We caught up with Circa Survive guitarist Colin Frangicetto at the Academy in Bristol just after the band finished there set on the Kerrang tour.

Hello and thank you for taking time out to do this interview

First of all how did 'Circa Survive' get together and what does 'Circa Survive' mean?
How did we get together? Umm kind of each of us knew each other from previous things and it was a simple thing where everyone was connected through different things and we stumbled across Steve and at the last moment, he was the only one that none of us knew. What does the name mean? It’s kind of an abstract name and you can take anything you want from it. At the time it was just thought of an abstract way of saying a time to focus on survival or a time to survive.

What was it like writing and recording 'On Letting Go' and how did it differ from your previous album 'Juturna'?
Basically just like any other band who records their second or third record, there is like a progression that happens between people, we definitely progressed a little as a band, not just musically but the way we communicated with each other in the circumstances. At the same time it was really difficult for some of us too.

You released 'On Letting Go' back in 2007 are you happy with the response it has got from your fans and the press?
Yeah…
Did you ever get any negative response or was it all in the middle?
Yeah there are always negative responses, the more successful anything gets the more negative responses you will be able to find. Once there is awareness out there of what you are doing then naturally the percentages are going to go up of the people that don’t like it. The people that do like it and stick with it are the people who eventually become your real fans and stuff like that.

Do you have any favourite songs from 'On Letting Go'?
Favourite songs?
Yeah!
It kind of changes depending on where a song sits in a set, the whole way the band views the song to how I feel about the songs. I think right now I really like playing the first couple of songs on the album. We have more songs now so it’s harder to pick out which songs to play; it’s harder to pick out what your favourites are.

The artwork for 'On Letting Go' is very detailed and quite simply amazing, where did the idea and final design come from?
The artwork is from this dude who did the first albums artwork his name is Esao Andrews, he’s a phenomenal artist, we got really lucky, he said he wanted to work with us.
Did he come out with the cut-out design for the front cover?
No that was our label, we were talking to them and we thought it would be cool to have something different and went back and forth a whole bunch about what we could do, and it ended up being it. We were trying to find a title for the album when we were trying to find the artwork and then we had gone through like 400 titles, and then it seemed to make sense that the artwork and title fitted.

You recorded loads of b-sides for 'On Letting Go' do you have any plans on releasing them?
Yeah we are going to release a few of them most likely shortly.
How are they going to be released, will it be a b-side album?
Can’t really say just yet, but we do have a couple of different ideas in mind, they will definitely be out there in some shape or form soon

The Kerrang tour kicked off on Wednesday in Belfast, how have the first few shows been?
Good, really fun and we were just off for a little bit except for doing a one off on New Years Eve, so it feels good to be playing again, we were off for a good deal of time. We like all the bands on the tour they’re cool, we are having fun and the kids are cool.
Do you have the same set list throughout the whole tour? Or do you change the odd song?
We haven’t really decided yet, we have been playing the same songs so far.
Just see how it runs then?
Yeah, we do a sound check every day so it’s easy for us to practice something and try something new and we have definitely talked about doing that so we will see.

Tonight is the fourth show of the tour, and you have just played the Carling Academy in Bristol, how was it?
It was awesome.
Have you ever played Bristol before?
Yeah, we played here with Coheed before actually just two years ago.
Have you had a chance to check out Bristol as a city?
A little bit, but not as much as we would like to, last time we were pretty much just confined to the area to where the show was because we were just there for a couple of hours.

The Kerrang tour has a pretty impressive lineup, what do you think of the other 3 bands on the tour?
They are really good guys and talented people, it’s always good to be around people who are fun to be around, it’s always neat when you meet a band you have never met before or never seen play before.

I know you have played with Coheed and Cambria before, but how does this time differ?
It doesn’t really differ that much, I mean other than the fact that we are older, that’s really about it.

I know it’s quite early on, in the tour but have you got any good stories to report on from the tour so far?
Yeah we are not really drinking that much on this tour at all, we are taking it easy and having maybe a beer or two for a couple of people, so sorry to disappoint you. We went to Stonehenge today though and that was really cool.
I live round here but I have never been to Stonehenge.
It was really cool, you have to go there.

