By snoadmin
When Alesana takes the stage, the band’s six members are dressed in black with black hair, eyeliner and tattoos decorating their body. The second their set begins, you know it is going to be hardcore with a lot of screaming and moshing.
As soon as the set ends, Alesana morphs into a group of sweet, normal guys who are easily approachable, eager to meet every one of their fans and define themselves as “sweetcore.”
“An old friend of ours was like, ‘You guys are like hardcore, only sweeter,’ and when he said that we were like, ‘Sweetcore,’ ” said guitarist/vocalist/pianist Shawn Milke. “We hate being called emo-core. We hate being called screamo. It just lumps us with every band that’s out there.”
The band’s debut LP “On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax” clearly indicates that’s not the case. The Greek mythology-themed album, which was released in March, features 13 tracks with gut-wrenching vocals paired with calmer, melodic hooks and lyrics that entirely tell stories.
“We didn’t want to be another band that writes about all the stereotypical crap,” Milke said. “We tried to look for stories that touch on all human emotion, and Greek mythology did that.”
The theme also carried over to the concept for the music video the band shot for its first single, “Ambrosia,” which “took place in the mountains somewhere near Hollywood,” according to Milke.
“We literally had to drive straight up a mountain, and there was a rose garden in the middle of it,” he said.
The concept was entirely crafted by the band, who based the video on Midas, a character in Greek mythology who turned everything he touched to gold.
“We wanted the idea of a guy going insane ’cause he lost something he loved,” Milke explained. “The whole idea with the golden touch is that you can have anything you want, but then the downfall is that everything you touch turns to gold, even if it’s the girl you love.”
Through its themed album and sweetcore title, Alesana is breaking ground by creating a new genre and influencing up-and-coming bands with its unique sound.
“There are bands that have named their bands after our songs,” Milke said. “We have a lot of local bands that list us as their No. 1 influence.”
The Raleigh, N.C.- based group is currently trying to convince MySpace.com to allow it to put its genre as sweet-core – it is currently classified as screamo/emo.
“You can only choose from a drop-down list [of genres], and we really want it to just say sweetcore and that’s it,” Milke said.
Since Alesana became a band, it has been bringing its genre-blending sound to audiences nationwide nonstop. The group has been touring for the last eight months straight with only “four-and-a-half weeks off in the last 16 months,” Milke said.
Sharing a bill with top names such as From Autumn to Ashes and Bayside, Alesana also performed on the first leg of Warped Tour this year for its first time, and has begun touring with what Milke describes as “really big bands.”
The guys are currently touring with Chiodos and The Devil Wears Prada until the middle of October, before heading to South America for two solo shows to see “how [they] like it.” They also plan on going to Germany and Australia after their next album.
With songs already finished for the next album, Alesana is on the fast track to success.
“We do pre-production in January where we go out to a cabin in the middle of nowhere and write music, and then we start recording in February,” Milke said of Alesana’s upcoming album, which is slated for release in June 2008. “Eight songs are already done, and on the other five, the music is there. We just need the lyrics.”
The theme on Alesana’s first album has been so popular that the band has decided to continue with the idea and is holding out on telling fans what the theme for the second album will be.
“We have a theme coming up on our next record, which I can’t reveal,” Milke said with a big grin on his face. “I’m so excited about that, but you’ll just have to wait and see.”
