With its new album, Leveler, which hits stores today, Manheim, Pennsylvania’s August Burns Red aspires to move beyond the metalcore tag that it has been tagged with ever since it made its debut with 2005’s Thrill Seeker. Not that the nomenclature has hurt sales. The band’s last album, 2009’s Constellations, debuted in the top 25 on Billboard’s charts, and the group has been enlisted to be one of the headliners on this year’s Warped Tour. With its distinctive time signature changes, lead single “Internal Cannon” is certainly going to raise some eyebrows. Guitarist JB Brubaker recently phoned in to discuss the new album and the pros and cons of having a Christian fanbase.
Since forming in 2003, the band has been through some line-up changes. Talk about those changes and how good you think the current line-up is.
We did Thrill Seeker with [singer] Josh [McManness] and he quit because he didn’t like touring. Getting out there was a learning curve, and we didn’t know how we would react. It just so happened that our fist two singers did not like it. We picked up [singer] Jake [Luhrs] who started playing in January of 2006 and then we lost our bassist that year; he started dating a girl and couldn’t hack it on the road either, which proves to be a common theme. We picked up Dustin Davidson and he rounded out our current line-up. We’re happy to have a steady line-up. It’s hard for me to think to how things were. We’ve done most of our touring with the same five guys. We have had the same tour manager throughout all of that, too. We are a tight group of guys. We have been able to strengthen the vocalist position. Our old bassist couldn’t scream or anything and Dustin does all of our back-ups now. Jake has a more dynamic voice. It’s better for the band. We’re excited by the current line-up and if anybody quit at this moment, it would be hard to carry forward.
Have you always been the band leader?
I assumed that position a long time ago, before we even signed to a label. I was the dude driving the business and I happened to do a lot of the writing as well. I don’t know why that happened. I probably inherited those traits from my mom, who can be controlling as well.
Constellations seemed like a real breakthrough for the band. You were able to do some significant touring and it even sold well. Talk about that album’s significance.
It represents pushing beyond breakdowns and doing more with melody. We’d been growing as musicians as best we can and the level of musicianship got to a place where we could do more things with melody instead of just chugging away at the open sea. It was just kind of the culmination of years of playing together.
You toured extensively after it came out. What was that like?
We went all over the world for the last 18 months, which is awesome. To be given the opportunity to play in exotic places is awesome. It’s cool to see some new faces for a change.
And at some point, you decided to take time off to write Leveler, is that correct?
With every record, we take a month or two to work together as a group and pull the songs together. Usually, the material is already written. Much of Leveler was written on a long break we had between a spring tour in 2010 and whatever we did in the summer of 2010. I got into a major writing phase and I was banging out riffs every day. A lot of the songs stem from what I was writing at that point.
Do you listen to lots of music when you’re writing or do you isolate yourself?
If I’m hitting a block, I might start listening to stuff that will be good for me to be inspired by. But I don’t want to be a copycat of other bands. Hopefully, we can write more unique music or at least not sound like a carbon copy. I listen to music but not necessarily metal music.
What sound were you going for?
I would like to say that we’re taking the sound people have come to know and we’re stretching it in all directions and not staying within the proverbial metalcore box. I hate the metalcore box and we’re over it at that point. I still want to play heavy and fast music but I want to accompany it with things that are less traditional for the genre and I hope that will make it fresh.
What approach did you take on the lyrics?
Everyone in the band is free to write and contribute. Everyone is in different places in their life. There’s not a main theme to our album. We shy away from love songs and songs about break up and heart ache. We do talk about relationships but not in that sense. [Drummer] Matt Greiner writes about spirituality. He’s a very spiritual person. [Guitarist] Brent [Rambler] writes about things that frustrate him. [Singer] Jake [Luhrs’] stuff is all over the place. He can be philosophical or write about a situation in his life. We try to write them in a central way so you can apply them in your life.
Some of the songs are about dark stuff. Does that ever conflict with your faith?
Definitely some of the songs, especially some of the stuff Jake wrote. He’s gone through a lot in his life, especially in the last 18 months. His parents got divorced and I don’t want to get too into his personal life, but it’s added fuel to his lyrical fire. It’s not all been positive but he wrote “The Internal Cannon,” which is about conquering addictions. That’s a positive thing. Everyone goes through dark times, and that’s not something the band wants to ignore.