The tour is sponsored by Relentless Energy Drink, has it become your new favourite energy drink?
I don’t really like energy drinks at all, this is the second tour that we have done that ended up having an energy drink sponsor it.
Do you think energy drinks actually give you energy or not?
Well it depends what you define as energy you know what I mean, when you… when you I don’t even want to get into it.
(Laughter all around)

When you're on long tours such as now, what do you do to entertain yourself between shows?
Everyone kind of does different things, the computers are a big thing, we watch movies, chitchat, eat food and that’s pretty much what we do. We have been a band for almost 4 years you know and we all did the party thing, we all did the fucking raging thing when we went on tour, but honestly its like at this point we are more concerned about putting on good shows and being like a band that’s actually friends with each other and doesn’t want to kill each other, so we focus on those things rather than doing crazy stuff.

Do tensions ever run high, when you are on the road for so long and in the same space as other bands?
Yeah, I guess they can, but for the most part we have had really good experiences on tour no matter who its been with, there have been a few exceptions where shit is weird or shit got crazy but most of the time its like a big extended family, its like a traveling caravan of gypsies.

You have played many shows, but do you have a most memorable show and who have you enjoyed playing with the most? In History?
Yeah!
There’s a lot of really cool shows, and really awesome bands that we have played with, so it’s really hard to pick one, but the last headlining tour the show at the Nokia theatre was one of the coolest shows we have ever played, just one of the coolest venues and everyone that was there was just really into it.
Who did you play with there?
That was our 'On Letting Go' tour and that was with Dear In The Headlights, Fear Before The March Of Flames, they were all great bands and there were so many great people there.

I believe you are heading out on tour with Thrice soon, when does the tour start? and how many shows are you playing?
Its like April 14th and goes till like June 1st but we are not totally sure yet

Summer festivals in the UK are due to be announced soon, can we expect to see Circa Survive back in the UK for any?
We hope to be, hopefully the ones in August.
You mean Reading and Leeds?
Yeah hopefully.
What about Download?
Is that in June?
Yeah
We won’t be doing that, as it’s just after we finish the Thrice tour and we have a few other things planned.

A little while ago you said you were getting your own model of shoes made by Macbeth clothing, are they still in the works?
Yeah they are.
When will they be released?
You will have to ask Anthony about that, im not positive, its like he was looking at samples last time, im pretty sure they are in the pipeline and coming soon.
Will they be out this year?
I think so.

Are there any plans on releasing a Circa Survive DVD?
We definitely will have a DVD at some point, we definitely need to sit down and look through all our footage and start working with it, I don’t think it will be a live concert DVD. There will probably be some live stuff in there, like an overview of touring.

Some of the fans on your forum have asked me to clear up the following rumour, is the next Circa Survive album going to be strictly instrumental?
(Colin laughs) What!
Yeah these rumours have been going around your whole forum, with everyone telling each other different things!
What… is that the rumour?
Yeah
That’s the funniest thing I have ever heard
Sounds a bit of silly thing to make a rumour of as you wouldn’t really be Circa Survive if you made a full on instrumental album
We have spoke about doing more things that were instrumental, including Anthony getting more involved in the instrumentation of it, but as for a full on instrumental album it’s not going to happen.

What advice would you give to new bands starting off?
Be really good to everybody, and make friends with every body that you can, and if you are interested in being rich and famous then you probably shouldn’t do what we do and do something that’s better off for you, but if you play music for fun then that’s kinda the most important thing, and at the end of the day it comes down to if you are still enjoying what you are doing and the people that you are around, if you don’t have that then you are pretty much screwed, unless you are a huge super group then that’s why you do it.

This is a bit of a random question but we every band it, if you had a choice what animal would you be out of a Zebra and a Giraffe?
A Giraffe
Why?
Zebras are really cool but I think Giraffes are way cooler, Zebras are short and Giraffes are way tall.

Thanks for your time, is there a message you would like to add for your fans?
Thank you, everyone that’s supported our band is amazing and you are the only reason why we are here.

Interview by Trigger