Otherwise are gods of survival. Put them up against the wall in front of a firing squad and I am sure they will walk away from it. Through the adversity they have unleased some of the best hard rock out there and with the new album Peace At All Costs there is no exception. Being as they are always on the road, that’s where I found them and Adrian Patrick, the enigmatic lead singer, took the time to fill his fans in with what made Peace At All Costs happen.
An interview with Adrian Patrick of Otherwise.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You guys are back out on the road again with Buckcherry. Being the true road warriors, what is it like for Otherwise to tour so much?
Adrian Patrick: It is a rollercoaster for us, it’s up and down for us. Some nights are stellar and others are lackluster but that’s the nature of the game. It is the world’s most righteous mindfuck, touring in a rock n roll band. This is the only place we would rather be, though. I have sat in corporate offices, cubicles, gone to work in a suit and tie with the briefcase but that was no good. This is the best job I have ever had.
Metal Exiles: You see in the music press a lot now about how hard it is to be on the road these days. What is it like for Otherwise to be on the road with the bus you have ect. (Note: their bus nothing short of great..)
Adrian: We have had considerable help from friends and supporters. We recently partnered with Structure Exhibits who redesigned the bus for us, provided us with the wrap for it. It is a dynamic partnership because in 2015 we plan on doing some things that are outside of the box for a band like Otherwise. We want to break out of the genre that we are currently boxed in to. We are fortunate because this vehicle is our home. We did the van thing as well as the RV experience and it was all horrible experiences. This bus is our home; we own this bus so anything that is horrible about this we take ownership of it. And that makes it more worthwhile when you are doing it for yourself and you are not bleeding money out to some other company by renting.
Metal Exiles: Do you think it’s going to come to the point for bands that if the fans want to see them tour they will have to pony up the support for it?
Adrian: It might and we have toyed with the idea of a Kickstarter but fortunately we have not had to. Century Media does give us some help when we need it but that is an interesting question because who knows what that kind of marketing holds for the future of music. We are always trying to think differently, set ourselves away from the pack. We are all friends in rock n roll but it is a competition and you have to distinguish ourselves.
Metal Exiles: Well nobody sounds like Otherwise.
Adrian: I am sure there are people out there that would beg to differ but I am glad you can hear it. We may or may not sound like other bands but as humans we know we are different. Some of the things we have been through before we were signed, after we were signed, I don’t hear a lot of stories like that. Maybe that and our history lends itself as to why we are different. If we sound different to you then that’s all we want.
Metal Exiles: I know about what was happening going into the last album, all the downsides. What was the mindset going into this album?
Adrian: It was the complete opposite from the last album. With this album it was during the creation of life with my son being born. It is all about finding a balance, finding the light in darkness.
Metal Exiles: With the last album, it seems like every song could have been a single, seemingly the perfect rock album. So with Peace At All Costs was there a lot of pressure to top True Love Never Dies?
Adrian: Of course, every night when we left the studio my brother Ryan in particular would question whether the songs were good enough or the right songs, are we making a better album than the last one. Everything about the album was questioned and there was a lot of self-doubt. There is the sophomore slump but I do not think we fell victim to that. I personally feel that we took the strengths of True Love Never Dies and embellished them on the new songs. We are running into the same problem though with new management, what do we pick for the new single when everything on the album could be one. That doesn’t make us sellouts though, it means we want to connect with as many people as possible.
Metal Exiles: It makes you a melodic hard rock band. But you guys debuted the video for Darker Side Of The Moon recently. What made you go with that track as the first single?
Adrian: We went with that because it has both familiarities, people expect certain things from Otherwise, and it has us breaking into new territories for us. New vocal phrasings, the heavier riffs and we were fortunate to write that sing with Julian and Matt from Rev Theory. It also functions as an analogy about where we are from which is Las Vegas. What you see on TV and movies, which is the bright lights and flashy neon, hides the darker side that pervades in Las Vegas. We grew up in both extremes and Darker Side Of The Moon is the same, it has a melodic side and a darker edgier side.
Metal Exiles: I feel that Coming For The Throne or Demon Fighter could be the next single because I feel that Demon Fighter shows a completely different picture of Otherwise.
Adrian: Demon Fighter and Coming For The Throne have a more pointed message as well. Darker Side Of The Moon is an analogy, more poetic whereas Coming For The Throne is more to the point. When we were writing that song we imagined if we had a time machine would we go back in time and talk to our younger selves and what would we say to them? My brother had that dark riff and it does go back to the darker rock from the 90s that we listened to. That may not be what’s cool right now, not what is mainstream but fuck that, it is still good.
