In this interview, AJ Channer, the frontman of the band Fire From the Gods, discusses the band’s upcoming release, “Soul Revolution Deluxe – The Collabs” which is out June 14 through Better Noise Music. AJ explains that the deluxe process is a tradition for the band, where they re-release and reimagine their songs. For this project, they decided to bring in friends and family from the rock community for collaborations. AJ also talks about the band’s diverse sound, blending reggae, hip hop, metal, and hardcore. AJ also shares the bands desire to tour in Australia and Japan; and who is AJ’s dream collaboration with? Read on and all will be revealed.
Andrew : How are you, my friend?
AJ : Oh, I’m solid. I’m solid. I’m solid as a rock, my G How are you?
Andrew : I’m really well, mate. Where are you at the moment?
AJ : I’m in Texas. I’m in humid hot Texas. I know things are cool down in Australia now, right?
Andrew : I am braving the cold in Melbourne.
AJ : Well, I don’t envy the cold, but it does get a little nasty here in Texas, bro.
Andrew : I can imagine. Welcome to The Rockpit obviously the reason we’re having it chat today is because of “Soul Revolution Deluxe – The Collabs”, which is hitting, which is scheduled for release June 14. Congrats on the project . The original version of Soul Revolution has been out since 22.
AJ : Yes.
Andrew : Tell me a little bit about the deluxe process and the collaborations.
AJ : Well, the deluxe process is something that we’ve started since the beginning of our career. We always do kind of a re-release and we change it up every now and then. We typically have a re-imagining of the song, but this one I wanted to bring in some homies. We wanted to bring in some real good friends of ours, some family, really rock family to help and do real collabs, not just do a re-imagining of the song. And it is kind of like a hip-hop thing. I mean, a collab bring, that’s why both two of the songs are rappers that are guys in metal bands. But guys are in close proximity to fire from the Gods in terms of style. So, it was really in like a homie thing.
Andrew : Yeah. Look, I have to admit that having heard the re-imagined collaborations, they really do add something to the songs, which were already amazing, but the way that you blend so many different styles within the bands that the band sound is remarkable. For me. There’s always something on a listen that I find or that hits me that I didn’t hear last time, and that’s really exciting and refreshing in music these days. Congratulations on that group of songs. How did you go to pick those four songs that have been collaborated on?
AJ : Man, it wasn’t like a rabbit out of a hat thing. We didn’t pick the name out of a hat or anything. It was kind of, which ones really did we think needed a little bit, which were really truly indicative of our sound. “Soul Revolution” was a very diverse record. I mean, we had a ballad on there for the first time, a real ballad, which we had never really had before, and those tracks got, it was kind of a him or hate him sort of thing. But with the three that we chose for the collabs, we wanted it to be who would be best for it to join Fire From The Gods, really to be kind of like a fifth member, so to speak, and news to the world. We’re now a four piece, that’s why I said fifth member, but who would come in as a fifth member and really just lay it down and not try and say, oh, well, I’m going to take a Fire From The Gods song and do my own thing with it. Yeah, we want you to express yourself, but we wanted it to be seamless. That’s why we chose ‘Soul Revolution’, ‘SOS’ and ‘Double-Edged Sword’ because those were the bounciest, they had the most swag, the most panache, you know what I mean? There was a vibe to those songs and the guys that we chose with Young Marsh, with Nate Vickers and Jaden Panesso, each one of those guys bring a different element to I think, an already established sound that we are as a band. So, it was kind of specific for them and not just what we wanted.
Andrew : mean these particular artists, obviously they’ve crossed paths with, I mean Fire From The Gods along the history of the band. Has there ever been thought of perhaps a reverse collaboration you take on one of their songs?
AJ : Maybe? I’ve done so many different features and stuff, and so I’m kind of trying to fall back from that because I was kind of like a, oh my God. Oh, my daze. I was a bit of a feature whore for a little bit because I love metal and I love rocking. I want to do a bunch of different things, but I was like, yo, I got to chill out, man. So, we’re going to work on new music ourselves, and I’m probably going to take a step back from, but if someone like a massive band, one of my idols, like Korn or a Slipknot, which Korn doesn’t ever do, or if the Deftones of somebody came and knocking. Yeah, bro, I’m, I’m going to collab for sure.
Andrew : Absolutely. Now, in going and touching on what I said stylistically, you’ve been described Fire From the Gods has been described as a blend of reggae, hip hop, metal and hardcore. Is that a description or is that really just scratching the surface?
