Kevin Skaff - A Day To Remember (25/11/2013)
Floridian rockers A Day To Remember have worked harder than most to bring us their fifth studio album Common Courtesy, and on the 29th of November the wait will finally be over for anxious Australians when the physical copy of this masterpiece is finally released.
To give The 59th Sound the low down on Common Courtesy, lead guitarist Kevin Skaff took the time to call in and speak with us about the new album, as well as the band’s upcoming appearance at Soundwave Festival, and just what it is that they love about Australia.
Common Courtesy is an album recorded while its artists were involved in a legal battle with their record label Victory, parts of which were resolved only days before its first initial release as a digital-only, self-published record through the band’s website.
“We only had four days to actually set up the record,” Skaff explains. “because we didn’t know if we were going to be able to release it or not. So four days before, the judge had actually said, ‘Hey, you guys can release it!’ And we kinda just went crazy after that.”
With no advertising to announce the release of the new album, with nothing but word of mouth and taking to their personal Twitter accounts to tell the world, the band wanted to be realistic when it came to the numbers they would get. But as Skaff reports, they needn’t have bothered.
“We all kinda had this number in our heads that we were gonna be okay with since we were self-releasing with only four days time to promote it. And the numbers blew us away, we couldn’t believe it, and we’ve gotta thank our fans so much for being so intense for us, and picking up the record just off ADTR.com.
“It took a little while getting enough Internet hosting for people to download it off our website, but after that [self-publishing] was kinda easy. And then we sent out an email to everybody who got the record, and now that the physical copy is coming out we are giving everybody who bought the digital copy already a big discount on the physical copy.”
In a time where digital downloads far exceed physical album purchases, A Day To Remember will even give you a good reason to go out and buy the physical edition of their latest record – the album artwork was done by Tony Moore, the illustrator of the first six issues of The Walking Dead graphic novels.
“I think that’s kind of a big deal in itself, just to own that,” Skaff says.
Chad Gilbert of American rock band New Found Glory stepped into the producer’s chair once again for this album, making it his third time working with the Ocala rockers – and they’re happy to have him there.
“He’s just a great guy to have around,” Staff says of Gilbert. “He’s got a lot of really cool ideas that none of us would ever think of just because he comes from kind of a different world, a different time period, and stuff that he likes is different to the stuff that we like.”
A Day To Remember are heading down to play Soundwave for the third time next year, returning to Australian shores just seven months after they brought their Right Back At It Again tour to us with The Devil Wears Prada and Dream On, Dreamer, but they have a very good reason for doing so.
“It’s actually our favourite festival we play,” Skaff confesses. “It’s everything about it. The country is beautiful, everything about it is awesome, the weather’s beautiful, all the bands [on the bill] are badass, the crowds are insane. There’s nothing to not like about that festival, and we’re just really excited to be back on it.
“I’m excited to be playing songs off the new record, off Common Courtesy, and I’m excited to watch Green Day every night. I’m a big Alice In Chains fan too, so I’m excited to see them.”
So what keeps the band coming back to Australia? Apart from being the “best country ever” (he said it, not us!), Skaff can name a few other reasons why they keep returning to our continent.
“Our fans there are ridiculous, and some of the best shows that we’ve ever played were over in Australia. I think that’s reason enough to come back as much as we do.”
Common Courtesy is set for Australian release on 29th of November.
Renée Shantel
To give The 59th Sound the low down on Common Courtesy, lead guitarist Kevin Skaff took the time to call in and speak with us about the new album, as well as the band’s upcoming appearance at Soundwave Festival, and just what it is that they love about Australia.
Common Courtesy is an album recorded while its artists were involved in a legal battle with their record label Victory, parts of which were resolved only days before its first initial release as a digital-only, self-published record through the band’s website.
“We only had four days to actually set up the record,” Skaff explains. “because we didn’t know if we were going to be able to release it or not. So four days before, the judge had actually said, ‘Hey, you guys can release it!’ And we kinda just went crazy after that.”
With no advertising to announce the release of the new album, with nothing but word of mouth and taking to their personal Twitter accounts to tell the world, the band wanted to be realistic when it came to the numbers they would get. But as Skaff reports, they needn’t have bothered.
“We all kinda had this number in our heads that we were gonna be okay with since we were self-releasing with only four days time to promote it. And the numbers blew us away, we couldn’t believe it, and we’ve gotta thank our fans so much for being so intense for us, and picking up the record just off ADTR.com.
“It took a little while getting enough Internet hosting for people to download it off our website, but after that [self-publishing] was kinda easy. And then we sent out an email to everybody who got the record, and now that the physical copy is coming out we are giving everybody who bought the digital copy already a big discount on the physical copy.”
In a time where digital downloads far exceed physical album purchases, A Day To Remember will even give you a good reason to go out and buy the physical edition of their latest record – the album artwork was done by Tony Moore, the illustrator of the first six issues of The Walking Dead graphic novels.
“I think that’s kind of a big deal in itself, just to own that,” Skaff says.
Chad Gilbert of American rock band New Found Glory stepped into the producer’s chair once again for this album, making it his third time working with the Ocala rockers – and they’re happy to have him there.
“He’s just a great guy to have around,” Staff says of Gilbert. “He’s got a lot of really cool ideas that none of us would ever think of just because he comes from kind of a different world, a different time period, and stuff that he likes is different to the stuff that we like.”
A Day To Remember are heading down to play Soundwave for the third time next year, returning to Australian shores just seven months after they brought their Right Back At It Again tour to us with The Devil Wears Prada and Dream On, Dreamer, but they have a very good reason for doing so.
“It’s actually our favourite festival we play,” Skaff confesses. “It’s everything about it. The country is beautiful, everything about it is awesome, the weather’s beautiful, all the bands [on the bill] are badass, the crowds are insane. There’s nothing to not like about that festival, and we’re just really excited to be back on it.
“I’m excited to be playing songs off the new record, off Common Courtesy, and I’m excited to watch Green Day every night. I’m a big Alice In Chains fan too, so I’m excited to see them.”
So what keeps the band coming back to Australia? Apart from being the “best country ever” (he said it, not us!), Skaff can name a few other reasons why they keep returning to our continent.
“Our fans there are ridiculous, and some of the best shows that we’ve ever played were over in Australia. I think that’s reason enough to come back as much as we do.”
Common Courtesy is set for Australian release on 29th of November.
Renée Shantel