Whitechapel -Tour of Truth - A Journey To The Unknown

Every band dreams of being able to pursue a full time career playing music…maybe you've been there and done that. We asked WHITECHAPEL to interview with us because we think their experience will help other bands. The content in this column is not meant to expose anyone's misfortune or poor planning. We simply want to tell the truth as it happens on the road.

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This column may be about any band who has toured. From first time adventurist’s to the seasoned veteran. By sharing their real experience, be it good, bad or indifferent, they will assist other bands by either bringing back memories, making others laugh, or snapping noobs into reality before they head out on the road. We’ve asked them to feel free to share the gory details and to keep their responses "G" rated...

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WHITECHAPEL is one of the bands I’ve seen propel from being a local band out of Knoxville, TN to signed by S.O.A.R and touring nationally in what seems to be no time at all. (Update: Whitechapel is now with Metalblade Records-this interview is from July 2007) If you haven’t seen WHITECHAPEL in action for yourself, you are missing out. These heavy hitters are quickly making their mark across the nation. I am impressed with their organization and drive to succeed and have no doubt we will be witnessing a metal giant rise to the top.

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BR: Hi guys! Thanks for taking the time to interview. I know how busy you are! It’s been a few months since I’ve seen you and a lot has happened since then. Before we get going, touch on Brandon for a minute and let us know how he is recovering from his accident and when he will be back out there with you. You might want to catch up any readers who haven’t heard about Brandon and we would also like to say hello to him and wish him a speedy recovery.

WHITECHAPEL: Well for those who do not know or became fans after the incident, our third guitar player Brandon Cagle was injured in a motorcycle accident right before we left for tour. Brandon asked a good friend of the bands, Zach Householder from Goatblaster to fill in on the tours for him until he is better. Brandon is doing very well right now; he is out of his neck and back brace and is only in a sling currently. The nerves in his arm are still damaged which renders him unable to move it, but once the nerves begin to heal he should regain movement in his arm in 6 months to a year. Until then Zach will be playing with us and we anxiously await Brandon’s return to the band!

BR: Give us a little history on who each of you are, your background in music, as well as when, where and how you got together. Also, touch on your upcoming release on S.O.A.R. entitled “The Somatic Defilement” which will be in stores on July 31^st

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WHITECHAPEL: I am Alex Wade, I play guitar, then Phil Bozeman does vocals, Ben Savage and Brandon Cagle play guitar as well, Gabe Crisp plays bass and Kevin Lane plays drums. Phil, Ben and I all came from popular local bands in our hometown of Knoxville, TN. Brandon was a friend of Phil and Bens and Gabe was a friend of mine. Whitechapel started in Brandon’s basement when Phil, Ben, and Brandon would get together and write songs and record them on Brandon’s computer. Myself and our old drummer Derek Martin were unhappy with our current band at the time and Phil and Ben were unhappy with theirs as well. Phil and I started talking on AIM one day and immediately hit it off, we liked all the same bands and wanted a band in the same direction, so Phil showed me what him, Ben, and Brandon had been recording and I loved it. I showed it to Derek and he loved it too, so we all quit the bands we were in and started up Whitechapel. Fast forward later on, we decided that our sound needed some renovating and we needed a drummer that would better suit our style. Derek was a wonderful friend and a great drummer, we just need something more. I had known Kevin for years, we used to talk online and our very first bands when we were 16 played a show together. I asked him if he would be interested and he liked the music, but at the point in his life he was in he couldn't just pack up and come play for us. After about a month of bugging him he finally came down and jammed with us and it was an instant success, it was like we were a completely different band. And so that gave birth to the line up you see today.

Our debut full length "The Somatic Defilement" will be in stores everywhere July 31st. It was recorded with a local engineer by the name of MiAH at The Sound Lair and was mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music. We are pretty pleased with the outcome of the record; we've heard nothing but positive comments about it so far!

