From Ashes to New have released a deluxe version of their album “Blackout” through Better Music Group, featuring new tracks and collaborations with artists such as Chrissy Costanza from Against the Current and Aaron Pauley from Of Mice and Men. The band’s vocalist, Danny Case, explained that the idea behind the deluxe version was to give the album a facelift and offer fans something new while they work on new material. The band is currently wrapping up a two-month tour and has plans for new music in the near future. We dive into the deluxe version and talk about the ideas behind the reworkings and the new songs.
Andrew : Hey Danny, welcome to The Rockpit. How has your day been?
Danny : It’s kind of just getting started. We had a crazy day and now my sleep schedule shot.
Andrew : I’ll try and make this as painless as possible, my friend. Congratulations on the deluxe version of “Blackout”.
Danny : Thank you, man. Appreciate it. It’s coming out for us tonight. It’s already out for you guys, so yeah, we’re excited about it. There’s a ton of features on it and a couple new tracks, so we’re super excited about it.
Andrew : It’s only been a year since, well, almost a year since you first released “Blackout”. Now we’ve got the deluxe version which features something old and something new. What was the idea behind that?
Danny : We wanted to basically get the album a facelift and a lot of bands will do this work. They’ll put out a deluxe edition, put out different versions of songs that have already come out, they’ll put out maybe a couple new songs, and that was just kind of the idea with this was to do essentially the same thing. We put out some songs with some new features on it so it gives the track a bit of a different feel and then also drop a couple new ones to give the fans something new while we work on new stuff.
Andrew : The first single that came from it was barely breathing with Chrissy Costanza from Against the Current. How did that come about and how did you come to pick Chrissy?
Danny : We were talking with our label and we knew we wanted to put a feature on it, and the song itself is kind of a classic relationship kind of breakup song, so I think it was either Lance or the label brought Chrissy to the table and Lance was like, I know her band because of the song they had on League of Legends, and he was like, she would be great to have on this song, so we sent it to her. You never know what you’re going to expect when you get it back, but she crushed it. She did a phenomenal job. She has an awesome range. She sounded great in the verses and in the choruses, which is I think for a female, the verses are pretty low and she nailed them. She did such a great job. The song is awesome. We love the way it turned out.
Andrew : The clip works really well as well. It’s her addition to that song really is that next level up. It really has taken that song up a notch. Not that it wasn’t amazing in the first place, but it’s such a nice original take on doing something and turning the song into a duet, which I guess is effectively what it’s become.
Danny : Absolutely, absolutely, and I hear it is going top five now in the us so we’re super stoked about that.
Andrew : Absolutely, when you write a song like that, it’s deeply personal and it’s based on real life. Did you think a female aspect would bring a different spin on it?
Danny : Absolutely. It kind of does adjust the message a little bit because instead of one person telling a story, it’s two people on both sides maybe have different perspectives of the same exec story, and so having her in the second verse and in the second chorus and then the two of them two us together in the bridge, really, I think it changed the story’s dynamic to where you’re kind of getting both sides of the story in that, oh, maybe it wasn’t just a one sided thing. Maybe it is both sides and everybody’s got their own perspective. So yeah, I think that was a really cool unintended consequence of having a female vocal on it.
Andrew : The deluxe version also features ‘One Foot in the Grave’, which features Aaron Pauley from Of Mice and Men. How did that collaboration come about? It’s a great track.
Danny : It was actually one of the first tracks that we worked on for the entire record. I think we just got so used to it that we were like, let’s put these other tracks on the album. Let’s save this one for the deluxe. And then Matt has always been a fan of Mice and Men and their earlier work, and I was a big fan of restoring forks, and so to have Aaron on a track was really cool. So we reached out, our teams got connected, he was down to do it, he put his own spin on it and it sounded great, and we knew that it would be a really cool team up because they’re say that they’re pretty well seated in the metal core and metal world, and we kind of are a bit more on the active rock and a little bit into the wrap side. I feel like it was a really cool bridge between maybe two different corners of the rock industry. We were really excited about that feature and I think it turned out really cool.
Andrew : The thing about these collaborations is that each one brings something different to the table because ‘Monster In Me’ with Yelawolf again is different from what you do. The choices have obviously been really well thought out and the direction that you guys have wanted to take. Has the direction always been a vision that you guys have had for these songs or is it hey, let’s bring such and such in and see how it works?
