I get really mixed up in that whole era, around the time I was listening to Blindside and when Underoath’s They’re Only Chasing Safety came out, but I think Saosin’s Translating the Name EP with Anthony Green was one of the first records I ever bought. But around that time, when I was about sixteen years old and had a job so I could earn money and actually buy albums, I think I just went out and bought a load of records at the same time. But just for fun, let’s say it was that Saosin EP.
Because, man, I didn’t fit in at high school at all – I was kind of an outcast. I had a friend that lived across the street from me who I didn’t go to school with, and he invited me to a concert at the Detour, which was this venue in Spokane, Washington where we grew up. He was like, “Hey man, there’s this crazy band playing down at the Detour, you wanna go?” I’d never been to a show like that, so of course I said yes. I think it was Showbread, Embodyment and Dead Poetic – something like that. So Showbread were my introduction – they were so wild live and such a rad band – and from that, I just kept going to shows. Those Solid State Records bands really kinda raised me into the kind of music that my band plays, and I’m thankful for that.
- The Glorious Rebirth of Saosin
- Draw Me An Elephant: Memphis May Fire
- Circa Survive: It's not easy being Green
- The 11 best Memphis May Fire songs, by vocalist Matty Mullins
Anthony Green’s voice on Translating the Name was unlike anything I’d ever heard at that point in my life. He’s still got such an individuality to him, that dude. His voice is amazing and his lyrical content was really out-there compared to everything else I was listening to, but Translating the Name was just a really cool-sounding record. The drums were really heavy, the guitars had a tonne of movement to them and it was just really fresh for me at that point in my life. I was instantly drawn in and I’m still attached to it. These days I try to branch out and find new artists – I listen to a lot of new pop music these days – but when I do go back, I’ll definitely go back to that EP. I love that EP and I’ll still listen to Saosin, Blindside and Dead Poetic – all of those bands.
Memphis May Fire’s new album This Light I Hold is out on October 28 through Rise Records. Matty was speaking to Alec Chillingworth.
