This recently unearthed Life of Agony interview from 2005 was conducted during an exciting time for the band; they were riding high on the renewed-interest in “River Runs Red”, and they were just about to drop their Epic debut, “Broken Valley”, a record they all felt would kickstart their largely stalled careers.

Of course, things didn’t really work out that way; the record flopped, and apart from an opening slot on a Megadeth tour later that year, no one really paid attention to the “relaunched” LOA.

This interview was conducted while the band was in the midst of a tour with Mudvayne (post-makeup), and finds the band in a fairly delusional state of mind about their future prospects. Read on to hear about their hatred for Roadrunner Records, how they hope to “go platinum”, and how they are taking steps to avoid becoming the next Dimebag’s.

Note that most of the New York isms in here were left intact, for the full NY WOP experience.

By: Gabriel Sigler



Alright, to start with, can you guys talk about the new album title, and how it reflects the new album?

Keith Caputo: “Broken Valley” is, in a nutshell, a combination of, um, sorrowful emotions, you know. It’s about ache, confusion, disorientation, addiction, um…pain. Everything that no one likes to talk about in this society.



How would you say it compares with previous Life of Agony releases?

Sal Abruscato: It doesn’t, it just doesn’t.

KC: There is no comparison.

S: You’re talking almost ten years later, seven years later. We’ve been apart for a long time and we’ve grown as artists. And obviously with age you become more seasoned and better at what you do, and your mind opens up even more. And I think the way we wrote this record far exceeds any writing procedure we ever took on the last records you know? It’s like a whole new band in a way, you know? It’s a whole new level of writing. The writing has gotten so good collaboratively. And we write together, it’s not one guy that writes, but, you know, we were all able to work together and make really good songs that were really meaningful, and a lot of them touch subjects in regards to [Keith’s] father, in regards to drug abuse, death from drug abuse, uh, let downs through drug abuse, you know. So it’s still very deep as the first album, if not deeper of course. But it was done in such a way; it was a fun writing procedure. It was a lot of pressure, but we had a good time. I think in the old days when we were writing we didn’t have…

KC: We were too scattered.



S: Yeah, we weren’t really working like a team.

What was it like when you first came into the studio together, were you apprehensive or nervous?

S: It was exciting.

KC: We had a great producer with us, who made us feel very comfortable. And uh, you know, he helped us along the way.



How much of the album was written before you entered the studio?

S: Almost half. And then we went into pre-production with our producer Greg Fidleman, and we were in Woodstock for a month, and that’s where I think the really good writing started coming out. And we were 24 hours a day in our music, and we wrote the rest of the album up in Woodstock, in pre-production with our producer.

Was there any label involved at this point, were they nervous about you guys going into the studio and not hearing any new music at all?



S: Honestly yeah, they were a little nervous because, um, with a band like us they kind of had to like step back a little bit, because we’ve been around so long, and we have so much experience, but they were very worried…They were almost treating us like we were a new band, and they were worried, like they weren’t confident in us…

KC: Only because they’ve never experienced working with us.

S: Yeah, they’ve never worked with a band like us, but we were so experienced and pro about it, that when we say we’re going to do something, we do it…

KC: To us it’s deeper than music, it’s like an art project for us. You know, we’re very embedded in our music, and um, the meanings behind the music, and the lyrical content, and from the fonts we use, to record covers, they really gave us free reign, they really didn’t smother our creativity whatsoever. At first they were very, um, frantic about hearing new stuff, but y’know, that’s New York for you. It’s the New York blood.



Now that you guys are back together, do you find that the band’s dynamic has changed?

S: Yeah, well, people change. Dynamically, we changed how we approach problems, how we approach songs, how we approach any kind of confrontation. You know, the older you get, the more patient you are, and you don’t just react on emotion, and, um, we’ve grown musically. Because I know, like, aside from myself and Keith, the other guys got into a lot of different music, and everyone’s a lot more open minded then they were ten years ago. Ten years ago it was more like a one track way of thinking, now it’s more like, go with the flow, give it a shot, because we’ve got nothing to lose, let’s experiment and try all possibilities before we commit to one idea. Let’s make it the best it can be. And that’s how we’ve changed dynamically, is to make the song the best it can be. We’ve each written music where we walk in, and if it doesn’t make it, it’s not a personal attack, it’s not like we get offended or our egos get bruised. We’re like, “OK, maybe there’s something I don’t see, how can we make this better?” And then we work together. It’s very important to be that way, because if you’re not, than you know…

KC: You’ve got to remain non-attached. You’ve got to be open, available to learn, and you can’t really be attached to the work. As excited as you get in the beginning, you should be just as easy to let it go…not really hold onto certain things.



