Connect with us

Interviews

Interview with Whitechapel; Lead Singer Phil Bozeman Talks New Album ‘Our Endless War’

With the release of their fifth full-length disc, Our Endless War, the extreme metal titans Whitechapel are once again preparing to take the metal world by storm. This is their heaviest, most mature release to date and I recently had a moment to catch up with vocalist Phil Bozeman to discuss the making of the record. Here is how the conversation went.

Published

on

With the release of their fifth full-length disc, Our Endless War, the extreme metal titans Whitechapel are once again preparing to take the metal world by storm. This is their heaviest, most mature release to date and I recently had a moment to catch up with vocalist Phil Bozeman to discuss the making of the record. Here is how the conversation went.

Now that your new record, Our Endless War, is complete and released how do you feel about it and are you satisfied with the outcome?
Bozeman: Yeah I am really excited. I am very, very satisfied with this record. I am very excited for everyone to hear it and see what they think of the new material.

What’s your writing process like? Do you guys all write together or is it the efforts of one particular member of the band?
Bozeman: It is a collective effort. I mean Danny and I did a lot of the writing on the last couple of albums, but this album was a whole collective effort. Ben doesn’t write all of it, but he writes quite a bit and a lot of the stuff on this album was written by Alex and Zach. They demo stuff out constantly even when we don’t have to record an album.

Check out the song “Our Endless War”

Do you guys write in the traditional sense with everybody in the same room bouncing ideas off of each other, or do you take advantage of technology and email parts back and forth?
Bozeman: When it comes to the music, we do it collectively in a room, but when it is just the lyrics, I always do that by myself.

When you are writing are you doing so with the live setting in mind, or are you writing the song just for the song’s sake?
Bozeman: We just have riffs that we transition into each other and we all collectively just feel the song out and decide what would sound good.

This album, I think more so than any of your other releases, has more of a theme behind it, especially with songs like the title track and “Worship The Digital Age”. I was wondering if there is a message you are trying to get across to your fans?
Bozeman: Yeah I think the basis of that is the world being distracted by technology, cell phones and tablets. They all serve a great purpose but a lot of people are distracted by them. Even TVs and video games, which I am guilty of as well. I am not calling anyone out because I am like that, we all are like that. A lot of people use their phones for great purposes, but just look at how many people have died texting and driving. Your phone is pretty much a video game system and a communication device and I see why people are so into them because you have so much to do on them. People don’t really worry about going outside anymore because they can sit home and play on their phones and tablets all day.

What’s the story behind the name of the album, “Our Endless War”?
Bozeman: It is just like life in general. It is not a military title it is more about life and its struggles and living the war that is life.

Are there any tracks on the disc that are personal favorites or that have good stories behind them?
Bozeman: Yeah the last track on the album, “Diggs Road,” is kind of like a personal song for me. It is about my past and the things I dealt with when I was growing up.

You have been at this for a long time now and this is record number five. Did you ever imagine you would still be doing it?
Bozeman: No, I mean it is such a surreal thing to be able to do this for as long as we have and actually even have the chance to do it.

Was there a back up plan or where you all in from the beginning?
Bozeman: No, there was no backup plan. We were pretty much all in from the beginning. We decided this is what we were going to do and then we put 110 percent into and it turned out the way it did.

Any closing words Phil?
Bozeman: Just thanks to everyone for even giving us the time of day, it is more than we can ever ask for.

Check out the song “Worship the Digital Age”

Trending