BR: With whom have you shared the stage and did that give you the confidence you needed to consider a national tour? (not that a band as awesome as you needs any confidence!) Also, what bands are your greatest influences?

WHITECHAPEL: We haven't really shared the stage with too many huge bands, I guess a few have been Suicide Silence, Stick To Your Guns, Emmure, Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, KillWhitneyDead, I don't know, I'm sure there are others but I’ve forgot hahaha.

Our greatest influences I would say would be Aborted, Devourment, Impaled, The Acacia Strain, Ion Dissonance, and Despised Icon

BR: How long were you together before you decided it was time to do a national tour?

WHITECHAPEL: We were a band for about a year and a few months before we did our first national tour.

BR: How do you go about booking your tours? Do you use any programs to map out your tour ahead of time and organize all of the information?

WHITECHAPEL: We've been fortunate enough to not have to book any of our own tours. Our first tour was booked by Scott from With Blood Comes Cleansing and our second tour was booked by Extremity Retained Booking. Now we are working with JJ at The Vital Agency and he will be taking care of booking all of our tours.

BR: Did any other band take you under their wing and help you get on a tour in the beginning, and if so, care to share how much that meant to you as a band?

WHITECHAPEL: Our friends in With Blood Comes Cleansing took us out for our first tour. It really meant the world to us because we wanted our first time to be with a band that we knew and could get along with, not too mention that Scott did a good job of booking the tour by himself. It was something that they didn't have to do but they did because they are such good friends of ours and it really helped us out more than they probably realize.

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BR: Probably the biggest problem bands have on the road is dealing with van and trailer issues. What did you do to prepare before you left on tour?

WHITECHAPEL: We sold our P.O.S. van and just went full out and bought a 2005 van. This insured us that we would have little to no breakdowns on the road. We're fortunate to have band members with good credit so we were able to put the van in our name instead of having to ask our parents and just make monthly payments on it which is easy as long as we're touring. One thing that every band needs to make sure that they have is a spare for their trailer. It's not a common thing to have, but if you blow a trailer tire out and don't have a spare then your screwed for sure.

BR: What year, make, model van and trailer do you roll in?

WHITECHAPEL: The van is a white 2005 Chevy Express 3500 15 passenger van. The trailer is... well, I’m not even sure hahaha, but it's a 5x10 single axle trailer.

BR: So, assuming you stock up on items you need before tour, what are some of the things you bought ahead of time so you feel prepared as you pull out of the drive way? Was there ever anything you didn’t bring that you later found you really needed?

WHITECHAPEL: The essentials are the usual toiletries, toothpaste/toothbrush, deodorant, soap and shampoo, one good thing I found is Old Spice Hair and Body wash, that way you have your soap and shampoo all in one and it smells amazing hahaha. It's also good to bring a big pack of snacks with you so that you don't blow your meal money on overpriced stuff at gas stations. Another good idea is to get a box and fill it with First Aid items, you never know when one of your band mates is going to be an idiot, or get sick.

BR: How much money do you spend on merch before you leave for tour now compared to when you were new? Also, what does your typical order of merch consist of (sizes, etc)?

WHITECHAPEL: Hahaha, when we first started I remember our first merch order ever was for like $80, we all pitched in money to get it started and as we sold the shirts we used that money to buy more and the band fund just grew.

Now we work with Indiemerchandising for our merchstore and our tour merch. They allow us 30 days before having to pay off our tour merch debt, but for the last two tours we did, the tours ran back to back so I just did one big merch order for the two tours so I wouldn't have to worry about finding time in between the two to order more merch. The total for the two tours combined was about $5,000 worth of merch, which we will now pay off since we've sold a majority of it and are back home.

BR: Do you have a laptop that is internet ready for the road and if so, were there plenty of places to access the internet?

WHITECHAPEL: Mine and Ben’s laptop are wireless accessible, most of the nicer venues and most all hotels now offer free Wi-Fi so finding internet isn't too hard. Brandon is able to use his cell phone as a modem for his laptop so we can access internet anywhere he has signal, so that is really awesome. Most cell phone company’s offer wireless broadband cards now that do the same thing, I know Cingular and Verizon do.

