I checked out some of your stuff on the Internet, and noticed you have both an official and unofficial web site.
This girl, Cassie, did our official one first, and then this kid from Sweden made one just on his own, from pictures he had accumulated. You can get the addresses from Revelation. It’s a nice gesture, since we didn’t have to spend the time to do it ourselves.
I know you guys had some record company troubles. Are they behind you now?
I don’t think record company troubles are behind for any band. But things are going really good with Revelation. It’s the first time we ever had good distribution worldwide and the first time we were given a tour van and told to just tour. They are bigger and have more money than the labels we’ve dealt with before.
It seems like Ignite has strong ties to the ‘old school’ hardcore sound, what hardcore punk used to stand for and be about. What are your feelings on this?
Basically, the style of music we play is what we play. And the bands we were in -- Unity and No For An Answer -- hardcore with a fast beat behind it -- not so much that death metal like warped screaming with grrr backups and stuff like that -- stuff that we do not want to do. When we started this band there were not any other bands doing it anymore, and it’s great to see more kids enjoying it.
How do you feel about these new punk sounds? Metal influences and all that?
Well to me, a lot of the shows we play with are still straight-edge bands, because a lot of the new hardcore bands go hand in hand with straight edge -- except maybe Sick Of It All or Madball who are not straight-edge bands. A lot of stuff I really listen to --Earth Crisis, Snapcase -- are really good. We have played with them, but they’re still playing a different style of hardcore. I don’t even like Slayer, metal bands like that -- it starts from there. I like Pantera more, but I’m not a big fan of them either.
How about other styles of music? I see a lot of bands mixing up their sound with ska and rap.
The stuff I listen to is more like that Jane’s Addiction-type stuff, like that English alternative stuff like Stone Roses, bands like Chapterhouse. And then punk stuff too, like Bad Religion and Pennywise. Our drummer listens to Cocteau Twins, In The Nursery, stuff like that. Joe likes Seal, and trippy music like that. So I don’t know, it’s a pretty broad spectrum. We don’t listen to just hardcore punk. A little bit of everything.
What are your impressions of touring? It must be one of your main joys of doing the band. I read somewhere you guys are going to Brazil and Argentina?
Yeah, actually that’s pretty much set. We’re going there in July. Touring for us now is a full-time thing. I cannot go to school; I can’t work a full-time job. We practice, we tour as much as we can. The band is how I make my living.
I really enjoy touring. I love the travel, first of all. Sometimes we go back to the same places. We’re going to Europe in May. That’s our fifth or sixth time. It may not be as exciting as the first few times, but you can’t beat playing for these kids who spend their money on your music, your shirts. They know your lyrics – they get fired up at the shows. It pays off that way, too. The money is getting to be really good, too. Touring is a huge part of the band.
Are you guys worried at all about the Balkan situation, considering the crisis in Albania?
We don’t usually get down that far. We did play in Croatia on our last European tour, and that was...eerie, kinda creepy. Barbaric. They had such a violent, hateful look. There was this fight in front of the stage, and when we tried to break it up, this kid yelled "Don’t try to stop this, you can never stop the fighting here!" This is something you’re not used to hearing, coming from America. The Albanian situation is crazy... It’s best to stay away from those areas.
See Ignite at the Riverview Theater in Norfolk, April 9, and at Twisters in Richmond, April 15.