ALL THAT REMAINS BASSIST - AARON PATRICK

PREVIEW:

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

ON EPISODE 33:

On this week's Science segment, Jeff and Dustin talk about recent biological breakthroughs with DNA. Scientists have figured out how to encode movie images into DNA strands, and then extract them later from divided cells, and this can lead to some exciting applications in experimental biology. Chaos in life is inevitable, and that is the theme of What Fuels You this week, as the hosts discuss how to focus on multiple things at once. Finally, some new merchandise is revealed on the Update, including a new T-Shirt and more from the World's Strongest Coffee.

ABOUT AARON PATRICK:

Aaron Patrick is an accomplished musician who has also worked as tour manager for different bands. We talk about his early days in music, and how he transitioned from playing on stage to working on getting others to the show. Also, Aaron talks about the newest album from All That Remains, Madness, and what it was like to shoot their new music video. In this episode, you can also hear the origin of Aaron's unique nickname, 'Bubble', and what keeps him healthy and working hard as he tours the world.

TRANSCRIPT:

Jeff: We know that you play bass and that you are the tour manager for All That Remains, but we see your name tied into a lot of different bands, including In Flames and Bury Your Dead. Can you talk about your past in tour managing and bass playing?

Aaron Patrick: Yeah. I used to tour manage All That Remains.

Jeff: Okay. So you're not wearing two hats anymore.

Aaron Patrick: No, no, no. I'll get there.

Jeff: Okay, cool.

Aaron Patrick: I played in bands a long time through high school, into college, and would leave the state and go play shows. This and that. Would do some light touring, a month here, a couple weeks there. I joined Bury Your Dead in 2006, and that was the catalyst for me to leave the state. I was living in northern Kentucky, just over the border from Cincinnati, and I was welding at a fab shop. We'd build these really awesome, huge cranes. I was a certified welder, and it was awesome. I really enjoyed my job. It was great, but music has always been my passion. I went to art college and all this stuff, and I always ended up leaving because the band I'd be in at the time would have the opportunity to tour full time, or we would get signed or something. That was the only thing I ever cared about.
But I was 20, 21 years old. All I ever thought about was all I want to do is be in a band with stinky dudes and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and travel the world. I had all these friends, like Every Time I Die and Bleeding Through, bands that I grew up watching and being around as peers, but they were touring full time and [inaudible 00:01:37]. I wanted it so bad. Eventually, the time came when they kicked out their old bass player, and then right when they were doing the followup record called Beauty in the Breakdown, 2006, they had asked me to play. We'd been friends a long time. We'd done a bunch of shows with my previous band, and I was like "Absolutely."
I gave up the job, and I'd been going to Jacksonville a lot because their old guitar player at the time, he was from there. I'd go down and visit. When you're an Ohioan, Florida is the normal place for vacation. That's where you go. So I'd go down there all the time and hang out. I love Jacksonville. I met all these awesome dudes down there and we'd always have a good time. It just made sense. Wow, I don't have to have a day job anymore, so why would I stay in Kentucky? Why don't I go where palm trees are?

Dustin: Yeah, where it doesn't suck.

Aaron Patrick: That's what's also cool about down there is it's also affordable compared to California. You go out there and you're eating ramen noodles. You can go to Florida and you're eating barbecue every day and you're not breaking the bank.

Jeff: Let's go even farther back then. When did you start playing music? What got you into actually picking up an instrument?

Aaron Patrick: I can't even remember. I was very fortunate to have this awesome family who music was always in our house. My mom played guitar growing up. She'd play acoustic like every wife. I don't know, I think a lot of people did in the '70s. Flower power, you know?

Jeff: Damn hippies.

