Interview with Whitechapel Guitarist Alex Wade

Check out the song: “End Of Flesh”

Whitechapel has only been around for the last 5 years and already they have made a big impact in the metal scene. Hailing from Knoxville Tennessee, the boys in Whitechapel have released 3 albums, 5 music videos and toured a countless amount of times as a headlining act. I got to sit down with guitarist Alex and talk about the bands rise to success in such a short time.

How’s the tour going so far?
Alex: It’s been really good so far, I believe we are half way done now and it’s been really good. We were on the Summer Slaughter in 2008 with The Black Dahlia Murder and here we are again with them in 2011.

Any memorable moments happen on tour so far?
Alex: Not really, the tour has been pretty low key. I don’t have any crazy tour stories for you…yet haha

You guys are quite the young age as a band, only being around for about 5 years now. What do you think is the reason for your fast rise to headlining big tours like the summer slaughter?
Alex: I’m not really sure about it. I kind of fell like it was the right sound at the right place at the right time for us. When we started the band we didn’t have the idea of having a certain sound to become famous, we were just trying to be heavy and that’s whats in right now. We got a bit of a later start compared to some other bands I’d lump us in with like for instance Suicide Silence, but I would put us with them and other bands of the same feel because we all did get success around the same time and I feel that we all kind of grew together. Music is just like anything else, there are fads and they come and go and at this current time it’s really cool to be heavy.

Being in this music scene I’ve seen that uniqueness is a hard thing to capture yet your band does it. What do you feel sets you apart from the other bands on this tour and the scene?
Alex: When we strive to be heavy it’s not the mind frame of “let’s write the slowest most dissonant breakdown”, that’s not us. If the song or moment calls for something like a breakdown then we will do it but we don’t like to force anything because that’s when shit feels awkward. We also have the 3 guitar thing going on which not a lot of bands have and I feel that gives us our unique sound compared to others in our genre.

Touching on that, not many bands indulge the pleasures of having 3 guitar players. Does that make it harder to write?
Alex: I feel it makes it easier actually. It just means there are that many more riffs and ideas to throw around.

Do you mosh or throwdown?
Alex: [laughs] I’m too old for that shit now and I’m only 25. I used to hardcore dance or “throwdown” when I was like 17 but those days are gone.

Do you feel more at home on a “metal” tour as this rather than a mix of sounds like when you tour with the hardcore acts?
Alex: That’s actually one of the great things about our band. Touching on our rise in such a short amount of time, I feel that we can touch a larger demographic. We can go on a metal tour such as Rockstar Mayhem or Summer Slaughter but then we can get added to Warped Tour that has a younger crowd which has the more “scene” type bands and we fair very well in either market. I really like the fact that we haven’t been pigeon holed into just doing metal tours, we can really branch out and connect with more fans.

If you were to compare Whitechapel to a food or a meal, what would it be?
Alex: Whitechapel is General Tao chicken. It’s hot and spicy and delicious.

Check out the song: “The Darkest Day Of Man”

You guys have accomplished quite a lot in your short time but what is something you haven’t don’t yet that is on the bands bucket list?
Alex: We haven’t played South America yet, we haven’t played Mexico yet, we haven’t played Japan yet. We were suppose to play Japan but with the whole Tsunami thing and all of the nuclear reactor problems so until they get all that cleaned up we won’t be able to go. We have played almost every U.S state except for Mississippi, Hawaii, West Virginia and Wyoming so I’d really like to finish off the states.

Now this is not your first time touring with The Black Dahlia and Darkest hour, what funny or unfortunate things can you tell us about those gentleman?
Alex: Well The Black Dahlia Murder are defiantly interesting individuals to say the least. They are amazing guys and some of the funnest dudes to go on tour with. The 3 funnest bands to tour with in my opinion are The Black Dahlia Murder, Darkest Hour and The Acacia Strain because all the dudes in all those bands are fucking hilarious. There’s always something funny going on or something funny being said, so it’s always a blast.

What do you guys have planned after the Summer Slaughter?
Alex: Well after this we were suppose to go to Australia for Soundwave Revolution that Van Halen was headlining But apparently they just cancelled and they are cancelling the entire tour, so ya!! We are on a big U.S tour in the fall that is coming to Canada but I can’t tell you who it’s with yet so just keep your eyes open for the dates and that tour should round out our year. After that we are going to go home, relax and finish writing what we hope will be our next record.