Do you have a big Christian fanbase?
It would be ignorant for me to ignore that fact. I know from interacting with fans on Twitter, if I say “shit,” I catch flack for it. It’s always a real reminder for me that we have a ton of young straight-laced fans who don’t tolerate that kind of thing. Kids are also looking for us to slip up. Everyone makes mistakes. Whether you’re Christian or not, you do things that Christians would frown upon. That’s just part of being a human being.
I think it’s true that people generally like to point it out when celebrities make mistakes.
I agree with that. That’s a shame because we don’t get to be ourselves at all times. If I were drinking a beer, I would get scolded by some 14-year old who was told that if you drink a beer you can’t be Christian. That kind of stuff bothers me. That’s my choice. I have to remember that I was a 14year-old kid who grew up in a youth group. I was told the same things as these kids. I have to realize that at some point, they’ll grow up and learn to make their own decisions. At this point, they’re just regurgitating what they were taught in church. They’ll figure it out.
Talk about your summer touring schedule and aspirations for the album.
We’re doing the entire Warped Tour for the first time. We’ll be playing on the main stage, which is awesome. The record comes out three days before the tour starts, which is great. I want to know what kids’ favorite songs are. We care about that and want to play the songs that people want to hear. At this point, we’re just guessing. We’re definitely super pumped for the record to come out and hit the road for what should be a very fun summer for us.
Tour Dates
Jun 24 - Dallas TX @ Gexa Energy Pavillion
Jun 25 - Houston TX @ The Showgrounds at Sam Houston Race Park
Jun 26 - San Antonio TX @ AT&T Center
Jun 29 - Las Cruces NM @ NMSU Practice Field
Jun 30 - Las Vegas NM @ Plaza Hotel - Parking Lot
Jul 1 - Pomona CA @ Pomona Fairplex
Jul 2 - Mountain View CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater
Jul 3 -Ventura CA @ Ventura County Fairground at Seaside Park
Jul 6 - Bonner Springs KS @ Sandstone Amphitheater
Jul 7 - Noblesville IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
Jul 8 - Detroit MI @ Comerica Park
Jul 9 - Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
Jul 10 - Shakopee MN @ Canterbury Park
Jul 12 - Darien Center NY @ Darien Lakes Fields
Jul 13 - Mansfield MA @ Comcast Center
Jul 14 - Scranton PA @ Toyota Pavillion at Montage Mountain
Jul 15 - Mississauga ON @ The Flats at Arrow Hall
Jul 16 - Montreal QC @ Parc Jean-Drapeau
Jul 17 - Hartford CT @ Comcast Theater
Jul 19 - Milwaukee WI @ Marcus Amphitheater
Jul 20 - Cleveland OH @ Blossom Music Center
Jul 21 - Camden NJ @ Susquehana Bank Center
Jul 22 - Burgettstown PA @ First Niagara Pavillion
Jul 23 - Uniondale NY @ Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Jul 24 - Oceanport NJ @ Monmouth Park Raceway
Jul 26 - Columbia MC @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
Jul 27 - Virginia Beach VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jul 28 - Charlotte NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jul 29 - Orlando FL @ Central Florida Fairgrounds
Jul 30 - West Palm Beach FL @ Cruzan Amphitheater
Jul 31 - St. Petersburg FL @ Vinoy Park
Aug 1 - Atlanta GA @ Aaron's Amphitheater at Lakewood
Aug 2 - Cincinnati OH @ Riverbend Music Center
Aug 3 - St Louis MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Aug 4 - Council Bluffs IA @ Westfair Fairgrounds
Aug 5 - Denver CO @ Invesco Field at Mile High
Aug 6 - Salt Lake City UT @ Utah State Fairpark
Aug 7 - Phoenix AZ @ Ashley Furniture Homestore Pavilion
Aug 9 - San Diego CA @ Cricket Amphitheater
Aug 10 - Carson CA @ Cal State Dominguez Hills
Aug 11 - Marysville CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheater
Aug 12 - Nampa ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheater
Aug 13 - George WA @ The Gorge Amphitheater
Aug 14 - Hilsboro OR @ Washington County Fairgrounds
-Jeff Niesel