I got to sit down with Ben Jorgensen from Armor For Sleep in Nashville, TN.
Trevor: What’s the tour been like so far?
Ben: It’s been awesome, man. Every show has been sold out so far, so we can’t complain. It’s been really good.
Trevor: Are all the kids reacting well to every band on the tour?
Ben: Yeah, it’s like a package tour. We call it “The Invisible Sideshow” and not the “Armor For Sleep Headlining Tour” for a reason. We knew it’s about all the bands. Every band has their own thing going on and it’s more about the power of all the bands together than it is the power of just us.
Trevor: Are there any crazy stories from this tour yet? Has anything really random happened yet?
Ben: We played a show in New York City. It was the biggest show we ever headlined in New York before, and our management got us a stretch limo. We had an afterparty at this super hipster place. It’s strange. We got out of the limo at the club and everyone like, moved away and there was a red carpet for us to go on. I was like, “What the fuck?”
(Laughter)
Trevor: Speaking of crazy stories, there are plenty of them on the DVD that just came out. Now, why did you guys go ahead and decide to release a DVD?
Ben: Because, we’re kind of sick of bands being bands and there’s always a barrier between them and their fans. The fans think they know them based on their songs, but every band is full of five or six real people. We just wanted to show everyone who we really are. We’re just four normal dudes from New Jersey who just happen to be in a band that plays music. We wanted all our fans to know we’re real people, and we wanted to film ourselves being idiots.
Trevor: Do you prefer to play the old songs or the newer songs? Do you even have a preference?
Ben: There’s gratification in playing both. On this tour, we’re bringing back a couple of old songs that we haven’t really gotten to play, and that’s cool because I know people might want to hear those songs. At the same time, we’re playing a couple of new songs that we never got to play from this album that I know people are going to be stoked about. I’m excited for both. We’re never going to be one of those bands that justs forgets about our old songs.
Trevor: Why did you decide to do a more developed concept album this time around.
Ben: I think that’s just the way we write. I think an album, the albums that I like, kind of tell a story or a piece of history. They’re more than just a collection of songs. They’re a state of mind. I don’t think it was any different than the way we did “Dream to Make Believe.” Maybe it’s a little more story-oriented, but it just has common threads running through it. I think at the time, that’s the kind of album we wanted to make. I’m not saying we’re always going to make concept albums, but that’s what felt right.
Trevor: Even though it’s been out for almost a year, do you think the new album is still gaining momentum?
Ben: Yeah, I mean if anything, I know we’re selling more records now than we ever have on this record cycle. Shit’s kind of picking up for us on the more mainstream front, so it’s not dead by any means. Things kind of take a while for an album sometimes.
Trevor: Are you writing any new material yet?
Ben: We actually have our whole next album written. We’re going to go record it as soon as this tour is over.
Trevor: Well that takes care of the next question. (Laughter) Is there anything that you have to bring on tour. Is there anything that you HAVE to have while you’re on the road?
Ben: My iPod. Now that we have a bus, my X-Box. It’s my second life. We brought our recording studio out here with us. This is where we’re going to be making demos of our whole album. We’re a pretty high tech band. We all have Sidekicks and iPods. We keep up with the times and we try and utilize 2006 for whatever it can bring us. We all have laptops, and we update our Myspace pages. You know what I mean? Everything that a normal person has nowadays, we have.
Trevor: If you could set up a dream tour with any bands you could play with, who would it be?
Ben: Probably Nirvana and Radiohead..Say Anything.
Trevor: Oh man, yeah. If they ever get back on the road..
Ben: They will. Max is a good friend of mine. They’re going to kick ass this year.
Trevor: Yeah, they’ve got the re-release of the album coming out and with the right push, they could be huge.
Ben: They will be, man. They’re one of the few bands that we get to tour with that I think really change the landscape of music. Max is one of my good friends, and it’s really weird, because when I talk to him I’m a really huge fan of his songs; but at the same time I’m still his good friend, so it’s cool.
Trevor: Finally, what are your plans for the summer?
Ben: Warped Tour. Full Warped Tour.
Trevor: Are you guys playing Main Stage?
Ben: A little bit. We’ll dabble in the main stage and see how it feels.
(Laughter)
Trevor: All right. Thank you for sitting down with me.
Ben: Oh, no problem man.
I saw them at the Milwaukee stop of Warped ’06. they were great.