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NEWS

Sit Down With Islander

Jul 062017

We caught up with Islander after coming off of their section of the Serenity of Summer tour alongside Korn and other bands. Islander absolutely killed their sets and continued to grow their fan base by pumping out perfect music. We asked lead vocalist Mikey Carvajal a few questions about the tour and what the band is planning for the rest of this year. It sounds like the band thoroughly enjoyed their string of performances in collaboration with the other artists and is looking forward to seeing their fans in a few weeks. Check out what he had to say!

Q&A

You’re just finished your leg of the Serenity Of Summer tour, featuring Korn, Stone Sour, BabyMetal, and Yelawolf. That’s a huge lineup of some very diverse artists in the heavy music genres. How was it sharing the stages with these artists?

It was incredible. Korn has been showing us love for a few years now, and it's an honor to be chosen to be a part of something like this. I can't say enough good things about all of the artists that were on this tour. Babymetal was amazing every day, Corey Taylor and the Stone Sour boys are some of the realist dudes in this industry, Yelawolf is a lyrical mastermind. And the Korn guys are not only legends, but they are our brothers. My only complaint would be I wish the tour was longer.

What were the highlights of the tour for you?

We played in Pocatello, ID one day and a crazy storm started during our set. The rain held off thankfully but the winds were at such a high speed it felt as though it only energized us and the crowd that much more. It was an amazing feeling.

With such an eclectic group of bands, who were your favorite bands to watch when you weren’t crushing the stage yourselves?

All of them are amazing, but Babymetal was a real treat for me personally. I love Japanese culture and have the most upmost respect for how professional that whole band and crew are. They became one of my favorite bands for sure.

Korn is one of the most iconic metal bands and pioneers of their genre. It must be very gratifying to be invited to join them on tour. Have you learned anything from your experiences touring with such veterans of metal and touring in general?

For sure! We've learned how important it is to always help bands on the way up. Korn has been beyond gracious to us, giving us their hotel rooms to shower in after they use them, buying us Taco Bell gift cards... the list goes on forever. Rock star attitudes are something we've never experienced with those guys. That's inspiring within itself.

Last year’s album Power Under Control has seen the band play some of the biggest festivals in the US, are you looking forward to getting back into the studio at the end of this album cycle?

We are looking forward to it! We don't really see things as "album cycles" anymore though. We live in a very A.D.D society nowadays and it helps to constantly release music in order to stay relevant. We have some new tunes we are hoping to get out soon, and record another full length in October or November. We are constantly writing.

What can we expect from a potential new Islander record?

I would say just new songs with the same passion. I'm sure we will try some new things in the studio, but at the end of the day I want to record something extremely catchy, and I extremely heavy. Whatever that means. Haha.

You just announced another massive summer tour throughout the U.S. and Canada with a newly revamped He Is Legend beginning next month. Are you hoping to see some new fans from the Serenity Of Summer tour at these shows?

Absolutely! We hope to see a lot of old and new fans alike. It's going to be great getting out there in front of He Is Legend's audience as well. I'm excited to get back to Canada as well.

It would be quite difficult to top the line up on the recent Serenity Of Summer tour but if you could choose 4 ultimate bands to tour with (past or present), who would you choose and why?

This is hard, but at this very moment I would have to say Bjork, Bad Brains, Depeche Mode, and Tupac. Those are all artist that have inspired me and I feel like it would be an amazing show all around.

Is there anywhere you have yet to visit on tour that you would really love to play?

Yes! Everywhere and anywhere overseas! It's a real shame we haven't been yet.

Where is Islander’s biggest fanbase and what do you love about your fans?

Our biggest fan base is probably in our homes next to our families. I know for me personally, without the support of my wife I wouldn't be able to do this. I really mean that. Our families support us more than we deserve. For that, I’m their biggest fan!

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