04.07 Unearth Is Back and Harder Than Ever

By Christine R. Walsh

Take five musically talented and intensely passionate guys from north of Boston. Throw them into a high school environment, each one playing in a separate band. Add two parts heavy metal love and one part serendipity and the band Unearth (whom we hung with last year when they came to town and kicked ass) is forged in the flames of creativity. Their latest album, “III: In the Eyes of Fire,” hit the shelves in August, 2006 and the fans are still raving. The band, who will be rocking out at The Palladium on April 28th as part of Metal Fest, has gained much success as they’ve toured the United States. But, as lead singer Trevor Phipps revealed in a recent interview, life on the road can be rough.

Christine: Do you remember the first show you ever played?

Trevor Phipps: Yeah. We booked the show ourselves. We got two other bands and performed at a small venue in Lynn, MA. It was amazing. It was cool to start something fresh.

C: And what about today? Has performing become second habit to you?

T: It’s the same rush. It’s just on a different level. If the people out there are having a good time, it’s like a natural high for me.

C: Your tour schedule is packed. How is the touring life treating you and the band?

T: It’s tough. We lost our first drummer because of the lifestyle. He left mid-tour and that was a bummer. And every dude in the band has a girlfriend and one is married. We’re definitely living the rock lifestyle, but trying to keep normalcy too. It’s hard. My girlfriend is great, but we’ll fight every once in a while because I’m gone so often. When we are home, we’re home for about three to four months and during that time, we’re practicing about four to five days a week.

C: Are you excited about heading back to Worcester?

T: It’s going to be great! Worcester is kind of like a home venue. The best shows happen at The Palladium.

C: So what’s better ~ rocking out on a stage after sleeping ~ barely ~ in a strange place the night before or recording in a studio?

T: To be in the studio is a more forced setting. When you’re live, you’re out there. Even if you make a mistake, you just go for it. And the whole point of our latest album, which is our hardest record to date, is to give it that “live” feel. People are really embracing it.

C: What are some of your tour survival tools? What keeps you sane?

T: My IPOD. It helps me whether I’m having a good day or a bad day. I listen to Pantara, Johnny Cash, Terror…

C: What about tour comfort food?

T: Barbeque chicken. They do a pretty good job of it in Georgia, but they do it the best in Texas.

C: How would you like Unearth to be remembered years from now?

T: I’d want people to remember us as a band that was real. A band that performed the way they wanted to. We’ve all performed in other bands and we would write the way other people wanted us to write. No more. And people can hear it when a band is real. They appreciate it.