DARKUS SPECIAL EDITION JULY 2022 - MEMPHIS MAY FIRE

SPECIAL EDITION

JULY 2022

REMADE IN MISERY: A JOURNEY OF GROWTH & REFLECTION

2021 SPECIAL EDITION: MEMPHIS MAY FIRE

EDITORIAL NOTE Notably one of the most sensational American metalcore bands around, Memphis May Fire have continued to grow from strength to strength. As a band who we ourselves at DARKUS have had the pleasure of knowing for 10 years, not only do we have total admiration for members Matty Mullins, Kellen McGregor, Jake Garland and Cory Elder, but their music has always continued to have a very special and meaningful place in our hearts.

2022 marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Memphis May Fire, as they release their third studio album, Remade In Misery, released via Rise Records, and without a doubt one of the most honest and purest record that any music fan could ever imagine.

This special edition of DARKUS is not just an opportunity to explore the new record further, but also is an invitation to all our fellow MMF out there, to join us in celebrating the achievements of 4 of the most remarkable guys who are taking their love of music and transforming it into something wholesome and true.

CREDITS Editor In Chief

Thushara S Chandrasiri

Review By

Sam Wall

Photography

David Niacaris

Thank You To

Matty Mullins, Kellen McGregor, Jake Garland, Cory Elder, Rise Records & Good As Gold

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Q&A WITH MATTY MULLINS Having had the pleasure of knowing Matty Mullins for exactly 10 years, it was a blessing as always being able to sit down with the man himself as we delved further into the brand new album Remade In Misery and reflected on the journey of Memphis May Fire.

Interview By Thushara S. Chandrasiri It is a great pleasure, I'm joined by my good friend Matty Mullins. How are you doing?

So good, man, it's good to see your face on here. This is awesome!

So I just want to start off by saying, this year is also marks 10 years of knowing each other. When you think about the journey that you've taken over this past decade, what makes you smile?

Man, I think just the fact that every, every time we sit down to make a record, I feel like I'm talking to myself.

And then when it comes out, I realize how many people I'm talking to, that are all connected on the same level, every single person on this planet, we are all human beings with going through similar experiences, and needing to connect with each other, needing fellowship and needing music. We've had so many ups and downs, highs and lows as a band. The one thing that has always remained has been this overwhelming feeling of gratitude, to be a part of anybody else's story, to write music that gives people words that they have needed and for all of us to connect on a level that's just, it's almost spiritual.

At what point did you make that link yourself where you realized that music was your fellowship?

I think probably from a young age, the music community where I grew up was my friendship group.

That was where I fit in. I had no friends in high school.

And so when I would go to shows or when I would see, you know, other people around town that played music, I felt like I was understood, you know. And then as the band started to grow, and as we started to tour and everything, I started to realize that our shows were the place where people were coming to be understood, our shows were the place where people were coming to be seen and heard and known.

Let’s take a look at your brand new album, Remade In Misery which came out in June. How rewarding has it been for you as a collective of friends to work on this masterpiece, where you're pretty much taking your relationship with music to a next level? iI was the most fun that we've ever had making a record ever, you know, there's always so much pressure and outside voices speaking into what it is that you need to be doing at any given moment as a band. And for us, the silver lining of the pandemic was that we had absolutely nothing else happening. All we had was this opportunity to write songs because we couldn't do anything else. And that's when it almost felt like we were kids again writing music because they say that you have your whole life to make your first album.

It just seems like this constant grind of trying to keep up and being sure to take the right opportunities.

Going out on the right tours are great things but you have to give yourself room to breathe, to make a record and we never have in the past been able to do that as we've always been kind of trying to chase the next thing. Being forced to slow down look inwardly, take a look at where the band had gone over the last five, six years and say, “Okay, where do we want to go now because we finally have the space to breathe” and to look at it from a bird's eye view and say, we want x and this record was x, this is what we wanted to make.

It just feels so freeing.

Clearly the fans are loving the new record, so seeing how they've really embraced and reacting to the newer material?

I think it just felt like affirmation, you know, it felt like this is the record that we've wanted to make for a long time. And this is the record that our fans have wanted us to make for a long time. And those two worlds collided in this massive explosion especially when Blood And Water came out.

We are all four completely different personalities and had it not been for music, I don't know if the four of us would have ever come together.

And ever since then every single has been well received.

It's been this ongoing snow ball effect and it feels so good.

By the time the record comes out, as the majority of it will have come out in singles we will go out on tour and people will know the words of the songs. That's just such a magical thing.

When I've been looking at your social media it has been great to see some of the responses by fellow musicians' reactions to some of the music videos, so seeing that shared excitement in their eyes, how does that make you feel?

