Progressive metal stalwarts Between The Buried And Me recently released their latest offering, “Automata I“, the first part of a 2 part double concept album. The story takes place in a dream world where the outside world is able to take a look inside the mind of a protagonist who is searching for his family, the dream being broadcast for everyone to see. To get a full idea of how the album came together and where the story comes from, we get a few words from frontman Tommy Rogers to explain the inner workings of the new songs.
Tell us a bit about the process of writing and recording the new songs. Was there much changed from the last recording?
Tommy: I guess the process was pretty similar. When we start writing an album we all kind of write a lot on our own, there’s not a whole lot of communication and this is beneficial because mainly we kinda just starting writing whatever we’re feeling at that time and once we get to a place where we can start sharing with one another we kind of get an idea of what direction the album is going in. We try to not plan much initially and just see what naturally happens and from there we start writing and once we start going it happens pretty fast. I hate to say effortlessly but we’re a good team, we’ve been writing a very long time together and I think each album comes together even better than the previous one.
As far as the process, not a whole lot has changed. For me I try to change it up here and there with my process for writing lyrics and vocals and I guess the main difference for this album was when I prepared the story, I didn’t have everything outlined exactly how I wanted it. Normally when I start a concept record I basically do a huge timeline and kind of map out the album once most of the music is done and this time I kind of wanted to start with a very simple idea and wing it and grow with it song by song. I’ve never done that before and because of that, it kind of took me out of habit and my comfort zone and because of that it made the story go in a direction I probably never would of had it go if I had ust wrote the story before the lyrics like I normally do. I kind of enjoyed it, it did create a fair amount of stress just because there was moments I kind of hit walls so to speak but I think the outcome as a lot better because I chose to write it like that.
What were some of the things you wanted to achieve with Automata?
Tommy: It’s one of those things, I think every album you want to achieve progression, you want the album to be better. It’s a time capsule, each album is and you want it to have it’s own moment yet you want it feel good with our catalogue and as you get older each album you want to get better at what you do so you hope to achieve all those things with it. I wouldn’t say it’s something you consciously think about but I think when the album is done and you’re listening back, you kind of hope these things are achieved.
What inspired the dream world story and did that help create the idea for a double album?
Tommy: The dream world story, like I was saying earlier kind of started with a very simple idea. Like what would a worst case scenario be and the worst case was waking up and not having my wife and son with me and so I basically took that very simple idea and created a whole story out of it. The dream world story was based off of a note I had written on my phone and I thought it was kind of an interesting idea that if possibly in the future there was a moment where somehow we could broadcast dreams worldwide and it was just a new form of entertainment. So I tried to tie that into the story and make this world that this guy was living in kind of in his mind and something that society is kind of voyeuristically watching in on and it opened up a lot of doors starting the album like that for me just because normally I have a full graps of where to go and with this album I did not at all.
For making it a part of the double album thing, that was something we did after the fact so I would say the story did not help create that idea at all. That was just something that we felt was necessary for the release of the album and we felt that was something that suited the album well.
What makes Automata I different from previous albums musically speaking? Do you try to keep things moving forward while retaining the signature sound that BTBAM is known for?
Tommy: I think [with] every band that’s kind of your goal. We don’t want to repeat ourselves yet at the end of the day, we want it to sound like a Between The Buried And Me record. I don’t think those are things you think about when you’re writing, I think because our sound is in our individual DNA so to speak. I think that naturally kind of happens and I think we did a good job with that but I don’t think when we write we’re focusing on that, I think we’re focusing on writing and what’s feeling good to us. A lot of that stuff is really hard to explain to someone, you just kind of feel it and know it. But yeah I think it’s a push forward for us totally and hopefully the next record will be a step forward from this one.
Any favorite moments or songs on Automata I?
Tommy: I really love the record. “Millions” is a really cool moment for us just because it’s a very different song for us, a little more stripped down and simple which we don’t do a lot. I like the intensity of “Yellow Eyes” and “Condemned to the Gallows” and “Blot”, I celebrate the whole catalogue. “Yellow Eyes” was kind of a schizophrenic way of..the vocals was very schizophrenic and that was a fun one for me to work on.
Do you enjoy the process of creating? Are you someone who continually writes or does the best come out under a little gentle pressure?
Tommy: I think pressure is important when creating things. When you’ve been doing it as long as us you always have pressure to satisfy people yet you’re always under deadlines so I think that stuff is good. I think if you had the freedom to take as long as you want on everything, it would never get done. So I love creating, I think that’s why we do what we do as you create literally something out of nothing. I do continually write, not really lyrics. I’m always writing music either for my solo record or the Between The Buried And Me stuff, I always try to write especially if I’m on the road. As far as lyrics stuff I’m always consciously thinking of ideas and writing down little notes and things that could help my path with what I want to do in the future. I always kind of have the next album or so laid out in my head so to speak when it comes to certain things so I’m constantly thinking about that for sure.
What does it feel like as an artist waiting for the songs you’ve lived with for some time to get released to the fans? Is there a sense of excitement or a little panic in there too?
Tommy: That’s kind of gone away honestly, over the years. I mean there’s still that sense of excitement, you want people to hear it, you worked your ass off on it. It’s a long process, I don’t think people realize how long the process it is from nothing to the end. I don’t think I’m ever really nervous because we’re honest with our fans and we’re a very genuine band and we write what feels good to us and we’re very lucky to have fans that are on the same wave length and are always there for the next step. But yeah it’s definitely something you have to get used to doing, I think when you first start being in a band you think you record and then the album comes out the next week so but that’s just something that we’ve gotten good at and we kind of take out steps slowly so I would say there’s no panic there.
Did you imagine how these songs would play out in a live situation when in the studio writing and recording?
Tommy: We always think about that, at the end of the day we’re a band that’s always toured and for the most part we’ve played every song we’ve written, live. So I think even when we’re writing we’re always thinking of making sure we’re writing things we can play and things that will translate well on stage.
Coma Ecliptic was a great album and hugely successful for the band, was there much pressure on yourselves to follow up on that album with Automata?
Tommy: There’s always a little natural pressure, you always want to outdo yourself. I think it’s more personal pressure, you want to outdo yourself, you want to get better at what you do. I wouldn’t say that “success” is something that pressures us, it’s just we want to always push our limits and write a really good record in our eyes.
What can fans expect on Automata II? Musically is it along the same lines or something completely different?
Tommy: It feels part of the same album for sure but I would say it’s a little more experimental possibly. I don’t know, it’s a little more adventurous I guess. I love part 2, I’m really excited for people to hear it.
Do you have any message for the fans in Australia and worldwide?
Tommy: Thank you! We’ve been doing this for 15 plus years so thank you for sticking with us and still listening to our music and hopefully we will be over there sooner or later. Thank you for the interview.
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