Interview & photo by Rachel Jablonski
With much success on rock radio and extensive touring throughout the last year in support of their debut album The Autumn Effect, they’re one of the biggest new alternative rock bands in the country. Knoxville, Tennessee’s 10 Years were casting out their melodic outpouring in Des Moines, Iowa, on the first day of the Mudvayne/Sevendust/Bobaflex tour, where drummer Brian Vodinh and I conversed.
Rachel: I love the album; it has such a great tone. From your perspective as one of the creators, what is the premise of The Autumn Effect?
Brian: Going into this record, it being our debut, we had accumulated so much material over the course of our lifetime. It all came together through the excitement of getting signed finally and going to Los Angeles to record the album. We had a ton of older material, but the new stuff started to come out simply generated through excitement and new inspirations. Moving out to Los Angeles was a different vibe and a different inspiration, but different pieces of the album came from different places really.
Rachel: Killing All That Holds You is your independent release. What is it like in comparison and where can fans find it?
Brian: You can only find that at shows now, but as far as the difference between that and The Autumn Effect… Killing All That Holds You, since it was independent we were tight on money, short on time, we did all of it in two weeks, if that. So when we went in to do Autumn Effect it was amazing. We sat back and were like, 'wow we actually have two months instead of two weeks.' The biggest differences are just in how we didn’t feel rushed. We still love what’s on Killing All That Holds You, but that is really representative of a certain time and The Autumn Effect is representative of a time closer to now. The next record will be representative of that time too. We’re always growing and changing.
Rachel: You guys have great harmonies. Do you do backup vocals live? I don’t understand how you would be able to pull that off live when you’re drumming hard!
Brian: I used to. Now I’m not though because it’s tough between trying to play drums as hard as I can and trying to hear myself and everything. Tater has actually stepped up and started doing some of the backup vocals now and that’s coming together more, but yeah not any more. I’ve thought about throwing some in here and there, but for now I just haven’t.
Rachel: “Wasteland” has been huge hit this summer on rock radio. Why did you choose this song to be the first single?
Brian: That’s the song that when we were unsigned the radio station in Knoxville, a guy by the name of Anthony Prophet who has helped us out tremendously, picked up the song because he thought that it had a lot of potential. So he started spinning the original version of it from Killing All That Holds You on the station and it got a good reaction from people. I think it’s a good song for us to come out with first because it is very much so 10 Years. It’s melodic, it’s heavy, and it’s everything that we are summed up into one song, so it’s a good song to leave a first impression.
Rachel: I heard a very, very well done acoustic version of “Wasteland” on the radio the other day. Where and when was that recorded?
Brian: We’ve done so many of those. We go into radio stations all the time and do those, so one part of the country it might be one version and the next city over might be playing a different acoustic version. So there’s a ton of them floating around. The first one that we ever did was actually on Killing All That Holds You. The very end of that record has four live acoustic songs, “Wasteland” being one of them. That version was recorded maybe a year and a half to two years ago in Knoxville. We did a little in store performance at a record store and we all played guitar and Lewis’ brother actually played congas on it. So if you hear one with percussion on it then that one is from Knoxville and if it’s just acoustic guitars it could be from anywhere.
Rachel: This year you have toured with so many bands – Disturbed, Ill Nino, Mudvayne, Sevendust, Breaking Benjamin, Static-X, Drowning Pool… What has been your favorite tour thus far and why?
Brian: That’s a tough question because they’re all so unique. You make such good friends with bands so like when we did the Static-X tour we became best friends with the band Bloodsimple and had a blast with them. On this last tour we were out with Breaking Benjamin and Smile Empty Soul and Smile Empty Soul quickly became another group of best buds to us. So, it totally changes. Each tour has its ups and downs, but I don’t know if I even have a solid answer on that one. We had a blast on a Disturbed tour. That one was amazing because at the time they were one of the biggest bands around and we’re the new kids so it was cool to just watch them and learn every night.
Rachel: What is the most memorable experience that you’ve had this year?
Brian: Our single breaking Top 5, or even Top 10 for that matter, was pretty amazing. You have your expectations but you never really know how well something’s going to do. You just have to let it ride out and see. When “Wasteland” went Top 10 I’m freaking out a little bit and then we get a call and it’s like ‘hey it’s number four or five right now.’ So far that’s some of the biggest news for us
Rachel: I just saw a press release about 10 Years being one of four bands up for this month’s Yahoo! What’s Next. http://music.yahoo.com/promotions/whosnext/default.asp Fans can go vote for 10 Years to be featured next month?
Brian: Yep, pretty much.
Rachel: I know you haven’t released what your band name means, but 10 years ago what were you doing and what do you plan to be doing 10 years from now?
Brian: Ten years ago what was I doing… How old am I? 24? 23…23. I was sitting in my room listening to Metallica obsessively and trying to learn guitar ten years ago. Ten years from now I hope to be sitting on a bus just like this outside of a venue getting ready to play.
Rachel: So you played guitar first?
Brian: Yeah.
Rachel: When did you start playing drums?
Brian: When the band started so I guess around ’99.
Rachel: Now that this year is wrapping up, what is your greatest goal for next year personally and professionally?
Brian: Just staying on the road, getting good tours like this, and hoping that the success keeps progressing. We’re on a good uphill thing right now, which is awesome so hopefully it’ll keep going. We’ll see. If people keep digging it and if we release another single, probably early next year, then hopefully that will do well.
Rachel: Do you know which song you may pick for the next single?
Brian: It hasn’t really been decided yet.
Rachel: Have you had a break from the road yet this year?
Brian: A couple days here and there, but not really, no. We’ve been out since May 12th and we just plan to keep going. We don’t really like off time. Every time we go home it’s fun, we get to see our family and everything, but then we get back on this bus and we’re leaving Knoxville and we’re like ‘good to be back.’ We’re ready to go.
Rachel: I would be exhausted.
Brian: We’re taking a couple weeks off around Christmas time and then just right back out. The next tour has not been decided yet. There’s quite a few things on our plate we’re just trying to figure out what’s going to be the best.
Rachel: Anything else you want to talk about?
Brian: Thanks for everyone’s support. It’s been amazing. People are coming out and not just singing along with “Wasteland” but we see people knowing the entire record and the dedicated fans are the shit.