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Hard Announcements Interviews

Life of Agony Interview

On January 25th, 2004, at the Webster Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut I had an interview scheduled for the mighty Ball-Buster with the legendary underground band Life of Agony. I arrive at the venue in the freezing weather and the lead singer Keith Caputo escorted me quickly on their tour bus to escape the harsh weather temperature. Him and I sat down and discussed several topics such as their personal lives to their careers. He was very genial and open to talk about anything. Here is what happened.

Travis: So what are your thoughts and feelings about what you’re doing right now in your career such as touring?

Keith: The tour is going well. The weather is very fucking cold. So the weather conditions don’t make it any easier but the shows have been going great.

T: Where’s the best show you’ve played so far?

K: Last night in New Jersey at the Starlight ballroom. The place only holds 1500 and we put in 2000. It was just an incredible show.

T: Are there any crazy road stories from this tour or past tours or anything like that?

K: What’s crazy?

T: You know, big group orgies, doing a lot of drugs, and all of that crazy stuff.

K: No, dude. We are drug free and we are all in love.

T: What is a couple of bands that you really like and admire?

K: All the bands that I like and admire, I have never gotten a chance to play with. Most of the artists that I admire are dead and stand for anti-heroism.

T: Tell me how things have changed in your life from when you guys were unsigned to now?

K: It’s ten years of explanations which is virtually impossible to explain, ya know. So much has changed. The industry has changed.

T: For the better or for the worst?

K: For the worst. The labels and execs don’t have any patience. No one has any patience. They’re looking for McDonald’s versions of expression, ya know. They want fast food and don’t have enough patience to indulge in a Thanksgiving dinner. It’s very big brother, very AOL.

T: Tell me about your CD/DVD “River Runs Again: Live 2003”?

K: Well, it’s from the Irving Plaza shows. We wanted to document it and share it with as many people as we possibly could.

T: And you have a new song called “Love To Let U Down.” Tell me about that? What’s the song about?

K: It’s about a lot of things, ya know. For me it’s about turning over a new side, things going cyclical, and the unavoidable vicious circle. Ya know, going after a fresh start and believing in one another… focusing on loyalty and devotion regardless of how much pain you put your loved one through. It’s just a general message I would say.

T: So, tell me about your next CD. What’s the scoop? Give me an update.

K: Perhaps 2005 a new record will be released. We’re working on new material. We filter all of the ideas through one another until we all feel that it’s right. Sometimes we feel that it is not right, ya know, and when that happens nothing happens… we just fuck it off. We try for it not to affect us in anyway. We are just having fun and trying to write some great music…some intense music.

T: We were talking about the music industry before on how it’s all generic. For a while the trend was rap-metal and now we have nu-metal.

T:What do you think the next trend in rock music will be?

K: I don’t know and I don’t really care about trends or what the next big thing is. I really have no interest in any of that stuff. I mean I think it’s all shallow and there’s no longevity in that.

T: Could you see yourselves having longevity in the music industry?

K: I don’t know if I will be 50 or 60 years old in Life of Agony. I know that I will be involved in music, but I don’t know if I will be in this band at that age, ya know, maybe. Maybe I will be the Mick Jagger of hard rock or something, who the fuck knows? But I can’t possibly imagine myself singing “River Runs Red,” at 50. I don’t really know how long this will last. I know I will be in music forever. That is a definite. That I feel in my gut that I will always be creatively working with people and particular the guys in Life of Agony, I don’t know, I would hope so and it’s not like I don’t want to but I can’t see it. I don’t know. By then I would hope to be moving on to bigger and better things.

T: So what is next for Life of Agony?

K: We are just going to tour throughout the year. We will tour in America and then go do a bunch of festival tours in Europe. We are just going to try to play as much as we can and at the same time work on the new record, ya know. And try to build a promising tomorrow by putting your energy into the present.

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