A small crowd began to form in front of the stage, all somewhat patiently waiting for Devour the Day’s arrival. The lights dimmed, hinting it was their time to rock the stage and blow the concertgoers away. As soon as Blake Allison (vocals/guitar) and Joey Walser (bass) appeared, they did not hesitate before beginning their set with “Get Out of My Way”, quickly followed by “Handshakes to Fist Fights” and the first track from their debut record, Time and Pressure, “Respect”. With every beat, Devour the Day’s energy intensified and washed over the crowd, waking them up and preparing them for the main event, Hinder. They continued their set with “Move On” and slowed it down a bit with “Reckless”. Afterwards, Devour the Day completed their set with “Blackout” and their hit single, “Good Man”. They left their now new fans with a strong hunger for more of their killer songs.
Earlier that evening, I had the opportunity to sit down and interview Joey Walser. We discussed everything from the band’s beginning to Walser being a father.
UM: How did you come up with your band name?
JW: My father came up with the band name from a few different books that he was reading at a particular time but he’s always been great at naming things…he’s been my go-to guy forever. Blake and I were spending too much time making up names that were funny, like horrible band names…so yeah, my dad came up with the name and Blake and I were looking for something that felt like compelled us everyday when we woke up. We didn’t just want to be “Triggerfinger” or…whatever, some stupid name, that didn’t have any challenge to it, like Carpe Diem with some teeth, so we went with Devour the Day.
UM: Did you use any particular inspirations on your record while working on it, if so what were they?
JW: I think the idea, because it started mostly therapeutically, it wasn’t necessarily like an agenda to make a band or make a record, is what really separated us because we’re being honest. Because an artist, when you’re trying to fit somewhere in between being creative and being a business man, a lot of that convolutes your final product and we didn’t have much of that in the way in the other one. There wasn’t a producer with an agenda, a manager with an agenda, label with an agenda, just Blake and I wanting to write honest music about all the horrible things that we were going through in that year. Mostly therapeutically, so that’s what I think it translates.
UM: How did you come up with the album title?
JW: During the course of the recording process, we were watching a movie called Shawshank Redemption, which was originally a Stephen King short story, and there was the idea that, obviously if you know the story or the movie, he widdles his way out of prison, not on some grand one time get rich fast type of metaphor, he has to literally with the smallest hammer he has, just time and pressure over years of cracking away one stone at a time to get out. As they say, he climbs through a river of shit and comes out clean on the other side. Blake and I just felt like we were Andy Dufresne, like we were that character, as the metaphor goes. It just made so much more sense with the essence of what that story was, time and pressure that no matter what, if you keep pushing forward, you’ll get there, no matter how long it takes. So we, obviously, aren’t where we want to be, but we’re on our fucking way.
UM: What’s the story behind “Good Man”?
JW: “Good Man” is written from the perspective of the fact that I think that lyrically, I came to a point in life that everything had fallen apart, my wife had left me, the band had broken up, Egypt Central that is, and I think Blake was in the same place. I think I started to ask myself the question that if there is a God, if there is someone out there looking out for us, then what did I do, in my life, that made all of this negativity come back to me? Like if there is somebody out there looking out for me, why isn’t he helping me and at the same time, kind of airing the honesty that it’s okay to be a spiritual person and have absolutely total doubt in everything that is spiritual. I think like for wanting a rock band to conquer, a concept such as that or to even attempt it I think was really risky for us to kind of be a secular band, bridge the gap of asking the Christian question is risky and I think we did it in a tasteful way. Ultimately, there’s a story of a man on his knees crying out to whoever will listen to him, God, Allah…it’s like the opportunity that you’re so down on your luck that anyone listening is what you need, that came from a real place. That’s on us and that has a special meaning as the rest of them do but I think that was from the spiritual side.
UM: If you had to choose a quote or a line to describe what motivates you from day to day, what would it be?
JW: Oh, that’s so easy! Devour the Day! I really feel like at this point in my life being an artist, being a father, being a friend, all of those things are kind of encompassed in that idea that you never know when the last day is, so you better treat it like it’s your last. I think Blake and I both appreciate that so much because we did lose everything we’ve worked for, know that you’re not guaranteed that everything is going to continue being around, and at the same time being positive because we came from really negative, and still have somehow turned this thing around…the attitude not the circumstances. We’re happier than we’ve ever been in our entire lives, Blake and I as artists, just being the two of us, and having the ability to have all the say-so, it’s really, really great for both of us, a lot of fun!
