INTERVIEW BY SHELBY BAKER
PHOTOS BY JON FLEMING PHOTOGRAPHY
Hailing from Northern Virginia, FALL TOGETHER is a five-piece metalcore group that’s making waves in the local scene. Their acknowledgment has molded due to their frequency at their hometown venue—Empire, and with the help of their fan-orientated music and mentality. The band, which includes Eric Evil (vocals), Chris Forte (guitar), Romel Muñoz (guitar), Cody Boyd (drums), and Justin Pigg (bass), emphasizes their appreciation of those who support them. In fact, their name refers to their unity with their fans and how they fall and rise together as one. Everything truly fell together when they opened for metalcore heavy weight ALESANA on “The Decade” Tour earlier this year. Not only is the band a musical influence for FALL TOGETHER, but they also praised their performance during the show, which helped them gain significant recognition. We were fortunate enough to speak to the band about their influences and their unique sound, their connection to ALESANA and Empire, and who they hope to open for in the near future.
What inspired the band name?
Eric: Chris and I were in band together before called the CAST OF SHADOWS, and we got kicked out due to creative differences. Then we were hanging out and thought, “Let’s make a band,” and it all sort of fell together. Then I thought [of the phrase] “FALL TOGETHER”, and it was awesome. The other way to look at it is that we like to have music that’s very fan-oriented. We like to write about our own problems and music that people can sympathize and relate to. We hope they can relate to our songs and when they have a problem, when they fall, we fall, and when they rise, we rise. We all fall and rise as one.
Which band or artist is your greatest inspiration?
Eric: There’s no simple answer. I got into metal through TRIVIUM, and Matt Heafy is going to sing my child to sleep (laughs). I also got into SLIPKNOT and LAMB OF GOD. I’m also a super fan of MOTIONLESS IN WHITE. I’ve been to 11 of their shows, and I love how they’re dark and dramatic. I hope to be like their lead singer Chris Motionless. He’s one of the coolest people ever. I like that he isn’t a rock star; he’s really down to earth.
Chris: What got me into metal was ASKING ALEXANDRIA. A little more BLESSTHEFALL now. As far as my guitar skills, Eric is my biggest influence.
Romel: I’m kind of out of the way. My favorite artist is ANDY JAMES and basically what got me into him is the fact that he’s a “freter”. He inspired me to play guitar, and I was really inspired by fast beats.
Cody: I would say I got into SLIPKNOT, AUGUST BURNS RED, and MISS MAY I. The way I play sounds a lot like the three of them.
Justin: ALESANA. They got me into the genre for the most part and they’ve been a huge inspiration.
How would you define the “FALL TOGETHER” sound?
Cody: Some of us might call it stoner metal (laughs).
Chris: Yeah, it’s kind of stoner metal. It’s very metalcore for sure.
Eric: If people look at us, they would never guess we were in the same band. If we weren’t planning the same theme that day you’d think of each of us would be from different bands, but I would say that were a pretty good combination which shines through and it all falls together.
Are you guys working on an album or new material currently?
Romel: We are actually working on an EP currently.
Cody: We’ve been working on this EP for a while.
Chris: We don’t have a solid date, but I would expect it by the time Warped Tour comes around [in mid-July].
What was it like to open for ALESANA?
Chris: Life-changing!
Cody: There aren’t words to describe.
Eric: We played with bands that we never quite fit in as well, but with ALESANA we fit in so perfectly. We had the second best band reaction, and it was the first time I was asked for an autograph. I walked down the stage after the show with CD’s and people were like, “Oh my give me one!” It was life changing, if you could put it into words.
Does Empire have a personal significance?
Chris: It’s the DC to our beltway.
Eric: We all live in surrounding areas, and I like that the staff knows us on a first name basis.
Justin: It’s also really convenient.
Cody: Justin and I have been playing there since we were 16-years-old. If it was from a sports stand point, Empire is our home stadium.
What artist or band would you love to open for?
Justin: We’ve already done mine.
Chris: After we played the show, the singer [of ALESANA] was like, ‘I don’t know if you know these people, but we’re going to open for them.’ They were one of the best bands to open for. Also, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE would be great.
Eric: It’d be nice see the musical influence list, like MOTIONLESS IN WHITE and TRIVIUM.
Romel: He already said it, TRIVIUM.
Cody: PARKWAY DRIVE or ALESANA. Despite the fact that ALESANA is Justin’s favorite band, we thought it would be cool if we made an impact.
