If Hope Dies pour l'album "Life in Ruin"

First, could you please introduce If Hope Dies to our readers, your main influences and the style which could best define your music ?

Well hey there, my name is gary manowar…bass player and master thrasher in if hope dies. Our main influences arent really in how bands sound but what kind of reaction those bands get live. Well obviously love in flames and soil work so we work to be as tight as them and we love hate breed so we want the crowd to kill each other like they get them to and we love unearth but we don’t drink we cant take much from them but their fun lovin style. We sound like a metal band who loves rock and roll…cuz that’s what we are. Part ACDC, part shadows fall…all hair!

You've toured already with many metalcore bands like Zao, Unearth, As I Lay Dying...Do you feel like belonging to the same music style?

Well being compared to any of those three bands is an honor and touring with them was also that. The term metal core doesn’t even say anything about a band anymore because almost every band is called it now. We have solos, breakdowns and rock parts so I guess were proud to be metacore…haha.

"Life in Ruin" is produced by Jason Suecof, whose also the crazy guy behind the infamous Crotchdust (saw one of you guys with a shirt of them) and Capharnaum. What's your opinion about those bands, the guy himself, the production..?!

The bands are sikk as hell. crotch dusters sound is exactly what Jason is in real life…out of contro!!! Jason is an amazing musician and producer and even if you arent into any of the bands hes recorded the production is undeniable. There are two things you’ll will always get out of audio hammer studios…an arsenal of offensive jokes and an amazing record

Listening to "Life in Ruin" i felt the same urgency as in a good old Slayer. Any fans of them in the band?

Of course. We all listen to weezer and we all listen to slayer. We love circle pits as much as karate kid pits so slayer will always be present in our sound

What are the lyrics dealing with? And what about the artwork?

A lot of our lyrics deal with how mankind tears through the earth with no reguard for the future. The artwork shows a man falling apart at the seams and disintegrating and plays in with that whole theme. It looks pretty sikk I think. ha

Will we have the chance to see you playing live?

ASAP man! that’s all I think about. Ask our manager! Hes gotta be sick to death of us calling him and telling him we need to rock your side of the world. Its always been a dream of ours and we wont rest til we play every country in the world, even if we have to sail there ourselves!

What do you do for a living apart from the band?

Well im a social worker but I cant really do that til this band is slowed down or done so I just wait for my girlfriend to get out of work between tours. Haha. Our singer has his bachelors degree in psychology and weve all got some college years in us. Work sucks man, read our lyrics. Ha. This band better last forever or were screwed

What is the best (and the worst) memory you have from your musician’s life?

The worst was when we broke down 100 miles outside of las Vegas at 2 in the morning with no cell phone service in the middle of the cold ass desert. The best for me was a few years ago we played Syracuse’s Hellfest and I looked behind me in the middle of our set and saw the guitar player for In Flames watching us and tapping his foot. I was like “the dude who made us sound like we do is tapping his foot to us!! Holy shit!”

Do you know the French metal scene? What do you think of it?

Im not to educated on it but France and Poland are the 2 countries I want togo to the absolute most. You can fill me in on the French metal scene over a burrito and mountain dew when we get there.

What are you listening to these days? Any good metal / non metal albums to recommand?

My top 5 overall records this month are as follows…The Acacia Strain, Panic at the disco, dying fetus, james brown and soilwork

Last words are yours!

When we finally make it overseas you guys better lose your balls for us! Stage dives, circle pits and sing alongs…even if you don’t know our language!!