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Interview

Interview With Matt From Trivium At RoadRage '04

Band Photo: Trivium (?)

I had the chance yesterday to sit down with Matt, lead singer and guitarist of Trivium, and interview him prior to the Road Rage '04's stop in Philadelphia. Without anymore delay, the interview is as follows:

Mike (CorrosiveMind): What is it like to be signed to Roadrunner Records when not too long ago you were playing your high school Battle of the Bands?

Matt(Trivium): It's pretty much a dream come true, I mean it's interesting, we did our demo in 2002, got signed in '03 in October, and all the sudden in April of '04 we get accepted to Roadrunner. So stuff just happens very quickly and with a label like Roadrunner the possibilities are endless. I mean, look at all the bands they have, it's just an amazing label with great people to work with.

Mike: Did the band get formed just for fun, to jam out, or was it always just something you knew you wanted to do?

Matt: I joined for fun at the time, but I was only 15 so I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I think Travis always had dreams of this being what he wanted to do. So I guess when we met it was just set from there.

Mike: What is it like to be playing with the likes of Machine Head and Chimaira?

Matt: As well as being signed to Roadrunner, a dream come true. Because I remember when I was 13 seeing Machine Head at the House of Blues at home. And that's before I was even in the band, and I remember being like holy shit, this is what I need to be doing. Then here we are now, playing on tour with them. They're very cool guys.

Mike: What or who are your major influences that made you really want to be in a band?

Matt: For all four of us, it's Metallica, Pantera, Megadeth, Testament and Slayer.

Mike: What band or bands would you like to tour with the most?

Matt: Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera (reunited, since they're our favorite band) and I'd really love to tour with In Flames, because they've had such a huge influence on me.

Mike: What advice would you give a young band that is looking to get signed?

Matt: Work your asses off, practice everyday if you can. Practice on your instrument or voice for 3-5 hours a day and it will happen. It will happen; we're living proof.

Mike: What's your opinion of downloading music online, or piracy as "they" like to call it?

Matt: I think in most cases, the only people that were suffering were major label artists who were making millions of dollars a year. I'm not sure how much they were suffering. But I know in my case, I would always download music, get the entire cd of a band that I've never heard of, and then go buy their cd. So, I think, in most cases the kids will buy the cds.

Mike: When you were writing your new material, did you try to make it more challenging then previous songs?

Matt: When I write a song, it's never on purpose; I never come in to it thinking of any direction of the song at all. It just flows I've never a predecided notion about it.