Ozzfest 2007: Loudside.com managed to sit down with guitarists Blake Bunzel and Chris Howorth, the guitar duo from up and coming melodic metal thrashers In This Moment to discuss their debut album, the Ozzfest experience, how they feel about filming videos, and what lies ahead for this fast rising young band. Here's what Blake and Chris had to say about all things related to In This Moment: 

Loudside.com: So how has the Ozzfest experience been so far, and how has the crowd response been?

Blake: I can say that the Ozzfest experience has been amazing, through and through. The crowd responses have been just incredible. Lots of just chanting back, the kids are going wild, people are just going crazy. Our merch is selling, people are buying the cd's, and it's awesome to actually be meeting them up close and personal, after the end of the show.

Chris: Everybody's here to have a good time. That's the bottom line.

Loudside.com: Now how do you feel about the rotating set times and having to play during the day with the sun beating down on you?

Chris: It's different, but it's actually pretty cool. Sometimes you can't see the buttons on your pedal board too good (laughing), but it's definitely amazing to be here. And playing during the day, the crowds are HUGE! They're amazing, so it doesn't matter what time of day or night, as long as there's a good crowd, it's awesome.

Loudside.com: Were you guys expecting to have that many people out there so early in the day?

Chris: Umm, well, through Ozzfest history, the crowds have always been great for the second stage, and we were hoping for that, so it's been everything we could hope for and more. The crowd sizes have been huge at all of them, and we're just expecting it to get better and better.

Loudside.com: Now you guys are a relatively young band, having been together for about two years now. How does it feel to look back, from being unsigned, to being a fast rising band getting signed to Century Media, and now being a part of the biggest traveling Metal festival in the U.S.?

Chris: Well, it feels amazing man, to be here right now. I mean, I've been in a bunch of bands, and Blake's been in a bunch of bands. This is his first major band, ya know. So for him it's like a different emotion. I'm sure it's just as equally amazing. But I've been slinging it out for a while, so have Maria, Jeff and Jesse. It feels great to be signed, and to do this. And the speed at which we're accomplishing things is really awesome, we're so appreciative of it.

Blake: Everday something new happens, and it's just SO Amazing when you actually hear something like that happening. You know like, everything just being lumped into two years of just constant working.

Chris: Ozzfest is just like a big huge cherry on top of it all. (Laughs)

Loudside.com: What was the reaction when you guys first found out you were doing the tour?

Chris: Ozzfest? I can remember the day, exactly...we were on tour with Kittie, Walls Of Jericho, and 36 Crazyfists, and we found out that we were gonna be doing it and we were just all like cheering, and like....we were six people crammed into this little van, and everyone was just like, so excited about it.

Blake: Everyone was on their cell phones quickly! That van was ROCKIN' dude!! Everyone was so happy. We're still happy! It's so surreal, ya know.

Chris: Definitely a cool cool moment.

Loudside.com: Now, similarly, you guys did some overseas tours, including some of the legendary festivals like Download, Rock am Ring, Rock Im Park, Graspop. How did it feel to be a part of all that?

Chris: It's the same thing. We knew we were going in playing festivals and stuff. But when we got there, we realized the scope of these things, and how big it is, and how fortunate we were to be a part of it. And it was just......we already knew we were doing Ozzfest coming back from Europe, but we didn't realize we were gonna be going to such a huge, huge thing in Europe. The crowds there are HUGE! Those festivals are Legendary, the bands that are playing, that we were playing with everyday are legends, ya know. Huge Huge bands. And it was like, just crazy to be a part of it.

Blake: Especially the experience of like, the different languages that you gotta get used to and stuff. I mean like, before going over there, watching youtube and watching all the bands that are playing Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, and Download also. It's like, No way.....is that the actual place that we're playing at?? And getting over there was like, Dude somebody punch me, somebody wake me up. (laughing) This is awesome!

Chris: Just being in a different country, and having the experience of all those massive shows with massive audiences. That's the first time we've ever played in front of that many people. So that kind of prepped us for the Ozzfest experience, but it's amazing. The festival crowds over there are equally as energetic and ready to have a good time, just like the Ozzfest crowd, ya know.

Loudside.com: Was it at all intimidating, when you first seen the size of the crowds?

