Alkaline Trio with Kevin Ryder

KROQ-FM / KROQ

Alkaline Trio stops by the studio to talk with Kevin Ryder about their new song, "Oblivion," and their upcoming tour with blink-182.

Transcript

00:00106.7 KROQ is KROQ. It is Kevin Ryder in the afternoon with the guys from Alkaline Trio joining us in studio. Welcome.

00:09Thank you. Adam, you drum to every song that you see? Air drum?

00:14I mean, I can't help it.

00:16We can't get him to stop.

00:17He taps on everything when there aren't songs playing.

00:20Oh, man.

00:21It's constant.

00:22Does it drive you nuts?

00:23Sometimes.

00:23I don't need an alarm clock on the bus anymore. I just get drums happening. Tap taps.

00:30I mean, nobody hates it more than me.

00:32Pounding on my chest.

00:34All right, let's talk about new music, shall we?

00:36We shall.

00:36Please.

00:37You got Oblivion out. Tell us about Oblivion because I love that song.

00:42Oh, thanks. Yeah, we're proud of it. Our friend Travis Barker, I think you've met.

00:48Sure.

00:48We had a great time recording it with him. And yeah, it's a song about a vampire and his take on the world today.

00:58And then going down with the ship.

01:00It's pretty accurate with the things that are happening today.

01:03Well, yeah. And the video that accompanies the song, it all kind of just fell into place.

01:08And with Travis's help, yeah, it sounds pretty good, I think.

01:12So this is one of three songs that you have with Travis?

01:15That's true.

01:16Right? Yeah?

01:16Yes.

01:17And you're going to put out the other two when.

01:20Well...

01:20Not to be greedy because we're just getting into Oblivion.

01:22I know, we're just getting into it. We had a plan and now we don't know what the plan is.

01:26Okay, good.

01:27We're going to go, you know, every few weeks and just release a single, but like maybe one

01:32a month. But now who knows? Who knows?

01:35Are we working toward an album?

01:38Another question that we've been discussing.

01:41Asking each other.

01:41We had so much fun. Like the pressure of making a record is different than when you just go,

01:49you know you've got a few good ideas. Like Matt had a few great songs and we were like,

01:53let's go in, let's go and do them with Travis. Let's just see what happens. And they turned

01:57out great. And it was so easy. And like the Travis in the studio was great. Like the energy

02:04was very natural and everything flowed. And when we left, we were like, that was easy.

02:09Don't you get the idea that's the way it is with Travis in everything?

02:14I think things come pretty naturally.

02:16Just everything in his life seems like...

02:18Effortless. I mean, he's, yeah, and the things that he's survived, he's done with such grace

02:27that it just, I think he makes even difficult things look easy.

02:32Yeah, that's true. Well, how is he different from a drummer and a producer?

02:35Wow. I mean, it's hard to quantify the real separation. He was super involved in all aspects

02:43of producing these songs. And it was like, he had great ideas about each part, you know,

02:48which maybe, maybe more so than other producers in the drum department, but not any less so in the

02:56maybe guitar tracking department. You know, so he was universally...

03:00Did he ever just move you aside and get in and play?

03:03I mean, he said, hey, try this. And he's trying to describe it to me. And I'm like,

03:07like this? He's like, can I sit? I'm like, please do sit down and show me what you're thinking.

03:13And show me what you're talking about.

03:14And he would sort of like say, ah, something kind of like this. Be like, okay, cool.

03:17And then I would sit down and kind of do my version of what he did. And it's like, yeah, that.

03:22And it was great. It was awesome.

03:23You guys are going to be touring with them with Blink-182, right? Later this year?

03:27Yeah, we're very excited. It's going to be, yeah, it's going to be a blast. Missionary Impossible.

03:33Also, something that Travis came up with, like the guy is a silent warrior. He comes up with all the

03:40great ideas. Nobody is the wiser.

03:43He's the quietest human that makes the most noise.

03:45Oh, he's, yeah. And he's one of those people. And I think the rest of us that aren't like this

03:51are envious of the people that only speak when they have something to say. And he's one of those

03:56kind of people that he's, it's pretty brilliant. So yeah, Missionary Impossible, Travis Barker,

04:03ladies and gentlemen.

04:04Matt, what's it like touring with them, lead singing with them versus Alkaline Trio? Because

04:09you did Blink for seven years?

04:11Almost seven years. It's, well, I mean, physically, it's very similar. But, you know,

04:22like my perception, I guess, is it's hard to put into words. I mean, I felt, I feel like I walked

04:29into a family that was, you know, like I'm the new, maybe mistress, or the new wife that,

04:38luckily the kids all approved of.

04:42Yeah, I thought that there's, Blink is so lucky that you exist because you're perfect.

04:46Well, that's very sweet. I appreciate it. And Alkaline Trio is the successful marriage that

04:51I went off and cheated and came back and they were still, you know, sitting on the couch reading

04:58us weekly, ready to go.

05:00So what do we need to know about Oblivion? We're going to play it in a second for our catch

05:04of the day. Tell us how you came up with the idea of writing a story about a vampire.

05:11Well, the Nosferatu remake inspired me to watch the original Nosferatu. And there's actually

05:20a line in the song that's taken from one of the title cards in the original Nosferatu.

05:27Nosferatu, does this word sound like the death bird calling out your name at midnight is

05:34like the intro card to the original Nosferatu. So that was the impetus.

05:39That was the impetus.

05:40Yes, sir.

05:41It's a great song. I'm glad you guys are back. I'm looking forward to the other two songs

05:45that you did with Travis as well. And we're going to take a quick break and we're going

05:49to come back and we're going to play Oblivion from Alkaline Trio. Oblivion by Alkaline Trio.

05:57The guys have been joining me this afternoon. Thank you for coming in studio.

06:00Thanks for having us.

06:01Love having you in.

06:02Absolute pleasure. Thanks.

06:03And we will continue to play that song as it's fantastic.

06:06Right on.

06:07Bye.

06:09Bye.

06:25Bye.

06:33Bye.

06:34Bye.

06:35Bye.

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