Francis, Wil (Aiden)
Dave Manack
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There are a great many bands that have a connection to horror, from their song titles to their sound, from band name to their attire. But with Seattle’s Aiden, that connection is both blatant and fully intended. After all, they’re named after the little boy who is the central character in The Ring movies (which, by no circumstance, also take place in Seattle), and they often look as if they’ve just walked off the set of a vampire movie. While the quintet’s music has been labeled by magazines and fans in many ways—from punk to post-hardcore to goth—there is one label that they have set aside for themselves: “Horror rock.” <!– zoom:/img/story/ –>
“Yeah, we’ve been a ‘horror rock’ band since the beginning…we’ve never really written any kind of ‘happy’ songs,” says Aiden’s frontman WiL Francis. The band is currently on the road supporting their 2005 disc Nightmare Anatomy (Victory Records). “From the very beginning, all of our songs have had dark, underlying influences. It’s hard to describe a sound with words. We would just call ourselves a ‘rock’ band, but Creed and Nickelback are rock bands and we are a little bit different than that (laughs). There are definitely other bands in the same genre, such as H.I.M., MCR, I am Ghost, 69 Eyes and others.”
And speaking of H.I.M.—the popular “gothic love metal” band from Finland fronted by Ville Valo, which is now making it’s first major venture into the U.S.—Aiden has just scored the coveted opening slot on H.I.M.’s upcoming headlining tour of the states. The tour is scheduled to run from May 2 through June 9.
“(H.I.M.) is one of our favorite bands, and this is a great opportunity for us that certainly could not be passed up,” says WiL, noting that the band has had to postpone a headlining tour of the U.K. to participate in the H.I.M. tour until after the summer’s famed Vans Warped Tour, which they will also be joining.
With all that’s happened for Aiden in the past few months, it’s hard to believe that the band formed a mere three years ago, and two of their members only recently graduated from high school. But according to WiL, their early success has been earned through months of non-stop touring and the refinement of their sound and presentation through hours and hours of practice, not to mention financing, recording and releasing their first official disc Our Gang’s Dark Oath, which is being re-released by Victory Records on April 18, 2006.
We had the opportunity to catch up with WiL during their current headlining U.S. tour (with 30 Seconds to Mars and Emanuel), and got his take on the band…and all things horror.
Dave Manack: You seem to have equal elements of rock, punk, scream-o, even metal. Where do derive most of your musical inspiration?
WiL: I’m not quite sure exactly where it comes from. When I sit down and write music, it’s not forced. I just get inspired, either walking down the street in the rain or sitting on a couch strumming the guitar, and the music just comes out. The bands I’ve grown up listening to are The Misfits, Green Day, Nirvana, Metallica, NOFX and Bad Religion. They have had probably the biggest influence on our sound.
DM: A lot has happened with Aiden in a very short period of time. To what do you attribute your ability to get signed so quickly, even before two of your band members had even graduated from high school?
WiL: Work work work. We practiced four days a week and played shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, every weekend. We toured on their school breaks. We did everything DIY—merch, CDs, booking. We built a buzz in the Northwest and Victory couldn’t help but notice what was happening. A lot of bands sit around and do everything backwards and wait to get signed and then go on tour. We were like fuck it, we have songs, let’s record them and put it out ourselves. Then we were like okay, we have a record, so let’s tour. We all worked really shitty jobs and put all our money into the band. We would do a tour for two weeks and we wouldn’t get back until late Sunday night, then Monday morning we would get up and go to work and school. It was rough, but it paid off.
DM: You’ve been touring quite a bit in the past two or three years. Do you feel that new audiences are understanding your “horror rock” vibe? Do people know that you’re named after the little boy in The Ring?
WiL: Yeah I really feel like we are connecting with people. It’s crazy when you go back to a place that you played a couple of months back and there are kids they have cut their hair like yours and are wearing the same makeup. It’s fucking amazing. Yeah, and most people know we are named after that kid in The Ring.
DM: Obviously, the more you play, the more you grow as musicians. How do you think this evolution will affect your songwriting?
WiL: I don’t know if it will affect it too much. We are still the same people, we can just play our instruments a little better (laughs). I know that going around the world and having new experiences might affect what I write about. We’ll see what happens. I’ve started writing a lot in the past month and I’m really excited about what’s next for Aiden.
DM: Tell me a bit about the lyrics on Nightmare Anatomy. Songs like “Knife Blood Nightmare,” “Breathless” and “See You in Hell” all seem to have elements of horror. However, other songs have different lyrical elements to them. Are some of these songs a reference to specific people or events, or are they simply telling stories?
WiL: Yeah they are all specific things or situations that have happened in my life. “Knife Blood Nightmare”
is about a dream I had. “Breathless” is about not being able to make my relationship with my girlfriend work. When we started touring full time it was really hard to keep things together so we had to end it. “See You in Hell” is a big fuck you to all the people who told me my whole life that music is not something I would ever succeed at. For me music has been my whole life and something I’ve always dreamed of doing since I was a little kid. All the songs are specific things that have happened and they are sung like stories. I really am a big fan of stories in songs.
DM: You state that the video for “The Last Sunrise” was inspired in part by the movie Queen of the Damned (based on the Anne Rice novel). Tell me a little bit about the making of the video; how did you select the location, the overall plot of the video, etc. Does the video reflect the lyrics? The video and song seem to be a reference to the “last sunrise” that someone would see if they had become a vampire. Is this accurate?
WiL: Yeah that was the kind of short story we wanted to tell. The song is about a situation that happens in your life that completely takes over everything. It’s sung at the point of your own conscience telling you that if you can hold on you’ll be okay when it’s all over. The video is kind of a fictional metaphor of a situation where that kind of thing—i.e. being alone, getting kicked out of your home, losing friends, being on drugs—takes over. The director found the location, an old Masonic Temple in Tacoma, Washington, just by chance. It was creepy—we kept hearing noises in the balcony, but every time we checked they would stop. But it was really cool how it all worked out.
DM: Give me your top 5 horror movies of all time, and why you’ve chosen them.
WiL: (1) Dracula with Bela Lugosi. This is definitely my favorite horror movie of all time. It’s so creepy and old, to think back when this movie was made these kinds of topics were very taboo and people were really freaked out by them. It’s not like that anymore. The thing is, if you liked this movie when it came out, people probably thought you were a murderer or a rapist or something. Everything was so happy and safe. My, how times have changed.
(2) Hostel. It just came out and I must say that it is, by far, the most fucked up movie ever made. It’s incredible.
(3) Interview With A Vampire. I’m totally in love with Anne Rice novels and this book turned movie was a great adaptation of the original story. Plus Brad (Pitt), Tom (Cruise) and Christian (Slater), you can’t go wrong with that combo.
(4) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original). It’s just so out there and creepy, to think that there was an actual guy (Ed Gein) who used to wear peoples skin. True horror.
(5) Nightmare On Elm Street. Freddy has such charisma. And Johnny Depp? Fuck yes.
DM: If you could write and direct your own horror movie, what would the plot be, who would star in it and who would direct it?
WiL: It would be a slasher flick where a lot of people get hacked up by a murderer…who is a girl that weighs 100 pounds (laughs). I think I would have Scarlett Johansson be the star and Tim Burton would direct it. That would rule.
Thanks to WiL Francis for taking the time to speak with The Horror Channel. For more information on Aiden, please visit their website or the Victory Records site (you can hear audio samples at both locations). Be sure to check out their official site for the full list of tour dates!
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