Aaron Patrick: Damn hippies.
I grew up them always having records and always playing music in the house. They were into everything from James Taylor to the Scorpions, and this whole spectrum. Boston. Classic rock. Madonna, you name it. But I also have a brother who's ten years older than me, so when I was a kid, he was the cool guy in the '80s with shredded jeans and a shitty mullet. He was who I looked up to, and he had Ozzy tapestries. He got me into Skid Row and Ozzy and Iron Maiden and all this other harder stuff.

Dustin: That's a good brother.

Aaron Patrick: Yeah. I was exposed to so much variety of music growing up. I think it's right side of the brain. I'm a creative, hands on, eccentric person. I'll be the first to admit I don't have that book smart thing. I got the common sense and creativity, but when it comes to being a nerd, I just ain't got it. I wish I did. I wish I could sit and just read tons of books, but that's just never been me. Plus, I have severe ADD.

Dustin: Book smarts is overrated. Ask Jeff. It's overrated.

Aaron Patrick: All through school, all I did was I used to pitter-patter and play along with the stuff, and eventually my mom let me take lessons on her acoustic, and then for my ... I want to say seventh or eighth grade Christmas, they bought me my first Fender Squire. I lost my mind. I was like, "I have a real electric guitar!"
They were always supportive and they always pushed me, and then when I was a Freshman in high school, I went to an all boys Catholic school, so it was primarily full of rich jocks. I've always played sports and stuff, but I was into skateboarding and punk rock and all this other stuff. I stood out in my school, and I didn't get along with the majority of people there. There were a few other kids and we ended up talking like, "We should do a band!" Our first quote-unquote "practice," I show up there with my guitar and an amp and they're like, "Wait a minute. You have to play bass." I'm like, "Uh, I don't do that."
Our first few practices, I played through an effects pedal.

Dustin: Oh, geez.

Aaron Patrick: I'm like [inaudible 00:05:48] thing, so I was playing bass on a guitar, and that was stupid.

Dustin: Oh, my gosh. What was the name of the band?

Aaron Patrick: Windowpane.

Dustin: Oh, no!

Aaron Patrick: I still have those old demos, and it's ... [inaudible 00:06:04] so embarrassing. The songs that we actually came up with. I think about it now as an actual songwriter, the people I've played with, I'm like, "How were we so terrible?" I wish I could send it to you. I'll mail you guys a copy and you can edit it in. But the lyrics are literally like a six-year-old wrote them.

Jeff: Dude, please. I would love you.

Aaron Patrick: No judgment. We were teenagers.

Dustin: Yeah, there's no judgment. Jeff and I have played in a hundred horrible bands.

Jeff: Yeah, yeah. We were all young musicians at one point.

Aaron Patrick: This is true.

Jeff: Going forward now, like you said, Bury Your Dead ... That was your first major act that you joined and starting touring, correct?

Aaron Patrick: Yes.

Jeff: Let's talk a little bit about ... Where did the transition come from you actually being a musician to then actually the other side of it and actually becoming a tour manager?

Aaron Patrick: Probably about 2008, so I'd been in the band for three years, we were in an absolutely ... Actually, I'll back up. We supported Five Finger Death Punch on one of their very first tours ever. It might've been the first one if not the second one or whatever. But we shared a bus with [inaudible 00:07:18], and there was this incredible tour manager named [J. Douglas 00:07:22]. Shout out to [Jenny 00:07:23]. She's actually coming out with us. We're doing these shows with Killswitch at the end of June. I actually got her to come out and TM us. I'm so stoked. In the industry, out of all the TMs that I've met and people that I've been around, she is one of the hardest working, best tour managers-slash-front-of-house people I've ever met.
I was just inspired. She just absolutely killed it. I was like, "Man, this is really cool!" I was like, "Man, it'd be really cool if I could do this at some point." If the band ever ended and I wanted to stay touring, I think I could handle this. Because I was always the organized one out of our group anyway.
We were in this absolutely terrible van accident. We flipped four times and we all had to go to the hospital. Our guitar player almost lost his leg. It was a traumatizing thing. I had panic attacks for a couple years after it, and it was scary stuff. After that happened, our guitar player, he had to stay home, and then our tour manager, he had to go home, too. I just kind of jumped in the seat and took over. I was like, "Well, we're on the support tour. We're sharing this bus." We couldn't afford to bring a whole 'nother TM out. We're like, we'll just share, so I kind of took over. Starting getting my feet wet with our band.
I quit in 2010. I started working for Unearth. We were good friends and they were looking for somebody. I'm like, "Guys, [inaudible 00:09:05]. Give me a shot. Let me come out with you." I did such a good job that within the first two weeks they gave me a raise. They're like, "Man, you're one of the best TMs we've ever had in our career." A band like that who'd been around a long time, just to hear them be excited and know that you're doing a good job as your first real paying gig ...
I started with them. I went on to Hatebreed. I did Hatebreed off and on for five years, and then when to Bring Me the Horizon. Did them the beginning of the 2013 cycle, and did a bunch of other artists, too.

