Interview with Lye By Mistake drummer Drew Button

Black Market Activities recording artists Lye By Mistake released their latest offering Fea Jur on October 13th. The bands’ bio describes the CD as “sonically ranging from epic prog, influenced heavily by early Dream Theater, to freeform jazz-fusion then delving into tech metal and progressive neo-classical power metal. The omission of vocals allows the full intricacies of the music to be heard.” Fea Jur is a Tech Metal fan’s dream come true. Drummer Drew Button had some very interesting and at times hilarious things to say about this release and the band in general.

The dizzying array of technicality and sense for adventure in the music is definitely something that sets you apart from the majority of your peers. Are there any contemporary or classic bands that you guys admire?
Drew: Styx, Super Mario RPG, and Protest The Hero.

Fea Jur is being released through Black Market Activities. Are you happy with the way they handled the record, regarding distribution, marketing and promotion? How has the label been accommodating the band’s needs?
Drew: Dude the label is the shit! We got a rolling stones photo shoot lined up in the near future, buzz is on the streets about the new album and people just cannot stop talking about it, sort of like the Kanye west/Taylor Swift conflict. We have our album set up to ship across the seas for all of our crazy fans in the U.K. We’re really excited to be working with Guy and the guys at Black Market Activities and Metal Blade Records and plan on making them all living Legends.

Could you tell us where the name Lye By Mistake comes from?
Drew: The name comes from a book called the Gashley Grimm Tinneys. It was given to us by a gay, black man named Trey (not that there is anything wrong with that) whom I have only had the pleasure of meeting once. He was friends with our old singer, Tony before the band had been conceived and they thought it looked good on paper as a band name. So there you have it our secret is out.. gay, black guys have great taste in band names.

Your brand new CD titled, Fea Jur, is set for release on October 13th. Now that it is complete, how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome?
Drew: Well of course I’m satisfied and the fans will be satisfied as well. Have you not heard the CD? It is fucking awesome! I could have used more trigger on my kicks but our Studio engineer Brian Scheffer (Firebrand recording) insisted on a “real” sound. Get real, the “real” sound is ME.

Give us some insight into the record Fea Jur and the meaning behind its title?
Drew: Well for those of don’t know, Ben Whailin is a bit of a horse guy. ‘Fea Jur’ is name the name of the horse in the popular internet video, “Two Guys One Horse.” We see our selves sort of like Fea Jur; we’re going to fuck everyone to death in the ass if they try to stand in our way of making it to the top.

Even though all the songs are packed to the gills with huge guitars, intricate rhythms, and complex arrangements, there are still strong songs at the core of it all. When you write do you start building from a simpler frame and then just stack up all of the individual parts and nuances?
Drew: The writing process is rather simple and it all starts in Ben Whailins head, once he comes up with an idea there’s no stopping him. He will write the song and turn it into a complex mathematical formula and print it out in a Microsoft Spread sheet. I then feed this highly constructed matrix into the “Beat Off Machine” which is a prototype beat maker (I really should not even be talking about it now) and it takes the numbers and finds the closest relation to Pi. Once I have that number I put it to the drum set. For every one that pops up that is hi-hat, two are snare, so forth and so forth until we have calculated the beat to the song. Once we have guitars and drums figured out it is up to the man Jonnie Pokket to steal riffs from Randy Jackson’s early years and find a place to put them in our music. So it’s not all too different from what other bands are doing nowadays.

By releasing an instrumental metal disc the band is taking chances artistically. How hard is it to take these chances with your music in an industry that is declining?
Drew: Well it wasn’t easy. We did a lot of market research and macro analysis on the last decade of music and saw quite an astonishing pattern. In the years to come it predicted that music will be wordless with nothing but auto tune creating melody lines, so we decided now was the time to be a forerunner of this paradigm shift and catch the wave before it hits shore.

What kind of preparation do you put into your live show?
Drew: Before each show I make it a point to appease the Gods with the sacrificing of a virgin, which can be very hard in the rock business. Seriously being on tour in a new town everyday trying to find one can be very tiresome but that just shows how dedicated I am to the arts.

All of that passion that you play with must be tough on you physically. How do you prepare for the physical demands of a tour?
Drew: A ton of booze.

Any plans for a tour in support of Fea Jur?
Drew: Yes we plan on riding this pony on into the New Year though dates will be scarce to make room for Jonnie’s modeling career and Ben’s acting.

Any closing words?
Drew: Lye by Mistake is a non profit organization made to bring quality music to the homes of the everyday working citizen.  [ END ]