Danny : Usually when we write a song, we bring in a feature afterwards, although we would like to get into a position I think where we have a song and we just leave a verse empty or something like that and let someone else kind of do their thing. Actually, yellow Wolf is one of those examples. There was already a verse there, but we took that out and had him put his own thing in. But yeah, it would be nice to create a song from scratch with someone else in mind and create the song together that way it has from the start a purpose rather than adding someone in later. Although adding someone in later is always perfectly fine too, and it typically works out and it always sounds great because artists know how to handle themselves on pretty much any track. I would say all of the features on this record are like that with the one exception being Sullivan King, where he just took the song and he just did his thing with it and sent it back and we were like, this is big.
Andrew : I’ve got to ask you about that is just such a nuts remix. He has just added so much to that song in the way that it’s done, and it actually took a couple of listens to take it all in because there is so much going on in that track again. Were you familiar with Sullivan King’s work and was it somebody that you wanted to work with?
Danny : I had heard his name, and I hadn’t listened to anything that he had done yet, but I did go and attend an Avenged Sevenfold concert, and he was there and I thought that his set was really cool, and at that point we had already slated to have the feature done and then I got to hear it and I was like, this is cool. I was like, why have I not listened to this guy? This is really awesome. And it’s cool. He does bring a different aspect, I think, to the rock and metal world, so I love what he does. I think what he does is great and I think there’s a reason that he is moving up the way he’s moving up.
Andrew : There were pieces in there that remind me of almost classic Nine Inch Nails remixes, just with some of the way that he’s added his bits and pieces to the track, and it really is just an amazing collaboration between the two of you and what a great way to work on a track. Now the other thing, when I mentioned before there was something old, something new, there’s an acoustic version of ‘Hate Me’ that appears on the deluxe version, man, what a version hearing that stripped back. It’s got a magic to it.
Danny : That was fun. The song for the most part, vocally stayed the same. I think I had to retake some things with a little less aggression and power in my voice just to make it kind of all fit. But yeah, then Lance obviously had to do some different things on the guitar parts. But yeah, we wanted to just probably a different spin on it. It felt like a fitting song and it turned out really cool.
Andrew : I guess the other thing too is from first hearing “Blackout” when it was released, the band has such a unique sound, it has such a big melting pot of styles and influences. Is this something that you’ve consciously gone to create when you write music to create something that has as much variety and depth in it as possible?
Danny : It’s funny, we didn’t intentionally do that with this record. We went into it wanting to capture the sound of the band and what it was always meant to be and just be the best version of ourselves. We took a look at the old albums of the past and we’re like, what? Put this band on the map? Let’s get back to doing that. Obviously with just a more updated and new approach to that same sound. So, we went heavier, we tried to make the raps aggressive, we tried to bring in as much screaming as possible, and then that created a lot of cool tracks. And then there was also just this tendency to make some different kind of songs and get adventurous as well. I think that’s just due to all of our different influences and we all have lots of different backgrounds and influences, and I think that’s why that turned out the way it did.
When we first finished it, we were like, man, we kind of have this core body of work, but then there are these other songs that are kind of different from the sound, and we weren’t sure if that was good or bad, and I think it paid off. I think it was really cool because instead of getting just chocolate ice cream the whole time, you’re getting neapolitan and you’re like, oh, here’s some chocolate, here’s some vanilla, here’s some. You get a little bit of a flavour of everything. Then I actually think that turned out really cool and we’ll probably aim to continue doing in the future because it wasn’t forced. It just came out naturally and that’s how music should be.
Andrew : I think it’s something that I appreciate from a listener’s point of view is hearing an album that doesn’t stay safe with an album sound as much as “Blackout” is very, very concise in the way that it sounds, and it flows and it works really well. It’s the little stylistic influences and differences and changes that happen throughout it that makes such an appealing listen. It’s an album where you can tell it has a beginning and an end to a degree when you’re on repeat. It’s like okay, I’m back to the beginning.
From a listener’s point of view, when you talk about all of you having different influences, who are your biggest influences in what you do?
Danny : When I was growing up, I grew up on classic rock, all the stuff that was played on the radio. My parents were always playing it in the car. When I first started playing music, I was playing drums to Blink 182 and Linkin Park and Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Then I got into bass and I got into the guitar and all those mainstream punk kind of bands or a big influence. Then I got into Breaking Benjamin and they opened my world up to the metal world, they were kind of the initial introduction to metal. Then I got into Avenged Sevenfold. They’re my favourite band of all time, and I was like, human beings can’t play music. This has got to be fake. So that was my first introduction. Then I was like, this is fake. There’s no way that somebody’s playing music like this sure as shit. They are the real deal. They are some of the best musicians in the entire world, all in the same band. And I did nothing but listen to and study and work on making myself a better musician because of their music. And then later on I discovered Memphis May Fire, I fell in love with their music. The bands I like nowadays are Periphery, Architects and Bring Me The Horizon, but for sure my all-time biggest influence, biggest band is Avenged Sevenfold.