Jeff: Wow.

Dustin: You don't do that anymore, you were saying, right? Now you're predominantly back to playing?

Aaron Patrick: Every now and again ... I'm a hustler. I hate sitting around with my thumb up my ass. I like to keep busy. If we're not working ...
I ended up working for All That Remains. We had toured together in 2006, so we did Soundwave together when I was in Devildriver in 2011. We've always been friends, and they were looking for somebody. I ended up working for them, but the same thing happened with Devildriver, too. I was TMing them and the bass player had to leave, and they're like, "What are we going to do?" I'm like, "Hi. Professional musician." [inaudible 00:10:15] stuff, and I played for two years.
Same thing for us. Jenny ended up quitting, and then literally three minutes later Phil called me and was like, "So, you want to do this?" I said, "Yessir!"

Jeff: That's awesome.

Dustin: Do you prefer just playing bass in a band rather than doing bookwork, tour managing and stuff?

Aaron Patrick: Yeah. Every scenario is different. It also depends on the paycheck, I'll be honest. I love being in a band, but I wouldn't have left my professional TMing behind if it didn't ... I'm a 35 year old adult with a home and a wife. I've got bills to pay. I've toured in SUVs. I've toured in vans with nine other dudes. I've eaten PB&J sandwiches and gas station food. I don't need to go back to that. I've been there, done it. Even though music is my passion, if it ain't paying the rent then I wouldn't have done it. That's kind of where I'm at.
But I actually got to TM a really cool Dutch band last year called Epica. They're absolutely phenomenal. We weren't doing anything. We finished the record and then we were waiting it out. We wanted to set the record cycle up, and they were doing a US tour. I love them to death. They're all really, really good people. Yeah, it just made sense. I was like, "Yeah, absolutely I'll go out." I'm not afraid to work. I've been blue collar my whole life. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty.

Jeff: Yeah, man.

Dustin: You're definitely a hustler.

Jeff: Speaking on gas station food a little bit, I'm always curious ... To talk about this a bit, you're jacked as shit. There's no other way around it. You're a very fit individual, and I always wonder how the hell do you maintain health and fitness on the road?

Aaron Patrick: Once again, it depends on the situation. We're fortunate in All That Remains that we can tour on a bus. It keeps our [sanity 00:12:16] and it's worth investing in, but for the sheer fact that when you're in that scenario, what we do is we typically take each show you get a catering budget. We'll usually take the majority of that and we have a runner every day. We'll send him out and get groceries. We'll stock the bus up full of fresh meat and chicken, ground chicken, veggies and rice. I've got a 16 inch skillet with a lid on it. We have a rice steamer/veggie steamer. What else do we got? We've got all kinds of contraptions, but I cook six meals a day on the bus.

Dustin: Damn.

Jeff: Wow.

Dustin: That's how you do it. You must go to the local gym and pump some iron on your off time.