Chris: Maybe at first. But I think after our first couple of shows, not that it's like routine or anything, but we got over the nervousness. Cause it's so much fun to have a good huge crowd. You react off that, and you're not even nervous, you're excited and having a great time.

Blake: If you stay intimidated, I think the days go by a little bit harder. Where once you get used to the whole process of like, the festival shows and stuff, it becomes alot more about bonding, and things like that.

Loudside.com: Did you guys get to meet anyone that you never thought you'd meet?

Chris: Oh we met everybody. We were hanging out with all these bands that we all used to listen to like Chimaira, Lamb Of God, Shadows Fall, Killswitch, Devildriver, Papa Roach, Stone Sour. Like all these dudes are just hanging out, cause all these people are doing the same festivals. So we're seeing them everywhere we go. Dragonforce. And all these different bands with like dressing rooms right next to eachother, and everyone's hanging out the whole time. So it was crazy like that. Plus, you know, Iron Maiden headlined the festival. Heaven and Hell was playing the same festival. So you've got, Dio, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, and Tony Iommi all having a conversation at the table right next to you. It's pretty gnarly.

Blake: That was actually the first time we got to see our manager (Blasko) tour with Ozzy, in Europe. It was like, This is rad! Ya know, to see that happen.

Loudside.com: Right on. Now, moving on to the album, lyrically was it more of a band effort, or is that more of Maria's area?

Chris: That's straight up Maria. She writes all of the lyrics, and all of her lyrics are lyrics that are really personal to her. She writes about things that she's been through, and she's pretty much emotionally attached to all the lyrics that she writes. The band pretty much stays out of the lyric department.

Loudside.com: Ok. Now some of the material had been recorded previously, correct?

Chris: Yes, we had a few songs recorded previously.

Loudside.com: So exactly how much of the album was brand new, and did working with Eric Rachel...did he bring any ideas in that might have influenced bits of a song or anything like that?

Chris: Umm, ok, well for the first question, I don't know. I'd say half the album is brand new. We had a few songs that we wrote that weren't recorded, and we actually scrambled in pre-production and wrote a couple more right before we went in. And there's a couple of tracks that are on the album, that we actually recorded. But Eric was.....when we got there, we had a pre-prouction demo that we made. And he just went through the demos with us in a meeting type format, and we decided what we thought was working and wasn't working, and he made some suggestions, and if we liked it we went with it, if we didn't like it, we didn't. And that's how we kind of put the record together.

Blake: It was pretty easy to work with him though. It was very understandable, like what he wanted to change. And you know, it was minor things, and it was pretty much like playing it back here and there, and just making it form like a better song structure, and he really did help us out, and we really appreciate it.

Chris: He's a really experienced guy.

Loudside.com: Cool. Now musically, the album has elements of alot of earlier Shadows Fall, and bits of God Forbid here and there, in my opinion. But I'd like to know what bands specifically have been the biggest influence on you guys?

Blake: Wow! Ummm....

Chris: We're all very different.

Blake: Yeah, everyone's very different in this band. Like one of my favorite bands is Pink Floyd. I grew up playing guitar to Creed and things like that, and listening to Blink-182. More of like the pop rock scene. Chris though....

Chris: I'm into like Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Ratt, Dokken, Metallica, Testament, Pantera, Slayer. And plus, I like all the newer bands like Chimaira, anything that's Metal. I'm more of the Metal dude, ya know. I bring that influence in. But Jesse's like the same thing. He likes alot of metal too. And Jeff does too. But they also....like Jeff's into Jazz and Jesse's into like blues metal type stuff, but also like crazy blast beating stuff. So it's everyone's kind of things coming together that make our sound. It's pretty organic. We don't progress with a song unless everyone's feeling it. And that can be kind of a painful way of write, but it also means that everybody's feeling the vibe of the song and putting their thing in there, and making it what it is.

Blake: Everyone's pretty diverse on their music base though, so when a new type of like idea comes through, it's not exactly shut down right away. Everyone's pretty open minded about that.....Like let's at least try it, ya know.

Loudside.com: Now so far, you guys have filmed the videos for 'Prayer', and the title track 'Beautiful Tragedy'. I know every band has their opinions on doing videos, some like it some don't. But for you guys specifically, do you guys enjoy filming them, and how do you decide what songs to do videos for?

