{"id":8866,"date":"2015-07-01T14:00:45","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/download-festival-interview-counterparts\/"},"modified":"2018-03-11T01:38:48","modified_gmt":"2018-03-11T01:38:48","slug":"download-festival-interview-counterparts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/download-festival-interview-counterparts\/","title":{"rendered":"Download Festival Interview: Counterparts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Counterparts<\/b>\u2019 Download Festival<\/b> debut has been long overdue, 8 years since their inception. Holding the fate of their genre in their capable hands, Ontario\u2019s metalcore outfit opened the Maverick stage on Friday with as much fervor as ever before.<\/p>\n

Already Heard<\/b> sat down with vocalist Brendan Murphy and drummer Kelly Bilan, teasing July\u2019s release of their fourth full-length \u2018Tragedy Will Find Us\u2019<\/i>, their responsibility over the genre and trash-talking Gene Simmons.<\/p>\n

Already Heard: Hey guys, how\u2019s it feel finally playing at Donington with these insane crowds? <\/b>
Kelly Bilan: We love playing the UK, and the crowds here specifically are great. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan Murphy: It\u2019s crazy, yeah! <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: So this is the first time you\u2019ve played Download, how\u2019s that feel? <\/b>
Brendan: It\u2019s weird that we\u2019re playing like a festival this big, we\u2019re used to those festivals that maybe 1,000 or 2,000 people come out to in the middle of nowhere America. <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: We\u2019re quite new to being a \u2018big band\u2019 if you wanna even call us that, it\u2019s just new to us. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: Doing big festivals and bigger stuff, it\u2019s really new to us so it\u2019s cool, I guess you have to do this, you have to step out and do this kind of stuff! <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: Considering the length of time you guys have been together, this is quite overdue, right? <\/b>
Brendan: Yeah! The thing is, we don\u2019t get hung up on how long we\u2019ve been a band because we started when we were in high school and we couldn\u2019t do anything, so from 2009, we all graduated and then we were actually able to be a touring band. Yeah, we were in a band before that, but we were in high school! <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: We\u2019re waiting impatiently for \u2018Tragedy Will Find Us\u2019<\/i> in July, \u2018Collapse\u2019<\/i> teased the living daylights out of us! What else has the record got in store for us? <\/b>
Brendan: It\u2019s just a cool record. It\u2019s a really honest record and we don\u2019t hide anything, we don\u2019t do anything we don\u2019t wanna do. It\u2019s just what we wanted to do. <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: I feel it\u2019s a natural progression from our last record. <\/i><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

