Driven Far Off

Awhile ago I had the chance to sit down and chat with Alex Wade of Whitechapel, a metal band hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee. With their new album This Is Exile in stores and a Rockstar Mayhem Festival tour under their belt, this Metal Blade Record’s band is sure to take over. Many thanks go out to Kelli Malella of Metal Blade and Alex Wade for making this interview possible.

State your name and position in the band.

I’m Alex Wade and I play guitar.

What is the concept behind your new album This Is Exile?

On previous albums we never really followed any kind of concept, but on This Is Exile we kind of wanted to incorporate some kind of concept, just to make things a little more interesting for the fans and even for us writing it. This Is Exile kind of has the concept that flows of this evil god that gets sent to Earth to destroy it. All the songs are a piece of the concept and tell a story.

So how does it feel to be on tour with all these bands?

Very overwhelming considering I would say that at least 70% are our influences: Behemoth, Cannibal Corpse, Slayer, and even our friends in Black Dahlia and Job For A Cowboy. Pretty much before we left for this tour, we all were saying how it was going to be the best summer of our lives. Playing to thousands of people and seeing your favorite bands everyday, it’s a dream come true really.

How did you guys all start out?

We’re just like any other band, we started out as a local band in our hometown. We’ve played local venues, we’ve done it all. We’ve played rec centers and even played birthday parties. It goes to show that anyone can do it, you just have to have the right mindset.

What has been your favorite show you’ve ever played?

Honestly it was probably in London, we headlined Ghost Fest. It was a smaller club and there were about five or six hundred kids and I think it sold out two weeks before the show even happened. It was amazing, kids we’re just going off. The night was just real electric.

How do you guys keep entertained on tour?

We play a lot of Xbox 360 just like any other band does really. We play that new UFC Undisputed game, Call Of Duty, but currently we’re also trying to stay busy writing for the new CD. We’re going to be recording in January and it’ll be released sometime in spring or early summer of 2010.

If you were to describe each band members, what would you label each of them?

Not to have a big head anything, but I’m like the smart business guy, I handle all the business and I’m just the go to guy whether it be the manager or the label. Kevin is definitely the nerd, he’s all about technology and computers and stuff like that. Gabe is the hot tempered one of the group, he’s the bass player, he’s really big, and works out, so his testosterone is errr. Ben and Zach they just kind of hang out, they’re just normal dudes.

Out of all the songs, what is the most important to you?

“Possession” off the new CD This Is Exile. I think for us as a band it demonstrates our sound as a whole. If I had to pick one song to describe us, it would definitely be “Possession,” its dark, its heavy, and I really love to play that song live.

How’s the whole writing process going on tour?

We have one song that’s kind of loosey goosey you know, it’s not exactly concrete yet, but it definitely has good backbone to it. It’s coming out really good, if you like This Is Exile, you’re going to love the new stuff. We’re still keeping it fast and brutal, not trying to sell out or anything you know. It’s still going to be heavy as shit, we have some more riffs and ideas in the works so it’s coming along really good.

Be sure to catch Whitechapel touring through North America this fall 2009 alongside Trivium and pick up their album This Is Exile now.