Ruben Alvarez of Upon A Burning Body stops by the show to discuss ‘Southern Hostility’ and the ways your perspective on music can with age.
When Upon A Burning Body burst onto the international scene in 2010 they were heralded for delivering a crushing take on deathcore that combined unrelenting heaviness with a desire to have as much fun as possible. The Texas band sang about getting blackout drunk with their closest friends but also overcoming the things in life that held them down. Critics didn’t always get it, but the fans of the genre did, and the band continued to deliver similar material in the years that followed.
That is, until now.
Southern Hostility, Upon A Burning Body’s upcoming fourth studio album (out June 7 via Seek and Strike), finds the hard-partying antics of the group set aside in an attempt to showcase their metal chops. The band has doubled-down on their songs about surviving the struggle of existence, and in doing so the members have crafted what is undeniably their best work to date. Over the course of ten sizzling tracks, Upon A Burning Body aspires to inspire a generation of outliers to become more than they and their haters think is possible. They are, in their own unique way, trying to improve this often troublesome world.
On this episode of Inside Music, Upon A Burning Body co-founder and guitarist Ruben Alvarez stops by to discuss Southern Hostility at length. Ruben tells host James Shotwell about how changes in his and other band members’ personal lives has given the group a different perspective on life. He also talks about the decision to join Seek And Strike, moving out of the city, and growing older in an industry that praises youthfulness above all else.
How do you recover from a PR stumble when your brand is built on living a life where you do not give a damn what others think? This questions has been pondered by many notable artists over the last century, and there have been dozens of paths taken in response. Some worked better than others, but only one tried and true method has worked for everyone who has dared to attempt it: Continue not giving a damn.
Upon A Burning Body is a party-friendly metalcore group from deep in the heart of Texas who have built a career on living life however they choose with complete disregard for authority and anyone who tries to tell you that you need to be anyone other than yourself. It’s the kind of message that hooks young people before they’re even old enough to consume alcohol and carries into adulthood, especially if those young people end up working jobs where they feel suppressed or otherwise unable to be themselves because of those above them. Upon A Burning Body create music that is, for lack of a better word, rebellious. It follows a very particular path that has been traveled by countless musicians before them, but they travel it well with hooks that won’t quit and a bone-crushingly heavy take on metal. If you are unfamiliar with the sound I am describing, give this a spin:
A year ago, Upon A Burning Body were preparing to release an album called The World Is My Enemy Now. Ahead of the lead single the group posted a message online claiming their vocalist had gone missing in the greater San Antonio area. Blogs and legitimate news outlets alike ran the story as fact, urging fans to try and help the group find their missing member, but an investigation from Alternative Press soon proved the story to be a false alarm. The band’s label claimed to have no knowledge of the event, and future promotion for the record was kept at an absolutely minimum. It’s a shame, too, because the album was actually pretty great.
When faced with such a devastating blow to one’s promotional plans, not to mention upsetting countless fans, many artists would rush to apologize and/or promise to be smarter with all future promotions. Some may even choose to grovel. Upon A Burning Body however, chose to remain silent. They stuck to what had always worked, the music, and they shied away from the spotlight while the remaining outrage dissipated into the forgotten archives of internet forums and Twitter feeds. It was a bold play, but one that ultimately allowed the band to continue living life by their own set of rules, which only further fueled their creativity.
This week, Upon A Burning Body return with Straight From The Barrio, their fourth studio album in six years. The release leans heavily on what has worked for the group in the past (songs about fighting the man, partying as hard as you can, and generally doing whatever you feel compelled to do while thanking God for the great state of Texas) to help introduce several new ideas that find them exploring hard rock outside the world of metalcore. There is even some material that might as well be considered a ballad for a band such as them, but it’s all channeled through the same ‘we do what we want when we want’ lens, and that is what makes it work.
I think most of us spend our days living life in a way that leaves us feeling slightly restrained. Most don’t do what they wish they did for work, and even those who do often end the business day feeling as they have fallen short of their goals. Others may be in relationships where they feel they must be a specific way in order to keep their partner happy, or maybe that is the case between you and your friends. Whatever it may be that causes you to be anything other than yourself is keeping you becoming the best possible version of the person you were meant to become.
What separates people like you and me from the members of Upon A Burning Body is that we lack the gull to force the world to recognize us for the people we choose to be. We try and figure out who the world feels we should be and fit that mold, but the members of Upon A Burning Body walked away from that trap years ago and never looked back. They may trip and fall from time to time, but at the end of the day they can say they did things their way and that is something we all seek in our lives.
