Last week, I got an email that would officially confirm that I am doing what I love and that I am going into the right career. The email said that I had an opportunity to interview (on the phone) TJ from Escape The Fate. Having just seen them the weekend before, I was stoked and I immediately accepted. The interview was at 7:00 pm CST and I was more than ready. Now, it is with my pleasure and excitement that I give you my Interview with TJ Bell from Escape The Fate.
Hi TJ, how are you today?
Good, how’s it going?
It’s going. This is actually my first interview, so I’m just going to wing it.
Ok that’s good. I’m not that good at interviews but I’ll wing it
Well I guess I'll start now. How is the tour going to far?
This tour is going great it’s a mix between our tour with Papa Roach so we have some days that their headlining, some days we’re doing headliners just on our own with Glamour Of The Kill, big festival days like Carolina Rebellion and Rocklahoma so its just a mix of a lot of different shit going on. But it’s exciting. It’s good to be back on the road. We haven’t been on tour since June. Our last legit tour was in South America in June, so it’s good to be back.
I understand. I saw y’all last week in Mobile. It was great.
Oh, nice. Nice.
How is it touring with Papa Roach?
It’s fun. The rest of the band knows them really well. They toured a lot back in the day before I was a member of the band. But, I’m getting along with the dudes. Me and Craig are always getting wild after the shows and we always end up drunk and invading their bus and just acting stupid but it’s hilarious.
That’s cool. How have the fans of Escape The Fate responded to you being in the band?
They actually took it really well. And I think it’s just because people knew what Max [Green] was going through and everyone just knew that it was his time. Life on the road wasn’t meant for that dude. He needed to be home and get his life back together and I hope he does, you know? I love that dude.
I do too. Are you excited for the new album?
Oh my God. I can’t wait. It comes out two days before my birthday, too.
Oh, really? That’s cool!
Yeah, May 16th so that will be the best birthday present that I’ve ever had.
I loved the new songs that y’all played last week.
Oh, that’s not even half of the record. Wait ‘til you hear the rest of it.
I’m so excited to hear it.
There’s a teaser up on YouTube somewhere that has like choruses to each one of the songs.
I think Alternative press is streaming it on Monday so I’m kinda excited for that.
Oh yeah! Cool!
What is the most challenging song on the album?
The most challenging song? I don’t know. I guess, maybe it’s the funnest song that we play, we play that song called “Fire It Up” Did you hear that one?
Yes, I did.
Yeah, that’s my favorite song to play just because the bass is just holding it down that whole song and it’s just, it has that funky beat to it. You know what I mean? Through the whole song it’s just non-stop energy. I enjoy that one a lot.
I enjoyed it too. How have your fans responded to the new songs?
They are going off. That’s why we weren’t sure, like we didn’t want to play “Fire It Up” in the beginning and then one day we were like fuck it, let’s give it a try and see how the fans react to it. The first time we played it, people were going off, like more than songs that we’ve been playing for the past two years. As soon as we saw that, we were like yeah! We’ve been playing it now every day and people love it.
Well I loved it.
Hell yeah. Glad you liked it
So, what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done on tour?
Well, the stupidest thing I’ve ever done on tour was last year. It was Craig’s birthday and we were in Minneapolis. We went out to a strip club and went to a few bars and I got really really drunk and I ended up going back, I don’t know if they were strippers or just girls who were hanging out but, I went back to their hotel with them and still I realized in my drunken state, I was like “Damn, I shouldn’t be here. I need to go back to the bus because our it’s leaving soon.” And they were like “O.K. That’s fine we’ll pay for your cab back, we’re just gonna go out for a cigarette real quick. Just stay in the hotel room until we get back.” Literally, they went outside for a cigarette for like five minutes. They came back up and I was dead ass asleep and they didn’t bother to wake me up and take me back to my bus. They ended up going to sleep as well and I woke up at fucking seven o’ clock in the morning and I freaked out and I ran to the venue. The bus was gone. My phone was dead. The bus drove; they just left without me, because they couldn’t get a hold of me because my phone was dead. They were already in the next city, they were in Chicago, which is a nine hour drive. So, I freaked out. I ran to the bus station. I was going to take care of it myself. I was like “Alright, I fucked up but I’m going to take care of this” and then I went to the bus station and our tour manager called me and he was like “Dude, you’re an idiot. Don’t risk it going on a bus. Just go to the airport and we’ll pay for your flight to get out here.” That was the dumbest thing that has happened to me on the road was I got left in another city.
Well that’s actually kinda funny!
It is, yeah. But that’s when they finally decided to make me an official member of the band and then they’re like “Aww Fuck. Max fucked up and now look at this new guy that we got.” You know? So it just kinda made me look pretty bad.
But you can laugh about it now.
Yeah, we all laugh about it. Even when I got there, they weren’t too pissed off at me. They made jokes and everything. [laughs]
If you weren’t in music what would you be doing?
Nothing. This is it for me. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. I was born for this. That’s it. You just know when it’s for you. It’s my calling.
I understand that completely. Which bands inspired you the most?
Growing up, I was a punk rock kid. My favorite band is The Misfits so obviously, those dudes: Danzig, Iron Maiden. Yeah, just punk and some 80s Metal, pretty much.
Rock and Roll
And HIM. HIM is my second favorite band.
I love them. I actually saw them several years ago.
Aww man, I’m jealous.
You haven’t seen them?
Nope!
Oh my gosh, they are amazing!
Yeah, I would love love love to see them. So hopefully I do soon.
What is the first song you learned to play?
Actually, the first song that I learned was on bass and it was a song called Chick Magnet from MxPx. Do you listen to MxPx at all?
Yeah, a little bit.
Yeah, that was the first song. I can’t remember what my first song was on guitar though. Because I played bass for like a year, then I kinda got tired of it and then I ended up picking up a guitar and eventually playing guitar for Motionless In White, since I was 16 and on.
What’s been the coolest part of your music career so far?
I think just traveling and meeting new people. And everyday is just something completely random and crazy is going to happen. I never know what is going to happen the next day so that’s kinda exciting.
Yeah, I like that mindset. Well, is there anything else you want to add because, I think I’m done!
[Laughs] Our album comes out May 14th and just tell everyone to pick that up and thank you to everyone for being patient because we have been gone for a long fucking time. Oh, and be excellent to each other. Bill and Ted. I don’t know if you watch Bill and Ted’s show, but that’s the best one.
That’s funny! Well, thank you for your time.
Yeah, it was nice talking to you.
I’ll see you soon on tour!
Hell yeah!
The new Escape The Fate Album “Ungrateful” will be released on Tuesday, May 14th.
Catch them on tour all summer with Papa Roach and Hollywood Undead.
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