Kimberly Haddad: Hey how you doing?

Tim Lambesis: I'm doing well thanks.

Kimberly: Alright first things first, tell me about the formation of As I Lay Dying.

Tim: Well, the band started before we had an actual name. I had a number of songs that I had written and a bunch of ideas. I met Jordan and he and I played a in a few other local San Diego bands. We were the first two original members in our band. I showed him the songs and asked if he was interested and after that we started writing and recorded our first album a few months later. Actually it was while we were recording the album that we finally finished and realized what our name was gonna be, so that was a little crazy. We got the idea for the name from the novel by William Faulkner and there's not a correlation with the lyrics or anything but that's where the name comes from. After that, recording and we just started touring and tried to build little by little. We were very underground as far as the sound of our band and how aggressive it was. I mean there wasn't any other album out so we were just keeping busy and touring and we have four albums out now. Every album we pick up a few more fans and hopefully that will keep happening.

Kimberly: Today is only the third day of Warped Tour, how's it been for you so far?

Tim: It's been really good. Yeah we did the second half of Warped Tour last year so now we're back to do the first half. Even though it's three days into the tour we're a little bit familiar with everything. It's always fun for us being one of the heavier bands on the tour.

Kimberly: I was actually going to ask you about that.

Tim: Yeah, yeah, I like it because we get a chance to kinda push the crowd and you know get a little more energy out of them than with the other bands. It helps us stand out. Hopefully we're turning on some kids that don't typically like metal that will check us out. It's like we're opening a new gate for them to get into a new genre and new ideas.

Kimberly: You guys stole the stage quite early this afternoon. How was it being one of the earlier bands and did this have an effect on you as far as the overall performance?

Tim: Yeah you know it's kinda random as far as what bands go out at what times, you draw your name out of a hat kinda thing when you're gonna play every day. So tomorrow we 
could be the closer and today we played just before two. I actually prefer to play earlier in the day. My favorite spot is around 3:30, you know after that people start to get a little tired from being out in the sun all day. Today is good weather but typically it's hotter than this. Yeah I don't mind playing earlier. Sometimes I think if it's too early you gotta like yell a little more to get the crowd going but uh that's part of what we do anyways (laughs).

Kimberly: Is there any bands you are looking forward to seeing or may have already seen on tour?

Tim: Well, just because, well I mean I'm not that old, but I'm 27 and that means a lot of the bands a grew up listening to were around ten years ago so I really enjoyed watching Pennywise because you know when I was in high school, they were at their peak in their careers. I try to keep up with the newer bands but we play with them often and we've already seen them so it's nice to see some of the older bands.

Kimberly: Your latest album An Ocean Between Us came out in August of last year. Now that it's been out for some time, how do you feel it's been received by your fans? Are you satisfied with the finished result?

Tim: Yeah, we are actually more proud of this album than any other album. I think for us it's a little bit more diverse and because of that some fans didn't like certain elements of the album, but it was kinda one of those things where when you've been following a band for a while and they put out new material, some things are slightly different and you have to listen to the album a few times. Most of our fans you know, said, "Well actually after a few times of listening to your album, I agree it's your best album." And that's the general consensus about the album, but of course you get some fans once in a while that are like "Ohhhh I wish you would just play the same old stuff and rewrite the same old album." And you know we can never really make everyone happy. I mean we definitely didn't slow down. That's one thing about being a heavy band, most of the time fans get all bummed out when heavier bands start lightening up but in this case we sped up and our music was actually a lot faster on this album. Some of our fans thought it was too much to grasp and not quite as catchy as a result of speeding it up.

Kimberly: As far as the new material, how do you feel it translates into a live setting?

Tim: The hard part about playing the new stuff live, especially on this tour, is that we only get a chance to play a few new songs. It's hard picking those few songs to represent the album. That's a little bit tough but I enjoy every minute of it.

Kimberly: Is the band currently working on any upcoming projects while on this tour?

Tim: No, we don't really on tour at all. Individually we may have concepts in our head but really we're kinda, this I gonna sound kinda sad, but I think this is true in most human beings, we're motivated by deadlines. So, you know we'll get home from tour and our record label will be like, "Ok we need an album out by this date" and that will motivate us to start writing. Until then we probably won't do anything. We're procrastinators at heart.

Kimberly: I am aware you are working on a solo project called Austrian Death Machine. How did the idea surface and can you tell me more about what to expect?

Tim: Yeah, everything in As I Lay Dying, especially lyrically, is very passion filled and personal and at least I like to believe, has a lot of depth to it. So I wanted to have an outlet that was still music I enjoyed, aggressive and stuff but then lyrically and conceptually lighthearted. These are things that I wouldn't get the chance to do with As I Lay Dying. It's completely themes around Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. It's all kinds of song writing ideas that I felt like were fun. It's very much a thrashy record and maybe something a little too thrashy for As I Lay Dying. It's not our style of stuff but I wouldn't want it to go to waste. I'd rather record using another outlet.

Kimberly: And you play all the instruments as well?

Tim: Yes, it's a lot of fun because after singing for so many years, I kinda miss playing the guitar especially and it gives me the chance to do so. I have a studio at my house so I record and produce everything myself. You know, it's just a great outlet for me in so many ways. I think As I Lay Dying fans, mostly those who like the aggressive and thrashier side of our band are really gonna like it.

Kimberly: Who are some of your influences in terms of making your music and writing your songs?

Tim: Well I would say there are bands like Living Sacrifice, an old Christian band that we all really love. They are so rhythmically driven and I think they are an influence, also Meshuggah is another one, but then we kinda blend that rhythmic aggression with a very melodic side like older metal bands such as Iron Maiden you know or this Swedish band, At the Gates. We kinda combine the two elements and melodies and make them more aggressive and that's pretty much where we find our influences. I don't think any of us have ever agreed on a band that we all love but I think we all meet in the middle somewhere.

Kimberly: Any last words you would like to say to the readers?

Tim: I always appreciate anyone who reads our lyrics because with a lot of heavy bands it's mindless aggression and I feel like there's a lot more to be said. And of course to check out Austrian Death Machine, it comes out July 22nd.

Kimberly: Oh, very nice. Well that's all I have for you, thank you so much for sitting with me.

Tim: Yeah of course, thank you, enjoy the rest of the show.