achilles.interview 
    There are so much hard working bands out there... mhhh, maybe the wrong description. 
    Again! There are so much good bands out there, you`ll never know... Achilles is one of 
    them, one of those bands you`ll never know. Of course` some poeple wouldn`t have 
    missed something... but for others, friends of good heavy music, which is not influenced 
    by definite styles or scenes, they` will probably love them! 

frk: Actually who the fuck is ACHILLES? Never heard the name till some weeks ago, so what do you do, where do you come from and who are you???  We are 4 individuals-- Rory Vangrol, Rob Antonucci, Josh Dillon, and Chris Browne-- from Rochester, NY, USA. We all do very different things in life, ranging from High School Art Teacher to High School Student to Natural Foods Store Employee to College Political Science Student. Our interests converge with our music, senses of humor, and just general enjoyment of hanging out with one another. You will never meet a friendlier or more goofy metal/hardcore band, we promise. People often remark about how ecclectic our mix of ages and personalities is, but when it comes down to it, we're all in this for the same reason: to have fun and do something positive for ourselves and the people we come into contact with.

    fRk: I Read that quite all of you played in different bands before the time of Achilles began 
    to rush… any bands we might know? 

    I'm going to lean toward "probably not." Some bands we've been in, though: How We Are, 
    Polar Bear Club, Marathon, Building on Fire, Dead to the World, Standfast, The Breaking 
    Project. We've all been doing this for quite awhile now, but none of our older or newer 
    bands have given us nearly as much success or enjoyment as Achilles. 
 

    fRk: Back overseas you have your record home at “Hex Records”… never heard of them` 
    either! So are there any other more remarkable bands on this platform? 

    Yes! You should definitely check out the other bands that Hex has worked with; they're all 
    great! Some notables: Ed Gein, Engineer, The Helm, The Minor Times, No Idols. He generally
    puts out bands that he knows or lives near, but not always. And he ALWAYS puts out great 
    stuff!!! 
 

    fRk: How did you get together with those guys from bloom.explode/Germany? 

    Pretty simple, actually. We have some common friends that Chris and Bloom.Explode have 
    worked with before or recently (Engineer, Breather Resist), and Chris was nice enough to 
    contact us and ask if we were interested in putting something together for a European Tour 
    this summer. We were instantly excited, and everything has been amazing so far...we can't 
    wait to be over there, and B.E has been doing a great job to help us prepare. 
 

    fRk: Is “Dark Horse” your only release so far? 

    No! In the spring of 2004, we released a demo/EP by ourselves that was 4 songs and 
    recorded in Rochester, NY at Hopewell Studios. After that, we did a split CD with Engineer 
    on Hex Records that had 5 songs of ours on it. We still sell both at shows, and they're both
    available online as well. The Dark Horse is hands down our favorite release yet, though. 
    We finally feel like we reached a comfortable point in songwriting and recording with this 
    record. 
 

    fRk: Unfortunately I could just catch some soundfiles and a split CD with “Seven Bowls of 
    Wrath” which Chris (from b.e) send me. ... I know this questions sucks, but could you please 
    describe your sound in an honest and understandable way?! 

    You're right, this question does suck! Just kidding. But it's always tough to describe your 
    own music...Rob always says, "imagine the heaviest thing you've ever heard...we're heavier 
    than that." But that's kind of a joke. We are heavy, but definitely not fast or grindy or 
    breakdown-oriented. We've been compared to heavy, technical, melodic bands like Botch, 
    Coalesce, and Deadguy. 
 

    fRk: On your Myspace page you describe yourself as a “hardcore/metal/screamo” band… 
    for me I think that perfectly hits the nerve! For “Dark Horse” you worked together with Chris 
    Owens and Evan Patterson… would you say this “pushed” your sound even more than before? 

    I guess it did. It was just a type of recording process that fit our attitude and the attitude 
    of the record very well. We wanted it to sound pissed off and dirty, but still crisp and huge; 
    definitely a departure from our past recordings. Chris did some amazing stuff and totally 
    achieved that, I think. And Evan had some very cool ideas and contributions, as did some 
    of the other guys we were fortunate enough to work with for that session. 
 

    fRk: Genreally, how many days of a month you spent on the road? 

    It always varies with us, because Achilles is not a full-time band most of the year. We all have
    school and work, so we're usually limited to a weekend or two a month. Summer and winter 
    breaks are huge, though, and we try to get in at least a few weeks at a time in those months. 
    Given our schedules, though, we work very hard and put a great deal of time in to making 
    Achilles as successful and as much fun as possible. 
 

    fRk: Have you ever played outside the US? 

    No! But again, we CAN'T WAIT! Europe is going to be awesome. We've already met some
    new friends over the internet that we're excited about playing for over there. It will be such a 
    new experience, and very refreshing I'm sure. 
 

    fRk: On more` maybe stupid question… what do you think of these often scene related things 
    like being vegan/vegetarian or even straight-edge? Don`t know if you do so… but over here it 
    definetly was a kind of trend, which took over from overseas. Do you think it`s relevant to 
    listen to a special kind or sort of music only when you perform a special lifestyle?! 

    Our band is something of a contradiction within itself, but we wouldn't have it any other way 
    and it very much sums up how all of us feel about the connection between music and lifestyle: 
    Rory is vegan and straightedge, I (Chris) am vegetarian and straightedge, and Josh and Rob 
    both eat meat and are not straightedge. Our roadie, Max, also eats meat and is a regular 
    smoker. I guess this just means that to us, attitude is more important than lifestyle. If you're 
    genuine and honest about what you do, and you do it for good reasons, it doesn't matter what 
    you eat, drink, wear, or whatever...at least in terms of the music. Obviously, we all have 
    different views about different political and social issues and we feel very strongly about some 
    of them. We always welcome discussion about this at shows or wherever, but your lifestyle
    in no way makes you a better or worse member of a music scene in our eyes.  
 

    fRk: Do you have one question more I forgot to ask about Achilles? If so… NOW please! 

    Nope. Thanks so much for your interest. We are really looking forward to the upcoming tour. 
    Come see us and have fun! 
 

    fRk: Of course! By the way who`s that cute little girl on your website banging to your music?!
    … awesome;) 

    She is the daughter of one of Rob's co-workers where he teaches. The co-worker blasts 
    Achilles while he cleans the house, and his daughter rocks out...hard!

    text: frankie