Mutiny Within – Chris Clancy and Dan Bage
Posted on February 21, 2010 at 8:26 pm by Rob
This interview was a first in the sense that I have never interviewed a band in a washroom before, let alone the womans washroom. Good thing doors had yet to open at the venue. It was there that I talked to Chris Clancy (vocals) and Dan Bage (guitars) from Mutiny Within before they stepped on the stage to open for Arch Enemy, Exodus and Arsis. We talked about the work it took to finally get a record deal, moving to North America from the UK to join the band and their connection with the WWE.
WayTooLoud!: What influenced you to start playing music in the first place?
Chris Clancey: It was actually my parents. My sister had this little piano and I started playing it and was quite good at it. So my parents decided I would play piano as well and started taking me to piano classes against my will! From there I got into playing guitar, bass, drums and eventually I ended up singing because nobody else would sing, so I got pushed into that as well, now here I am!
Dan Bage: My dad gave me some Metallica albums and just from day 1 I just wanted to learn some of the riffs. He had a guitar knocking around in the house, so I picked it up and stared playing. He showed me some Yngwie Malmsteen albums and from there I just kind of taught myself.
WTL!: How did you evolve from a Children of Bodom cover band to the band you are today?
Chris: I ruined everything (Laughs!) He sounded very Children of Bodom, Finnish, melodic, guitar driven, 10 things going on at once, fast passed, shred thing. They asked me to try out for the band and we pretty much came to the agreement that we needed to make some space for vocals because it was pretty much impossible. We thinned out a lot of the guitars. As AJ (bass) saying before, we were talking about it. He’s into very fast paced, technical shred, complicated drums and everything else. I’m into very simple things. Between the two of us we came to a happy medium where there is still all the shred but plenty of space for the vocals. I guess we evolved that way, two complete opposites coming together and forming this middle ground sort of thing that is Mutiny Within!
WTL!: How did you hook up with Jason Bieler to produce your new self titled album?
Chris: We were working with Jason Suecof. We spent 7 weeks down there tracking drums, guitars and some bass. In the end when we decided to do some vocals we weren’t entirely happy with the sound. He has a very distinct sound and we wanted a different sound. We talked to Roadrunner and it was all agreed, Jason was in on it to, that we would go somewhere else and finish it off there. We looked around for a couple months, took out time. In April I believe it was recommended to check out Jason Bieler. We knew about him because he worked with SikTh which is one of our favourite bands. We called him up and he actually came out of retirement to do our album which was great. We went down there, he turned it around. Made us think about things a lot differently. I had a lot of screaming parts that he wouldn’t have any part of and so he made me sing. We added a lot more melody parts. He isn’t afraid to do what the song needed to do. If it needed vocal bit that might sound a bit gay he would make us put it in there anyway. I think the songs came out well!
WTL!: How did the album end up becoming self titled? Were there any titles that you were tossing around?
Chris: Lazyness! We thought about a lot of things but in the end it was almost a promotional idea. We had a few titles floating around. Mutiny Within summed up the album. A lot of people would look and see Mutiny Within and not get the album title and band confused which I tend to do, so we put it on there twice. Regardless they’re going to know who the band is. It was just simple and saved me a lot of work.
WTL!: While writing the album did you have any goals for the direction of the album? Or did it evolve on its own?
Chris: We wanted the album to be fairly diverse but still sound like one album. We didn’t want a track standing out in the middle so a few tracks got dropped from the album. Actually a lot of tracks got dropped from the album. We just wanted diversity on the album, make it sound like one whole album. When we went to the studio we wrote 50 demo songs. The 13 songs on the album, rather 11, we got 2 bonus tracks, were the best of those.
WTL!: What is the song writing process as a band? Does everybody have a roll or is it more organic?
Chris: Everyone has a role; it’s quite mechanical in a way. AJ does 90% of the work. He sits in front of a computer program called Guitar Pro. He’s a very good guitarist but obviously he can only play one at a time. He programs in the parts he writes on guitar into Guitar Pro. We write some rough drums, generally leave the keyboards off. We get the guitars, bass and drums done and then record that. Then we put the keyboards on and the vocals on. From there it becomes organic in the sense of making it flow until it becomes a whole song. The complex stuff like the shredding and sweeping has to be carefully planned so I guess it’s like classical writing.
WTL!: How did you get hooked up with Roadrunner Records?
Chris: AJ again really. A lot of hard work and keeping on the phone really. They came to see the band before I was in it. It was faster paced, they had just signed Dragonforce or they were the big thing. They showed up at a show where we supported 3 Inches of Blood and saw a band of 19/20 year olds that were playing something similar so he was interested in it. He didn’t want another Dragonforce so over the next 2/3 years they kept talking through AJ and following the progress. When I joined the band that completely changed the sound and they gave us a shot telling us that we’re ready! We were put in front of Roadrunner, played a show and we got the gig. A dream come true.
WTL!: How have things changed for you as a band now that you are with Roadrunner?