Aaron Patrick: Yeah. We just go [inaudible 00:13:04] Sometimes there's places we've been before, we have friends that are like, "Oh, let me bring you to mine," but if we're in a city we don't know, I just get on Google map or whatever. I just Google the nearest gym that meets our needs. YMCAs are pretty good. They usually have a $10 day pass. If there's a powerlifting gym, that's what I prefer. A really [inaudible 00:13:28] versus going to a ... I won't go to [inaudible 00:13:29] Fitness. But even a [inaudible 00:13:32] or a commercial gym where it's AC cranked and jazz playing on the music. I like a [inaudible 00:13:43] environment sometimes with the open doors and stuff. It helps with the vibe and the mentality. I train hard, so being around that and likeminded people, it goes a long, long way.

Jeff: Yeah, yeah. That probably helps that Phil is jacked as shit, too, right? You guys probably spot each other and stuff?

Aaron Patrick: [inaudible 00:14:03]. He started that journey a couple years ago when I joined [inaudible 00:14:11]. I was always going, and "I'm going to come with the gym with you." He's come such a long way and he's killing it now. It's amazing. I think it might've been a week or two ago, he was showing me the pictures of right when he first started [inaudible 00:14:27]. He was pretty out of shape. He had some winter weight on and he hadn't been working out. He used to do cardio and some light working out. He was always shredded, but he's got a small frame. His metabolism is really good so it's easy for him to stay lean, but he was never as big as he is now. He didn't pack on weight. He started coming to the gym with me every day.
I'm like, "I'm feeling lazy." He's like, "We're going." I go, "Fuck! Okay, let's go." It's awesome, and vice versa, too. I'm like, "Dude, get your ass out of that seat, off of Twitter. Let's go fucking work out." He goes, "Okay, I'm coming." We motivate each other. It's really, really cool to have someone like that because it's not always fun being the solo guy doing [inaudible 00:15:13] and things, so it's cool when you have a team. We all eat really healthy on the bus for the most part.

Jeff: That's nice.

Dustin: That's awesome.

Jeff: That makes a lot of sense. It probably was a little bit difficult before that. How long have you been a giant, fit person? Is this something relatively new or have you maintained that?

Aaron Patrick: When I was 19, a couple years before [inaudible 00:15:40] I used to [inaudible 00:15:41] and there was a [inaudible 00:15:43]. I had no moderation and no threshold for having a good time. I had to get smashed and I'd get myself in trouble. I was driving drunk. I was an absolute idiot. I was really fortunate enough to be around some really good friends back home who supported me and helped me get away from the people that were involved in that part of my life. It's misery loves company because even down the road, I knew I had this issue and I needed to get my act together. As I started to try and taper off and getting better at it, I still wanted to hang out because they were my friends, but they would give me a hard time. They were just so unsupportive about it. It became clear that, look, man, I'm trying to get myself together. I don't want to end up in jail or be dead next to the toilet. It's not how I want to dish out my life.
So I got involved with [inaudible 00:16:44] Everybody was straight edge. It was [inaudible 00:16:47]. I got involved in [inaudible 00:16:48]. It was really, really cool. I eventually was like, I want to do this for real, and then I kind of took on that commitment. It's been 17 years, and it was the best thing I've ever done for myself was just staying away from that. It's almost like how I am. I'm a little better now, but I love snacks and treats.

Jeff: Don't we all.

Aaron Patrick: [inaudible 00:17:13]

Jeff: Yeah. Are you still there? We might be losing you a little bit. I'm not sure how your connection is right now.

Aaron Patrick: [inaudible 00:17:18]

Jeff: Yeah. We're kind of cutting in and out a little bit.

Aaron Patrick: I eventually got my act together and I would say I started getting into boxing. I boxed for four years. And then [inaudible 00:17:37] around 2006 is when I actually started to lift, try to put on some meat. I started sitting around 200 pounds, pretty lean and looking good. Since then, that was my turning point when I went from a fit 175 to a more meaty version of me around 2006. A little over ten years, 11 years.

Jeff: How much does that help you onstage performing and playing really heavy music, being all over? Does it help to be fit rocking out onstage?

Aaron Patrick: I think so. It's nice not to be like,"Oh, I've got another half hour to go. How do I get through this?" You should be up there able to have fun. Being onstage, too, I mean that's not even hard. If people are having a hard time doing that, then they need to fix their [inaudible 00:18:29].

Jeff: Truth.

Aaron Patrick: You literally get to hang out and have fun. That's all you're doing.

Dustin: I don't know, I've had a couple shows where I'm like, "Ah, shit. I'm out of breath already. It's only second song."

Aaron Patrick: Well, singing is a much harder ... Phil has a really hard job. That's definitely a bit more of a challenge. I don't know, it's also nice. It feels good. There's always photographers there and stuff, and you see galleries and stuff that they shoot. It's nice to go, "I look pretty awesome in that picture." It's somewhat rewarding. There's a bit of vanity there. But you're onstage, and it's entertainment, and a performer. I like being up there and looking my best and feeling my best, and it translating to fans. Without the people buying tickets and singing the songs back, you've got nothing. I don't care who you are.

Jeff: No offense to the dumpy, balding guys, but you kind of got to look the part of a bad-ass rock star. You don't want to be some whatever up on stage, sweating around and not looking the part. It's not vanity. It's thoroughness of playing your part, I would have to say.

Aaron Patrick: That's how I always looked at it. If I'm going to be up there, I want to look awesome.

Jeff: Exactly. You want to look like a fucking spartan up there, rocking like a ...

Dustin: Also, it's not always about looking awesome. It's about sounding awesome, too, and we want to just say how stoked we are for you guys with your new record, Madness, which you are on, correct?

Aaron Patrick: I am on it.

Dustin: That's even more cooler. Can we talk a little bit about your process going into that? You are relatively new to the band like you said. Just started playing with them, and now this record comes out. What was it like writing this record?

Aaron Patrick: It was actually pretty refreshing in a sense because even going into it, I was kind of like, "Man, I'm jumping into these dudes' process." This is the eight record. I hope I don't get cut out because they've been doing this together for so long. But the kind of cool thing is that the way the songwriting approach to this record versus all the previous ones was very new to everybody. It's almost like I came in on a really good record because Phil went out there, he worked with the producer, and they were coming up with stuff. I flew down there and we would have practices and write together, and come up and demo everything that we had. We started putting things together. Then when we went out there, same thing. We would all get in a room. We were like 25 songs or something. It was a lot of stuff.
But the fact that it was new for everyone, it wasn't just Ollie coming in with all the material, and then the other guys just rearranging it and putting their own touch on it to make it the songs, because there's no place for me for that. Ollie's a musical genius. I can tell you stories about him for days. The new record's in B, and we were at ... I don't know if we were at practice or where we were at, but he didn't have another guitar. Then he was like, "Oh, I'll just transpose it." I was like, "How do you do that?" How do you just on-the-fly ...

Dustin: Is that drop B or is that B standard?

Aaron Patrick: B standard.

Dustin: Oh, damn. That's low. Dude.

Aaron Patrick: The progression. I think This Darkened Heart's in D, and then everything [inaudible 00:22:11] is in D, and then the middle four are in C sharp, and then this one's in B. So they just keep getting lower. Bury Your Dead did that, too. The first one was in B, and then they went to A sharp, and then down to A.

Jeff: So you play a five string, right?

Aaron Patrick: I play both. I usually use a five for the B songs, and then I'll use a four for the C-sharp songs. The whole record was done on a five-string though.

Jeff: Do you play the b-string as the B, or do you drop all the five strings?

Aaron Patrick: I do the B up top. B, E, A, D.

Dustin: Nice.

Jeff: Cool.

Dustin: Very cool. The record's killer. I think it's a great representation of where the band is now, especially with you in it. The music video you guys released for the title track off of it, Madness, is really rad, too. The production value is great on that.

Aaron Patrick: He killed it. We were all blown away.

Dustin: What was the inception of that? I'm always curious. Was that from you guys or was that the director coming to you with that idea?

Aaron Patrick: I'm trying to remember, to be honest. We had so many treatments and we just kept going, "Nope, nope, nope," because ... I don't know. Every video treatment always starts out with "There's a guy in the woods ..."

Dustin: You're totally right. You're so totally right.

Jeff: I've done that video like 18 times.

Aaron Patrick: I've been in that video! "There's a cloaked figure in the distance ..." These treatments always sound so cheesy when you read them, too. You're like, "Fuck no!" There this one like, "There is this creepy setting in this school, and there's this janitor lurking." I'm like, "No." It took months to come up with something we like.
What happened was when we got together ... We were in New York. What were we doing? We were doing the photos for the record. We were talking with the label and everything, and what we wanted to do. I came up with this idea, "Why don't we shoot in front of the White House?" Which would've been really sick if the performance part would've been ...
Obviously, that didn't happen, but I think part of that got pulled, and I think the band's always been very outspoken about its support for veterans, and Phil being a veteran, too ... PTSD is a big issue amongst that world, especially with him. He knows so many people that it's affected. I think it just fell hand in hand. I can't remember ... I might not have even been there for that conversation between him ... I honestly don't remember, but we'll just say it's a 50/50.

Jeff: I like that.

Dustin: Yeah, I think it came out great though. It's definitely really, really cool looking. And you faked it good enough. You guys were basically playing in the White House. Basically. It's a good fake out.

Aaron Patrick: We got down there, and after seeing his reel ... We looked at a lot of other directors, too, and I just wasn't sold. I don't know, being the artistic guy, I went to art college and I did photo and all this stuff. I have a pretty good eye for aesthetic and what I feel is going to be a good execution for the idea to come across. When I saw Max's reel, I was floored. I was like, "Man, this guy's got it." It's contemporary. He's done relevant artists, new and some old. Everything that I saw, I was impressed with.
When we flew down to Louisville ... We did that in Louisville, Kentucky. They spent five or six days building this set for us, and I was just so impressed.

Dustin: That's awesome.

Jeff: Wow.

Dustin: Very cool.

Jeff: That's intense, man.
I'm curious. How much do you rely on your guitar tech to take care of your gear?

Aaron Patrick: A lot. He's my life tech. I ask him all the questions and go, "Hey, this is what I want. How do we make it happen?" It sounds dumb, but he's just smarter than me, so why swim against the current and do my own thing when I know that I can just go to him and he will just be like, "Yep, we need to do this, this, this and this." And I go, "Cool. Done." I know gear and stuff, but he's really good. He makes my world work.

Dustin: Delegation is so important, especially when you have a good team around you. Being able to not be a power freak and kind of let it go a little bit and trust in the people around you.

Aaron Patrick: You have to. No one likes to sit and micromanage people. Being on the other flip side of that, no one likes to be micromanaged.

Dustin: It's true.

Aaron Patrick: They're paying me a good salary to do a job, so let me do my job.

Dustin: Yeah. Speaking of that, you do so many jobs. You've been on both sides of the coin, coming with tour managing and as a musician, and your background in art. All of the different bands and projects that you've either been a part of or have worked with. Where do you get your drive from? What fuels you to actually keep going out there and hustling as much as you do?

Aaron Patrick: Part of it is I love what I do. I've been doing this for however many years. A long time now. And I get to be around so many cool people. I get to see places. Now I'm fortunate enough to be in this band where I get to play songs that I was a fan of before. That's what's always been neat about the people that I've got to fill in for, and be a part of in that world as far as playing goes. Almost every time I was a fan of the band's. When I played with In Flames, I remember being in high school driving to school listening to Colony.

Dustin: So good. So good, man.

Aaron Patrick: We first practiced Embody the Invisible together, I couldn't stop smiling. I was like, "How is this real life right now?"

Dustin: That's so awesome.

Jeff: Yeah, that's so cool.

Aaron Patrick: Little things like that. That's what's kind of neat about in the tour managing world is you get to work with different people. It's always nice to be with someone for an extended period of time, but getting new jobs and coming to new roles, it's still fresh, and leaving home and coming home ... I don't know, I feel like my world never gets dull. I like a routine, but I also like ... How do I put it? It's like routine encapsulated by chaos. It sounds so cheesy.

Dustin: I actually really like that, though. I think that's really interesting.
You kind of touched on this a little bit. You were fans of some of these bands that you have actually gotten to play for. Still even playing today with All That Remains. You guys just got off a really successful tour and you're about to hit the road again. Do you still go out there and get starstruck at all playing with some of these bands that you grew up listening to?

Aaron Patrick: I'm sorry, do I get starstruck?

Dustin: Yeah. Because you seem to be such a fan of the music. And I don't mean it like, "Oh, my God, I get to play with this person," but are there still bands that you're like, "I get to go tour with this band!" And this is something that ... It really lights your fire a little bit.

Aaron Patrick: It does in the sense that shows are going to be good, which makes morale good. More people sell more merch. The financial aspect comes full circle, and that's always a plus when you do a successful tour and you go, "Cool! I can afford things!" The whole starving artist thing sucks. I've been there. Financial motivation is obviously a huge part of this. This is my job, and we all look at it as this is a business. This is an incorporated business, and we have to run it as such, and it has to be efficient and make good decisions.
As far as the starstruck thing goes, not really. I don't know, like I said I've seen everybody. I've seen everybody and played with everybody.

Dustin: That's so awesome.

Aaron Patrick: But, I don't take it for granted. I think it's really cool, although I would like to do an actual ... We toured Metallica. We did a festival called Soundwave in Australia, which was awesome. They hosted a barbecue the first night and I got to go hang out, meet James and everything. That was so legit.

Dustin: Oh, yeah. I bet.

Aaron Patrick: My friend Dave, he works for Avenged. They're out on that Metallica tour right now and I see his posts and I go, "Man, I'm so jealous." That's something to be really excited about. Full blown stadium. But it's also different when it's cross genre. I would get excited about ... We did Roskilde Festival in Denmark, and we missed her by a day, but Bjork played. She headlined the second night, and I would've legitimately stood out in the crowd and watched the entire set.

Dustin: She is so incredible.

Aaron Patrick: She's a fucking genius.

Dustin: Yeah, it's ridiculous.

Aaron Patrick: But I like a lot of stuff like that. I've legitimately seen every metal band and heard every snare drum and every mesa cab turned to ten. It is what it is. I've been around it. It doesn't faze me. I still enjoy seeing people. If Madball plays, I'm like, "Yeah, sick!" But if I'm going to get starstruck, I would rather see One Republic or something like that. I love pop music and catchy stuff and big productions. That stuff is all cool.

Dustin: That's awesome.

Jeff: Is there anything up-and-coming that tickles your fancy? Any bands that are starting to come into the fold that you're really enjoying?

Aaron Patrick: I'm trying to think of I've even heard of anything new. Let me see what's on my phone iPod.

Jeff: What have I been listening to?

Aaron Patrick: Bad Wolves, which is absolutely phenomenal. My good friend Jonathan Boecklin, he used to play drums in Devildriver. He wrote and recorded 90% of the music up until the last two records. He just started his new project he's been working on for a couple years called Bad Wolves. The songs are really, really good and that's awesome.

Jeff: I'll check that out.

Aaron Patrick: It's solid.
What else is really good? I listened to the new Wovenwar yesterday. That's a good record.

Dustin: I haven't checked that out yet. I want to listen to that.

Jeff: We're starting to hear grumblings of new Queens of the Stone Age. We're starting to get pretty stoked on that.

Aaron Patrick: Okay.

Dustin: You have said that you've seen a lot of bands, you've toured with a lot of bands, you've played with a lot of bands ... One question we like to ask a lot of musicians, do you have a favorite place to play? I'm talking either a city or a venue. Do you like festivals over little dingy clubs? Is there a place that you think fondly of when you get to go back and play that place?

Aaron Patrick: That's a really complicated question just for the sheer fact of ... I know, I'm sure everybody says the same thing. They all have their moments. Each city might have something really cool and unique to offer you. There's nothing better than playing a stage AE, or a proper venue with bus parking and good, multiple showers, and clean dressing rooms, and a nice stage with a good PA.
I always tell promoters this if they ask me, like "Hey, how's the venue?" "This is new." You need to worry about ... The stage is awesome, that's great. The PA is great. That's why you're there. But, the band members and the crew have to spend the other 12 hours of the day hanging out in this environment, so if that sucks, it's going to make for a bad show. If you feel like all the accommodations are in place, and people go, "I'm stoked to be at this venue," because I can live. I can take a shower and maybe take a nap on the couch, or have all this space, all those little things add up.
Same thing with Europe, too. There's some really cool venues over there, and there's some really not cool venues. That can be anywhere in the world.
You know what's really cool is the Hard Rock Café in Bali.

Dustin: Oh, really?

Aaron Patrick: That's one of the coolest venues I think I've played just for the sheer fact that you're on this resort with this insane pool and little cabanas by it and stuff. And you literally walk across the thing and you're at the venue. I don't know, that makes for a good day. I was over there with Bring Me, and we had a day off. We flew in, had a day off, and then did the show and went on to Japan. That was two of the coolest days ever, and the kids went nuts. They were such fans.

Jeff: That's so cool, man.

Dustin: Wow, that's awesome. What's coming up for All That Remains? I know that you guys just got off tour, but if I remember correctly you guys are going back out this fall with Five Finger, right?

Aaron Patrick: Nothing confirmed for the fall that I can speak of. We're working on finalizing some full US touring in the fall, but I don't have any information I can disclose. Pretty much this coming weekend all the way through September, we pretty much have US festivals and one Canada one. Flying in, flying out. Tons of festivals. Tons of one-offs. Playing with a lot of bands. I love festivals. You get to see friends. You play for a lot of people. It's easy. You show up. Everything is done for you. They're great. I'm looking forward, plus, I get to hang out at home with my wife all week. Can't beat that. And I'm training for a powerlifting competition, so I'm in full scale break-my-body-down mode every day.

Dustin: God, you're busy. It is so awesome that you have that much of a drive and a hustle, man.
Finally, where can people find you if they want to follow all things Aaron on the internet?

Aaron Patrick: My Instagram is my main focus, which is "Bubble is Forever."

Dustin: You said it. Come on, man. What's the Bubble about?

Aaron Patrick: All right. Fun fact. When I was 19 during my drinking phase and I used to drink all of the beer and then eat all of the Taco Bell, I was a nice, sturdy 200 pounds of not that much muscle. I have always had a big butt. I had a big butt. There was this thrash band called MOD, featuring Scott Ian and Billy Milano. They have this song called Bubble Butt, and all my friends used to get drunk and go "Bubble Butt! Bubble Butt! Bubble Butt!" They used to all sing it to me when they would get drunk, and it was so embarrassing. Then it just never went away. Even when I quit all that stuff and started working out and training, and I slimmed down to 175, they all called me Bubble Butt.

Dustin: That's so funny.

Jeff: I'm glad we know that now.

Dustin: And now we live in an age when you can find Aaron Patrick at "Bubble is Forever" on Instagram. That's amazing.
Thank you so much for taking time to talk to us today, man. I can't even believe you fit it in you're so fricking busy. It's so awesome.