Metal Exiles: What else were you trying to get out to the fans through your music?
Adrian: With the song Demon Fighter that you brought up, we all have demons that we have to deal with and I have put myself in some bad situations because of my demons that I let take control of the situation but that song is about defeating them using your inner strength and passion to overcome. One of my fav songs on the album is The Other Side Of Truth. It started off as a violent love song but it evolved to a “come ride with us” song. All The Pretty Things deals with suicide and my brother and I have dealt with that a lot unfortunately and its about not taking any moment for granted in life.
Metal Exiles: How do you deal with all of this adversity in life? Do you just put yourself deeper in the music?
Adrian: You have to focus and that’s what we did on this album is just stay focused. When life gets darker and hard to deal with you have to put your head down and force your way through it. One of the best examples of getting through it is that I am sitting here on a cool bus, talking to you getting ready to play a rock show. There have been plenty of times in the past where we could have given up but we pushed our way through. Bad shit is always gonna happen to you and to the few people out there that it doesn’t, more power to you. As a band we have been through some of the darkest aspects of life and we are still here trying to shine a light on everybody else.
Metal Exiles: Speaking of playing a rock show, you guys have a lot of things coming up to put you in front of as many people as possible and you were announced for the Shiprocked Cruise In February.
Adrian: I don’t think anybody here has been on a cruise and hopefully I don’t get to sea sick. We had an offer for that last year so we could not take it but they were gracious enough to extend another offer to us and we were able to do it this time.
Metal Exiles: You were just here in Sacramento to do Aftershock a second time. When you do a festival what are the expectations for a band?
Adrian: If we could play a festival every day we would. Not only are you going to be in front of the largest crowds possible, you also get to watch a lot of other bands that you grew up on. I don’t want to Jinx ourselves but we are trying to get Uproar in 2015. We have a lot ground to cover but we have covered a lot of ground and broke a lot of barriers. And we have made history because Soldiers was the first song by an unsigned band to go #1 on Satellite radio. It’s a small piece of history but it’s ours. We have already done what most bands can’t do so what’s next? With the limited amount of money we have we have broken through and we loved the challenge.
Are you convinced now that Otherwise are the next band you should check out?
Official Otherwise Site
BUY Peace At All Costs
BUY Peace At All Costs On Vinyl!
An interview with Adrian Patrick of Otherwise.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You guys are back out on the road again with Buckcherry. Being the true road warriors, what is it like for Otherwise to tour so much?
Adrian Patrick: It is a rollercoaster for us, it’s up and down for us. Some nights are stellar and others are lackluster but that’s the nature of the game. It is the world’s most righteous mindfuck, touring in a rock n roll band. This is the only place we would rather be, though. I have sat in corporate offices, cubicles, gone to work in a suit and tie with the briefcase but that was no good. This is the best job I have ever had.
Metal Exiles: You see in the music press a lot now about how hard it is to be on the road these days. What is it like for Otherwise to be on the road with the bus you have ect. (Note: their bus nothing short of great..)
Adrian: We have had considerable help from friends and supporters. We recently partnered with Structure Exhibits who redesigned the bus for us, provided us with the wrap for it. It is a dynamic partnership because in 2015 we plan on doing some things that are outside of the box for a band like Otherwise. We want to break out of the genre that we are currently boxed in to. We are fortunate because this vehicle is our home. We did the van thing as well as the RV experience and it was all horrible experiences. This bus is our home; we own this bus so anything that is horrible about this we take ownership of it. And that makes it more worthwhile when you are doing it for yourself and you are not bleeding money out to some other company by renting.
Metal Exiles: Do you think it’s going to come to the point for bands that if the fans want to see them tour they will have to pony up the support for it?
Adrian: It might and we have toyed with the idea of a Kickstarter but fortunately we have not had to. Century Media does give us some help when we need it but that is an interesting question because who knows what that kind of marketing holds for the future of music. We are always trying to think differently, set ourselves away from the pack. We are all friends in rock n roll but it is a competition and you have to distinguish ourselves.
Metal Exiles: Well nobody sounds like Otherwise.
Adrian: I am sure there are people out there that would beg to differ but I am glad you can hear it. We may or may not sound like other bands but as humans we know we are different. Some of the things we have been through before we were signed, after we were signed, I don’t hear a lot of stories like that. Maybe that and our history lends itself as to why we are different. If we sound different to you then that’s all we want.
