Last time Est.1987 caught up with Ohio
five-piece they were over in the UK supporting Parkway Drive and getting
prepared to release album number three “At Heart”.
Now they are back on UK
We sat
down with front-man Levi Benton to chat about what they’ve been upto, the metal
scene and Black Ops II of course!
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| Miss May I's Levi Benton |
So, last time we caught up with you,
you were in the UK
Yeah;
it’s always nerve-wracking being the headline act because all the pressure is
on you. But we’re excited. This is our second headliner [in the UK
First night of the tour tonight – are
you looking forward to it? Any first night nerves?
I’m
tired! [laughing We just did a
headliner in the US and we only had one day off before this, so just tired, but
ready to get back into the swing of things. We got here two days early so we
could get used to the time difference, but I’m always tired.
After the UK
you’re hitting mainland Europe ; are you
looking forward to being out there? Do you notice a difference in crowds?
Yeah,
the language barrier is the biggest thing but it’s awesome with them singing along.
I always feel bad when I’m meeting people because I can’t really have a
conversation with them. We just went to Sweden UK
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| Miss May I on stage in Manchester |
You spent the whole summer sweltering out
on Warped Tour in America-
It’s
nice being in a venue so you can control the temperature. Warped Tour is like
boot camp, but if you make it through, you’re good. The cold here’s not too
bad; we’re from Ohio
So we hear you guys love your video
games? Which ones have you brought over with you?
I
did bring my Xbox. It was funny; the first night I tried to plug it into our TV
and I got an adaptor that had a fuse, but I guess it wasn’t strong enough, and
when I switched it on the entire room went out, the whole power. We had to go
get room service to come and fix it; it was so bad. And I still couldn’t play
it. It blows up whatever I play it on so we need to figure it out. I’m messing
around with Black Ops 2 at the moment.
You headed down to Radio1 yesterday as
well. What were you upto down there?
Yeah,
we were doing a Radio Rock Show session. It was nerve-wracking, but really fun.
It was crazy going in there and seeing The White Stripes, Coldplay, all those
people on the walls in the same room, and then it’s like you can’t mess up
because it’s going on the radio. We ended playing a lot better that I thought
which was good. Today’s sound check was easy because I was like; we’ve played
the songs yesterday.
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| Levi at Manchester's Club Academy |
Your album “At Heart” came out in June-
is it nice playing all the songs now and having fans singing the lyrics back at
you?
Oh,
it’s great, especially with new songs. With old songs kids do it all the time,
so it’s nice to have something fresh and have kids singing it at you.
When we met up with you earlier this
year you said that the album is a “lot more real”, that “there are a lot of
songs that are about nothing that other metal bands have written about before”-
how’s the reception been from the crowd, both live and from the record itself?
Yeah,
it’s been the best reception out of all the records we’ve released. We
obviously can’t make everyone happy, but it’s been awesome and it’s cool to
hear a lot more personal stories on this record than on other ones. Kids are
like, “this song helped me through this or that”. That’s what it was all about.
I have packets of letters from on tour and it’s nice to see why we did it; the
plan worked.
And in terms of the set list – how have
you divided it up between old and new?
I
think it’s almost equal playing old stuff, new stuff and old, old stuff. Even
though we’re trying to plug the new record we didn’t want to over do it,
because there are a lot of old fans that haven’t got hold of the new record
yet. We try to equal it and it’s good for us to play old songs and the kids go
a little crazier.
What’s your favourite song to play
live?
“Hey
Mister” – kids go crazy for that, it’s awesome.
A lot of people kind of started to
suggest the metal scene was dead, but the opposite has happened, especially in
the UK
We’re
happy. We’re trying to bring back; the older metal scene. That’s why on this
tour it’s nice to have all heavy metal bands that aren’t really the same genre,
but similar. I hope the revival is happening in the US
And here's what happened when Miss May I took to the stage...
Earlier
in our interview with Miss May I front-man, Levi, he said how “Hey Mister”
never fails to get the crowd going, meaning it was the perfect opener for the
first night of the Ohio band’s UK headline tour. From its stirring beginnings
to it gritty, violent verses “Hey Mister” does its job and firmly stamps the
bands comeback to the UK Club Academy
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| Miss May I storming Manchester |
“Let
me see those horns”, demands Levi and the crowd comply and sing along to one
song after the next. The anthemic “Masses Of A Dying Breed” is followed by an
impressive drum solo interlude by Jerod Boyd. Miss May I prove what a flair
they have for creating the perfect mix of both clean and unclean vocals routed
against killer hooks. The rise and fall in the set spurs the crowd on (guy in
crocodile Kigu included) and the band instigate a circle pit around the entire
venue; a marathon pit as it is known to the band,.
In
the short time that Miss May I has been a band they have helped elevate the
metal scene and prove to be constantly intriguing and switching their style up.
And tonight is no different. Ending the set with the dynamic “Day By Day” it
isn’t long before a call to arms brings Miss May I back on stage, much to the
delight of the audience. Coming to life on stage the band closes the evening
with the infectious and powerful “Relentless Chaos”. Ryan Neff’s clean melodic
vocals soar out into the venue, book ended by Levi’s piercing coarse tones.
Miss May I is a band that aren’t shy at putting their heart into each show as
they bound up and down the stage, with Levi venturing out into the crowd, they
prove that there are definitely no first night nerves here.There is no doubt
that you need to get a ticket and get yourself down to a Miss May I show.