Chris: Yeah, we no money (laughs!) Things have changed a lot, there is a lot less to worry about. First off I’m English, Dan is English we need working visas to be over here so we can legally have those. Secondly all we have to worry about is the music. We just have to worry about our next album, our next performance and everything else is taken care of by the label and management. It makes everything more structured. We can do everything we want to do without all the obstacles in the way.
WTL!: How much work were you doing as a band before being signed to try to get noticed?
Chris: About 14 hours a day, we recorded every song we wrote which was over 50. I would come over for a couple months at a time. I could only come over for 3 months on my vacation visa. It was literally 14 hours a day. I would wake up then we would record and then write and then record and then write. We concentrated more on the writing and growing process, try to get songs we could listen to, analyze then break down rather then playing thousands of live shows. That’s cool but if you’re playing the same songs all the time and the songs aren’t that good it’s kind of pointless.
WTL!: What about he promotional process to make sure the name is out there and people know who you are?
Chris: We would spend a lot of time on the internet. A lot of time on Myspace, going around and adding people who are friends with bands who have similar characteristics to us. AJ did a lot of phoning around to make sure we’re playing gigs in the right places, with the right bands, for the right people at the right time. Most of it was really the internet. The band already had a following because of the Finnish sound because nobody else was really doing that. We had a fair listening base, wouldn’t say fan base at that point. Wasn’t too hard to build on that and establish something.
WTL!: Who writes the lyrics?
Chris: I write all of the lyrics on the album. I guess you want to know what they’re about?
WTL!: Not so much every song but do you have any message or theme that you like to bring out within the lyrics?
Chris: My lyrics are about personal experience, beliefs, views on things but I like leaving them open for people’s interpretation. I like listening to an album like a Killswitch Engage album and listen to a song and think about when my mom died. You can relate to that. Howard (Jones) could be singing about when his girlfriend left him and it doesn’t matter as long as the lyrics apply. As soon as there is a meaning set in stone then I find people can’t relate to it quite as well.
WTL!: How did Awake become the first single chosen?
Chris: It was the most practical choice. It was recommended by Roadrunner to be the single. It was the obvious choice because it sums up the entire album in one song. We felt that it represents the band well.
Dan: Got a bit of everything that we do. Has some shred on there, singing and screaming.
Chris: Fast drum, slow drums. I think if someone were to listen to that they will kind of know from there if they’re going to like our band. That was the best of in one song.
WTL!: Good way to get yourself out there and be known.
Chris: Yeah, it wasn’t my personal favourite but it was the song which would carry the torch.
WTL!: What was the process like recording the video?
Chris: Wet! It was really fun, never done it before got up at 6 in the morning. Went down there and ended up standing in front of the camera. The director Patrick asked me to come over for a second, as soon as I got here he said “ok roll!” It was a long day, about 12 or 14 hours. We got everything done we wanted to do. It was a great experience. I think it was one of those realizations because when you’re not in a band, kind of like I was before. I was the kid looking up at the bands on the labels thinking “wow that would be so awesome!” It’s very rare that you get moments which remind you of that because it’s part of daily life. When he said “roll” I was like “wow I’m in a music video.” That was really incredible, nice to be reminded of what everything means.
WTL!: Do you have any idea what the next single may be?
Chris: There are a few really. We have some recommendations from the label, even within the label different people have different recommendations. It depends which direction we want to go. We have a song called “Forsaken” I guess that could be radio rock in some ways but it’s also kind of heavy. We have another one like that called “Undone” or we could go a heavier route with something like “Year of Affliction”. It’s something we’ll talk about later. When the album comes out we’ll see how it goes and see what’s the best. It will be a business decision at the end of the day!
WTL!: Will the reactions of fans live to some of the songs affect the decision?
Chris: Deffinatly, one song I’m really impressed with life is “Suffocate” everybody seems to like it. That is one of the ones that’s on the album that was kind of just floating around. It nearly got dropped from the album but it seems like everyone’s favourite song when they see us live.
WTL!: Seems to happen that way with bands where songs get written as filler or almost don’t make the album and then become an everybody’s favourite kind of like “Paranoid” (Black Sabbath).
Chris: We have a song on this album that was roughly titled “In A Moment’s Gold”. That was a big rock/metal ballad thing. That got dropped in the end because we never really finished it the way we wanted to. We finished the song but we listened to it and decided it wasn’t what we wanted. We scrapped it and we’ll put it on another album or maybe just never use it all together. We’ll see how that works out.
WTL!: The band found you over Youtube, what was the process like for you between when you were contacted and when you actually decided to come over to North America to join the band?
Chris: Stressful, I was in a band called With Intent in Wales. We were being scouted by Roadrunner in the UK. They kept telling us we weren’t ready and let us know what to work on. As time went on we all got jobs and there was less and less time dedicated towards the band so everything kind of fell apart. At about that time AJ contacted me over Youtube, he saw a video and asked me to try out. I tried out with one song and over the course of 2 or 3 months we wrote 6 or 7 songs. We got the instrumentals done then the vocals. We changed a lot of arrangements to fit the vocals like I was saying before. In the end I was on the way to work and I was going to be late and it was a cold morning. I was working in a call center and thought “I’m not going to do this; I’m going to follow my dreams and see what happens.” I took a leap and it’s worked out well. Dan in a way got the job over Youtube as well. He was my friend in university.