Metal Exiles: I know about what was happening going into the last album, all the downsides. What was the mindset going into this album?
Adrian: It was the complete opposite from the last album. With this album it was during the creation of life with my son being born. It is all about finding a balance, finding the light in darkness.
Metal Exiles: With the last album, it seems like every song could have been a single, seemingly the perfect rock album. So with Peace At All Costs was there a lot of pressure to top True Love Never Dies?
Adrian: Of course, every night when we left the studio my brother Ryan in particular would question whether the songs were good enough or the right songs, are we making a better album than the last one. Everything about the album was questioned and there was a lot of self-doubt. There is the sophomore slump but I do not think we fell victim to that. I personally feel that we took the strengths of True Love Never Dies and embellished them on the new songs. We are running into the same problem though with new management, what do we pick for the new single when everything on the album could be one. That doesn’t make us sellouts though, it means we want to connect with as many people as possible.
Metal Exiles: It makes you a melodic hard rock band. But you guys debuted the video for Darker Side Of The Moon recently. What made you go with that track as the first single?
Adrian: We went with that because it has both familiarities, people expect certain things from Otherwise, and it has us breaking into new territories for us. New vocal phrasings, the heavier riffs and we were fortunate to write that sing with Julian and Matt from Rev Theory. It also functions as an analogy about where we are from which is Las Vegas. What you see on TV and movies, which is the bright lights and flashy neon, hides the darker side that pervades in Las Vegas. We grew up in both extremes and Darker Side Of The Moon is the same, it has a melodic side and a darker edgier side.
Metal Exiles: I feel that Coming For The Throne or Demon Fighter could be the next single because I feel that Demon Fighter shows a completely different picture of Otherwise.
Adrian: Demon Fighter and Coming For The Throne have a more pointed message as well. Darker Side Of The Moon is an analogy, more poetic whereas Coming For The Throne is more to the point. When we were writing that song we imagined if we had a time machine would we go back in time and talk to our younger selves and what would we say to them? My brother had that dark riff and it does go back to the darker rock from the 90s that we listened to. That may not be what’s cool right now, not what is mainstream but fuck that, it is still good.
Metal Exiles: What else were you trying to get out to the fans through your music?
Adrian: With the song Demon Fighter that you brought up, we all have demons that we have to deal with and I have put myself in some bad situations because of my demons that I let take control of the situation but that song is about defeating them using your inner strength and passion to overcome. One of my fav songs on the album is The Other Side Of Truth. It started off as a violent love song but it evolved to a “come ride with us” song. All The Pretty Things deals with suicide and my brother and I have dealt with that a lot unfortunately and its about not taking any moment for granted in life.
Metal Exiles: How do you deal with all of this adversity in life? Do you just put yourself deeper in the music?
Adrian: You have to focus and that’s what we did on this album is just stay focused. When life gets darker and hard to deal with you have to put your head down and force your way through it. One of the best examples of getting through it is that I am sitting here on a cool bus, talking to you getting ready to play a rock show. There have been plenty of times in the past where we could have given up but we pushed our way through. Bad shit is always gonna happen to you and to the few people out there that it doesn’t, more power to you. As a band we have been through some of the darkest aspects of life and we are still here trying to shine a light on everybody else.
Metal Exiles: Speaking of playing a rock show, you guys have a lot of things coming up to put you in front of as many people as possible and you were announced for the Shiprocked Cruise In February.
Adrian: I don’t think anybody here has been on a cruise and hopefully I don’t get to sea sick. We had an offer for that last year so we could not take it but they were gracious enough to extend another offer to us and we were able to do it this time.
Metal Exiles: You were just here in Sacramento to do Aftershock a second time. When you do a festival what are the expectations for a band?
Adrian: If we could play a festival every day we would. Not only are you going to be in front of the largest crowds possible, you also get to watch a lot of other bands that you grew up on. I don’t want to Jinx ourselves but we are trying to get Uproar in 2015. We have a lot ground to cover but we have covered a lot of ground and broke a lot of barriers. And we have made history because Soldiers was the first song by an unsigned band to go #1 on Satellite radio. It’s a small piece of history but it’s ours. We have already done what most bands can’t do so what’s next? With the limited amount of money we have we have broken through and we loved the challenge.
Are you convinced now that Otherwise are the next band you should check out?
Official Otherwise Site
BUY Peace At All Costs
BUY Peace At All Costs On Vinyl!