05/05/2011 – Set Your Goals (Matt Wilson) – english

Enjoy The Show: You have recently announced that Burning At Both Ends, your new album, will be released in June. What can we expect on this new one?

Matt Wilson (Set Your Goals): We are all very proud of TWBTDOU, but we felt that the songs were all very different from one another, whereas this time around, all the songs have a similar feel and fit together nicely. This record rounds more “us” …if that makes sense.

ETS: How many songs will be on it?

M.W.: 13.

ETS: Will the fans be able to hear songs featuring any other artists like ‘The Few That Remain’ with Hayley Williams?

M.W.: There is one guest vocalist. We had Andrew from Comeback Kid do a part. We made sure that on TWBTDOU we didn’t have Hayley advertised on any of the stickers or anything like that because we didn’t do it to sell records or make a name for ourselves or anything stupid like that. We did it because she is a friend of ours, we love her voice and her band, and we wanted a female vocal on our song. Regardless, we still get asked about it in every interview even to this day. We sort of over did it with the guest vocals on TWBTDOU and didn’t want to do the same this time around.

ETS: How has working with Brian McTernan been? This Will Be the Death of Us was produced by Mike Green. What made you change your mind?

M.W.: Mike Green had a significant role in the creation of “Burning at Both Ends” as a matter of fact. We chose to work with Brian because he has a background in hardcore/punk. We wanted someone whose musical roots were a bit more similar to ours to give the record some perspective. Mike Green typically works with more of the pop side of music, and we did the last 2 weeks with him (mostly vocals and guitar leads) to give it a well-rounded sound and polish up a few things. I think it gave the record’s overall sound a really great dynamic and the use of both producers’ input was the perfect mixture of grit and glisten we needed.

ETS: What about the writing process? How long did it take? Did you take time off to write new material or you could work on it while on tour?

M.W.: I believe the total studio time was around 10 weeks. We typically can’t really write on tour so we designated a block of time after Warped to dedicate to writing. We also had the basic parts for 2 instrumental demos that were written around the time that we did the “Mutiny!” demos that ended up making it onto the record. They became “Start the Reactor” and “Exit Summer”.

ETS: We saw that your band printed a limited edition t-shirt to benefit the victims in Japan. Who’s idea was it? Was it a success?

M.W.: Junior and myself come up with all of the merch/design ideas. So far it’s been a big success and we are glad to be a part of the Japan tsunami relief effort as we have a very loyal fanbase over there and have made many close friends in Japan over the years.

ETS: You are coming to Europe in a few weeks (May 8th) for a headlining tour and play some festivals and then Warped Tour. Are you excited about any specific date?

M.W.: We’ll be bringing over our friends from the states in A Loss For Words and This Time Next Year. I am most excited about playing Slam Dunk in Leeds. This date was a blast for us last time and I can’t wait to do it again!

ETS: Last time you were in Spain was in 2007. Is there any chance we can see you in our country before the end of this year?

M.W.: We’re booked pretty solid for a while but we’ve decided that the next block of time we have for a tour will be an extensive European tour and Spain is definitely on the list! We hope to be back late fall or winter 2011, but if we don’t have time, then definitely early 2012.

ETS: If you could pick up 3 bands for a tour, which ones would they be?

M.W.: Right now I think it’d probably be Deftones, Black Sabbath, and Lagwagon.

ETS: What was Set Your Goals’ 2010 highlight? Any expectations for 2011?

M.W.: The highlight of 2010 for us was playing Soundwave festival in Australia, without a doubt. I suspect this year’s Soundwave Revolution will be our favorite tour of 2011.

ETS: And finally, anything you want to say to your fans?

M.W.: We haven’t forgotten about you, we’ve just been extremely busy! Thank you for supporting us over the years, as soon as we have time we will be back! We love Spain!!!

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