Lately, a lot of things have been coming full circle for me. I’ve also seen a lot of things coming full circle for others as well. Back in September, I sat down with Creed frontman Scott Stapp for a 20-minute interview, listening to his tale of redemption from being in the biggest band in the world, to hitting rock bottom, and back again with for a clean ‘n’ sober reunion with Creed. In November, I caught up with an old high school classmate, Dan Kastelnik of Sandlot Heroes, and we sat backstage at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia talking about how we now have much bigger things in common than just our Bethlehem Catholic High School diplomas.
And then, there’s the guys from Otherwise. The members of this band have become rock ‘n’ roll brethren to me. In 2011, I met Otherwise backstage at the 48 Hours Festival in the shadow of the Las Vegas Strip. They were towards the bottom of a massive bill that included the likes of Korn, Godsmack, Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace, Seether, Hatebreed, Sevendust, and many more. They wide-eyed, energetic, and hungry for success, as was I.
I interviewed them on the red carpet, and they were so stoked…as was I. I love energy in an interview. I thrive on it. And they brought
it. I recalled hearing bits of their set stream in and out of my ears as I was doing other interviews, and from what I remembered, I really dug it. After the interview, a good friend of theirs who was working for them at the time, pulled me aside and said “Hey Man, that was a great interview. I only have a few copies of this, but you seem really cool, so here you go.” He handed me a plain white slipcase. Inside was a blank CD, with “Otherwise” inscribed in Sharpie. “This is their EP. It’s really good, man. I’m tellin’ you…they’re gonna be huge.” He was right.
Since then, Otherwise have become one of the hottest new acts in rock ‘n’ roll, signing with Century Media Records and releasing their smash hit debut LP, True Love Never Dies. I went on to launch my own site, the very one you’re on right now, and I’ve been reviving rock ‘n’ roll ever since. Things came full circle from that day in Vegas, as I got to interview the Wise Guyz in my hometown of Bethlehem, PA at the Sands Event Center on the kick-off stop of their biggest tour yet – a U.S. run with Stone Sour and Papa Roach. “To be on-stage with these two bands, this caliber of artists, on a tour of this size is pretty much the biggest tour of our career,” said frontman Adrian Patrick. “our father always tells us to take stock in where we were a year ago today, and a year ago today we were still trying to finish the album. We didn’t have an album out yet. And now, we’re on tour with Stone Sour and Papa Roach.”
This tour began just after the release of the band’s new video for their latest single, “I Don’t Apologize (1,000 Pictures)”. When I
asked what went into making this video, they replied collectively, “A lot of gasoline. A lot of gasoline to light that tree on fire!” If you don’t know what that means, you gotta watch the vid. The track is a fairly gut-wrenching one about a relationship that has fallen apart, “There’s definitely certain people in your life that you meet and all of a sudden, they’re less than strangers,” said guitarist Ryan Patrick. “It’s definitely an anthem to the heartbroken to regain your strength and take back your life.” In further regard to the personal inspiration for the song, Adrian added, “It’s a powerful piece, because it comes from a very powerful place.”
There is much more to Otherwise than your average alt-rock outfit. This band has depth; a perfect storm of soaring vocals and melodies, to hard and heavy metallic breakdowns. Drummer Corky Gainsford commented, “The way a lot of these songs are written is one guy will come up with the first main idea, but then maybe the next guy has the next idea, and the next guy has the next idea. Then, Ryan comes up with about 300 guitar parts, but we only need 4, so we pick the best ones. They we’re able to throw a lot of [songs] together is that we’re never searching for ideas, it’s just a matter of which [ideas] fit for which songs.” Speaking of writing songs, the band has some possible huge news about some new music. “We were tossing the idea around of maybe doing an acoustic EP,” Adrian states. “We’re always writing. We probably have 20 solid ideas.” The Guyz went on to say that they even have some songs from the True Love Never Dies writing sessions that have been shelved for future release. I’m optimistic that we’ll see some new tunes from these guys one way or another in 2013, and be year’s end or in early 2014, a new studio LP for sure.
Otherwise are one of the most humble, hard-working bands in the music business. Their major label debut, True Love Never Dies,
was released on Century Media Records in early 2012. Before that, however, the band was already making waves. Fox News dubbed them one of the best unsigned bands in the country, and their single, “Soldiers”, sold over 10,000 copies on iTunes. They have been touring relentlessly for the past 2 years, playing festivals like 48 Hours, Rock On The Range, and Rock Allegiance, as well as supporting bands like 3 Doors Down, Daughtry, Pop Evil, Hellyeah, Puddle of Mudd, Buckcherry, Taproot, and Hurt. The Wise Onez are once again confirmed for Rock On The Range (Columbus, OH) this year, as well as Carolina Rebellion (Charlotte, NC) and Welcome To Rockville (Jacksonville, FL). Hopefully, the guys will stay on the road with a headlining tour for the summer, if the music world is lucky. – by Matt Bishop (Photography by Matt Bishop)
