Ignite Interview (Brett Rasmussen): "We ended our last CD with the song "Live For Better Days" and I think it was a really cool positive idea that there is light at the end of the tunnel and we should always try to stay positive"

They say that only the real big bands know when it is the time to release one record, even if this thing means that we will miss them for a very long time. Ignite are definitely one of these bands. They recently released their brand new live DVD, "Our Darkest Days Live", so the only thing we had to do was to contact them, make some questions and learn a bunch of interesting things, about the present of the band, their future plans, and the current crisis of the world in general.

Dear punk rockers, hails from Greece! Long time no see and I was wondering if Ignite still exists, 'till I saw your latest release, the brand new live DVD. It is awesome and reminded me how much I love your music, so I have to ask you, where have Ignite been? Not many shows and not any songs lately. Why?
Greetings! Yes we have been actually busy working on some new material, finishing up the DVD and also playing some shows. We have a big tour coming up in Europe in July and August and we just went to the East Coast couple months ago and played some great shows there. We also just played the Revelation Records 25th anniversary show last week here in California with gorilla biscuits, youth of today, sick of it all and a bunch other bands, it was great!

In my opinion, your last album "Our Darkest Days" is one of the best punk rock / melodic hardcore albums of the last decade. It combines beautiful melodies, honest lyrics, and pure energy. However, six years have already passed since then. Are there any new songs out there? When should we expect the next Ignite album?
Yes I agree six years is too long to wait in between records. We are working on some new material now we have about 10 songs written musically and three or four songs written with lyrics. The plan now is to continue writing and hopefully have enough great material to have a brand-new record out sometime next year.

Your singer and frontman, Zoli Teglas, has joined the legendary Pennywise, and they recently released together their 10th album "All Or Nothing", which is a real blast. Could this be difficult to handle?
We really think that Zoli playing Pennywise a great thing not only for Pennywise but also for Ignite. It's great to know that Pennywise will continue to release CDs and tour, because I am a fan of Pennywise, and I think that their latest album "all or nothing" is a really amazing record. It's also great that Ignite Is getting a lot of new Pennywise fans because the fact that Zoli is singing with them. I think it's a great situation for both bands

It seems that members of Ignite have been involved in other bands/projects, like Nations Afire and Into Another. Could you give us a few details about each of them?
Nations Afire is a band the features myself and Nik from ignite and some other guys from bands rise against and death by stereo. We recorded our first album two months ago and we are going to be touring Europe directly after the Ignite tour in August. We are really excited about this new band you can check it out at www.nationsafire.com.  Our guitar player Brian got the opportunity to play with into another at the Revelation Records 25th anniversary shows in June. It was a really cool opportunity for Brian to play with one of his favorite bands of all time. I am not sure if they are to continue to play shows together but hopefully they will it sounded great.

In your latest DVD, "Our Darker Days Live", we see your furious live performance, in Leipzig, Germany, in 2008. How was this world tour? How is it to play with your band, the music you love, in almost every corner of the earth? Would you share with us some of your experiences or/and memories of the last tour?
That tour was great we played nearly every country in Europe. We had the opportunity to play festivals and club shows. The first part of the tour was a ignite, terror, strung out, death before dishonor, and burnthe8track. All of the shows with those bands were sold out it was really amazing. We even got to go to some countries that we have never played before like Belarus the Ukraine Estonia Latvija and Lithuania. The funniest story was when the show in Brest, Belarus was shut down by the KGB. I didn't even know the KGB still existed.

Your band now plays shows before thousands of people. However I' am pretty sure that you started as an underground band, which was means playing also non profit shows in front of hundred dedicated punk rockers. Do you miss those days? What is your opinion about these underground circles nowadays?
We still play many small shows everywhere. Every night can't be a show in front of 10,000 people on a festival stage. I think playing the small club shows is one of the coolest things that we get to do as a band. Those shows are always very packed and full of energy.

I am also sure that those days, you didn't care about any mistakes at your live performances! I mean your live show in Leipzig, in every aspect, was really perfect. What has a band to do, to reach this playing level?
Thank you for the compliment. We have been playing for many many years and I think it's important to focus on your live show and make the live experience for your fans a quality and positive experience.

What I love about Ignite most, is that you really have social concerns, which you don' t hesitate to pass in your songs. We all know that it is a very difficult era for mankind and that global crisis hits almost every country of the world, including Greece. What is your opinion about this crisis, overall?
I think the economic times right now in the world are very scary thing. We've had many problems in America with our financial situation and we had these huge bank bailouts in the past years. These are dangerous things for an economy. I think the situation in Europe is very difficult because you have so many different countries, so many different economies, so many different cultures and they are all supposed to tie together and I think it's very difficult to maintain a perfect balance. There is a lot of work ahead for Europe to fix this situation and make it work for the European Union.

In comparison with George Bush Jr., would you say that Barrack Obama managed to improve your country’s situation?
I think there's some things that Barack Obama has done to improve the country like his healthcare reform but there's also the situation of our unemployment rate that is higher now since he's been in office, so it it's it's a tough situation to be in I think being the president of the United States, especially the situation that he started with.

Finally, would you say that these days are our darkest? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel that you can see?
Economically yes it seems so right now. The thought of raising a family in these economic times or trying to retire in these economic times is a scary thought. I think that the economy around the world will eventually rebound, it always comes in waves, there's good times and there's bad times and I think that this time we just have to wait it out, it could be a while though before we see total improvement.

In my opinion, music gives its own fight in this daily war. I think that in this huge ocean of ordinary created bands, someone can easy find groups with beautiful music, dreams, and anyway with something to say. Can you name a few bands that you think they belong in this category?
It's nice to see bands like rise against and Green Day who started as small punk rock bands playing basements and small shows become large bands and all still deliver a positive message and still address social and political issues. You have a band like U2 who's probably the biggest band in the world and they spend so much time supporting Greenpeace, they support the Chernobyl children's project and other really cool organizations. It's nice to see big bands like that helping out.

What is your message to all Ignite fans that love your music, and struggle for life?
We've always tried to deliver a positive message to your music. We've tried to address social political and personal issues that other people most likely experience also We are always trying to provide an answer to some of the questions we ask, that's why we include nonprofit organizations and environmental organizations contact information in our CD booklets like the Sea Shepherd conservation Society Earth first, and pelican rescue team and doctors without Borders. We ended our last CD with the song "Live For Better Days" and I think it was a really cool positive idea that there is light at the end of the tunnel and we should always try to stay positive.

That's it guys! It seems there is a reason when Ignite let six years between their incredible releases, so all I have to say is that I am really looking forward to your next great album. A huge thanks for this interview! Finish it as you wish!
Thank you for the interview these are great questions. Hopefully we will have a CD out next year that everybody can enjoy. Thank you to all of our Greek fans, you guys are awesome we would love to return and play Greece in 2013.