#wxcu

[exxcitement1995]

ON YOUR MARK

(me, 2018) 

[wesmeadows]

Levi Benton (Miss May I) on WXCU 2/1/15.  Since it was recorded by holding a dynamic mic up to a telephone speaker, it's not the best quality, so I have written up the interview below. 

WM: So, you guys in Miss May I have been going together since about 2006 now? You guys were still in high school when you put out your first album on Rise, right? LB: Yeah, we put out our first record in 2009, and we’ve been touring pretty much ever since. We recorded it when we were seniors in high school, got a record deal the same year, so it was a pretty hectic year, hehe. WM: Yeah, sounds like it! How do you think that’s affected how you see music as a whole? LB: Us getting signed young, how does it affect us? Um, its definitely…I sorta have that ‘anything's possible’ kinda of mentality, I tell a lot of our fans, that I wouldn’t have ever thought in a million years that we could be able to do the things we’re able to do. Its honestly just a lot of hard work and not giving up to a bunch of crap, and I always tell our fans that. But I just think it makes music a lot more magical, there’s a lot of stuff you can do that you didn’t think you could. WM: I like that answer a lot. You guys have been going with the same lineup even. Like, your bassist dropped for a minute but he came back after. LB: Yes. WM: So, there are not many bands, especially in the metal scene, I feel, that are able to keep the same lineup for so many years without very much turmoil. Has there ever been, like, a time where it was a close thing, where you guys almost split with a member or something? LB: Um, nope! We’ve never really thought about splitting. We’ve always gotten like our bickers and everything, but nothing crazy. WM: That’s fantastic! So, you guys came out with an album last year, Rise Of The Lion, and you guys have been touring that for a while, what do you think is up next? LB: Well, we’ve got a lot of US tours coming up, I’m hoping we can just release another record within the next year? Um…fingers are crossed. But yeah, just tour and tour and tour, we just did a lot of worldwide touring and now we’re doing a lot more of the US touring. So, that’s what we’ve got planned right now for 2015. WM: Awesome, awesome. Uh, you guys are on tour right now, and you guys are coming to Cleveland right? Pretty soon? LB: Oh yeah two days, yeah! WM: Fantastic, where are you playing in cleveland? LB: Oh, Cleveland House Of Blues. WM: Oh House of Blues, excellent! House of Blues is a fantastic place in Cleveland. You gonna check out the Rock Hall while you’re there? LB: Uh, probably not tomorrow because its gonna be covered in snow right now, we’re probably just gonna head to the venue, bunker down and try to stay warm. WM: Heh, yeah. But uh, how many tours do you guys do every year? How often are you on the road? LB: Hmmm…we probably tour, about 8 or 9 months a year. WM: Fantastic. You guys have families at home now probably, yeah? How is it balancing that act? LB: Its sort of, um, understandable doing it now. They’re like our number one supporters. I have a wife at home, and all the guys have their serious relationships, so everyone’s pretty used to it. WM: Well that’s good. I have a personal friend who saw you guys play at the Grange down in Troy all the time when he was a kid, and he’s totally floored that you guys have gone so far, and I think that’s really cool. Do you guys ever go back to there and think like “wow, hey…”? LB: Oh yeah, we go back all the time. The coolest thing is I mean, we were seniors in school, our teachers at the time really had to actually, I guess, support us because we missed a lot of school through high school because we were trying to do this record, but we weren’t dropping out, we were just really busy. And so, we had a lot of support from the school, it’s really cool how we used to go back in the school all the time and there’s just a bunch of Miss May I stuff hung up around the school, and that’s pretty inspiring. WM: That’s really awesome! So you guys are like, hometown heroes now, like “if they can do it…”, I think that’s really cool to look at. So um, you’ve stated in interviews before that you personally have a big R&B influence in your style, would you want to expound on that? LB: Um, yeah! It’s like my favorite kind of music. Really I think, the biggest thing that influences from it is just the catchy lines, that sort of thing. And like a lot of the catchiness and melodies, transfers over to our lyrics. WM: That’s really cool. Who would you consider your biggest influences, artist-wise? LB: Umm, well metal-wise it would have to be Killswitch Engage, Parkway Drive, In Flames, As I Lay Dying…those are the big metal ones. WM: Fantastic, I really like all of those bands as well. You guys have been going for a while now, do you see anything, like, stopping you guys from going until you’re 80? Like, what are your big plans? Future, long-term plans? LB: Umm, we’ve pretty much already checked off all our bucket lists! So, right now it’s just sticking through it, releasing a record, I’d love to just go more. We’re good friends with the Cannibal Corpse guys now and they’re all in their 50’s and 40’s and they’re just, still a metal band. Like, I would love that. So, I would love to do this forever, yeah. Unless something traumatic happens, I don’t really see us stopping anytime soon. WM: I would love to see Miss May I as one of those bands like ’50 Year Anniversary Tour, same members”. That would just blow my mind. LB: Oh yeah, I would love that. I don’t know why we wouldn’t do that, unless somebody…it would have to be just somebody not wanting to do it anymore. But, right now we’re pretty happy! WM: That’s great. You don’t see many bands, again, that are able to stick it through for a really long time, and I think you guys have really got a cool thing going right now. LB: Thank you, man! Yeah our 10 years is in 4 years, our 10 years touring. Crazy. WM: That’s gonna be cool! Are you guys gonna do a big tour for that? Like some kind of special commemeration re-release or something? LB: Yeah, for sure, absolutely. It’s not planned now but it definitely will happen. WM: Well that’s really fantastic! Um, when do you think we can expect new music? Like, you said “hopefully soon”, but do you have an album in mind? Anything on the ropes right now? LB: We were writing all through the holidays and um, I don’t know, we have to talk about studio stuff recently. So I guess we’re just waiting. Um, we really…we have stuff planned. I already know, I just can’t tell you yet! But it’s gonna happen, that’s all that I can say. WM: Hah, well great, excellent! I’m looking forward to it. Is there anything else you would like to say to Columbus Ohio? LB: Stay metal.

[wesmeadows]

I interviewed Modern Baseball today! We talked about Nick Corbo's shoes, The Hotelier's fireworks use, and Weezers new album

[flowerpotrecords]

8pm, WXCU Radio with Max Joseph as my musical guest! playing stuff like the rare American Football demos, Paul Baribeau rarities, a track from the upcoming The Suburbanites live album, and Street Smart Cyclist. and lots of other emo, folk, and punk. tune in!

[wesmeadows]

Gelatinus Cube on WXCU

[wesmeadows]

The Basic Cable Preachers' live performance on WXCU!