Blake: Well for me, I actually enjoy doing the videos. There is....well, the first video was like only a one day process, but it was still a long day and everything. But it's really cool when you just like burn through a song, and you play as hard as possible throughout the video, and.....

Chris: You play it a thousand times....

Blake: (laughing) Yeah!! You play it a thousand times, and you know the song from back to front anyways, even after doing the record. But it's still an amazing experience.

Chris: I think everyone likes it, everyone likes filming videos. And for picking the songs, it's basically the label, and us and our management kind of decide. Like we thought 'Prayers' should be the first single, because it shows both elements of us, but we all really like 'Beautiful Tragdey' and think it has a little more of a sing along type element, and maybe more people might like it. So we wanted to release that second. And we're gonna do another video comin up, but we're still trying to decide on what song should be the next one.

Loudside.com: Any possibility of it being 'Daddy's Falling Angel'?

Chris: Ummm, I don't know. I can't say no to that, cause I definitely love that song, and everyone else seems to like it too....

Blake: Would that be considered your vote too??

Loudside.com: Sure! (laughing) I mean, when I first heard about you guys, it was before you got signed, and then you got signed. And on your page you guys put 'Prayers' up first, and then later on you put up 'Daddy's Falling Angel'....

Chris: I was dying to put up 'Daddy's Falling Angel' up!! From the minute we were starting to put new songs up from the album, I was like 'Why are we putting Prayers up there?? WHY??' It was a big thing for me cause I love that song so much and I wanted everyone to hear that one....(laughing)

Loudside.com: Right on (laughing). Now, back to touring......here in the U.S., you guys have done the extensive tour with Kittie, then you did the Hottest Chicks in Metal tour, or at least a portion of it, and now of course Ozzfest. And pretty soon you'll be heading out with Megadeth. Is that going to bring In This Moment's touring cycle for this year to an end, or is there something coming up after that?

Chris: There is definitely going to be something after that. It's gonna be something good, theres possibilitites up in the air, but we can't really talk about it....so hopefully. Ya know we're dying to like, lock something down, and we're gonna probably be working all the way up to......we'll hopefully get some time off for christmas, and I would imagine we're gonna keep working early next year as well, touring.

Loudside.com: So you have some ideas, but you just can't say anything. After the Megadeth tour that is.

Chris: Yeah, we have some things that are being talked about, but we can't say anything.

Blake: Put it this way, we'll be just as excited as the crowd will be, to see those bands too ya know.

Loudside.com: Fair enough. Now with every band putting out DVD's, have you guys been collecting footage during the touring cycle?

Chris: Absolutely! Lots of footage from Europe, pre-tour stuff, and Ozzfest. And we're just compiling all of our own footage, and we'll definitely do a DVD. I think Century Media's probably gonna do a DVD too, maybe the videos or something. I don't know. But we're definitely gonna do a DVD. And we're gonna try to make it....something different. It hasn't been brought to the forefront yet.

Loudside.com: So you're just gonna film throughout the majority of the touring cycle then, to have as much footage as possible.....

Chris: Yeah, we'll just have everything we did through the whole time. And maybe some afterwards.

Loudside.com: All the backstage antics and tour bus antics....

Blake: Yeah!!! (laughing)

Loudside.com: (laughing) Now do you guys write at all on the road, especially on  tour like this where you have some downtime?

Chris: We have our acoustic guitars on this tour. It's the first time we've actually room to bring 'em, ya know. Cause we're using an RV this time, and we got a bigger trailer. So we have room for them, so we probably will write some on this. We actually rehearsed for like four days before this tour, and we wrote a song. So we definitely, any second that we get to do something like that, we run with it. So yeah, we'll write some stuff, but we're probably gonna have to buckle down when we get off tour, and rehearse and write that way too.....

Loudside.com: Right on. So what can we look forward to from In This Moment in the year to come?

Blake: Oh Geez.....ummm, probably lots more touring, being on the road, but also hopefully a writing process, probably like early next year. And um, hopefully a new video, as we talked about before, and ummm....yeah..

Chris: We're gonna keep touring until....until everybody knows about us. (laughter all around) Then we'll do another album......