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Johnny Truant
Alternative Press - Rob Ortenzi on 3/24/09 @ 5:03 PM - altpress.com
NOW PLAYING: No Tears For The Creatures (FERRET; ferretstyle.com)
WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: This British metalcore outfit have relentlessly toured Europe and Canada and are currently taking the U.S. by storm with their unapologetic, deafening songs. Oh, and try not to bring up the whole "metalcore" thing...
YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: THE FALL OF TROY / CAVE IN / HEAVY HEAVY LOW LOW
STORY: Emily Zemler
PHOTO: Fiona Garden
Think touring is easy? Johnny Truant singer Olly Mitchell will set you straight. He and his band-guitarists Stuart Hunter and Reuben Gotto, bassist Alan Booth and drummer Paul Jackson-sustained themselves for weeks on mustard sandwiches (and when the mustard ran out: Just bread), slept on top of their gear in a van with no seats and faced suspect circumstances when bathroom breaks were required. "I don't think I've quite realized that we're a professional band because I'm still eating five-day old food," says Mitchell. "Where is the line? Are we a super-professional band? Yeah, we put 100 percent of ourselves into it and do it full-time, but we haven't got any money. [To be in a band,] you've gotta be prepared to shit without toilet paper."
Although Johnny Truant-who took their name from the main character in Mark Z. Danielewski's book House of Leaves-only recently made the leap to the States (with Bring Me The Horizon) for the first time in support of their third album and first U.S. release, No Tears For The Creatures, the rigors of touring are nothing new. They formed in 2000, influenced by the progressive ideals of Boston metalcore bands like Botch and Cave In, but it's taken them a while to get where they are today-both professionally and artistically. "I'd probably have a five-year-long nightmare if I listened to our first record right now," Mitchell says. "We weren't the same band. We've constantly evolved." During the following years, the band saw their reputation stretch outside their country's borders thanks to an album (2005's In The Library Of Horrific Events) produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and tours with the likes of KSE, As I Lay Dying and Cancer Bats. Just don't expect Johnny Truant to be that happy about any of it-and don't bring up the term "metalcore." "We play metal because we're extremely fucking pissed off," says Mitchell. "We've had pretty shitty lives up until this point, and we wanted to use music as a forum to say what we wanted to say about a lot of things. When I hear the word 'metalcore,' I think of these namby-pamby, whimsy dudes who saunter around in shoes with no socks on. Being in a metal band is about being pissed off and drinking beer and being a piece of shit, basically."
[As we were going to press, Johnny Truant announced their breakup via this statement: "We have had many amazing years and made many great friends along the way. Thank you to everyone that has supported us and shared so many fantastic times with us, it's been a hell of a ride and one that we are very proud of." The band will wrap their farewell tour on Dec. 17 in the U.K.]
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These guys kick ass!!!