English Homework - Aiden Article

We're doing work on magazines in English, and my homework was to write an article for a music magazine I'll eventually be putting together. I think this is really the only place where I can post it.
It's an interview with Aiden about their new album and upcoming tour. It is, of course, fictional and made up by me. However, I took some quotes from RockSound magazine. Here 'tis:

Aiden - The Next Chapter

It’s 9pm. The lights go down. The screaming erupts. The show begins.
As the five silhouettes on stage slowly become visible, the noise level in The Opera House, Toronto, is so loud, there is no other cliché for it - you can barely hear yourself think. Over 800 fans, nearly all of them adolescents, have their eyes glued on the stage, waiting anxiously for a view of hottest thing to emerge from Seattle since Nirvana.
Travel back in time two and half hours, and Aiden are all gathered in a backstage dressing room, preparing for the first of their upcoming 20-day promo. tour. In an hour’s time, Drop Dead, Gorgeous will have the honourable task of warming up the crowd for tonight’s show. When they’re done, Still Remains will be there to fill in the gap, before Aiden take to the stage to perform their latest album, ‘Conviction’, live for the first time, as well as throwing in a few hits.
But for now they’re here, ready to discuss the ins and outs of their latest release, how far they’ve come, and how this album is sure to change the view of even the biggest critic.
“For me, this record really separates us from the group we’ve always been thrown in to,” explains vocalist wiL Francis. “Pretty much every interview we’ve ever done has included some sort of question about AFI, or My Chemical Romance, and I think that after this record, there’ll be no need for that anymore.”
“We’ve come a really long way with this album,” guitarist Jake Wambold adds, “We love MCR and AFI, but we really don’t want to be categorised in the same place as them. Hopefully we’re free of those labels now.”
Their look is a big representation of this; gone is the dark, heavy make up, the thick black eyeliner and the smudged red lipstick. Gone are the cemetery themed photo shoots, complete with coffins and shovels. Sitting here now is a new-look Aiden, with minimal eyeliner and even wearing white. Their sound may not have changed quite as much as the media have portrayed, but nonetheless, it is a big step in quite a different direction.
“We’re still the same band,” the front man confesses, “we haven’t changed as people. This album is just something no one would expect from us - it’s here to show the world we’re not held in to one style.”
This is the 25 year old, who just 10 years ago, was in the depths of a serious drug addiction. “In the beginning, sharing my story was a privilege,” he explains, “but then after a while I was looking to talk about something else as people had heard it already but the questions never stopped coming.” The reason this story is given so much press, is the simple fact that it’s interesting. It sells. “I guess it’s not that interesting to talk to a band about being on a label and touring. Everyone has that. For me, being sober and not using drugs and not dying has been the most important thing that ever happened to me in my entire life. I nearly died, but I am here by some miracle.” His tone is almost defensive as he recites these well rehearsed lines once again, but they are still said with true meaning, making it obvious he is thankful for everything he has.
So, down to the music - what kind of specific changes have been made on the album, ‘Conviction‘?
“Well for one, there’s no screaming on this record. That’s a big change for us, because a lot of people think ‘screaming’ as soon as they see us. But we’ve never been a screamo band, it was just an element of our music, and now that element is gone. It may not seem as dark as our previous records, but it has much more depth. I think this sort of makes up for the lack of screaming - it takes it to a much deeper level.”
What about the song writing, has your method changed for writing the lyrics?
“I’ve never been able to write a record for anyone but myself. I just can’t write for a friend, or my mom, or the fans. It has to be for me. It’s not a selfish thing, I just feel as though I have to write about my emotions and my thoughts. As I said, this record takes us into a lot more depth. The song writing is probably slightly more intense, but my method is still the same and probably always will be.”
Will your live show be any different to tie in with the changes in the music?
“We’ve never really been big on pyrotechnics and fancy lights and all that stuff. We feel that a live show should be about the atmosphere, the music and the performance of the band. We want our fans to have the best time possible at our shows, but we really don’t feel we need fire everywhere to make that happen.”
How have your fans reacted to the new album?
“Our fans have always been extremely supportive of us. They are so loyal, and I think they were expecting something different from us with ‘Conviction’, anyway. They knew there’d be quite a change, and so far that change has been received very positively. I’ve had so many kids come up to me and tell me they love this album. You get a lot of bands whose kids are always saying they like their older stuff better, but that’s not happening with us. People are really happy with this new move.”
Do you think this will change the way people look at you now?
“Yeah, definitely. We want people to look at us and see ‘Aiden‘. Not ‘emo’ or ‘AFI’. We want to be something different from that, and now we’ve hopefully become something really individual. There are a lot of people out there who hate us because they have a set idea about us and can’t imagine us being anything apart from that. Those are the people that this record will make the biggest impact on.”
And so the band continue to prepare for the opening show, visibly excited to show their fans what this record can do live.
When they’re finished, the noise level in the venue is considerably louder than when they started. With tonight representing the passion in their fans, equally as much as in the band themselves, this tour is sure to be one to remember. They have come a long way since they started out, but what they’ve shown tonight is that this is really just the beginning of a whole new chapter.

For more information on where Aiden are touring, visit: www.victoryrecords.com/tours/artist/aiden

The album ‘Conviction’ and single ‘One Love’ are out now.