“Let’s do it. Manifest it.”
On Thursday night’s Loudwire Nights (July 13), From Ashes to New vocalist Matt Brandyberry admitted that he’d love to work with Eminem on a track one day.
“My all-time would be Eminem,” he told host Chuck Armstrong. With a bit of laughter in his voice, he quickly followed that up by saying, “I’m not sure I have the half a million dollars to spend on a feature for one minute on a track … We gotta do it before he doesn’t care anymore. I don’t think he needs to do it. I think he’s doing alright.”
The conversation on collaborations stemmed from Brandyberry diving into From Ashes to New’s upcoming record, Blackout, set for release on July 28. On the new album, they feature Matty Mullins of Memphis May Fire on “Until We Break.”
As Brandyberry explained, that was an easy collaboration.
“[Mat Madiro], our drummer, has known Matty for a very long time,” he explained. “I had never met Matty previously to that; [co-vocalist] Danny, he looked up to Matty as a vocalist. So you know, having all of that there and then finding out Matty and the rest of the guys in Memphis…they’re us.”
Beyond that special feature, Blackout is a massive album that draws the listener into a pre-apocalyptic world inspired, in part, by the chaos and uncertainty of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As dark and hopeless as that world may seem, though, Brandyberry and company are never without some glimmer of hope on Blackout.
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That contrast of hopelessness and hope might be best captured in the album’s lead single, “Hate Me Too”—a track that is saturated in darkness with slivers of light breaking through.
“The idea behind the song was to create something with dark lyrics that felt like the song of the summer—I feel like most of us have been there,” Brandyberry explained.
“We’re all going through it together. For us, it’s therapeutic, cathartic. I’ve always been told that I’m not good at dealing with or even showing emotion in ways that other people do…you know, the music helps for sure.”
What Else Did From Ashes to New’s Matt Brandyberry Discuss on Loudwire Nights?
- What the chemistry is like between the band members, especially as it pertains to the songwriting process
- How Brandyberry approaches his own writing and why he can write pretty quick
- PODCAST EXCLUSIVE: What it’s like celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the formation of the band
Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below
Matt Brandyberry joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday, July 13; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand. Get details on Blackout at this location and then check out From Ashes to New’s full tour schedule.
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