Did you guys have to let a lot of ideas or full songs go?

KC: Yeah, we threw away about six or seven songs…

S: Yeah, if it didn’t work out, it didn’t work out. And if someone was unhappy…

KC: Shouldn’t be a big deal. We would, not even you know, dwell on it, just fuck it off, and just move forward. And try to remain productive instead of staying on one song that really is not working, and beat it to death, or play it to death.



Would you say that process in the band is pretty democratic that way?

KC: It’s very Doors-esque.

S: When there’s a decision to be made, we make it the four of us. No one just goes ahead and does something, or approves something with the label or management without discussing it with the rest of us. ‘Cause then it’s not cool, you know? We’re a business, we’re a partnership, and that’s the way things run, because um, it doesn’t feel good if you get left out of something. No one should be left out of something important, you know, that could determine the future of their career. So, it’s a good thing, it’s good.



How much attention do you guys pay to the New York hardcore scene now?



S: We’re not hardcore. Me personally, I’ve never been hardcore. The band was labelled right from the beginning as a “hardcore band”, and I mean, I don’t know what’s hardcore about the music at all, but…We’re very in touch with the fans, that’s what’s really important, whether they’re hardcore fans, or metal fans, or rock fans, doesn’t matter. If they like us they’re our fans.

KC: We don’t really believe in genres, you know? We don’t like categorizing our stuff, it’s fucking mindless. That’s just a way to make things more…

Accessible?



KC: Yeah, I mean…

S: Our new record, this new record is more like, the Led Zeppelin IV of the millennium, that’s how it is to us. It’s a great hard rock record that will move any human being that has emotion, and feelings. And that loves music.



Are you worried the release will be marketed in a certain way?

S: Marketed in which way, what do you mean?

Marketed strictly to a hardcore crowd, or…



S: Nah, I think it’s being marketed to the mainstream..

KC: Yeah, it’s being marketed to just every…Indie…every angle.

Because the new single sounds like you could hear it on any sort of radio station…

S: Yeah, it’s kind of what we’re going for. To be honest with you, we’ve been doing this a long time. We’re not children you know, and we’ve got families to support, and we have expenses, and we have to be able to make a living at this. If we just cater to one genre, I just don’t know if that’s possible.



KC: We can’t even write like that. We write, we’re just really open with our writings, our writings are very infectious. They can be on 104.3, on 92, on so many different radio stations. I mean this band should’ve already been all over the radio, we just never had the right team, we just never had the right radio people in place, we never had proper management, we never had the proper label. I mean, we dealt with Roadrunner our entire lives, and that’s the most horrible, one of the most horrible labels out there.



S: Yeah. They didn’t do good by us.

Do you find that that’s a New York thing? Because a lot of these NY bands that should’ve been huge…

KC: New York thing, it’s a Roadrunner thing, they suck. And they’re thieves, and that’s the bottom line.

S: It’s a poor marketing thing.

How has this tour with Mudvayne been for you guys so far?



S: It’s good. They’re very nice to us, they’re very respectable to us, um, we’re like a big influence on these guys from like back in the day, when they were starting out, um….They’re very nice to us, and thank god, that is one of the things that has made this tour very good for us, is that they respect us, they treat us well, and the crowd, you know, to play in front of like…

KC: Fifteen year old metal kids…

S: It’s difficult, but it’s great also, because were playing in front of like, 3,000 or 4,000 kids, that has never seen us before. And if you want to sell more records, you’re going to have to play for those kids who don’t know who the fuck you are, they may give you a hard time at first, but I guarantee you they’ll be the same kids that’ll be at the next show when you come back, so it’s important. That’s the only way to…if you want to go gold or platinum man, you can’t just be playing for your crowd and headlining, because you’re just going to be selling to that number, and that’s it.



KC: I think this band thrives off of challenges as well.

I want to talk about “River Runs Red” just a little bit. What’s the reaction when some fans give you the impression that you’re not going to be able to top that record?