UM: If you were not a musician, what other career would you want to have?
JW: I’d be a stay at home dad, without a shadow of a doubt. Being with my kids every second of everyday would be awesome. That sounds good because I travel but all the stay at home dads are like, “oh it’s so hard”, and it is, but I would do it. And I would teach myself how to cook, it’s like a 1950’s housewife, but that’s about what I’d do…and work in a movie theater maybe.
UM: What does music mean to you?
JW: Music, honestly, is what creates balance for me, I feel like for whatever reason for whatever circumstances, that happened to me since the day I was born till now. The impulsive and quick creative release that is music is that it happens so fast. It’s what keeps me sane, so I mean it’s like I need it, I need it like oxygen, I need it like love, or all of those things. Music is that important to me, I think it’s because of an addictive personality, this is one of the healthy addictions, I need it so I don’t get bored and fall into other bad habits. I know that about myself at points.
Be sure to check out Devour the Day‘s tour dates on www.devourtheday.com. They put on one hell of a show and it is one you will not want to miss!
“Oh god, that was like a million years ago…me and Chris [Howorth] were trying to pick a name and just going through all types of things for a few weeks, and then one day we were just laying around and one of us was reading in a book that somebody said like, ‘in this moment’…and I can’t remember if it was him or me and the other one was like ‘in this moment’, then we were like ‘in this moment!’ It fucking was like…for like three days we kept saying it, then we were like, ‘you know what? That’s it!’ we kind of fell in love with it. It’s about…our band is about kind of like seizing the day and living in the moment and try to be grateful for everything that is happening now, and not living in the past and not living in the future, kind of like being in the now, so it had to do a lot with our energy,” recalled Brink animatedly when explaining the history behind the band’s name. Towards the end of their third album cycle, everything changed fairly drastically for 
One by one, band members began to leave and their management at the time dropped them. For a short amount of time, Brink and Howorth felt defeated until a light was shed upon the path they were meant to take. “We really just rallied together and said that, ‘We cannot let other people’s disbeliefs in our band and everything we’ve created, everything we’ve worked for, we’ve strived for, we’ve sacrificed for, hinder us from moving forward,’ and we said to ourselves, ‘this is our moment’…no pun intended…‘and we’re going to take everything and we’re going to take it into the next level, we’re going to take our live show, our songs, every single thing that has to do with us, we’re bringing it to the next level and we’re going to do this hard.’
As for the hot first single from the record, “Blood”, it has an entirely different meaning and it does show the band’s true dark colors, giving a whole new meaning to metal in the band’s terms. When asked about the story behind “Blood”, Maria told Kate that through the lyrics, Brink was talking to herself. “It’s about struggling with the dark side of us, the light side of us, and learning that sometimes the darkest sides of us, the dirty sides of us and the filthy sides of us that I learn to fall in love with and realize that every part of me is what I want to embrace. And if it’s dirty and I am who I am for a reason, and all of my experiences brought me to who I am for a reason. It’s about learning to kind of fall in love with all of the sides and kind of learning to balance it all out.” Drexel told her that she understood what Brink meant and was able to relate to it.
Before In This Moment, Maria was in a band called Pulse, based in Albany. “Oh god that was the first band I was ever in, that was like forever ago. I stopped being in that band after I did my first gig ever. It was like…when I listened to it and I was like…it’s hilarious to me but it was my start, it was my beginning, it was my first time on stage but I love it. I stopped being in that band because I moved to California from Upstate New York, just because…you know, in Albany at the time, I felt like no matter how good we were doing or anything, I felt like we weren’t going to get recognized or we weren’t going to get on people’s radars, so that’s why I moved to California and I kept telling myself that if we could fill out the whiskey, that managers and people would start paying attention to us and we could kind of catch the eye of the industry, so that’s what I did. I winded up finding a band eventually, it took me five years but we did wind up selling it out.” Apparently there was a little story about Pulse circulating, that their guitarist accidently erased the entire album the band had just recorded, however it was a rumor.
