Exclusive Interview: Madina Lake on New Album and Future Project

Madina Lake have a new studio album called "Attics to Eden", which will come out on May 5. They will also hit the road for 2009 Warped Tour with the likes of Underoath, LIGHTS and Chiodos, starting on June 23 and finishing it up on August 23.

While waiting for their new album to arrive in stores and their Warped Tour to be kicked off, music lovers can catch AceShowbiz's exclusive interview with the band. They discuss their new effort, such as how it is compared to their previous one "From Them, Through Us, to You", and future projects, which include shooting music video for the second single off the new album.

ASB: What sort of things that become the core of your inspiration in making music?

Madina Lake: I think we find influence more in things like politics, religious controversies and psychological ups and downs than in any particular music. we're definitely inspired musically by bands like Muse and NIN [Nine Inch Nails] but the basis of ML lies more in social interpretation than anything else.

ASB: Considering that Madina Lake is a young band, do things like the fame, meeting other acts and having a crowd singing your song still hit you sometimes?

Madina Lake: I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that kids have connected with our band. We feel so lucky and grateful for that. But I also feel like we live in a little bubble and have a hard time believing that we've met with any success. We played w NIN in Australia, Muse in Dallas and apparently we're playing with Limp Bizkit and Korn in Germany. If you told me that we'd do that 4 years ago I would have had quite a laugh. We still get nervous, insecure and paranoid about everything so nothing has changed in that regard (laughter).

ASB: What is the concept behind "Attics to Eden" and how is it different compared to "From Them, Through Us, to You"?

Madina Lake: "Attics" is a much more psychological concept. Some people think that things like money, fame or having more friends than the next guy will bring you happiness and it won't. Happiness, in our opinion, comes from within in and is more about how you think and/or perceive things than any material things. The story line for "Attics" expands well beyond the town of ML and shows the unraveling of the town's consciousness in light of the bigger world.

ASB: Would you name some people working in the new album? A secret collaboration perhaps?

Madina Lake: We are very adamant about not collaborating or co-writing. Some bands are into that and that's ok but we personally feel like that goes against the grain of being in a band. David Bendeth produced our record and was a big part of how Attics came out but that's because he forced us to revisit and maximize every moment of every song. That's what makes him a great producer. But at the end of the day, ML will succeed or fail based on our music, not someone else's.

ASB: What will you choose as second single after "Never Take Us Alive"? Why?

Madina Lake: I think the 2nd single will be "Let's Get Out of Here". It's a song about being stuck in a routine every day and getting sick of it and all the people around you and escaping to a psychological paradise. I feel like it's a good representation of the whole record and it's a song that doesn't sound like anything I've heard before which is always appealing to me.

ASB: When will you shoot a music video for any of the songs?

Madina Lake: We've done a video for "[Never] Take Us Alive" and we plan to do a second video for "Lets Get Out of Here" in May. That video will be done in England which is incredible for us!

ASB: What is to look forward from Madina Lake after "Attics to Eden" is dropped? A world tour maybe?

Madina Lake: Well, we've just come from Australia and we're heading to the US, UK and Europe after this so I guess so! we'll be on tour for at least a year and a half on 'Attics'.

ASB: Which touring mates do you enjoy traveling with?

Madina Lake: We've done some festival dates with Dillinger Escape Plan and they're one of our favorite bands and the coolest dudes ever. Anberlin is also amazing and we got to do a month and a half with them as well.

ASB: How do you guys think about crossing genres? Any plan to do that?

Madina Lake: Our goal is to avoid every genre if that makes sense. I think bands like Nirvana, NIN, Primus, etc all created their own genre and although it's a bit ambitious, that's what we'd like to achieve with ML.

ASB: If you are given a chance to write a soundtrack, which movie you think you want to score the music for?

Madina Lake: Great question.. I like the "Saw" franchise quite a bit. It's a psychological terror which reminds me of how evil the mind can be. Writing a soundtrack to that would be amazing and scary.

ASB: Bands often make sort of 'rockcumentary' of their recording process and life on the road. Does Madina Lake do such things?

Madina Lake: We've been filming for 3 years now in the hopes that eventually we'll put together a DVD of the entire life of our band. It's getting super long so hopefully we'll start working on it soon!

ASB: You said that The Smashing Pumpkins are one of your major influences, what do you have in mind in regard of Jimmy Chambelin's exit from that band?

Madina Lake: It break my heart actually. I've always felt that those 2 were the core of pumpkins and we just got to see 3 shows over the holidays in Chicago. They were INCREDIBLE but you could definitely sense a shift in them and it's very sad that it's finally over. He's also my favorite drummer of all time and without his jazz-rock signature drumming the Pumpkins will never be the same.

ASB: Any message you want to share with fans?

Madina Lake: I just want to thank everybody and anybody who gives our band an honest chance. There's a lot of music out there and music is a subjective thing. I respect people who are legitimate fans of music as opposed to being a fan of a "scene" or "trend". If something moves you, you win so thanks for your passion for music and hopefully we'll get to see you all on tour soon!

Look forward to Madina Lake being picked up as AceShowbiz's Artist of the Week on May 4.