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BR: Do you share driving time or is one member assigned that task? Is any one member of your band considered the hunter and gatherer who organizes everything and makes sure everything is running smoothly?

WHITECHAPEL: Driving time is usually shared between me, Gabe, Zach, and Phil. We're just the only ones that don't really mind driving. Sometimes the other guys will drive when the 4 of us just really don't feel like doing it, but that rarely happens.

I guess you could say I'm the bands manager as well because I take care of most everything, I make sure everything is organized and were it needs to be, I keep records of all money that goes in and out with the band, I'm really OCD when it comes to that stuff so I guess it just came naturally that I took charge of it haha.

BR: It's a known fact that bands like to play practical jokes on one another while on tour. Care to share any of the gory details with us?

WHITECHAPEL: Hahaha we haven't really had too bad of practical joke encounters yet, just some fireworks thrown here and there. One time on tour with Years Spent Cold and With Blood Comes Cleansing, YSC had set up a bucket of water to fall in their hotel room whenever someone opened the door, so their singer called our room and I answered and he told me to send our merch guy Caleb in their for something, he went in but sadly the bucket didn't really hit him, he only got a little wet hahaha.

BR: Is there any one member of your band you consider the resident comedian?

WHITECHAPEL: Gabe, the man can get crazy sometimes hahaha. I think every band has one, just like every grade in school has a class clown.

BR: Most bands get sick while on the road traveling in close quarters together. Do you do anything to stave off sickness before you leave on tour?

WHITECHAPEL: We learned our lesson with this one on these first two tours. I don't know where it started but one person in one of the others bands got sick and within a week every single person in every single band on the tour was sick with the same thing. Now we take 1,000 mg of vitamin C everyday to boost our immune system to keep that from happening. Another good thing to use is Airborne, it's a herbal supplement that dissolves in water that has all kinds of good herbs and vitamins in it that will boost your immune system that will either help you get over a sickness or keep you from getting sick.

BR: Many touring bands in the metal genre don’t make enough money to stay in hotels while on tour. Are you ever provided a place to sleep and shower by venues and/or fans? What do you do when you don’t have a place to sleep? If you sleep in your van, where do you generally park overnight?

WHITECHAPEL: We've never been provided with anywhere to sleep by a venue, but many fans have taken us into their homes and we love them for that. There's nothing better than a shower and a place to spread out and sleep. In our 15 passenger van we took out the back two rows, built beds and put a futon mattress on top so two people can sleep on top and two on bottom, then there’s two bench seats to lay in and then the passenger seat, so all 7 of us (6 band members + 1 merch guy) can sleep pretty comfortably. A good place to park is Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lots. They’re 24/7 so if you don’t feel like sleeping or you can't sleep you can always go roam around Wal-Mart until you’re tired.

BR: What do you do for food? Did you ever go hungry early on because you didn't make enough money to eat early on?

WHITECHAPEL: We learned a good lesson with food, we all get $5 a day for our meal allowance, and $5 is like one meal at fast food, which isn't enough at all, but if you take that $35 a week and go to Wal-mart you can usually come out with a weeks worth of food for $20 and have $15 left over to pocket if you are smart. Cans of soup are great because the Campbell’s Chunky kind will fill you up, and unless your a girl and just have to have warm soup you don't have to heat it up, plus cans of soup are really cheap.

BR: Let's talk about your gear. Do you have cases for all of your equipment or is everything just put into the trailer as securely as possible? Have you ever had any equipment emergencies?

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WHITECHAPEL: All of our guitar heads are in cases. Gabe and I have one big case for all of our gear; it's my head at the bottom with a 14 space rack above it that holds all my gear and all of his bass gear. Cases are a really good investment, especially for tube amps, you don't want your tubes going out on you because they’ve been banged around the trailer. We haven't had too many equipment emergencies thankfully. Gabe’s bass head crapped out on him at one point but we were at home so we just got him a new one and sent the other off to be fixed and will be sold when it returns.

