James caught up with Austin Dickinson and Ben Tovey from Rise To Remain before their headline show at Birmingham Academy 3 to talk about the tour, album and plans for the future.

So we last spoke to you on the FFAF UK tour, since then you’ve gone on some huge tours and released your debut album. Since then what have been some of your favourite moments?
Austin: The album, that’s definitely been the highlight for me because every album is in the hands of the fans you know that’s who you make it for. Along with some of the insane shows we’ve been doing, each of those has been a lesson and we’ve learned something from each of them. It has to be the album though nothing says achievement like a first album.

How has your debut album been received by the press and the fans? Also how has the material been favouring live?
Ben: I think it’s going down better to some degree and we’ve been really really happy with all the reviews we’ve received so far all of the content has been really positive, we’ve got to keep it up live now but yeah really happy with everything.
On your debut album, there are re-recordings of “Bridges Will Burn” and “Nothing Left”, what made you choose to redo these 2 particular songs?
Austin: “Nothing Left” is the one that was getting great reactions, especially overseas. People from loads of different countries would say “Oh yeah ‘Nothing Left’ is my favourite song” and “Bridges Will Burn” is obviously a live staple, it’s like a swan song everybody knows the words to it and knows what’s coming as it’s always our grand finale. Those two were the ones we thought would stand the test of time, fit really well on the album and tie everything together nicely.

The album artwork is very artistic, who came up with the concept and who actually produced it?
Ben: Joe came in one day and there was a few ideas bouncing around to do with cities and lights, Joe then said “How about a vulture eating a vulture?” and we really liked that idea because it tied in with Austin’s message so then we got Paul Jackson to do the artwork; he’s also done Johnny Truant, Alexisonfire and he’s just got this really cool style so we got him to do our new logo for us too.

You’ve also recently changed your logo, what sparked this change? Do you think that visual representation like websites, logos and album art are important as recently you’ve updated all of these to look very stylish?
Austin: Absolutely, I mean you’ve got to have the whole package. It all depends where you want to go and where you want to take things, it depends how much you want to speak to people and how badly you want to get your ideas across to people. Some guys go on stage in the same clothes they’ve worn all day whilst others put lots of effort into it; with all the social networking sites and the sheer mass of bands around you really do need something that will make you stand out from the crowd.

You are currently on quite a large headline run of the UK, how have the shows been so far and has there been a show that’s just simply beaten all the rest?
Ben: This is probably one of the biggest shows on the tour.
Austin: The venues we’ve been playing range from like 150 to 400 and none of the shows have been empty which is extremely promising for us on our first proper headline tour. If we walked out on stage and there was nobody there we’d just be like “Oh, ok then, we’ll still give a great show it’d just be nicer if there was more people to share it with us”. We’re just so stoked that people are into it, it’s just amazing.

I understand Austin you’ve had vocal difficulties as I’ve followed on facebook, has this cleared up and are you back on form now?
Austin: We’ve never had to cancel a show before and that was very scary. I just woke up and just couldn’t talk at all, eventually we made the decision it was best to reschedule it. The problem with your voice, the same way if you get a cut on your finger and then play a show, it’d get bigger and bigger and take longer and longer to heal.

Ben: It was more of a choice to reschedule 1 show, to save 4 shows. If you try to be a hero and it makes you worse you could ruin the rest of the tour.

Austin: I was told by a doctor that I had Acute Laryngitis and needed to take 4 days to a week off but I would never postpone that many dates on a headline tour, so if my voice takes a few knocks it takes a few knocks but thankfully I’ve been able to push through it and I just thank the fans for being so supportive.

You’ve also recently been confirmed for the Defenders of the Faith tour with Trivium, a band you’ve toured with a fair bit, how do you feel to be a part of that package?
Ben: It’s really exciting, I remember going to see that tour when I was younger and it was a massive deal. To be playing with Inflames as well is amazing because I’m a massive Inflames fan it’s going to be a good run.

Austin: It’s no secret that each band has a reputation so I know for a fact it’s just going to be 5 bands trying to 1up each other every single night so we’re really going to have to raise our game. Anyone who turns up to the shows is going to have their faces ripped off.

From what I’ve seen your quite good friends with some of the support bands, how does it feel to have some friends on the road with you?
Ben: Its always great touring with people you know and like simply because of the great atmosphere.

Austin: You know there are hard times and good times, the most important thing about that is taking it and moving on, it’s made a lot easier when touring with people you love and care for and makes tours memorable. Not just that I mean The Safety Fire are an insane band, Bleed from Within are an insane band and Cyota are an insane band which is why they’re all here.

Once these tours are over what else have you got planned to promote the album?
Austin: We’ve got something planned after the defenders tour but, it’s a huge secret. There’s a lot of cool band and a lot of things are going to be happening over the next couple of months.

One Last Random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a zebra or giraffe which one would you be and why?
Austin: Giraffes are cool simply because they’re less on edge than zebra’s they just eat from trees and chill.

Ben: I agree with that it sounds much better.

Thanks for your time do you have a message for all your fans reading this interview?
Austin: See you on the road! Also keep your eyes peeled.

Interview by James Webb