Andrew : Avenged Sevenfold they’re again a classic band and again, a band that I discovered very, very early on in their career and just it was four on the floor material with Avenged Sevenfold, so I get the appeal there. They are truly an incredible band full of amazing musicians and writers. You mentioned Memphis May Fire, obviously the original version of Deluxe has Until We Break, which has Matty Mellon’s featured on that as well. What was that like working with him?
Danny : He’s the man. I hate his Guts (laughs). We have a joke between our bands where we just talk shit on each other with our fan stuff. I think it was Matt that started it. There was a guy wearing a Memphis May fire shirt and we made the entire VIP state Memphis May Fire Sucks, and then we sent it to them and then Maddie started sending videos back. It is just been a great back and forth. He is an awesome dude. I love what he stands for as well as the band’s music in general I think’s really great. Their recent album, remade and Misery was one of their best albums. It was a really, really great record and all the guys in the band are super cool. We toured with them in 2022 and nothing but love for those guys and that’s been really, really cool. Come back to listening to their music and being inspired by them and then being able to tour with them, having Maddie be on a track. That’s been really cool.
Andrew : Now if we also look at collaborations, if we can go back to 2022, the band was involved in The Retaliators ‘21 Bullets’ project. How did that come about and what involvement?
Danny : That would be a Matt question. I have no idea. He worked on the track. I was completely removed from the process. That was something that the label sent over to Matt, he worked on and sent it back and that was pretty much it. I actually haven’t even listened to the track, so I have to listen to it, but that does tend to happen sometimes. The same thing happened with my feature with The Hu, not the band The Who, the Mongolian throat singing band, that was something that was sent over to us and Matt was like, I think Dave, you need to do this. I kind of wrote it on my own with Lance and we sent it in, so Matt was kind of removed from that process. So that does tend to happen sometimes. I’m sure that happens for the other bands when they’re working on our features, like for instance, Aaron Polly or Chrissy Costanza. So that in particular would for Matt to review that question.
Andrew : You guys are just wrapping up a pretty full-on couple of months touring. According to the website you’ve got less than a handful of shows to go.
Danny : Let’s see. We’ve got, after tonight we have five dates left. We have two more in a row, a day off, and then three last shows, and that’s it.
Andrew : What are the plans for the second half of 2024 then?
Danny : Tons of touring and working on new music. So very, very busy schedule.
Andrew : I mean, obviously with you mentioning before that ‘Barely Breathing’ has now gone top five. Obviously, there would be a bit of pressure to get you guys back out on the road again as quickly as
Danny : For sure.
Andrew : Who are you looking at touring with?
Danny : In September, we have Nothing More and then in October we have Set It Off and us doing a double billing tour. So those should be two really cool tours. There may be one last one that we do. We aren’t sure yet, but other than that we’re going to be working on new music and that’ll be pretty much it for 2024.
Andrew : Any talks of coming to Australia for some shows?
Danny : God, I wish. I wish, man. Not yet. Not yet, but we’re working on it. Any opportunity that we get to go outside of the US, we will be taking in the upcoming year.
Andrew : Yeah, I think you guys would be a really good addition to the Australian Knotfest line up. Seeing the variety that we had in that last year out here was just amazing. The Hu, again, were a huge highlight for me, so I can imagine how much of a blast it must’ve been working with those guys and collaborating. As far as new music, has the writing process started?
Danny : Yep. We spent a few weeks in the studio early this year, got some things together, and I think we’re taking our time with this record “Blackout” was such a great success that we really want to follow it up and smashed that one out of the park with this new record. We’re taking our time, we’re working on it, but at the same time, we want to get it out as soon as possible to capitalize on the momentum that we have, but it’s just going to come when it comes, so we’re trying not to force anything.
Andrew : I do look forward to that, and I wish you all the success with “Blackout Deluxe” and for where things take you over this next six months. It’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you, Danny. We’d love to see you here and please, let’s stay in touch. I’d like to chat more as new music evolves and happens.
Danny : Thanks for sure. Thanks for having me, Andrew. Too easy.
Andrew : Take care. Enjoy the rest of your day, man.