It's crazy, man. Kellen, our guitar player who writes everything instrumentally is a mastermind. He has such a beautiful mind for music.It's like music is such an extension of his body, he just really deserves so much credit, he deserves to be seen and heard not only by all of our fans, but other fellow musicians that should be holding him in this high regard.

He's so smart but at the same time he is also hard on himself and doesn’t give himself enough credit. And he just, he's hard on himself. And he doesn't give himself enough credit. To see other musicians, riffing along with his stuff and jamming along with his stuff is just really cool to see.

Hopefully, people are really recognizing how much effort and work he puts into every single riff, every single drum beat, every single piece of background production and so much more - so yes he really deserves the credit for sure.

The four of you have taken this amazing journey together over the past, however, many years so when you think about the relationship that the four of you have with each other, what makes you thankful about that bond, that special brotherly bond?

It's been a blessing to spend as much time as we have together over the last 14 years. This is the closest we've ever been and it is just a true testament to the brotherhood within our band. We are all four completely different personalities and had it not been for music, I don't know if the four of us would have ever come together.

What we have works seamlessly in this really beautiful way, this cohesive way where we all understand each other on such a deep and emotional level. As a result we can thrive together and we can coexist so effortlessly and it's been really healthy man, it's been really awesome.

I've always admired you as a lyricist and songwriter.

So on this album especially what do you think it revealed to you about your core strengths?

Man, I really appreciate that. It was the first time that we ever really did some co writing for Memphis. And it felt it didn't it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Going into this record I wanted to travel around and write with different people that I've looked up to and respected for a long time so when the pandemic hit, we weren't allowed to.

What I did instead was that I sat down and wrote a lot of lyrics and melodies with my buddy Cody, who plays a band called Wage War. He and I are really, really close.

We're like the closest friends. And we're hanging out all the time. And so it was like two people that were very similar minded in the same room just helping each other be the best we could possibly be. It was my favorite experience I've ever had writing and recording vocals, it just felt all the pressure was off. It just felt fun and exciting - expressive, non judgmental, and free.

When you are working with these different people, does it reveal a different part of your personality and creativity that you never knew you had?

Totally. I think that collaboration helps you grow in so many ways, and I would recommend that any new artist find somebody that they really trust to collaborate with, because it can be such a beautiful thing. With AJ, I respect him so much as a vocalist and as a writer. And so bringing him on as a guest vocalist on this record, I really wanted him to just bring his flavor and explore the song in a way that I might not have myself or that I definitely wouldn't have myself.

And he did exactly that; he brought his own thing, his own flavor, and a whole new tone to a Memphis record that no one's ever seen, or heard. And it was really cool, man. It's a very, very cool collaboration. I'm really stoked about how it turned out.

Scar tissue is stronger than skin, right, like to go through it, to understand it in a new way to grow from it, and to be better from it.

That's what it means to be Remade In Misery.

So the album itself, you've titled Remade In Misery. How would you describe the vision to a new listener?

It's like another way of saying, being forged in the fire. You know, I think the hardest moments that we go through in life are the ones that shape us , and the ones that turn us into the best versions of ourselves.

So to be going through a hard season, and to see it as an opportunity for growth and to see it as not the end, not hopeless, not meaningless, but an opportunity. Scar tissue is stronger than skin, right, like to go through it, to understand it in a new way to grow from it, and to be better from it. That's what it means to be Remade In Misery.

From this latest record was there any track in particular that really tested you, but was equally cathartic for you to work on?

Yeah, Blood & Water is a really personal song to me.

It was hard to figure out how to voice it because it comes from memories that are really hard to live with. It was something that I've put a lot of work in through therapy and things like that. So, knowing that, playing that song every night would bring up a lot of emotion, it was hard to write it so honestly, and genuinely. But we did, and I'm really proud of it. It ook a lot to get through the writing process for that one,but once it was done, it really did feel like I had released something that I didn't have to hold on to anymore. That's really the beauty of music.

This year, my word for the year is ‘believe’, and just that reminder to believe in the promise of God. So for you, what would be your word for the year, not just for yourself, but for the band as well?

Trust! You know, often times, just in my personal life, and with the band and everything, like you try to hold so much weight, and you try to stay in control of so many things. And it's hard for me to trust the process. It's hard for me to trust someone else. It's hard for me to trust a lot of things. And to just trust, that God's in control, and remember that nothing that we go through is meaningless. I really do hope to see more trust in my own life throughout this year.

What's it feel like knowing that your music is not just music but from a fan's perspective it's that conversation that helps them to remember that there is hope In every situation?