“I write from a really honest place, which is all of my experiences of my entire life,” Brink explained when asked what In This Moment’s music reflects about the band. “So it really just reflects everything that’s true in life and things that I’ve been through, things that I’ve experienced. I write all the lyrics, I write all the melodies, things like that. So literally, I just write about it all! It’s a good outlet.” As for ideas, the evolution of the song comes from the melodies that Maria, Chris or their producer will come up with while in the process of song writing. They will overlap the different instruments they use, the result; something truly amazing.
Hinder continued their set with “Use Me” , then they surprised the fans with one of 
UM: So you’re going into the studio, I know you guys generally are self-produced but what kind of feelings are going through your head going into this?
HINDER:
In This Moment began with the first song from their latest record, “Rise with Me”, the daunting setting intensified as a cool fog rolled across the stage and the two white-masked backup dancers made their way to their posts and waited for Upstate New York’s siren to make her presence known. Maria Brink, clad in a red ringmaster coat and a top hat, stepped onto the platform and grabbed the skull staffs as the band began to play “Adrenalize”. Her dancers then handed her a smoke gun, hinting the next song to play was “Blazin’”, her piercing shriek gave the ever-adoring fans such chills. For the next song, “Whore”, Maria wore a white button down shirt and a plaid mini skirt with a cone hat that read WHORE. At the end of the song, Brink gave the hat to an over-eager fan. In This Moment ended their set with “Burn” and “Blood”. During those two songs, Maria wore a red billowing cape, definitely a fitting outfit for both songs. In This Moment definitely pumped the fans up for Skillet’s heavenly arrival.
To say Skillet‘s introduction was “awesome” is a huge understatement. They started with a heavy electronic remixed version of “Hero”, the anticipation from the fellow concert junkies growing within every booming second. Finally, Skillet made their presence known, immediately starting their set with “Hero”, quickly followed by “Whispers in the Dark”. John introduced the next song from their latest album, Rise, “Sick of It” to which the fans began to chant with Cooper, then the band went straight into the catchy, heavy-beat song. Skillet then brought out their two musicians who played the strings intro for “Comatose”. The next to be performed was “Rise” and the band surprised their fans with their rising platforms during the performance of “Awake and Alive”. Before Skillet proceeded with “The Last Night”, John gave a brief explanation of the song, of a close friend attempted to end her life, and he wrote the song to say that God is more than willing to give second chances, because everyone deserves them. Afterwards, the band played “Not Gonna Die”, “Circus for a Psycho”, ending the set with “Monster” and “Rebirthing”. Skillet sure did put on a very powerful performance, filled with songs that will haunt the back of the music lovers mind for the rest of the night. Oh, but the madness did not end there. It was Papa Roach‘s turn to reveal what they had in store for us.
Shinedown started with a giant black drape set in front of the stage with their symbol in the dead center of it. The lights dimmed, hinting it was time for the madness to continue. Brent Smith’s powerful, melodic voice could be heard from behind the drape as he began to sing “I’m Not Alright”, then the drape dropped and revealed what was really going on behind the curtain. Street performers waving flames around, fire-breathers on the stage, it was the very definition of what is expected of the Carnival of Madness. Shinedown continued their set with “Enemies”, “Devour”, and “Unity”. Through the speedy setlist, they proceeded with “The Crow and the Butterfly”, their fast paced track, “Adrenaline”, and their very moving yet powerful current single, “I’ll Follow You”. The next song to play was “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay, Boom-Lay, Boom)”, the overhead lights spelled out BOOM after each time Shinedown yelled out the word. The thunderstorm outside of the amphitheater began to intensify with every beat of the song and at the last BOOM, a crack of thunder shook the ground, as if God was really rocking out to Shinedown as well. They then continued with “If You Only Knew”, “Amaryllis”, and “45”. But the evening did not end there. Shinedown briefly left the stage, leaving some of the fans chanting their name, begging for more. They then returned to the stage, giving the crowd the encore they’ve all been waiting for: the song that fits their performance perfectly, “Sound of Madness”, “Second Chance”, and their infamous cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s “Simple Man”. Shinedown ended the evening with the first single from their latest record, “Bully”. One mind-blowing way to end the evening.