AJ : I think it’s a bit of scratching the surface, but it’s a great overview. But I think scratching the surface, because we have so much to offer as a band, and I believe it, you can see that on from every release, every release that we’ve got, it changes and the style. We kind of solidify our particular sound a little bit more every time, and I think we’re still kind of getting there, but we know who we are at this point. It’s what is the final form. So yeah, we throw in a little rock, we throw in a little hardcore, we throw in a little reggae, we thrown a little metal, but we’re just Fire From The Gods. We’re just dudes that a bunch of different shit.
Andrew : You been the sole front man for Fire From The Gods now for 10 years.
AJ : Yeah. Happy guy. Thank You.
Andrew : How did you and the band find each other?
AJ : We found each other via a mutual manager. I was in a hardcore band in New York and they had a vocalist that wasn’t really, wasn’t working out, and the manager was like, dude, I found this band and I had heard of him. I didn’t really know. And everyone was like, yo, this guy, this dude does YouTube covers, and he’s just really dope vocalist and everyone loves him. And I’d been around in the scene for a long time, so I was like, who is this guy and who’s this band? When I heard the band, I was like, wow, this is exactly what I’m looking to do. So the opportunity, the guy wasn’t working and wasn’t doing his thing, didn’t want tour and wasn’t working out, and the band were like, Hey, come down and give it a shot. They didn’t know that I had already basically learned the music. They thought they were just going to come down and I was going to jam, and they were going to kind of get a little bit of a preview and say, okay, we’ll make a decision. But they had a show actually that was planned, but they had a show planned for the next day, and I didn’t know it, but when I tried out, they were like, yo, they were like, okay, we’re going to have you come out for one song and that’ll be your kind of audition on stage. But in the practice space, I did the whole set and they were like, holy shit, bro, do you just want to join the band? So, I was like, yeah, I want to join the band. I love what you’re doing. So right then and there, man, it was kind of decided, and we all knew it was a subconscious thing. We didn’t sign anything. We didn’t even shake hands or anything. It was just like, let’s get in the van, let’s play some shows and let’s see how it goes. And here we are almost 10 years later and
Andrew : What a ride it’s been for you guys. You just seem to be going from strength to strength with these last three albums, gaining attention and traction from the right people. Having worked with Jonathan Davis from Korn. There must be really must pinch yourself moments when obviously some of those bands and their influence runs deep.
AJ : Very much so. Very much so, man. But the thing is, we’re kind of like, I feel like we’re like Elvis man. We haven’t made it in certain areas. We’ve toured the states a ton. We’ve been to Europe twice, but I haven’t been down to Oz yet, and I haven’t been to Japan, and I really want to play a festival or do a tour in Australia because I know there’s so much love for the band down there. We just haven’t been there yet. So, I don’t want to miss that opportunity, and I don’t want it to come to a time when some bands get burnt out and they’re like, oh, I don’t want to tour that far, and I don’t really want to do that. So, before we get to that point where we’re too busy or something like that, I really want to get down and frequent some of the scenes in Australia. I really love what a lot of the metal core bands are doing down there now, and I think it would be perfect. I think it’s a perfect breeding ground for us to plant and to plant a flag and to really solidify ourselves as a really internationally known band. So, I really want to get down to Australia, bro.
Andrew : We would love to have you, and I’m sure that the Australian audiences would just embrace what you guys are doing. Obviously, we’ve had the Australian version of Knotfest out here. I think you guys would be a perfect addition to a festival.
AJ : We’ve done Knotfest like five times in the States, so it’s like, oh, wow. Yeah, and every time I see some dudes in Slipknot, I see Corey, I’m like, yo, bro, what’s up, man? What the hell, dude. We were on Knotfest in Mexico and they had a meet and greet, and I know some of the dudes, and I didn’t want to text or call and be like, yo, what’s up you guys? Are you hanging out? So I actually joined the meet and greet. I paid for the meet and greet, and when I got in the queue, they were like, bro, what are you doing? I was like, yo, listen man, this is our fourth time playing, Knotfest. When are we going to go to Knotfest Japan or Australia? And they’re like, all right, we’ll figure it out sometime.
Andrew : Someone really needs to push harder on that one because you would go down an absolute treat here in Australia.
AJ : Yes.
Andrew : With the re-release, there’s also a cover of Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Guerilla Radio’.
AJ : Yes.
Andrew : Why did you pick that track?
