by BRIAN GIFFIN
PENNSYLVANIA rockers From Ashes to New are making their first trip to Australia next month to join the Good Things Festival. Formed just over a decade ago by singer and multi-instrumentalist Matt Brandyberry, they went through a huge line-up reshuffle in the wake of their debut album, went vocalist Danny Case and drummer Mat Madiro joined the band. Along with guitarist Lance Dowdle, From Ashes to New have now released four albums with a fifth being worked on right now – as Case tells us in this interview
HOT METAL: How are you today?
DANNY CASE: “I’m good. I’m at home, writing some music. Hanging out with my wife!”
HM: That must be great for you. You must look forward to being able to do that with all the touring you have to do.
DC: “Yes, and it’s been a very busy year-and-three-quarters.”
HM: I was about to ask how it’s been for the band over the past year or so, because you’ve had a pretty full schedule.
DC: “Yeah, we’ve been touring a lot, and we released a record and then immediately started working on another one. So we’ve been working pretty much this entire year, on and off, on new music, so it’s been good. It’s been very busy.”
HM: You’re heading out here for the Good Things Festival. Forgive me for not knowing this, but have you been to Australia before?
DC: “No, this will be our first time. We’re doing the festival and then we’re doing a couple of sideshows, as well. As far as I know, they’re our shows. They’re hosted by the festival, so that’s definitely helpful. We’re playing Stay Gold in Melbourne and the Crowbar in Sydney.”
HM: Have you heard much about the Good Things festival, because it’s starting to become a pretty major event here now.
DC: “I’ve never really heard much about it. I heard somebody mention it once before and I didn’t know what they were talking about, and then when I saw that we were listed on this I thought, ‘Whoa, that’s awesome!’ We’re really excited to go!”
HM: It’s going to be quite big because it’s Korn’s 30th anniversary tour so it must be kind of cool to be able to join them for the party.
DC: “That’s going to be wild. Definitely looking forward to that.”
HM: Do you ever think about a time when it’s maybe thirty years for your band?
DC: “It’s hard to think about that, because you’re working, chipping away every day and then the next thing you know, ten years has gone by. It seems to have gone by so fast. I can’t even imagine what the next ten years will look like, or if I would even make it to the thirty year mark! But it’s interesting to think about sometimes. I can’t even imagine what the band will look like or sound like in Year 30. That’s crazy! That’s crazy to think about.”
HM: You must also look back and see how things have changed and improved, too. That must be kind of mindblowing as well, in a way.
DC: “Yeah! I started playing when I was 11. Man, that is literally two-thirds of my life I have spent playing music. I’ve pretty much just lived to create music, and it’s pretty wild to think back to age 11 and struggling to figure things out on drums… and the countless hours that were spent becoming a good musician – and the journey never ends!”
HM: You must think you’re in a pretty good place too, because so many aren’t able to make a career out of music the way you have.
DC: “Absolutely. It’s been… as much as there’s been hard work involved, it’s also luck. Sometimes it’s a matter of right place, right time, or you’re just putting yourself out there enough to be seen by the right people. Just as much as you can lock yourself away in a room for twenty years and become the greatest guitarist in the world – it doesn’t matter if you don’t get seen by people, get out there and make connections. There’s an element of luck that plays into it too, and I’m grateful that I’ve been as lucky as I’ve worked hard.”
HM: What do you think has been the hardest time for From Ashes to New?
DC: “The original band had a line-up that broke apart. I’m part of the new line-up with the drummer, Matty, so coming together when a new line-up and having to recreate the band and convince everyone to come back, and that the band was better than ever… at the time it didn’t seem like a task, but looking back on it, that really tears a lot of bands apart. They’re on a trajectory where they’re making a name for themselves and then something happens and they never recover from it. We’ve been very fortunate not just to recover from it, but to smash through that level we were at before. Looking back on it, that was definitely a difficult process, but we got on so well together, and we worked so well together that it didn’t seem like a challenge. Looking back on it, though: it was tough stuff!”
HM: Do you think that’s what made this line-up successful: that you’ve been able to work together to get beyond that and move on from there?
DC: “I think that just as much as it is about having great songs, having great chemistry is the luck side of working together. You’ve got to have good chemistry, and if you do, it can take you anywhere. We have great chemistry. You see bands that fight or they can’t see eye to eye, or one person is working their ass off and no one’s really helping them… we all, to a degree, know that there’s a ton of work going in to being successful in an industry where there are so many people trying to make it. You’ve got to be able to work harder than everyone else and you’ve got to be able to work together better than everybody else.”
HM: You mentioned earlier that you’re writing new music. So is that a task the entire band shares?
DC: “Yes. Right now Matt is in the studio working with our producer, and I’m at home working on stuff. He’ll call me to show me something, or I’ll call him to show him something. Our guitarist Lance is at home getting his guitar set up so he can work on things with Matt. The more darts you have to throw at the board, the better chance you’re going to have. So we’re all working so we can have the best selection of music we can.”
HM: I understand that there’s a process – pre-production and recording and post-production, etc., but is there a timeline for when we can expect it?
DC: “We’ve been working on and off all year, and I have a feeling we’re halfway through our studio time so we’re kind of getting to the point where we’re taking our songs and finishing them, so it’s probably going to be sometimes mid-quarter two, quarter three next year that things will be coming out. Hopefully we’ll have a song out before then, but we’ll be in the swing of things by third quarter.”
HM: I’m sure you’ll have fun at the side shows because they’re quite intimate venues and you’ll be able to get up nice and close with the crowd. I’m sure you enjoy that!
DC: “It’s funny, on this last tour we played this tiny room, with a tiny stage, and typically you might think a band that plays there will be like, “Man, this sucks!” but we all had this thought process where it was like, “This is like a throwback! We haven’t played a stage this small in forever!” I mean, it was a small city, but it was so much fun, to play a show that was like a show we would play when we were coming up in the music scene. It was a hot room, all the fans were going nuts, and I think it’s great to play a small show every now and then, and we’re incredibly grateful for any show we play. It’s kind of humbling, and it keeps us on our toes. We haven’t been to Australia before, and I think it’s going to be awesome.”
FROM ASHES TO NEW AUSTRALIAN TOUR
DECEMBER 4: Stay Gold, Melbourne
DECEMBER 10: Crowbar, Sydney
+ GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL
