It was just shy of a year ago that our very own staff writer, Vanessa, got to do the first of many interviews with the as she said “soon-to-be-huge” band, Alesana. I must say that it’s always fun to do multiple interviews with a band from when they first start out. It’s like watching them grow right before your very eyes, and you always have so much to talk about as time passes.

If you marked Vanessa’s words, you see now that she was right. Alesana is going back this year on Warped Tour as veterans and dates are being sold out by the minute. They’ve already accomplished their headlining tour where I got a chance to meet bus-side with guitarist Shawn Milke right before he went to get a new tattoo! 

S!: I promise not to take up too much of your time, seeing as you all are quite busy!

Shawn Milke: Oh, it’s not a problem. I’m just going to get another tattoo here on my arm when we’re done here.

S!: Awesome! So, Wikipedia dubs the band as “post-hardcore” What does that term mean to you and do you think it applies to your music?

Shawn: I think that “post-hardcore” is an earlier in the decade term. I don’t think they really even exist anymore. It’s been innovated into a more melodic state. I’m not a really big fan of genre terms anyways and we call ourselves “sweet-core” just because we think it is funny. [Laughs] I don’t get it when kids call us screamo, or emo or anything else. It’s just to pigeonhole bands and we don’t like it when they do it to us.

S!: It’s always interesting to see how bands feel about it. Wikipedia has been claiming every other band as “post-hardcore” and half of the bands we ask about it don’t even know what it means!

Shawn: I think the definition of it is as far as I know is just really hardcore music with singing. That’s how I’ve understood it.

S!: Alesana started in Baltimore but was officially formed in Raleigh. What was it about the music scene in Raleigh that got your attention and inspired the formation?

Shawn: Baltimore is one of two things. It is either super pop like All Time Low kind of stuff, or it’s cover bands. Of course, neither of which we wanted to do. [Laughs] We had played shows with a few different bands while in Raleigh and they have a really strong local scene. I think for any band to succeed, you need to have the support of a really strong local scene like that to create any kind of buzz. That’s exactly what ended up happening too! Baltimore is way more of a national scene than a local scene anyways.

S!: You were the first band signed to Tragic Hero Records. What was it like being the guinea pig for that and how did your relationship with them change within that year?

Shawn: We pretty much convinced him to start the label for us. [Laughs] He had wanted to put us on a compilation CD and we pretty much promised him that we’d work really hard every day if he started a label to put us on. So, he did! It was really fun and a cool learning experience though. It was like watching ourselves grow at the same time.

S!: Did you have any prerequisites before signing with Fearless Records and why did you ultimately switch?

Shawn: Because Tragic Hero is not on the same level with them. It’s not their fault, they’re just a young label. We needed to kind of take that next step. Just like if we got too big for Fearless, we would do the same thing and move up to another label. Fearless was just like Tragic Hero too, only on a larger scale so that’s another reason why we wanted to go with them. It’s like a family!

S!: With one Warped Tour under your belt, what do you look forward to most about playing this year with some seniority?

Shawn: The fact that we know what we’re doing this year helps! [Laughs] We won’t be in a van, we’ll be in a bus. That way it won’t be as tortuous for us health-wise. And this year we’re one of the marquee bands. Our name is one of the names to help sell the tour so that’s really cool! It’s surreal kind of and I can’t believe it’s happening.

S!: Your MySpace hit the 10 million play mark a while back. That’s quite an accomplishment! Do you feel that sites like MySpace and Purevolume are hurting or helping the music industry?

Shawn: They are definitely helping the music industry only as long as the bands using them are using those sites properly. With a lot of success that some bands have had from it, it just makes a million more bands think that they can write five songs and take a band photo and be singed the next week. So there’s still a lot of hard work that comes with it like anything else, but it really is an amazing outlet for bands these days. You can get your music out just that much more quickly than you could say, ten years ago.

S!: Your new album, Where Myth Fades To Legend, is about to drop on June 3rd, 2008. Why did you choose the song “This Is Usually The Part Where People Scream” to be the first track?

Shawn: Whoa! How did you already know that’s the opening track!?

S!: [Laughs] I do my research!

Shawn: Wow. I didn’t realize that info was even released yet! Good job! The record is themed just like the last record was. The last record we did more Greek Mythology and this record is more about the Fables of the Brothers Grimm and a couple other myths and fables. That track is about the generic myth of the hero. It is loosely based off of the television series Heroes, since that’s where most of the influence came from. The main phrase in the chorus is “welcome to the show” and that just felt like a good way to start off a record, by welcoming listeners to the record.

S!: “Seduction” is said to be your first single. Is that the song you would choose to hook a new fan and why?

Shawn: You know that too!? [Laughs] Wow, okay…yes, definitely to answer your question. When we first played all of our music for our producer, he said “that song is your single.” When you have someone that’s so schooled and that much of a veteran tell you that, you go with it! There was obviously something there with that song that he saw in it.

S!: I hear there will be an enhanced CD with this album. Can you tell our readers what we can expect on it?

Shawn: The enhanced CD this time is awesome! There is live footage in it again, 3 new songs from the record and 1 song from Frail Wings and a 10 minute documentary. It’s really really cool and I like it a lot. There are a lot of old photos and a lot of footage that not a lot of people have seen before. It’s just a cool story from the day we started ’til the day the record came out.

S!: This will be my 3rd time seeing you and you guys have crazy energy at every show. What do you to prepare for it and how do you keep it for the rest of your set?

Shawn: We love our music. I don’t know if every band can boast that but we love playing our music. [Laughs] Even if we’re in a bad mood or we’re tired, as soon as we start playing, we feel awesome. It’s just a lot of fun for us. We all get around in a circle before though and jog in place. We do this like, athletic type warm up before every show too to get our energy going.

S!: Any last words to the SHOUT! readers out there?

Shawn: June 3rd! Go buy the new album and come see us on the Smartpunk Stage at Warped this summer!

• Official Site: http://www.alesanarock.com
• MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/alesana