Atreyu rhythm guitarist Travis Miguel sheds light on the band coming back from hiatus (been together for 18 years) and returning to Warped Tour after 11 years.
Music Connection: Just to start off with our questions, you guys have been around for quite some time, which is super awesome. [You’ve been] making great music for a while…what has been, do you feel, the key to your success in staying together for so long? I know you had a little bit of a break in there, but it still counts. You’ve still made it, what, 18 years?
Travis Miguel: Something like that. Yeah, it’s in the ‘teens, I know that.
MC: You’re a teenager!
Miguel: Right! I don’t know if there’s a secret or anything. I think it’s just the fact that we know what we have because it can very well end tomorrow. And the fact that we know…I’m in a band with four other guys who know me better than anyone else on the planet, better than my immediate family. So we have that mutual respect for each other. And, like I said, I could think of worse jobs to have. This is the coolest job to have. We don’t take that for granted.
MC: Definitely. And like I said, you did take a little bit of a break there. What made you guys decide to go ahead and go on a hiatus?
Miguel: Towards the end of our last record cycle, we were all just kind of fried. We were writing, recording, touring; wash, rinse, and repeat for the better part of 12 years. We had homes that we never lived in. Wives and girlfriends we never saw, family we never saw. So it was just time to take a step back and see what life was like outside of being in Atreyu. For the three or four years that we were inactive, I mean, we were all still individually busy, whether it was music related or not. And then it just felt right, a right time to come back. We were recharged, reinvigorated. It put things in perspective for us for sure.
MC: And I know for a lot of people, once they go on hiatus, that’s kind of the end of the road—things are kind of done. What is your best advice for a band looking to come back from a hiatus
Miguel: That’s a good question, because I still…I didn’t know what to expect. And the fact that it’s panning out this way, I’m extremely grateful. Because you can go disappear for a few years and everybody’s going to forget about you and could care less that you’re coming back. Or it could be the best career move ever, and you end up getting even bigger than you were before. So I guess just don’t expect anything. Don’t put any expectations.
MC: But when you did come back, you had an amazing album Long Live. Tell me about the writing process for that album. What influenced it?
Miguel: There wasn’t really anything different about the writing process. It was pretty much business as usual. We’d decided to make a record without any kind of outside influence, whether it’s from management or a label, or stuff like that. We basically wrote an album for ourselves, and luckily people liked it. [laughs] It’s always exciting to release a new record because you spend so much time, months if not years, working on this album and you finally get to release it to the public. It’s a really gratifying feeling.
MC: Just to switch gears a little bit and talk about Warped Tour, I overheard you talking earlier…your last Warped Tour was 2005?
Miguel: 2005, yeah.
MC: How does this one compare? It’s been a little bit of time; you’ve got more experience under your belt and everything.
Miguel: The catering is better. It’s always nice to be fed good food.
MC: Especially on a tour like this when you’re outside all day long. A good meal just hits the spot.
Miguel: As I was saying before, there’s a lot of new faces and old, familiar faces as well. You get to meet new people and reconnect with old ones. You get a nice tan while you’re at it.
MC: That’s true, you do get a very nice tan. I feel like I’m getting one now and I’m only out here for a day, so there you go.
Miguel: The sun is definitely out.
MC: Have any bands come up to you and been like, “Show us the ropes, tell us a little bit about how to survive Warped Tour!”?
Miguel: Nobody’s really asked us for advice on Warped Tour, or how to go about [it]. It’s kind of a trial by fire thing, to see if you wanna learn how to swim, you gotta get in the water.
MC: You’ve just gotta get kicked in.
Miguel: Just go for it. That’s kind of the fun thing about Warped Tour. It’s in a different place every day, you’re not playing at the same time everyday. Your location is different so you can check out other bands while you’re walking to your own stage. I don’t think there’s anything really out there like Warped Tour. There definitely hasn’t been, I don’t think there ever will be, maybe? I don’t know. It’s going on 20 years strong now, something like that?
MC: Maybe a little bit over?
Miguel: I don’t see it dying down any time soon.
MC: At least I hope not.
Miguel: Right, it’s a good time.
MC: Do you have any crazy stories you can tell us about from this year’s Warped Tour?
Miguel: Nothing too crazy. The other night, our singer almost lost his tooth. He likes to go down in the crowd and party with them for a bit, and then he came back up on stage and then he held out his hand to me while we were playing, and I just saw a big chunk of his tooth in his hand and a big gap between his teeth.
MC: Oh no!
Miguel: Yeah, he was pretty bummed about that because dental work is not cheap.
MC: No, it’s not fun either. No one likes going to the dentist, especially if they gotta put it back together.
Miguel: Right, so, this is our last day on Warped Tour so I think he’s probably going to hit up the dentist tomorrow.
MC: That’s probably a good idea.
MC: My last question for you is if you do have any advice for any bands looking to come to Warped Tour, any idea of what’s best for them to gain at Warped Tour?
Miguel: Get to catering early. Suntan lotion or sunblock I should say. Stay hydrated. And shower whenever possible.
For more information, visit atreyuofficial.com.
