Amerika darf wieder hoffen und glauben. Nach Norma Jean´s „O´ God, The Aftermath“ erscheint nun auch der neue Underoath-Langspieler „Define The Great Line“ auf dem Major Virgin resp. EMI. Mit „They´re Only Chasing Safety“ scheint sehr schnell klar geworden zu sein, dass der Markt nach einer solchen Band quasi geschrieen hat. Abgesehen vom ursprünglichen, hier als Import erschienenen Album wurde das dritte Album des gottgesegneten Sechsers nicht weniger als zweimal neu aufgelegt. Binnen nur weniger Monate haben sich Underoath nach entscheidenden Neu- und Umbesetzungen zu einer Band gemausert, die in einer Aufzählung der besten Hardcore- und Emo-Größen des noch jungen Jahrtausends keinesfalls fehlen darf. Auch „Define The Great Line“ schlägt schon im Vorfeld bereits arge Wellen. Wir haben im Zuge dieser Veröffentlichung Tim McTague, den Gitarristen der Band, eingehend zum neuen Album und den damit verbundenen Zukunftsplänen der Band befragt:


SJM: First of all: What do you think about the worldwide success of “They´re Only Chasing Safety”? Even here in Germany Underoath have become sort of famous and popular, at least in the genre Hardcore. Did you ever expect the band to become that important and successful?

Tim McTague/Underoath: No way. We never saw anything that happened with Chasing Safety coming from a mile away. We just thought we would release a record and tour as always, grinding it out. When things started rapidly progressing we were just kind of holding our breath waiting for things to slow down...but it hasn't yet....weird.

SJM: Underoath has been constantly on tour since the release of „They´re Only Chasing Safety”. Isn´t there a time you get fed up with your band mates and the whole situation and want to be all alone? How does the band deal with a situation like this?

Tim McTague/Underoath: Yeah..I think everyone does to a certain extent...but it's with anything good..you have to go tourhg the bad to make the good that good. I think when you love people you fight through everything for as long as it takes to make it through.

SJM: What can you say about your gigs in Germany or in Europe in general? Did you know that you had so much fans over here? What about your expectations and experience here in Germany?

Tim McTague/Underoath: We never thought kids in europe could even get our music so when we went over for the first time and saw all the kids coming to shows and were blown away. I can't wait for our new record to come out...we'll back in the fall with Taste Of Chaos and I can't wait.

SJM: In May you´re hitting the road with Poison The Well and As Cities Burn. How does it feel like with a brand new release in your pockets? Did you have a chance to play a few of the new songs live? How was the reaction of people on these songs been like?

Tim McTague/Underoath: Yeah we played 3 songs on the tour and it's been awesome. The kids have responded really well to the stuff. A lot of kids are super psyched to get the record so we're really honored that kids are getting what we're trying to do. It's a lot of anxiousness on our part...we just want this thing out!

SJM: Due to the success of “They´re Only Chasing Safety” you definitely have to deal with high expectations. How did you cope and deal with these expectations when recording “Define The Great Line”?

Tim McTague/Underoath: We used the pressure in a positive way to force us out of our comfort zone and push ourselves to record the most left field record we could record. We didn't want to repeat ourselves and I think we did a good job of not.

SJM: “Define The Great Line”, from my point of view, has become a quite hard record. Of course it has loads of melodic moments on it, but mostly it is reminding me of bands like Chariot and Norma Jean. Was this more of a conscious decision or a simple development? Would you generally agree with me on that point?

Tim McTague/Underoath: To an extent I would agree but I think the record has a lot of depth to it. I feel like it has a lot of slow melodic parts just as much as the heavy parts. I think we consciously wanted some heavier parts on the record ut we mostly let it write itself. i think we wanted the record to drive a lot more and heavier music naturally does that.

SJM: If you would be asked to talk about the development concerning the music from “They´re Only Chasing Safety” to “Define The Great Line” – what would the answer on that be like?

Tim McTague/Underoath: I think we wrote a real record in Line..where with Safety it's more a collaboration of songs that don't fit. I think we wrote a lot more cohesively on Line and you can tell when you listen to it.

SJM: The atmosphere of “Define The Great Line” is a lot darker than the one on “They´re Only Chasing Safety”. At least I think so. Would you agree on that?

Tim McTague/Underoath: Yeah for sure...we wanted the record to push and pull a lot more and i think heavier darker music naturally does that.

SJM: The last point concerning the music is that the keyboards seem to have loads of different layers that makes “Define The Great Line” that melancholic and atmospherical. What can be said about the budget and possibilities concerning the recording process of the new record?

Tim McTague/Underoath: Well we had a lot more time and a lot more of a direct vision for this record and I think that you can tell. We had the time and the direction we needed to make each part what it should be.

SJM: In how far were you able to realize things you weren´t able to do with “They´re Only Casing Safety”? Were there even things you definitely wanted to improve with the new record? What can you tell us about this?

Tim McTague/Underoath: Yeah I think we wanted the new one to vibe a lot more and sound more live. i think we achieved that, and we also wanted the record to fit together as a whole which our last one didn't....I think those are the two most important changes.

SJM: You decided to release “Define The Great Line” on Tooth & Nail Records once again. I think it would be quite easy for a band like Underoath to release the new album on a major label in order to branch out, wouldn´t it? Over here, there were rumours that you would sign to Roadrunner. What made you decide to release the album on Tooth & Nail once again?

Tim McTague/Underoath: We met with some majors and didn't really like it. They have a lot of money burt no grasp on what real music is. We'd rather be somewhere where our music is understood rather than a big check is written.

SJM: What are your thoughts on how this hardcore underground-thing is getting more popular these days? Do you feel like having better chances today? Underoath is a band that is even called "pioneers" these days. Wrong or not - what do you think about that?

Tim McTague/Underoath: Hah..hardly pioneers..i think we try and write the most unpredictable music given our scene and expectatrions but pinoeers...probably not. I think heavy music is getting bigger by the day and I think that it's not a good thing to have things getting so big...to many bad bands are coming out so we feel like we really need to step it up and write something special.

SJM: What can be said about your most proudest moment with and in the band Underoath?

Tim McTague/Underoath: I think our first headlining tour in may 2005 was the most memorable thing ever...we were playing sold out shows across the country and it was our tour...i never thought that would ever happen.

SJM: I think Underoath are this kind of band the people really get to love because it´s digging deep: What did other people tell you about your music and the impact it had on them?

Tim McTague/Underoath: I think kids connect with the honesty and realness of it. I like that our music goes deeper than a cartchy chorus..that's what music is for.

SJM: As already mentioned, you´re heading towars a tour with As Cities Burn in May. What is planned for 2006 so far? What is going to happen after having released “Define The Great Line”. Are you even heading to come overseas once again?

Tim McTague/Underoath: Yeah for sure...after the tour with ACB we hit warped all summer and then Taste Of Chaos worldwide with Taking Back Sunday. We'll be back overseas in the fall.

SJM: I always leave the last statement to the band. Is there anything you would like to say or just add?

Tim McTague/Underoath: Just God bless and we'll see you soon.

(Dennis Grenzel)