BR: What about the venues you’ve played at. I’m sure you have guarantees with many of them. Do you ever have problems with venues or promoters paying you? Do you ever give them a second chance if they don’t do you right the first time?

WHITECHAPEL: We had a few problems with this on tour. Unless it was something out of the promoters control and it wasn't his fault our guarantee wasn't met then usually we won't give them a second chance.

BR: Do you ever have to go out of your way to play a show that isn't profitable?

WHITECHAPEL: This band is a business, and is our jobs, and we can't afford to lose money in it, so if there is a show in which we know we will lose money in playing it we will usually cancel it.

BR: Was there ever a time when funds were so short you didn't know how you would reach your next venue and if so, what did you do?

WHITECHAPEL: We've never had that problem, thankfully, we are very lucky.

BR: In relation to all of your experiences on tour, what would you tell other bands to make sure they try to do or stay away from?

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WHITECHAPEL: Don't blow your money on unnecessary things like drugs and alcohol, save it for food because you'll need it. If you smoke, maybe try to quit or cut back before you leave for tour because a lot of money that could be used for food will get used on cigarettes.

BR: Favorite State, City, Venue, Fans?

WHITECHAPEL:

State: Vermont, it's so beautiful up there in the summer
City: Any of the Southern Cali cities, it's just a fun atmosphere to be in down there, especially the beaches.
Venue: The Foundry in Joplin, MO, that place is innnssannee, the sound is great, stage and floor are huge, they have a rock climbing wall, internet cafe, and a skate park, and they pamper the bands hahaha
Fans: Knoxville, TN, nothing can beat home!

BR: Favorite band you’ve shared the stage with?

WHITECHAPEL: Years Spent Cold, those guys were always blasts every show on tour.

BR: Most profitable venue/show ever?

WHITECHAPEL: Chain Reaction- Anaheim, CA

BR: Favorite CD's listened to on tour?

WHITECHAPEL:

Lucero- Tennessee
Jesu- Silver EP and Jesu
City and Colour- Sometimes
Aborted- all cd's
Owen- I Do Perceive
Emmure- Goodbye To The Gallows
Sigur Ros- ( ) and Takk

there's more I just can't think of, I don't really jam that much metal on the road because I have to play and hear it every night, it's nice to just chill to something soft in the headphones haha.

BR: Favorite food and snacks on tour?

WHITECHAPEL: Campbell’s Chunky Soups, Hot and Spicy Cheez-Its, Handi-Snacks, gas station nachos, Icee's, Gatorade and water, Pop-Tarts, Granola Bars, I could go on for forever hahaha

BR: What is the single worst thing that’s ever happened on tour?

WHITECHAPEL: Probably 2 days before we were suppose to go home our overdrive burned up in our van. It was our fault; we weren't driving it right up hills and stuff. REMEMBER; ALWAYS PUT THE VAN IN 3RD GEAR WHEN GOING UP HILLS. hahaha, we'll be paying for it hard now.

BR: What is the best thing that’s happened on tour?

WHITECHAPEL: I can't really say right now, but you'll find out soon enough ;).

BR: Any last thoughts or comments?

WHITECHAPEL: Just pretty much thank you to all of our fans, without you we'd die on the road and would never be successful. To other bands, just always watch your back on the road, don't trust every person you meet and be sure to watch out for the other bands your on the road with, because someday you might need them to get your back too.

Check out our merchstore at http://www.indiemerchstore.com/WHITECHAPEL , we always need the help!

Thanks for the opportunity to do this interview, it was fun!

BR: It was my pleasure guys! You always bring a smile to my face and I will be watching you fly to the top! You can check out Whitechapel on their myspace site as well as their official site.

You can pick up their new release "THE SOMATIC DEFILEMENT" on Tuesday July 31st in stores everywhere!