Atreyu Valentino Arteaga from Of Mice & Men

Porter McKnight of ATREYU

Photo by Jack Lue

New Sonic Baptizms with Atreyu

Interview by Ken Morton Live Photo by Jack Lue

Atreyu has returned with Baptize, their eighth epic studio album and the first to feature Brandon Saller front and center as the lead vocalist. Compelling and imaginative, Baptize present Atreyu in their finest hour, ready to rock a post pandemic world.

Highwire Daze recently interviewed bassist Porter McKnight to discuss the making of Baptize, their return to live shows including the upcoming Aftershock Festival, a look at the upcoming 20th Anniversary of their debut endeavor Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses and more..

Is there any overall story or concept behind the title Baptize?

Our mission statement behind the album is kind of how your existing as a human being affects the world around you. You have a choice everyday to be a good human being and uplift those around you and inspire – or you could be a shitty human – and how that kind of echoes through your community, your culture, your family, your friends, your nation, the world. You never know when you’re a good person how that can resonate throughout existence. In this record Baptize, it’s kind of a more look inward for us. And it’s actually interesting that we wrote about half of the album before the pandemic even hit. So, we were kind of warming ourselves up for the great look inward that everyone in the world had to go through more less. It’s about getting right with yourself and coming out stronger for it.

Tell me about Catastrophe and what those lyrics mean to you…

The chorus of that song popped into my brain during meditation. I was at my sister’s house, and Catastrophe came into my brain in a hammock in her backyard when I was meditating. I just had that melody and lyrics pop in – and the second verse of that song is my first actual Atreyu verse – and so it means a lot to me and I really think the song is fantastic. It’s about like “You can throw all this shit at me and I’ll be fine.” But also, in another sense that “We’ll be fine. If I have you and if we’re together, we’ll be fine.” Speaking about the second verse a little bit more, we were writing the song, and I think I brought the chorus to Brandon in the studio – and was like “This is awesome!” And he grabbed the guitar and we worked on it. We laid down the basic idea of the chorus and we fleshed out the rest of the song – he did some quick drum tracks and we laid down some quick guitars – and then he laid down the first verse based on some of the ideas and lyrics we had. But there was nothing for the second verse. And so, it was a moment where I had this chunk of information appear in my brain. We’re sitting there listening to the second verse and what do we want to do here. And I said, “I have something.” And they’re like “Go in there.” So, I go in, and I in one take do exactly what you hear – and it was like I look up in the room and everyone was like “That was fucking awesome! Next part…”

(Please turn the page for more...)

I’ve never really done that in the career of this band. Since I joined in 2004, I always kind of knew I was stepping into this strong dichotomy – we have this singer who’s amazing and this (other) singer who’s amazing. We had these two guitarists who are amazing songwriters. I’m just going to step in and try to fill in the gap where people are needed and try to uplift and help everyone find the best version of themselves – and when I’m needed, I’m needed.

In the bands I was in before Atreyu, I was the front man – and a good chunk of the songwriter and lyricist as well. With this new album, it’s kind of a chance for me to like to remember what it was like back then as a lyricist and a vocalist – but also who I am now in that same vein. So, it’s tapping into this river of inspiration and creativity that I hadn’t really tapped into in a while fully. So, it was really exciting to have that moment to just kind of pop in – and me to just have the guts and the room being open – and just to go in there and do it. I would have never done that in the past out of the respect for the dynamics. And to do it and be like “Fuck yeah!” and I was like “fuck yeah too!” It was really fun. So that song means a lot to me and I’m happy we released that one early.

Here is the one and only question about your former singer Alex and then I want to move on and talk about your new drummer Kyle. How devastating was it when Alex left the band, and do you still keep in touch with him?

I wish him the best for everything in his life – creative, music, family – everything. I have nothing but respect for him.

Give me a little background on Kyle and how he became involved with the band.