S: I think we’re going to top it. I’m actually very sure we’re going to top it.

KC: Yeah, no doubt. We’ve already topped it.

Is it frustrating that people put so much attention on it, ten years later?

S: No, I can respect it, it’s nice. It’s nice to know that we’re also, not only have we become again a current band, but we’re also a band with history, and some type of legacy to it already, and…



KC: Now our fans’ kids are coming to the gigs.

S: Right. And we’ve influenced sooo many of these bands that created this new music that you hear now, and it’s nice to hear people say, ‘Wow, you guys really influenced me, River Runs Red really influenced me a lot.” It’s nice. Because we worked hard on it then too. It’s nice to be appreciated.



Does that album, and that time-frame for the band, still mean the same to you now, and what have you learned since then?

S: I learnt that uh…we were a little naïve back then, you know, and you live and learn, and you grow up, and you learn from your mistakes. If I were to retrace time I would’ve done things personally differently.

KC: But that was a moment in time.

S: Yeah, why ponder?

KC: I mean, the past is the past, it doesn’t exist anymore. Being present is what’s really important to us.



Has there been any talk of re-releasing that album?

S: We don’t own the rights.

KC: Roadrunner owns the rights. They probably will re-release it, that’s how shitty they are.

S: We heard, yeah, they’re going to re-release “River Runs Red Deluxe Edition”, right around the same time that the Epic record comes out, just because they’re real, real, messed up that way. They did it to us when we released the reunion album. The reunion album came out, a week after the “Best Of Life Of Agony” CD came out. And they just put it out to confuse people, that’s all they’re doing. They’re just looking to fuck things up, that’s all. And they’re just looking to keep on making every last dollar on our blood, until they don’t own the rights anymore.

So you’d advise people to steer clear of Roadrunner?



S: I think Roadrunner is definitely, um...contributing to the destruction of the sound of music. Because they’re signing and releasing all this nu-metal bullshit, with these geeky kids playing this stupid music that…I don’t know man.

There’s definitely a lot of new blood at Roadrunner doing well…

S: What with The Agony Scene? Did you hear about that band? They signed two bands that sound like…Well, there’s a band called Still Remains, who had a song called “Stain Remains”, OK? They signed a band called (mockingly) “The Agony Scene”. How original.



A lot of them have that melodic singing mixed with the hard sound you guys had…

S: Yeah, they’re just sweating us.

So what would you advise young bands to do now?

Both: Go to Epic.



Go right to the top?

S: I seriously think, and it has nothing to do with me being signed to them, Epic is THE best rock label, they have the best rock department, the best radio department, a lot of good people actually, that seem to have their shit together and get it done. And they’re pretty like (snapping fingers). I mean, already, the album’s not even out, and they’re doing a great job. The folks from Sony show up at every show, and they have us working, and that’s what it means, that means a lot. Because we didn’t have that on Roadrunner. People didn’t come out, representatives didn’t come out, and have us work, things for us to do for the record. There wouldn’t even be fucking posters up in the club.

Those records are still hard to find, even now…

S: Distribution sucks on it. So I mean, seriously, if I was in another band I would try to pursue Epic on my own, just because it’s a very good label. They have the most stable situation out of all the labels also. They’re not going to go under anytime soon, you know what I mean? They’re not going to be merging, or getting eaten up.

What excites you musically these days?

KC: Led Zeppelin, Bowie, The Doors, George Harrison, The Beatles…

S: We’re into old stuff. I think especially me and him, we’re like old souls that are left over from another time.

KC: Newer bands, Radiohead I’ve been listening to since, fucking, since they’ve been “Thank God It’s Friday”, since before Johnny Greenwood was even in the band. Brian Eno, U2, you know, Blondie, Bob Marley, George Harrison, David Bowie, Marvin Gay, Stevie Wonder, old Sinead O’Connor, Chopin, Led Zeppelin, Paige & Plant, new Robert Plant, real music man, you know?

So I guess your current opinion of the hard-rock and metal scene is…

KC: I don’t even have an opinion…

S: I don’t either, I don’t listen to anyone new. I think the most contemporary band that I was a fan of was Soundgarden.

Have you seen Blood Simple on this tour?

KC: Yeah, they’re friends of ours.

