Updated DPS Article Draft.

Quote for DPS “Kids were throwing their shit!”

October 8^th 2012 was an incredible day for Californian metal-core rockers Of Mice and Men, as they started their biggest UK tour to date with Yashin and Secrets.  OM&M are one of those bands who takes a punch and throws a counter right hook in response. After the departure of members,  Austin Carlile going through heart surgery and the re-release of ‘The Floods’, Of Mice & Men are bigger than ever.

Kicking off the tour at the Norwich Waterfront Studio were Secrets, a band with amazing riffs and memorising clean vocals, you can see why they have been tipped as American metal-core’s great white hopes since the start of 2012. Up next were Scottish post-hardcore legends Yashin. Kicking off with ‘Friends in High Places’ and ‘Runaway Train’, they were showing their brand new album off, and boy did they do it well! Harry Radford proved how incredible Yashin are, with their memorizing screams and amazing stage presence.  After the support, was the act that everyone had turned up for – Of Mice & Men. Opening with ‘O.G.Loko’ with the infamous “I go hard in the motherf**king paint!” drop, the venue went wild, bobbing heads and arms being thrown everywhere showed why Of Mice & Men play the UK and why they deserve to tour. For this tour,  not only will Of Mice and Men be touring with the usual members – Austin Carlile, Alan Ashby,  Valentino Arteaga and Phil Manansala, but they have been joined by ex ‘Jamie’s Elsewhere’ vocalist Aaron Pauley to do the clean vocals and bass. This is the first time he has ever played the UK with anyone let alone with Of Mice & Men and he doesn’t show his nerves atall, in fact he shows how confident he his, and how much he wants to destroy the UK with the rest of OM&M.

Austin Carlile and Aaron Pauley ( OM&M ) command the stage with a  towering but easy presence, trading near-perfect vocals with their on-stage banter at its sharpest ‘The Flood’ and ‘Ohioisonfire’ keep pulses racing and by the time the set-closer ‘Second and Sebring’ drops, the whole crowd – front and back and side-to-side – are completely losing their shit. Not only are the crowd having a mental time, ‘Second and Sebring’ brings emotion to the room,  with Austin singing the deepest song he’s written, with a tear running down his cheek – he is a true musician, writing songs with a true meaning and emotion. A brilliant show, recommended for any metal-core fan!

After the first show on the tour, I managed to catch up with Austin Carlile ( Lead Vocals )

Hi Austin, great show! Did the crowd tonight live upto your expectations?

“Tonight was excellent, defiantly the best show we’ve played in the UK for years! This is the first time we’ve played Norwich, and we regret not playing here before, the crowd are wild – so many arms everywhere”

You’ve got Aaron Pauley on tour with you, how did that happen?

“Since Shayley left we needed another clean vocalist and a bass player, and we saw Aaron Pauley ( Jamie’s Elsewhere ) on tour, and snatched him up as soon as we could!”

You’ve been in hospital a couple of times recently, how are you coping?

“I had a viral infection inside of my heart which happens a few times a year, but fortunately I am okay now and everything is alright. I have to rest more than the other guys in the crew, but they understand it all, so it’s cool. I just need to stay out of the heart and make sure I don’t tire myself out too often – which is hard to do on tour, but I feel pretty cool about myself most of the time”

So, what inspires your song writing at the moment?

“Basically just life, I’ve been through a lot and I like to express that in my song-writing. It’s really important to me that I write about real stuff that people can relate to”

What is your favourite part about touring?

“That’s easy, seeing and meeting new fans! It’s nic e to meet the people who we have inspired and who we have touched as a band. I suppose it is a bonus to discover new places aswell!”

Your song ‘Second and Sebring’ always brings you to tears during your show, how much does this song mean to you?

“Shit man, that’s a deep subject, but I’m always open to talk about it. It’s about my mum, and how much she meant to me, about how she never saw me grow up and become who I am today. Unfortunately she passed away when I was young, when I was being bullied back in school, so I struggled to cope, and when people at school found out my mum died, I got bullied even more – looking back they’re just a bunch of wankers. Although Mum’s not here physically, she’s in my heart and she’s looking down on me, I know she’s proud of what I’ve done, I love her so much”

What made you bring Secrets and Yashin on tour with you?

“Not many people in the UK have heard of Secrets and we know how much recognition they deserve, so we thought we’d bring them with us to show the UK how incredible they are, on the otherhand for Yashin, everyone in the UK knows who they are, and they always put on incredible gigs, I mean, they’re headlining the UK next month, so we thought we’d give the UK a little taster of what’s to come from them next month!”