Interview with Ryan
So far, what can you tell us about your upcoming new album, which you have been working on over the last couple of months? The new album is finished up. We began work on it before the summer with pre-production, and then had two separate sessions in Seattle with Terry Date. We were a little more secretive with this one, and made sure to take our time and focus on the job at hand.
How did you end up working with Terry Date and what was he like to work with? Terry's name came up in April while we were on tour with Bullet For My Valentine. We were working on the plans for the record and were asked "if you could go for anyone to produce your record, who would it be?". I quickly said Terry not thinking it was really an option, and then a few weeks later we had it locked in.
How would you say you have progressed musically overall since you first started out as Miss May I? Every record is a representation of what's going on in everyone's lives when it was created. From changes in attitude, to life experiences, they are basically a snapshot of what's been going on since the previous album. With that we all improve our skill level, and our understanding of how our music translates to the live environment. I've always had a hard time explaining the tunes myself. I've always believed in just having a listen and making our own mind up.
What would you say has been the hardest part about putting together your new record so far, and why? We focused hard on writing a dynamic record with songs that differ from each other. We wanted a record that has songs for each kind of fan we've amassed. The first two records brought in a few different groups of fans, and then the drastic difference in the types of bands we had the chance to tour with grabbed even more of a variety on the At Heart cycle. That's exciting for us because we had the chance to get a lot of different tunes on the new record.