S: They’ve played with us before, they played with us a little last year. They’re nice guys.

KC: We’re going to take them to Europe.

S: Good band, good people. And the American Head Charge guys are nice people too.

KC: This whole tour, crew and bands…

S: Very respectable people.

S: [To BMG rep] You have a cheque for me? BMG cheque?

BMG Dude: For tickets?

KC: Cheque. Don’t you owe us money (laughs).

S: We have a sense of humour, like we’re always fucking with people. You’ve got to take life with a little bit of…you’ve got to laugh at it. Life’s tough enough, you know? People make a big deal about being at a red light, or in traffic, it’s like, calm down, before you know it its over.

I guess to wrap things up, what’s up next for the band?

KC: We just want to keep touring, you know? We’re anticipating our release, there’s going to be a video being released, we’re looking forward to radio spins, for certain people to do their jobs, um, and get results we want, or that we expect, even though in this business you should have no expectations but when someone’s assigned a title he should do their job. You know, we’re looking forward to globally spreading man. Making kids happy. Making money, having a great time, being safe, growing, writing new songs on the road, getting great tours. But it’s all he-said, she-said right now so…Right now, one day at time, this is the seventh gig of Mudvayne, we’re in fucking Montreal, and that’s what’s important to us right now. And making tonight a spectacular event.

S: Optimally, it’d be nice to do two years of touring for this record. Yeah man, we want to do it like Metallica style.

KC: 300 nights a year.

S: That’s the only way. We want to sell as many records as we can possibly sell. You know, if we can go platinum, great. But of we can go more than that, even better. And we just want to work hard for it, we don’t want it easy…

KC: We have a great work ethic.

S: We’re just a hard working band…[noticing Montreal girls] My neck hurts, I have whiplash.

You should go hand out flyers for the show.

KC: No, we hand out free CDs samplers every night, I do my own street team work. I’m handing out about 50, 75 CDs every night, as much as I can until it gets a little bit crazy. When you hand out free shit they take advantage, they want you to sign it, then I get surrounded by a whole bunch of kids, and I fucking hate that. I get really paranoid, you know? After our friend Dimebag was killed…we were always paranoid, we were always…we liked doing meet and greets, only if its proper. It’s nothing against people but…it’s just scary. Like, for example, some kid the other night was like, [redneck voice] “Man, if you don’t come back to my State, I’m going to kill you, you better come here”. And I did not like what came out of his mouth, and I’m looking at him like…I know I might be taking it out of context, but I may not be. In Illinois. This is why I don’t do this shit man.

Have you changed anything since the Dimebag incident?

S: Yeah, a little bit. We don’t let no one come into our backstage area anymore. And we don’t really let anyone on the bus. We just keep our distance, you know. We just try and be careful. I mean as much as we want to mingle with the kids, they do get a little bit too excited, and then they forget that you’re a human being, and that you need to, after a show, have a few minutes to calm down, because you come offstage so amped up, that its like you just had a fight for 45 minutes, and that’s how you feel. Because the energy, the explosive energy that we have to exude…So they’ll see you sometimes out there soaking wet out in the cold but you’re like, “I’m freezing, I need to go inside and change”, but they don’t understand. But, you know, people are people, it’s OK.

KC: In America, some States are worse than others man. Sometimes it just gets dumber and dumber.

S: When you put yourself up onstage performing, you can be a god one minute, and a martyr the next. It’s all in how someone perceives you, and how fanatical they are. What worries me are people trying to pull a little copycat thing you know? “Oh yeah, that guy did that, I’m going to try and do something even more spectacular. I’m going to spray the whole band with a machine gun.”

You guys have any closing comments to wrap this up?

S: I just want to thank all the Canadian fans for coming out at the Toronto show, and I want to thank the ones that come out tonight and support us. Hopefully we can do more of an extensive tour of Canada one day.

KC: The pit was great, you could like see the force of people swaying like this, it was such a movement last night. It was great man, they went nuts for us.

I know a lot of kids who are coming for you guys tonight, who have never even heard Mudvayne.

S: Yeah, I think we helped them out a lot last night, and we’re helping them out a lot tonight with our crowd, because it doesn’t seem like they have much of a draw up here. In Europe they’re not much neither, you know, it’s like, they’d be opening up for us in Europe.