James Shotwell is the Digital Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the Film Editor for Substream Magazine and a 10-year music writing veteran. You should follow him on Twitter.
Hello and welcome to the final Advice column of the week. We had been planning to run an in-depth look at overcoming technical difficulties in a live setting, but after learning of a ridiculous promotional blunder taking place online yesterday afternoon we switched gears in an attempt to be ever-so-slightly topical. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
There is an old saying in the world of promotion that you have no doubt heard a hundred times or more: Sex sells. We could debate the benefits and drawbacks to leveraging sex to sell a product, as well as the rampant sexism that such efforts breed, but I don’t think anyone will argue with the idea that sex and sexually explicit imagery sells entertainment and products far better than average looking people dressed in average looking clothes. Demi Lovato may have a a better voice than Miley, but because Miley is willing to essentially bare all as long as you give her new single a few minutes of your time she is the one newspapers love.
You know what else sells? Violence. You may find trouble getting attention for a video or song featuring nonstop brutality/gore, but if you pepper in just enough nastiness amidst a wall of sound and couple it with lyrics about whatever messed up relationship you’re trying to forget there is a good chance people will tune in. Heartache is a bitch, and well all know misery loves company. Bands like Emmure and Capture The Crown have built careers on this type of approach, and it has bred a new generation of heavy bands that feel ‘keeping it brutal’ is the only way to sell their music. (It’s not, by the way).
In a world where everyone accepts that violence and sex sells, one might think bands looking to market their material would have more than enough conventional avenues of promotion to pursue when seeking to bring attention to a new release. Yesterday, however, that notion proven wrong when the Sumerian Records signed group known as Upon A Burning Body taught us all a lesson we should immediately commit to memory: Kidnapping does not sell.
It all started with a Facebook post. An update added to the official Facebook page for Upon A Burning Body yesterday afternoon sent ripples of fear and shock throughout the metal community. “Breaking News: Danny Leal (singer of Upon A Burning Body) has been reported missing,” the message read. “He was last seen in his home town of San Antonio TX on Monday, June 30th.”
Sites around the globe picked up the story in the hours that followed, including Alternative Press and Under The Gun Review, as well as countless fan communities and message boards. People, press and fans alike, began searching for more information and attempting to aide the band, but as the day wore on it became clear not everything was as it seemed. AP discovered no one with the last name of Leal is listed in the Texas Department Of Public Safety’s missing persons database. Additionally, there were 22 people listed as missing who were last seen in San Antonio, none of whom shared the same first or last name as the UABB singer. Even the band’s publicist was lost, telling press "I have no news as to Danny’s whereabouts and am completely in the dark here myself.”
Over two hours after the initial news broke, things took another strange turn when Ash Avildsen, CEO of Sumerian Records, wrote on his label’s official Facebook page to deny any involvement in or knowledge of Upon A Burning Body’s messaging about Danny. He wrote, "I woke up to a ton of missed calls and just saw all this stuff about Danny Leal of UABB posing as that he’s been abducted or kidnapped. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since. As a child, we all learn the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and it sticks within our consciousness for a reason. I do not condone this type of publicity stunt. This was done behind my back and I am not OK with it. In my eyes, there’s never a time to use the possibility of real-life abduction, injury or murder of someone you care about to promote anything, especially an album. If you need to resort to that, then you have lost the plot. We as a society should have evolved past that way of thinking by now and especially within the rock/metal community, given all the tragedy that has happened in our world over the past few years. There are some people who owe us an apology. -Ash Avildsen, Creator & CEO of Sumerian Records.“
Three hours after the above post went live, a new song from Upon A Burning Body titled “Red Razor Wrists” debuted online. The band made no comments on the track, nor did they offer any explanation for why they thought it would be a good idea to scare the metal community into believing something terrible may have happened to their front man. They simply posted the song, shared a link, and went back to being silent. As of noon today, they have yet to comment on yesterday’s fiasco, but they did premiere a second song and announce plans to release a new album in about six weeks.
It does not take a rocket scientist to realize this unorthodox method of promotional was a total and complete failure. I am sure there are those in the world who were thrilled to hear new music from Upon A Burning Body, but those I spoke with who like the band were more pissed than excited because they had just spent half a day worried about the frontman of their favorite band. The song was a welcomed resolution, but it did not justify the marketing efforts made earlier in the day.
Originality will get you far in the world of music, but there are times when thinking outside the box will backfire. For Upon A Burning Body, this is one of those times. Thankfully, the rest of us now know what not to do when we’re promoting an upcoming release. Remember: Kidnapping does not sell.