Dan: You dragged me over what a year and a half later?
Chris: Yeah, our guitarist wasn’t working at the time so there was a vacancy and again Dan had been uploading videos to Youtube of his own things that he was doing. The band was very impressed with it.
Dan: Failed the first audition but got the second one!
WTL!: How did you end up getting hooked up with WWE to do Evan Bourne’s entrance music?
Chris: That was crazy because I was with some friends at home who were big into the WWE and they told me that we should do a WWE theme song. Laughing about it thinking that would be great. 3 days later on I’m down at Dan’s place. He lives in the south of the country I live in the north. We got this e-mail telling us they want us to do a WWE theme. My friends didn’t believe me for about 2 weeks until I showed it to them. It just came out of the blue. They tried another band on the label but wanted to try another band to see if they could do it any better. We had a go they liked ours. That was great, they really helped us out. The wrestling fans are great, they help us out a lot.
WTL!: How has the exposure through WWE helped your exposure grow as a band?
Chris: I would say so. I think we have a more diverse fan base. Obviously without the album not being out they don’t have anything to grab onto, not yet anyways. I’ll meet people and ask what I do so I’ll tell them I’m in a band. Once I tell them I’m in Mutiny Within they’ll be like “oh you do that wrestling song.” When we come to a show nobody mentions the wrestling thing so it’s two different sides of the fan base. Hopefully we’ll find a happy medium and bring them together.
WTL!: When you’re on tour does anybody have any roles outside of the instruments?
Chris: AJ is the business mind of the band. He makes sure everything is taken care of. He likes taking care of it so we leave him to it. We have Tommy the tour manager who takes care of everything else. Dan is the tech guy with the guitars. Everybody has their own jobs, helps with carrying stuff. I just concentrate on being a singer on the road, I do all the recording, engineering and producing for the band at home.
WTL!: How has been in a band/touring affected your personal lives?
Chris: Ruined it. I don’t really have much of a personal life at the moment. You have to give up something to gain something. We gained more then we’ve lost I’d argue. I think when everything calms down. When we make the move over here and have a place that will help a lot. Right now we’re just kind of hobbling around. You got your band mates, you don’t really need a personal life. If you do you miss things. You can still have a girlfriend and stuff like that so that’s cool. Takes a lot of work though!
WTL!: Has your family been supportive of you being in a band?
Chris: Without them neither of us would be here! My mom and dad are out about $10, 000 because of the band, just helping out. With me not being home they had some money lying around that they weren’t really using so they invested in a van for us. Any of our parents have helped us out a lot. My band in Wales I was supporting myself. By the time we worked to get enough money there was no time left for the band. It’s really hard, people who can do it without the support of their parents I really admire, it’s an incredible feat.
WTL!: Where would you like to tour?
Chris: UK, being the two British guys. Would be great to take it home obviously with the parents and support, showing them what we’re doing, and our friends as well. I would like to goto Europe, Germany, Switzerland. Anywhere like that, I just think the heritage is nice. Japan just because I think it would be absolutely nuts
WTL!: Who would you like to tour with if you had no rules?
Chris: Personally because I was biased I’d say Van Halen with Sammy Hagar. That or Queen, the fans would hate us touring with them! What about you?
Dan: I would say Dream Theater although they are still a possibility.
Chris: Another reasonable one would be Killswitch Engage. I think we have a lot of similar things. We’re a bit more extreme in some cases and they’re a bit more extreme in others. I think the fans would like it because they’re used to the singing and the screaming and the diversity in the music.
WTL!: Who would you like to tour with who’s both feasible, but not obvious?
Chris: Soilwork would be good, Killswitch is the obvious one. Dream Theater is kind of obvious too. Bullet For My Valentine would be good too. It’s not completely obvious.
WTL!: Bands get asked about their band names way too often. Have you ever lied about your band name or what it means?
Chris: I didn’t really like the name Mutiny which was the original band name because I kind of associate that with pirates. I would kind of shy away from it because they would ask if we’re pirate metal and I’d kind of shake my head. We had to change the name to Mutiny Within and that helped us a lot. I’ve never lied about it, I guess maybe if we had some maniac come up to us I’d probably tell him we’re somebody else.
WTL!: Thanks for doing this interview! Do you have any last words?
Chris: I’d just like to think family, friends, everyone for the support. Ian’s been great lately, he’s one of our roadies helped us out a lot. Tommy the tour manager, Melissa Cross, she’s done so many favours for us over the years.
Dan: Again thanks to my family and everyone over in the UK we’ll get over there eventually.
Chris: Yeah there’s a lot of people waiting for us to get over there. We will get there!
Dan: That and the fans that come to the shows.
Chris: Yeah and buy the album, and shirts, immediately!
Mutiny Within on Mysapce
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