Singer Matt Brandyberry of From Ashes To New talks with Mayhem Music magazine about their upcoming debut record, their work ethic, & struggling in America

Mayhem Music Magazine: How much does coming from a blue collar locale help or hurt your music?

Matt Brandyberry: I don’t really think it hurts at all. I think that the touring life is a little different than we expected, but I think that it helps more than it does anything because we’re in a frame of mind to know we need to work. This is something that is not easy for anybody to do. We understand there’s a lot of work that goes into being successful in this industry.

Mayhem Music Magazine: How did the six of you come together to form From Ashes To New?

Matt Brandyberry: With the exception of Garrett (Russell – Bassist) the rest of us guys played in our local scene. Some of us were in the same band, the other ones we played shows together in separate bands but we shares a lot of the same stages. Especially the bands that we were in, there was kind of like a marriage between three or four other bands in our area. Our bands happened to all be part of that.

Mayhem Music Magazine: How strong is the music scene in PA (the band is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania)?

Matt Brandyberry: It’s eclectic man, there’s a little bit of something for everybody. The local scene is great. There’s a lot of metalcore stuff going on but you do have your indie stuff, the rock scenes not real big where we’re at.

Mayhem Music Magazine: Did you automatically have to start touring outside of your area or did you focus on the local scene?

Matt Brandyberry: The first show of this tour was like our fifteenth show. Maybe not even that, our thirteenth show. (From Ashes To New have been on tour with Hollywood Undead) There was no intention with what we were doing to play shows when we started this thing. It was just king of like let’s record some music and have some fun with it. It all fell together, the stars aligned. I think tonight we’re playing the Troubadour (in Los Angeles) probably not even show number twenty yet.

Mayhem Music Magazine: Isn’t tonight’s show that last show of the tour?

Matt Brandyberry: This is the last show of this tour here. We got some stuff on the way home that’s not part of the Hollywood Undead tour. Then we get some r n r before we head back out in April. Just jumping on some festivals.

Mayhem Music Magazine: You sing about the angst & the frustration of life in a bleak Americana. How much does getting signed (Better Noise Records) and touring change that outlook?

Matt Brandyberry: It hasn’t. It’s made it even stronger almost. Everything in this country we do as Americans is a struggle. No matter if you’re at the top of the food chain or at the bottom of the food chain, you’re struggling to either stay at the top or you’re struggling to work your way to the top. I don’t think the lyrical standpoint of our songs in my mind is ever really going to change. I don’t plan on ever becoming complacent or comfortable where I’m at.

Mayhem Music Magazine: I know you were pulling double duty working all day and recording all night to make this band happen.

Matt Brandyberry: When I started the concept of From Ashes To New, I was working eleven, twelve hour days. Then it was straight into a small studio at my house that I constructed over time. Then it was eighteen hour days, longer then that sometimes. Twenty hour days where you would where you would just get done with work and then work until the very early morning hours. Then start it all over again. It was exhausting. It took a toll on all of us but we all know how to have fun. So we made the best out of the situation.

Mayhem Music Magazine: Is the band’s debut album completed at this point?

Matt Brandyberry: There’s some things on the back end that need to be completed but musically the record is done. Date of the release, obviously artwork and stuff like that. We have some stuff on that end that need to be completed. I know that the label is hoping to have it out sometime this summer. I don’t think we have an exact time of release though.

Mayhem Music Magazine: What do you think of today’s music industry?

Matt Brandyberry: I think it’s the same as every other job. It has its ups and downs. I think it really depends on how hard you work. I think the perception of being a rock star like in the eighties, I think that idea is gone. I don’t know if that necessarily because of the industry or it’s because the people or the bands working in it. I think the fact of the matter is like every other job, you got to work. If you work hard, you can play hard. If you come into this thing thinking you’re just going to play hard, it’s going to eat you up and spit you out. You got to work and you have to know what you need to do to be successful. It’s a very difficult industry. Anyone who is chasing the dream of being an artist, you have to devote every ounce of yourself to it.

Mayhem Music Magazine: It sounds like you surrounded yourself with people who feel the same way.

Matt Brandyberry: That’s the only way to do it. If you don’t surround yourself with people that feel the same way, you’re not going to make it. I think it’s a vision thing in a sense.

Mayhem Music Magazine: Is the band’s Downfall EP a taste of what can we expect from debut album?

Matt Brandyberry: Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. I’m really stoked on what we did with this record in the studio. We went from the self titled EP which really had a raw sound and I feel like we were really able to harness that raw sound keep it but polish it up a little more. Take it into a different direction but keep our heavy edge. The stuff you hear on Downfall like you said perfectly is a little taste of what’s coming on the album. Honestly, my two to three favorite songs from what’s happening on the album are not on the Downfall EP. I can’t wait to see what people think of the other songs.

Mayhem Music Magazine: What should we know about the band that we won’t find on social media?

Matt Brandyberry: We’re just jokers man. We’re sarcastic about everything. We joke all day long. You’re not going to see some of the stuff we say outside of hanging out with us. We have a lot of fun. We work hard and we play even harder.

Mayhem Music Magazine: Any last words you’d like to leave us with?

Matt Brandyberry: Our fans are the fucking best. I know it’s cliché and everyone is always saying it but they’ve been killing for us. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here. I’d also like to give a shout out if I can to our team. Everyone that is working for us right now. Obviously our label and Vinnie (Rockwell) over at Sirius. He pretty much was the one that found us. If it wasn’t for him blasting our stuff we probably wouldn’t be in this position either. We appreciate everyone that has had our back to where we are now. We’re going to work as hard as we can to make sure everyone still has our back.