Trivium
with Matthew K. Heafy on Aug 29, 2006
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Next week (9th of October) Roadrunner will release the new Trivium album called “The Crusade”. About a month ago I had the chance to talk to frontman Matthew K. Heafy about the new album, his favourite Dutch food and his all-time favourites.


Do you like the promo tour? I heard this is your first time.
Yeah, but it’s not as fun as playing f*cking video games. But we have to do this.
What kind of video games do you like and do you also play videogames when you are on tour?
I love the final fantasy series. I know all of them. First I only played video games at my home. But since a while I started playing in the tour bus and at the hotel.
How are the reactions so far about the new album?
I only heard some reactions from press people. The press all f*cking loved it.


Do you like it yourself?
I love it. All four of us finally wrote the music we wanted to hear so we are very happy with our new album.
What’s your favourite song from the album?
Today my favourite song is “Becoming The Dragon” but it can be different tomorrow.
If I’m right you’re the main songwriter from the band.
Trivium is a band on tour most of the time, where did you find time to write the songs?
Usually we have writing time but this time we didn’t. So we had to write on the road. It’s pretty hard writing in dressing rooms and clubs before the gig. At these moments we only had 20 minutes to write. It was hard but we had no choice.


Were do you find your inspiration for this album?
There’s nothing special that inspires me to write. I can be in a good mood or in a bad mood. Lyrically it’s about what I see around me in the world, more the global perspective than what’s going on with me.
What’s the most important to you, the lyrics or the music?
Both are very important. Some bands I only listen to for the music and some bands I only listen to for the lyrics. With Trivium we always make sure that both are good.
How was the recording session for “The Crusade”?
Very good, it was quick. There wasn’t even time to think. After the writing session we had a week to learn the songs, figure them out, produce and arrange them between the four of us. Then there was a short time to record the songs. After the recording the songs were shipped for mixing and we went on a new tour.


Trivium has become a big name in the world of metal. Three years ago you released an album on Lifeforce Records and now you are doing a promo tour for your second Roadrunner release. How are you dealing with the speed that Trivium is growing?
I’d rather like it that it happened quickly, better than it took ten years. I’ve been dealing with it. We’re happy because we always knew what we wanted, how we wanted to reach and were we wanted to be.
We want to take it higher and bigger.
A few months ago I saw you play in Arnhem (NL) with Metallica. That tour Metallica played the whole “Master Of Puppets” album. The album is released in the same year as you was born. How is it for you to play with bands like Metallica?
Cool, I mean I didn’t listen to Metallica before 1999. I’m not even listening to metal that long. I’m listening to metal for 7 or 8 years now.
The first metal album I’ve ever heard was the “Black Album” by Metallica. Before that I only listen to some radio rock or some tunes on MTV. Back then I didn’t even knew metal existed.
It’s great that we can be on tour with the biggest bands in the world.
Are there any dreams left with this band? I mean you played almost every festival and stage.
Yeah there are still dreams. We would like to become a band that marks some in the music history, a band that did something special for the music. We would like to become bigger than Maiden, Metallica, Pantera etc.
What’s the best album you’ve ever heard album?
I would say Metallica’s Black Album because of what it did for me.
What’s the best show you ever played?
I think Download (Great Brittain) 2005. That’s because of what it did for us after that we had three sold out tours and a gold record. I think that show is responsible for that because we had to play for so many people that were so curious about what we could do.


What do you think of myspace.com? Do you visit the site to look for talented bands/ music?
Websites like myspace.com are great for newer bands to put their name out and for popular bands to keep their fans updated. We always read the mails from our fans and post them comments. It’s a great way to get in touch with our fans. I mean without the fans band are nowhere. Myspace is a great safe way to keep in touch with them.
I never look for talented bands on the internet. I only like the old albums. I like Queen for example.
Is there something I can wake you up for at night?
(He thinks and thinks)……..
Since we’re in this country (Netherlands) there is a restaurant in a place called Eindhoven that sells the Golliat pancake. To me it looks like an American omelette pancake but it’s thin and has got the size of a big plate. And it has got ham, bacon, chees, mushrooms and it’s f*cking enormous. That was in Eindhoven I forgot how the restaurant is called. If I’m here that, and for the rest any song of “Cowboys From Hell” (Pantera).
Thanks for answering my questions!
It was my pleasure and hope to see you in May when we come back to Europe for a headlining tour