Of Mice & Men Talk Touring and Living the American Dream – an Interview

By: Claudio Zelaya – Contributing Writer

Of Mice & Men, the five-piece metalcore band hailing from Orange County, California have been rampaging through the scene for six years like it’s nothing. In support of their new album, Restoring Force: Full Circle, they have embarked on a US headlining tour with support from bands Volumes and Crown the Empire. On their stop here in South Florida, FIUSM’s own Claudio Zelaya was able to sit down with their singer, Austin Carlile, and drummer, Valentino Arteaga, to talk about their experience on the road and realizing the American dream. Watch the full video here and read the brief transcript below.

 

FIUSM: How has the crowd been here in the past?

Austin: It’s been great. We’ve been a touring band for 6 years and we’ve had to go through all the little cities, the big cities, and we get to stop through here on most tours. It’s good to come here on nights with the tickets all sold out.

FIUSM: Have you guys experienced anything really weird here in Florida?

Austin: I used to work at Chick-Fil-A in Ft. Myers. On my way to work one time, I pulled over because I saw a big turtle! I’m talking like a tanker! So, I pulled over and walked him to the side because they always say, “walk them to where they’re going because they’re just going to cross again!” It’s a pretty cool deal when you’re 17, I guess! We used to do crazy stuff! We used go to jump on little alligators and duct tape their mouths shut and take pictures!

FIUSM: While on the road, what’s the best way to stay entertained?

Valentino: It’s never a dull moment. We’re a bus of twelve people, so there’s always something going on. Everyone’s always running around doing something. We have Nintendo 64, a PlayStation 4, and some song writing.

Austin: Yeah, Alan would be working on his laptop in the back writing like, “Listen to this!”

Valentino: We treat it like when we’re at home. You wake up, brush your teeth, and get ready for the day. It’s an extension of that for us because we’ve been on the road for such a long time. We’re used to it, so we just incorporate our normal schedules at home into like, “now.”

FIUSM: Going with the theme of “Of Mice and Men”, is the American dream realized?

Valentino: No, we’re constantly challenging ourselves to do something different. We’re still getting knocked back and forth. As our band gets bigger, we realize there are more things that we didn’t even think about, and these bands of 20 years like Korn or Linkin Park, bands that have stood the test of time, have a whole different level of career that’s pretty far from us. “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” We were supposed to tour with Linkin Park in the states, but three dates in and Chester broke his leg!

Austin: It’s just what life threw at us. It’s something we can’t change, so we look to the best and now we’re on our headlining tour and it’s doing great! The Linkin Park guys are our dudes; we’ll tour with them again! Six years ago, my dream was to play Warped Tour! As I’ve built and grown as a musician, as a person, as a man, your goals and dreams build. We’re making a career and life out of music and that’s all we want!

FIUSM: When you realize one dream, there’s more?

Valentino: You got to keep challenging yourself and to never stop unless you’re weak. We even have songs about that kind of stuff! We go through the same stuff: “Aw, man. Should we stop? This Youtube comment says this!”

Austin: I’m in physical pain right now! The last thing I want to be doing is driving around in a tour bus with my sleep machine and not having the comfort of being home. That’s what you have to do, and we love playing music! It just comes full circle!

FIUSM: After the big release of The Flood, did you feel the pressure for your next release?

Austin: We found our groove. We were writing music and we kept going. When we hit Restoring Force is where I feel we hit our stride. That is a big stepping stone for us. Restoring Force, Restoring Force: Full Circle and then the next album we’re going to make is just going to crush! I didn’t mean to say that pun…

FIUSM: Who else is on your bucket list to tour with?

Austin: Slipknot, Tool, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch, Hell Yeah, and 5 Seconds to Summer!

Valentino: Rock music and metal music is at a really exciting point because everyone is “getting back into it.” You’ll catch us on tour with any of your favorite bands if you like aggressive, raw, and heaviness! Foo Fighters would be sick! Think about it, Dave!

A big thank you to Of Mice & Men for giving us this opportunity to talk with them.

Catch the band on tour all over the US supporting their latest release, “Restoring Force: Full Circle”, out now!

1 Comment on "Of Mice & Men Talk Touring and Living the American Dream – an Interview"

  1. Great interview and great staff!

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