UNEARTH

We are all individuals

-How did you actually decide to use „The March” as the title track for this album? Was there a particular reason for that?
With so many negative things going wrong in this world, economic collapse, wars, disease, terrorism, religious tyranny, government spying, etc..., there needs to be a radical change. I believe if things get too bad, then people will take action and make the difference needed. People can be the most powerful force on the planet and if things get much worse I believe we will bond together and march for the greater good.
 
-Let's talk for a while about the lyrics. I'm particularly interested in such songs as ”We Are Not Anonymous”, „My Will Be Done”, what are they talking about?  
"We Are Not Anonymous" is about the lack of privacy we all have in the day of multi-media, internet and the governments efforts to spy on ordinary people. Most everything we do today is through some sort of media device. Our texts are recorded, our google searches are recorded, all the phone numbers we call are recorded, etc... Sooner or later this information can and will come back to haunt us. What better way for "Big Brother" to keep an eye on who we are, what we are doing, consumer trends, etc.. than with a total invasion into our private lives? The more we fall into the depths of needing these devices, the more government will have control of each of us. "My Will Be Done" is about the defiance of others strangle hold on peoples personal actions. We are all individuals, but so many of us rely on the structure others have put in place for us without looking any further than that. So many of us are blind to our surroundings and just let others lead us to do and believe in what they want. This song is about breaking free of that and taking hold of your own life. I don't need a god, government, a boss, or anyone else telling me who I need to be. I am my own person and I will live my life that way and more people would be a lot happier if they took their lives back.
 
-Could you tell me some more about the picture you put on the album cover? It's very intense. I remember when I got a promo of your new album, the artwork immediately drew my attention. I always used to say that interesting picture on the front cover is a very important part of selling strategy. Can you agree with me?
With the advent of free downloads or even downloads you can buy, people need to be driven to purchase an album by the artwork. We hired Portland and Sons of Nero to do the art on this album (they did The Oncoming Storm artwork as well). They wanted to capture that personal struggle, but determined fight we all have within us. We might feel like others are trying to hold us down, but we all have that grit inside us to pull away and create our own path. That is what we wanted to portray with  the cover and I believe Sons of Nero did a great job with it.
 
-To the best of my knowledge your previous albums have been doing very well on the music market. What has been the best selling album of UNEARTH till date? How many copies of that one have you sold?
I do believe The Oncoming Storm and III: In the Eyes of Fire are both relatively equal with their around the world sales. Each has sold over 250,000 around the world.
 
-In 2007 you released your first official full length DVD „Alive From The Apocalypse” featuring a show you played in Pomona, California on October 9. How satisfied are you with your performance immortalized on that DVD?
You are your own worst critic, so I have some points that I would personally change, but as a whole it does capture an Unearth show fairly accurately and that is all we can ask for. If people want to compare and contrast we will likely be coming by their hometown sometime soon.
 
-What are your future plans concerning „The March” promotion? To the best of my knowledge next year you are going to appear on a long worldwide tour. Could you give me more details?
We have a UK tour with Lamb of God and Dimmu Borgir. After that we go to Australia for the Soundwave Festival and straight into that we are going to Japan with In Flames and Lamb of God.  I know there are plans for a full North American tour with us and some other bands for May and June as well as some more European touring in the late summer. There are also talks of heading back to Mexico and South America. To be fully straight up with you, the best form of promotion for bands that play heavy music is touring. Basically we tour for about two years straight after we release an album, so you can expect us to be out until sometime in 2010 supporting this album before we even think of the next release. We are all proud of this record and want to play these songs for as many people around the world as we can.
 
-Are there any words of wisdom you want to impart upon the readers of Metal Portal?
Thanks for the interview!

www.unearth.tv

Line Up:
Trevor Phipps - Vocals
Buzz McGrath - Guitar
Ken Susi - Guitar
John "Slo" Maggard - Bass
Derek Kerswill - Drums

Discography:
The Stings of Conscience (2001)
Endless (EP 2002)
Unearth Sampler (Live In Long Island) (DVD 2004)
The Oncoming Storm (2004)
Our Days of Eulogy (compilation 2005)
III: In the Eyes of Fire (2006)
Alive From the Apocalypse (DVD 2008)
The March (2008)