Ben Bruce – Asking Alexandria

Asking Alexandria has just released The Black, which is the band’s first album with new vocalist Denis Stoff. Ben phoned me up on Thursday from the film set in L.A. where he’s filming for his first major movie, American Satan, together with Black Veil Brides’ Andy Biersack. Asking Alexandria are flying out here next month to play their first ever  shows in support of The Black. We talked mostly about the new album, and what the fans can expect of the tour next month. 

With the release of The Black imminent, I asked Ben how excited he is about finally releasing their first album with Denis in the band, and if he’s actively listening to the album on his own.

“I’ve listened to it a million times by this point, I’m really proud of how it came out. We’re all really excited to get it out, we listen to it together on a regular basis. We’re really enjoying listening to it. I think it’s important to enjoy what you’re creating, you know, if not, what’s the point of doing it?”

I have been a fan of Asking Alexandria pretty much since they released their debut album, Stand Up and Scream. The band’s latest release prior to The Black, From Death To Destiny, lacked the trademark energy and many of the metalcore elements that you could find on the first two albums. This time around, with Danny Worsnop gone from the band, it feels like Asking Alexandria has gone back to their roots. Not necessarily copying their early sound, but they have taken parts of it and evolved it into something new. Instantly recognizable, but more mature. I wanted to know what the writing process was like, did it all progress naturally? 

“Yeah man, it was a very natural process. We didn’t want to sit down and think about it too much. We just wanted to get out there and get back to what we love doing. So we tried to not think about: “we need a radio single” and this and that. We went for whatever was in our gut.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1RKaRgVFKk&w=560&h=315]

When Danny Worsnop was still in the band, it wasn’t too difficult to see, even from afar, that neither the rest of the band nor the frontman were very happy with the current situation. Having followed Denis from the beginning of his career with Make Me Famous, it didn’t come as surprise that he would bring a lot of energy to a band that could otherwise have been left for dead. I asked Ben if he was happier now than he had been the last couple of years.

“One hundred percent without the shadow of a doubt. We’re all fucking stoked. We used to have a frontman that didn’t give a shit about the band anymore. Now everyone’s head is in the game, everyone’s loving what we’re doing and it makes us a lot happier, we’re having a lot more fun on tour and we are a lot happier in our personal lives.”

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Ben wasn’t very happy with the situation that Danny created. He became hard to work with, as he wanted different things to the rest of the band. The two had been best friends for close to a decade, and gone through all kinds of things together. Prior to the material that became The Black, Ben wrote almost an entire album catered towards Danny’s tastes. When he left, more or less an entire album was completely scrapped and the band started over again, this time with Denis by their side. Many fans would see him just as “the new guy”, but I wanted to know if he had some of therapeutic effect on the rest of the band members. 

“One hundred percent man. The biggest thing was when we went out and played with him live in Europe for the first time. After touring with Danny for so long, really not giving it his all, not caring about the band much, it was shitty, we didn’t enjoy playing live anymore. But as soon as Denis came on, he was fresh, he was excited, he was giving it everything. You just had to look over to your left and right and see your frontman flying on stage, jumping up and down. It made us feel as a unit again, it made us excited again. It made us remember why we fell in love with touring, and doing what we do in the first place.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7appuMrrn7U&w=560&h=315]

Do you feel closer to your fans now, because of how they welcomed Denis with open arms? 

“Yeah man. You never know what the outcome is going to be when you change vocalists. Honestly, I think the fact that our fans have been so loyal is unbelievable to me. But I think a lot of it might have to do with the fact that Danny was distancing himself from the band and our fan base for years and years before he even left. People would come and see us live and go: “Danny is not singing the songs the way they were recorded”, so I think it was like a sigh of relief for everyone when we got the new vocalist.”

The songs you wrote that were aimed towards Danny, will they ever see the light of day?

“They are pretty much scrapped. When I was writing the songs it was something I was going through at the time, but it is all part of my past now. I’m happy again now, so there’s no sense in digging up the past.”

Asking Alexandria are playing their first ever shows in support of The Black in Australia in a couple of weeks. So far the band has premiered three new songs live. I was curious about what kind of reception they have gotten so far.

“It’s been insane honestly. Whenever you start playing a new song live, it always takes a little while for the crowd to get used to it. So it drags your set down a little for the first few months. For some reason, it’s been the complete opposite for us this time. We released The Black, and started playing it two days later. Straight away people knew the word and were jumping up and down. The energy was through the roof. It’s really exciting to see that we can go out there, play new songs and have that reaction from the very beginning.”

Staying on the topic of the setlist for the upcoming tour, I wanted to know a couple of things. First and foremost, it is no secret that From Death To Destiny didn’t turn out exactly as Ben wanted. Are there any songs on there that will never be played live again because of this?

“Yeah, there are songs on there that we’ve never played live, even when Danny was in the band. It was a hard time for us, I felt great writing songs for that album, and then people came along and changed songs completely. Having said that, I’m still very proud of the record. There are just songs on there, like Moving On, that I just feel would be inappropriate for us to perform with a new vocalist.”

Ever since I started following Asking Alexandria, me and many other fans have been wanting to hear A Candlelit Dinner With Inamorta (from their first album) live. For some reason, Danny never wanted to play the song live. With him gone, will the song ever make it onto the setlist?

“It’s really funny actually, a lot of people have asked us about that song. And we didn’t even realise it was that popular, but it’s a song we’re asked about all the time, so I think we have to start adding to our setlist and see how it turns out live. “

Any chance of hearing it on the Australian tour already?

“Possibly, it really just depends. I flew out straight from our last tour to LA to film this movie. And I fly out to meet up with the guys, we have one day worth of practice before the Australia tour. So, we have to go through some of the new songs, and if we’re comfortable with those songs, then we’re probably going to try to do something else as well.”

Any idea about how many songs from The Black you will be performing on the tour?

“We’re still arguing about that! It’s our first tour on this record, so we’re going to be debuting a bunch of songs live. We’re so excited about all the songs on the record, so we’re struggling to pick the songs to debut in Australia at the moment.”

The band has been over here a couple of times already. I wanted to know what kind of impression Ben’s got about Australia, and also, if he prefers vegemite over marmite! 

“We’ve been a few times now. It’s one of our favourite places in the world to tour. It’s so laid back, the weather is always awesome and we always have a great time. And we don’t get to go very often, so it’s almost like a little treat for us! As for vegemite, I’m not going to lie, it’s not better than marmite!” <laughs>

I thanked Ben for our chat, and asked him if he had any final words for the Australian fans. 

“We cannot fucking wait to get there man. We confirmed this tour so long ago now, even before we announced it, so we’ve been waiting forever to get there. I just want to thank everyone who’s got tickets already, we can’t wait to get there!”

The Black is out now via Sumerian Records.

170 RUSSELL, MELBOURNE
THURSDAY APRIL 7
under 18s

170 RUSSELL, MELBOUNRE
FRIDAY APRIL 8
ages 18+

THE MET, BRISBANE
SATURDAY APRIL 9
all ages

HQ COMPLEX, ADELAIDE
SUNDAY APRIL 10
all ages

ASTOR THEATRE, PERTH 
WEDNESDAY APRIL 13
all ages

UNSW ROUNDHOUSE, SYDNEY  
FRIDAY APRIL 15
all ages

For complete tour and ticketing details, visit here.

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