It's the greatest honor of my entire life, you know, to just bleed onto paper, to just to give myself to people through music. And from that to create a bond between us even if we've never met. For someone to feel strength, from the honesty in our music, I know that I'll never deserve it. I'm so thankful for that opportunity just to be a part of anybody else's story. To be a part of anybody else's life is the greatest honor that I think that anybody could ever be given.

So if you were to be able to sit down with your own internal monologue, what do you think that conversation would look like now?

That's a great question. I think that I would tell myself that trust is worth it.. And it's good to trust the process, good to trust God, everything does work out. All of the stress and everything that we have tried to hold on or has made us feel numb over this past couple of years, all of that could have been avoided with just trusting that everything will work out, right.

Also I would also tell myself how proud I am of myself for not giving up when things get har. I think that I would just encourage myself that when a lot of things look like they are against you, and the odds are not in your favor, pushing through is always worth it. Taking the next step is always worth it, one more day is always worth it.

So if you were to be able to sit down with your own internal monologue, what do you think that conversation would look like now?

That's a great question. I think that I would tell myself that trust is worth it.. And it's good to trust the process, good to trust God, everything does work out. All of the stress and everything that we have tried to hold on or has made us feel numb over this past couple of years, all of that could have been avoided with just trusting that everything will work out, right.

Also I would also tell myself how proud I am of myself for not giving up when things get har. I think that I would just encourage myself that when a lot of things look like they are against you, and the odds are not in your favor, pushing through is always worth it. Taking the next step is always worth it, one more day is always worth it.

Hopefully, it's not too long till we see you back in the UK, but in the meantime what are your plans for not just the new album but beyond that too?

So we have been touring with Dance Gavin Dance, Volumes and Moon Tooth here in the United States, and having finished that we are currently on our own Headline Tour. Then after that we will be entertaining international plans that have not been finalized yet.

So when you look at how the fans have continued to support you over the years, what would you like to say to the not just day one fans but the fans who have joined the Memphis May Fire family later on in their journey?

Man to anybody that's ever taken a second out of their day to listen to the music that we write, you know, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. There's a lot of bands out there. There's a lot of people that make music, so if you feel a special connection or an interest in our music, we just feel so lucky to be a part of your playlist, whatever it is that you're listening to. That's inspiring you, that's getting you pumped up, that's helping you through something hard. We are honored from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for giving us a chance. Thank you for spending time with our music. Thank you for spending time with us and for supporting us. If it wasn't for you we literally would not have a reason to do this and we're eternally grateful.

So when you think of when you reflect on when you reflect on your life, not just Memphis May Fire but all the other things you do outside of music, if you could pinpoint your top three fondest memories what would they be?

The day that I got married to my amazing wife Brittany would be number one because that's the greatest thing that I've ever done with my life.

Number two- standing on stage at Sound Wave in Sydney Australia. There was something about that moment where I felt like God was just speaking to me through the things that I was looking at and the way that I felt it just felt like this overwhelming blast of joy and confirmation that everything that I had ever worked for was worth it.

And number three I would say making this latest record.

There's probably a million other memories I could name but those three are some of the most important moments to me for sure.

Well, I wish you all the best my friend and I look forward to hopefully seeing you back in the UK very soon.

Likewise, so good to see your face brother.

Remade In Misery Album Review

Remade in Misery is the seventh studio album from American metal core band Memphis May Fire. After the longest gap between albums, four yours in fact, they are back to their roots with an album filled with hard-hitting, fast-paced aggressive tracks to open the album like “Bleed Me Dry” and “Blood & Water” and slower, more melodic pop infused tracks like “Make Believe” and “Somebody”.

They are using a tried and tested formula on this album, one that is sure to appease fans both new and old. For newcomers to the band this album is sure to encourage them to delve into their back catalogue and discover what made them so popular in the metal core scene. The heavy riffs and driving drums provide the backbone to the album and its what they’re known for.

Article By Sam Wall

It does make one thing that is apparent however, as I make my way through the album it is a somewhat predictable song structure that is almost identical throughout the whole record. When I listen to a record for the first time I like to be kept guessing and exposed to clever new ways of interpreting the genre. This makes me come to an album again and again and helps distinguish between songs more clearly.

Whilst some may criticise them for reverting back to a established sound this provides comfort to the listener and a band that sound sure of themselves, full of confidence despite the vulnerability heard in the lyrics that i’m sure many many people will relate too. I have enjoyed this album from start to finish, it has fantastic riffs, powerful breakdowns and guttural screams that all combine together to provide something to bang your head too

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