The Amity Affliction
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The Amity Affliction

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“These days, everyone can do whatever they want on a computer,” he states. “I’m kind of the computer nerd of the band and I’ll be doing that in the back lounge of the bus. And if I’ve got something cool to show I’ll put it on an iPod and we’ll play it through the bus speakers.”

 

“Then we send all the demos to everyone, and Joel can start writing his lyrics because he’s got it on his phone, then and he can listen to it. It’s the digital age – it definitely makes it easier for us. Just jamming on stuff, we just don’t have the time for that any more. All our time is either with friends and family, taking some time off, or we’re on the road playing shows. We just have to squish it in there somehow.”

 

Ultimately, it still has to be an organic and naturally owing process, even though they are writing in a digital format. “We’ll never write out of necessity,” he says. “We’re a band, and we want to keep putting out songs, 
but we’ll never release an album until we’re ready to release it. We’re not going to rush it and write songs just because we want an album to come out. We’re constantly writing, and then eventually when we’re completely happy with it, we go record them, rather than pushing something because of the time constraints.”

 

You will be able to hear the results of their efforts on August 12 when they unleash their brand new album This Could be Heartbreak. As is the wont of most musicians in the lead up to the release of their band’s new album, Brown is excited about the release and believes it to be the best thing the band have done in their career to this date. “Yeah, it’s going to be awesome, I can’t wait!”
 He says excitedly. “I’m really excited about these songs, they’re definitely the best ones we’ve ever written. I know everyone says that, but these definitely are.”


 

He is so confident about what they do that he tends not to become nervous in that sometimes-awkward period in between completion and release. The only thing he worries about is whether the songs will hit the Internet before the initial release date.
 “Not really nervous. I think sometimes you can 
get a bit nervous about whether it’s going to
leak or not,” he chuckles. “But I might just get a little anxious. You’ve put in all this hard work and you just want it to come off. You want to show everyone what you’ve done and what you’re proud of.”


 

Something else he and the band are very proud of is the fact that they have made it to five albums and have survived as a band for well over a decade; from their very early formative days back in 2003. It is quite an achievement for any band in the current musical climate, let alone a heavy band. “I think we’re all very lucky, and also proud of ourselves for being able to do it for so long, it’s a nice little compliment, in a way.” 


 

The band head straight out on tour as soon as the album is released, taking on a run of sold-out dates at home and then head off across the globe in a gruelling schedule that takes them all the way to Christmas. “It’s part of the job,” he says, when asked if it was a little daunting to see a list of tour dates longer than his arm. “It’s the best job in the world, so we can’t complain. It’s a part of it that we all expect. We had a quiet first half of the year, writing the album, so we all expected a busy second half of the year.”

This Could Be Heartbreak is out now via Roadrunner Records. The Amity Affliction are touring the east coast later this month. For tour dates visit theamityaffliction.net