A War Within just recently finished up the “Drop The Gloves Tour” with Blessthefall on top of releasing their new album, Believe, and the band have a lot to look forward to this year, with even more plans of touring around the U.S. while constantly writing new material. We were able to catch up with vocalist Spencer Maybe during their recent tour and discuss what went into the making of Believe, tour experiences, and more!
Interview with Nina Schirmer
Can you tell us a little about A War Within for any readers who might not be familiar with your music?
A War Within is a metalcore/alternative rock band from Detroit, Michigan. We have an eclectic style of music ranging from heavy to soft sounds. We work very hard and like to live the band night and day. We’re a new band and hope to continue to grow as much as we have so far and even more than that.
You recently released a new album called, Believe. What were some of your goals while writing and recording the album?
We wanted to be as in the now as possible. We wrote about relevant things to our lives during the time and feelings of when we put the whole album together. We want to inspire people to push towards better and positive times. Life likes to hit hard at any moment and we want listeners to enjoy the time that we spend together. We want them to feel the level of emotions we were going through with all the changes, turmoil, successes, and struggles. It’s important for us to be us on every record. We don’t want to portray something we are not and then have a live show that doesn’t reflect. We’re very personal and friendly guys and even with metal music we want that to be conveyed.
Did you come across any challenges while writing and recording the album?
Plenty of challenges came about during the production of the album. Armando [Castano] and I had to step up to flex our vocal skills. We also had our drummer quit halfway through the tracking process. When you are putting together a record, time and budget are always factors when you’re independent. We recorded and produced ourselves for this record so it’s a big balancing act for us to keep the daily grind on both ends.
Are there any specific messages from the songs on the album that you would like for listeners to take away?
We wrote the entire album with the intent that our emotions would be felt in each song. They range in all sort of emotions, happy, sad, hopeful, hurt, determined, angry, depressed, loved, and even though we leave out the details, everything that we do write about has a relevance in our lives. Relationships in our past and present, challenges we’ve overcome, not accepting defeat, and you’ll just have to listen to the album to see if you can feel what we feel.
While writing the songs for Believe, what would you say inspired a lot of the lyrics?
We pull all of our inspiration from our daily lives and past experiences. We feel it’s the best way to express ourselves and connect to our listeners. As far as the words go we feel like that’s the best way and our main concerns as the lyrics go.
Who are some of your biggest influences that motivated you to write songs and be in a band?
Everyone we come across provides inspiration whether it’s a positive or negative reaction. We see so much kindness and generosity on tour. People really respect and are willing to go miles to help support a band on the road. It’s what makes us work so hard to see so much enjoyment from doing what we love. We have watched and listened to bands for a long time and just the feeling of making music and playing on stage is plenty inspiration for us to keep our hard work going strong.
You just finished up the “Drop the Gloves” tour with Blessthefall and Miss May I recently. How was the tour for you guys and is there anything that the tour taught you as musicians or as people?
It was such an amazing experience. We are so blessed to have had the opportunity. We like to see more happen in the future and we’ll keep working harder and harder to make sure that happens. We learned a lot from all the other bands just on how to work and handle yourself while on tour.
Can you tell us any crazy stories from this tour?
Our van and trailer broke down 5 times. Our drummer quit on the last day of the tour so we had to finish the dates home without a drummer. We had a guy chase us down to give us pizza and water. It’s just crazy to see the lengths some people will go for us. It’s an amazing feeling to go with the struggle of being a band without a label.
Which songs of yours have been your top favorites to perform live?
The ones that always go over best live are “Promises,” “Slave,” and “A New Hope.” were stoked to try out some of the other songs on the album with the next tour.
What are some of your plans for the rest of this year?
We have a few hometown shows in April, a West Coast tour in May and we’re working on an East Coast tour in June. After that we are just going to keep writing and see what happens to us for the rest of the year as far as touring and shows. It’s always in the works!
Thank you for talking with us! Is there anything else you would like to add?
Please come check us out either at a show or our music and merch at www.awwmusic.com. take a listen to the new album “Believe.” We also have every social media known to man so follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!
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