We’ve known Kyle for a really long time. He played in this band called Thieves & Liars back in the day with Joey Bradford who’s now in The Used as well and one of our good friends. Honestly, I don’t know how we found out about them. I know that I got them onto a show at The Glass House that we played in 2007. We’ve known them for a very long time. And Kyle plays drums in Hell Or High Water (Brandon of Atreyu’s other band) – he was our drum tech for a while, so he’s toured with us around the world – and he’s really just a genuinely good human being. Kyle is a really good drummer and I look forward to playing shows again with this lineup for first time technically – where we knew that this is a permanent thing.

What are you looking forward to the most about Aftershock Festival this year?

Just fucking playing a show man – just in general. (Much laughter). Aftershock is near and dear to me personally. When we first played Aftershock as Atreyu, it was our second show back when we resumed after the pause button. We hit play from the pause button as I like to say it from when we had a little break. We first played Chain Reaction in Anaheim which if someone reading this doesn’t know, is a smaller legendary venue in Orange County, California. And then a couple of days later we played Aftershock – and that was a festival in front of 18,000 people or whatever it was. I didn’t remember how much I loved playing live music – the whole time we stopped I didn’t really have the itch – I didn’t care – I kind of missed touring but not really. I do so much in the artistic side of my life that if we start playing again, then whatever. But when we hit the stage, it changed. I was like “Oh! This has been missing from me – from my life – for a very long time.” And then we hit the stage at Aftershock, and I was like, “Oh fuck, this too!” There was like this small venue energy (with Chain Reaction) and then there was this big stage experience and feeling. And I was like “Oh, my God, I love this. I am never going to take this for granted again.”

So literally on the day and from that moment, I’ve never taken a show for granted. Every single show, I am doing everything in my power to be present and as connected as I can be to the hearts and mouths that are in the crowd who reach into their pockets to buy a ticket to support our band. I’ve never taken it for granted. I think a lot of people are going to have that same feeling coming back when we can go to shows on both sides of the coin. So, Aftershock is very dear to me for that, and we had such a great time. And we’re just exited to be there and play there again.

Next year marks the 20th Anniversary of Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses – an album I don’t believe you were on. You were almost in the band but not quite. What do you think of that album 20 years in?

That’s a good question. I haven’t listened to it in a while. I should listen to it again. But as far as what hearing the name

makes me think of – it’s very fond. I joined the band when they were recording The Curse. They had parted ways with their bassist in 2004 and they were literally recording bass when they asked me play – but there was no way I could learn the entire album and fly to Canada and record it. So, I toured on a lot of Suicide songs before I got to write a song – and a lot of The Curse songs obviously. So, it’s near and dear to my heart. I love a lot of those songs. I was a fan of the band before I was in it – and it is definitely an important album for the band and our career. It’s a good album.

What do you hope the rest of 2021 brings for you, for Atreyu, and just for music in general?

A return to being able to play live music would be fantastic – for me and for everyone who likes playing and going to live shows for sure. I hope it brings us great success. I think this album is our best album we’ve ever done – and we’re at a point in our career where this is the best I’ve felt about music in my entire life. This is the most exciting chapter in my musical career by far – and I guarantee the rest of the band echoes that sentiment as well.

We have an album coming out in a few weeks and I would love for it to be a great success. I want to play every country in the world – I want to travel everywhere – I want to meet everyone. I’ve always felt that way – and I think now we’re in a place where we will – we’re going to play everywhere we possibly can where it’s safe to. We’re going to tour more than we’ve ever have – we’re going to go more places for longer. We’re just really excited to do this man! And I think it’s made even more exciting because of the pandemic and I think a lot of people feel that way. But even without the pandemic, that’s how we feel. We’re just really, really excited for this next chapter of our band. And we can’t wait to show it to the world.

Do you have any messages for Atreyu fans who are reading this now?

Absolutely! First and foremost, thank you for giving a shit about our band for so many years. If you’re just hearing about us – welcome! If you’ve been here for a long time – thank you so much for caring for so long. I can guarantee you that we care more about this band than we ever have – and that we’ll be doing this for a very long time. We love this album – we love this band – we love our fans – and we genuinely and truly cannot wait to spend more time with you guys on and off the road.

www.atreyuofficial.com