Rev Theory Vocalist on ‘The Fire,’ Touring with Five Finger Death Punch [Interview]
Story by Anne Erickson
Rev Theory prepares for fall tour with Five Finger Death Punch
From its starting riffs, hard rock band Rev Theory’s third outing, Justice, declares it’s a solid, pull-no-punches rock set, stuffed with grandiose guitars and massive rhythms. Rev Theory know how to make all the right moves on a record, and on Justice, the tracks are enriched by the honesty and self-revelation of the lyrics. “When we start writing a song, it’s just about being honest and writing what you feel,” lead singer Rich Luzzi told Audio Ink Radio. “Hopefully people take away whatever they can from a song and get something meaningful out of it.”
Rev Theory’s latest single, “The Fire,” recently entered the charts as the No. 1 most added song on rock radio, and this fall, the gents go out on the Share the Welt Tour with Five Finger Death Punch, All that Remains and Hatebreed, starting Oct. 16 in San Fransisco. As they prep for the tour, Luzzi found the time to chat about Rev Theory’s new album and why “The Fire” is their biggest hit yet.
Your new album, Justice, is a solid rock album. You worked with producer Terry Date on this, who has worked with Pantera, White Zombie, the Deftones and Soundgarden.
Yes, it was pretty surreal. He’s a legendary producer, and he’s worked with a lot of the bands we grew up loving and who are the reason we do what we do, so it was amazing to sit in a room with him and actually have him work on our music. There was always story night— every night, we’d take a break from recording and it would just be like, “Terry, tell us a story.” He would tell us a story about Pantera and Dimebag or working with the Deftones. It was really cool, and he made us work really hard. He’s an old-school guy.
Justice plays like an album with a specific vision. What was your goal going into the writing of this record?
The goal was to make a really honest and raw record. I feel like a lot of records today get lost in the shuffle because everything relies on computers and everything sounds so slick, and you get away from that raw emotion. In those classic records like Soundgarden record and Pantera records, you hear that attitude. You hear a little raw emotion. You hear mistakes. So, going into this record, we just really wanted to write a really honest and raw record, and I think we achieved that.
Rev Theory just released a new song, “The Fire,” and it’s already been picked up by a crop of rock radio stations. Tell me about the track.
“The Fire” is our second single, and we kind of had a bit of a sticky situation in that we’re on our own now, for mutual reasons between our record label and us. “The Fire” was the first single we ever released on our own, and it was the No. 1 most added rock song on rock radio its first week out. Basically, it’s a good song for the timing, because it basically says, “If you have something to say today, you have to say it today.” We’re really proud of the song, and we’re happy it’s doing well.
You guys are on one of the biggest tours of the fall: the Share the Welt Tour with Five Finger Death Punch, All That Remains and Hatebreed. Are you pumped for the shows?
Yeah, we’re really excited. Five Finger Death Punch have really done a great job over the past couple of records and have carved out their fan base, so we’re really excited to share that time and get in front of their fans. We’re never, ever toured with any of the other bands. We have mutual friends between Five Finger Death Punch’s camp and us, but we’ve never played together, so it’s going to be a huge tour, and we’ll make new friends.
Rev Theory are known for doing a lot of fun, interactive stuff with fans online. Do you like using social networking to connect with your fans?
Social networking is where it’s at. When you’re standing in the grocery store and listening to a 75-year-old grandma talking about the pictures she just uploaded on Facebook, it’s pretty amazing. So, it’s important to our fans to be on social media. Facebook is a great platform to talk about yourself all the time, but we get more of a response when we ask what’s going on in other people’s lives, too. It’s more interactive.
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