AJ : Because I love Rage Against The Machine, and it was one of my favourite bands growing up, we could have done anything, but the band collectively was like, yeah, let’s do Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Guerrilla Radio’. I really wanted to cover Jimi Hendrix. I wanted to cover ‘All Along The Watchtower’, which I believe at some point we will, but we wanted a cover that we could all agree on, and I had loved that band when I was a kid, and that was kind of one of the first politically charged metal / rock / hip hop bands that I kind of got into. ‘Guerilla Radio’ was just like, all right, I already know the song. I’ve been playing it for years. I’ve been covering it for years. Let’s do ‘Guerilla Radio’, but I didn’t want to do it Rage Against the Machine. I wanted to make sure that it was our version, and I think we did a Fire From The Gods version of it, and not just a like for like cover. It’s a killer version.
I have to admit. It’s a killer version.
Andrew : I have to admit it is a killer version. When you hear that songs like that are going to be covered, you wonder whether it’s going to be as close to a carbon copy as you can get. But what you guys have done with it really has given it the band’s own twist. I love that in a cover, and I think that’s what makes a great cover because it’s a good personal interpretation of the song.
AJ : It’s not as epic as ‘Zombie’. They’ll get it twisted, but I love those dudes. Much love to my brothers in Bad Wolves, but it’s a simple song and it’s just like, yo, what can you do to change it or to make it your own? We kind of just metalized it and made it super heavy because we liked that. Live it just goes off and people love it, especially that little breakdown at the end. We added the little synth stuff, a little bit of that, not synthy synthy shit, but we added some modern little tricks to it, and people kind of dig it. So, I’m happy about it, and I’m excited for the world to finally hear it. We’ve been sitting on it for a while.
Andrew : Oh, awesome. Awesome. Now, obviously looking at bands like Rage Against Machine who always had a message and a strong social conscience, do you feel that Fire From The Gods shares that same sort of message within the music?
AJ : I think we share a similar message, but Fire From The Gods messages is more unity in the sense of, yeah, there’s a war to be fought for the hearts and souls of people and the hearts and minds of the masses, but I don’t necessarily want to do it through self-emulation or through violence or through political revolution. I think then the reason why the record was called “Soul Revolution” is because I think revolution truly starts in the mind and the heart, and it starts with an idea of changing your mind, changing your heart, and that’s how we change our world. If needs be, yes, I will stand up to the government and fight for my rights, so to speak. But I think in order for us to see real change in this world, I think it takes a little bit. I think we need to change our approach to how we view change and how we view revolution. It doesn’t necessarily have to come with the swing of an axe or the firing of a bullet. I think we’re more evolved, and the idea of change has to be seen as something that blankets everyone and involves everyone and not me versus you.
Andrew : I think that’s a really good social conscience to have, and I tend to agree on a lot of that, there are things do need to change. We need to just be kinder and more thoughtful and less reactive in the world that we’re in. Otherwise, we’re not going to have a world soon.
AJ : Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. I mean, again, anybody that’s willing to put an opinion and a thought or provoke a thought out there via music is always a positive thing for me too. Thankfully. I appreciate that.
Andrew : I think we’re almost out of time, but just a couple of really quick questions for you just to wrap it up. Your dream collaboration, who would you love to collaborate with?
AJ : Damn. Alive or Dead?
Andrew : Either
AJ : Man. Oh my God, wait until my mom hears this. James Brown, man.
Andrew : Wow. Yeah.
AJ : Yeah. I think James Brown would sound sick over a breakdown. And the moves, bro, James Brown would be, and just talking all the shit that he talked, man or some smooth Barry White. I’ve been thinking about the, I’m like, dude, I could hear a fucking rock ballad with Barry White’s voice, and I’m like, maybe I’ve been trying to get super low now. Yeah. So, I’m like, I want to try it, man in the studio and just see how it goes on some perfect sex music, bro, because you see Sleep Tokens doing it. Why can’t I do it?
Andrew : Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
Aj : Barry White man. Love it. That would be absolutely amazing.
Andrew : We are out of time. AJ, thank you so much for this chat. I’d love to chat to you more in the future. I’d like to deep dive into your story as well. It’s an interesting one that from what I know. Congratulations on “Soul Revolution Deluxe – The Collabs”, and I can’t wait for people to start to hear it and hear how you’ve reworked these killer tunes. Already. Fingers crossed that we get to see you out here in Australia in the not too distant future.
AJ : Thank you, it’s been fun.
Andrew : Have a great day.
AJ : You too, my brother. You take care.