AH: It\u2019s inspiring how honest you are on record. <\/b>
Brendan: The thing is, we could lie and we could bullshit people but if we play it, we\u2019re never gonna make money doing it, so if we were a pop band, I would lie through my fucking teeth to make a living out of it! But why lie when you don\u2019t have to? What\u2019s the difference making $50 extra a month, who gives a shit? I\u2019d rather be honest and be poor. <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: Everyone talks about how you have this energy and commitment that\u2019s woken up a genre that\u2019s been lying dormant for too long. <\/b>
Brendan: Do people say that?! If that\u2019s what people are saying, then that\u2019s great! <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: That\u2019s so cool! <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: Does that feel like too much responsibility on your shoulders? <\/b>
Kelly: I guess in our genre, there\u2019s not much going on right now. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: For a while it was going so well, but\u2026.<\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: I guess if we can have any influence on the way it ends up, then that\u2019s great! <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: If younger bands come out to one of our shows and be like, \u201cwow, they didn\u2019t bullshit anybody, they didn\u2019t flake and they didn\u2019t lie and they didn\u2019t fucking pretend to give a shit, they actually do,\u201d then that\u2019s great. If that makes kids be like, \u201cwell we\u2019re not gonna be fake and put on this front and pretend to be someone we\u2019re not,\u201d then that\u2019s great because I fucking hate those people, that\u2019s why I don\u2019t associate with them! Given the kind of band we are, we don\u2019t have the option to sell out, so we\u2019d literally have to start another band to sell out! <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: If you\u2019re in a band, be who you are, there\u2019s only so much room for you because everyone wants to be the biggest band in the world. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: I\u2019m not against being in a pop band, but that\u2019s not what Counterparts is about. If I wanted to, I\u2019d start a pop band and make all this money then use that to fund Counterparts! <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: Who was your musical inspiration growing up? <\/b>
Kelly: NOFX. I grew up on punk! <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: It\u2019s natural, it\u2019s how things were. \u201cFuck you mom!\u201d If you\u2019re a young kid and you\u2019re not angry, then you grow up to be a fucking idiot. <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: Or a fucking serial killer. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: Well there\u2019s not much money in that unless the people you kill are rich. I\u2019m sure you can\u2019t get to them because they have guards and shit. <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: What\u2019s your view on the Gene Simmons debate that rock, and by extension metal, is dead? <\/b>
Brendan: Did he say that?! <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: Family Jewels himself?! <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: The most I know about him is that I think his kids are nice-looking. <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: Yeah, he had them with a Canadian woman actually. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: I dunno, he\u2019s probably right, if he says it, it\u2019s probably true. <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: I\u2019m sure he knows what\u2019s going on. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: But his net income a couple of years ago was substantially more than it is now, so I guess it\u2019s dead, whereas we don\u2019t have any money to begin with. Saying things are dead is kinda wack to begin with, because if you go anywhere, you can find it. <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: It\u2019ll come back.<\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: Yeah, it\u2019ll come back. Metalcore\u2019s on top again, early 2000s metalcore is back again and for the longest time, people said that was dead and it seemed to coincide directly with when we started touring, and now it\u2019s coming back, so maybe we have a shot at being a fucking cool band! But at the same time, I think I hear Gene Simmons\u2019 name once every six months and it\u2019s attached to a fucking pinball machine or a yo-yo or something. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: I\u2019d rather kiss than listen to KISS. I\u2019d rather make out with someone I\u2019m not too fond of. So my only hope is Gene Simmons hears this and starts a full-blown attack on us because that\u2019d be tight PR! <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: If you could go back and relive any of Counterparts\u2019 albums or tours, whether you were in the band or not, which would you go back to? <\/b>
Kelly: Oh god, that\u2019s put me on the spot! I love every band I\u2019ve ever been in, they\u2019ve all been completely different. A band I was in around 2007\/8 to 2010, that was just the weirdest. We weren\u2019t big or whatever, but we were just cool and the songs were awesome, it was a weird experience. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: Yeah, they were sick. <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: Well, I\u2019m enjoying it now more so, but that\u2019s when I started to like writing music, so that was my first taste of it. And then it opened up all these other doors so that\u2019s why I\u2019m here now. <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: If there\u2019s one venue you haven\u2019t already played, where would you most want to play? <\/b>
Brendan: Oh jeez, that\u2019s tough. Anywhere in the world? I wanna go back in time playing a decent time slot at Hellfest 2003 in Syracuse, NY. Somewhere between My Chemical Romance and Hopesfall so maybe Trustkill Records reps could be out there and they could just sign us and it would be sick. <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: So we know a setlist can\u2019t please everyone, but what song do you wish would make a setlist? <\/b>
Kelly: On the last record, \u2018Soil\u2019. It\u2019s just long, it has a lot happening. We could play it but it\u2019s just not that kind of song that translates live. <\/i><\/p>\n

Brendan: If 20,000 people Paypaled me a dollar, I\u2019d talk to the guys to see if we could do it. <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: We often just choose the songs we like anyway, so it\u2019s like \u201cI like playing this one, so hopefully everyone likes it!\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n

AH: Where do you see yourself musically in 5-10 years\u2019 time? <\/b>
Brendan: Dead. Musically and my wellbeing \u2013 dead. Metal\u2019s fucking dead man, you heard it here first! <\/i><\/p>\n

Kelly: Tongueman himself said metal\u2019s dead! <\/i><\/p>\n

‘Tragedy Will Find Us’<\/i> by Counterparts<\/b> is released on 24th July on Pure Noise Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Counterparts<\/b> links: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Instagram<\/a>|YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

Counterparts<\/b> will be returning to the UK for a headline tour. Support comes from Senses Fail<\/b> and Capsize<\/b>.<\/p>\n

October
\n9th Tunbridge Wells Forum, Kent

\n10th Underworld, London
\n11th Sound Control, Manchester
\n12th Classic Grand, Glasgow
\n13th Asylum, Birmingham
\n14th Talking Heads, Southampton
\n15th Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
\n16th The Venue, Derby
\n17th The Key Club, Leeds<\/p>\n

View more of Already Heard<\/b>’s coverage of Download Festival<\/b> 2015 here<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Words by Ali Cooper (@AliZombie_<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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