of his elbow or something, he’s got a nasty scar you’ll have to see it. As a matter of fact he’s got a tattoo of a baby on his elbow and the scar kind of looks like the umbilical-cord now so to make it fit up near his arm-pit he’s going to get a women with her legs spread and the umbilical-cord will travel down like she just gave birth to the baby.
A: This is a question about Brian; do you know him well?
F: Oh! I know Brian!
A: Just why did he get fired from his job at the shoe store?
F: The shoe store!? Ah the more I think about it I know why he got fired but. Yeah, yeah I’m pretty sure he stole a bunch of money. Actually you know what I don’t think he got fired from the shoe store, I think that his manager slept with his girlfriend and so one day Brian just closed up shop and never came back to work, I don’t think he got fired, I think he just left because of the falling out with his manager.
A: What the one thing you cherish and can not forget before going on the road, one thing you can’t live without on tour, aside from your drums?
F: like something I need to survive on the road you mean? Um latex gloves. No kidding probably just a couple of books, a decent CD collection for when you’re driving and latex gloves, that’s about it.
A: You never forgot your pajamas; I always forgot mine.
F: No way! I never forget my pajamas on tour but I’ll tell you what, I left my pajama pants on you know that metal band called ArchEnemy? Well I left my pajama pants on their bus.
A: Well I don’t want to know why or how.
F: As a matter of fact if you interview them you tell them to mail me back my pants.
A: And Scott what’s the one thing you can’t forget.
S: Ummm.
A: Well it’s not a razor (making fun of Scott’s beard)
S: It’s not a razor; you’re a smart-ass (laughing) how old are you? How old are you huh! sixteen or something.?
A: Damn, 20.
S: Really! Damn you look young but that’ll be good when you’re thirty. Okay thing I won’t forget yeah definitely a razor’s not too important, it’s not a comb or clothing, I might not have a necessity, oh my medication.
A: Any final thoughts
S: I want to play, I’ve had too much caffeine.

(The interview did end but Scott and Fran got me to get my voice recorder out twice after to add these extremely relevant points they indicated would be good for the interview. Uniformative nonsense, it was funny as hell regardless.)

F: Okay Angie is our interviewer her and our guitar player Brian are going to move to a county that accepts polygamy in their culture because she’s nice and little and he digs that sort of thing and he already has one fiancée and he’s racking them up so.
S: We should get him out here, it’d be pretty funny to get his reaction on tape.
F: Ya see he does all this shady shit and then his fiancée finds out about it and he’s always getting yelled at.
S: Yo he’s going to nail us for this!.

A: Now what happened at the border crossing?
S: So we got there and they found some "stuff"  that they wanted to talk to us about in the trailer. There was about five or six girls working there, they asked us to come in the back.
F: No guys there!
S: Yeah no guys, just girls so they turned off the cameras and asked us to take our clothes off so they could see if we were carrying anything then all of a sudden out of nowhere they start blowing us, can I say that?
A: Yep
S: So everyone starts blowing everyone and the next thing we know it’s a gang bang with the border patrol hope the Canadian border never reads this one or we’re never getting back into this Country (laughing). We fucked the whole customs office unit.
F: The whole lot of them
S: Shit we can’t say that..