Author: Jeanette Nguyen
Date: 2009-07-15


Interview:
Fanbolt interviewed drummer Wade MacNeil of Alexisonfire at The 15th annual Vans Warped Tour in Ventura, Calif.

Let's talk about the recording process for Old Crows/Young Cardinals?

Wade: The main difference this time around is we recorded everything live off the floor, so we didn't layer anything, which we've generally done on our last record. I really like the results of the four of us playing in a big room together. It's not like we got them all off the first take, but it is the four of us playing start to finish. There's certain urgency in the recording that comes across that way. You can feel a little more tension in us, and there's something more natural about it.

Lyrically, what kind of subjects did you touch upon?

Wade: George (Petit, vocals) read this book called The Rebel by [Albert] Camus. It's about rebellion - ideas about it. Not anarchy stuff or something like that, but more on a metaphysical level. That definitely played into our lyrics. There are some songs talking about the economic climate, with everything that's going on right now, like "Midnight Regulations."

"Young Cardinals" is a song about good and bad, horror and beauty. With everything that's wrong with the world, there's still this really beautiful natural side of things that people don't worry about that carries on without us.

Why did you decide to name the album Old Crows/Young Cardinals?

Wade: There's no short answer to it. We were originally gonna call the album Young Cardinals after the song because we really like what it dealt with and the imagery it makes you think of.

Then as we were tossing around ideas and we wrote the song "Old Crows." That wrapped everything up. It was the final thought.

This is album number four for Alexisonfire. How do you guys remain relevant?

Wade: If you concern yourself with remaining relevant, you'll probably disappear into oblivion. We've always tried to challenge ourselves and not be repetitive with what we do. I think that's why we're still here. We never put out the same record twice. Although that might irritate a few people...

How do you deal with that type of backlash - when fans say your sound has changed?

Wade: Yeah, but if you put out the same record, people will say you've put out the same record. At the end of the day, you release music because you believe in the songs and believe that they're honest. That's all you can really hope for.