Denis Stoff of Asking Alexandria chats new album and tour essentials!
Over the last six years, I’ve done hundreds of interviews but one band I’ve always made the effort to cover over the years are England natives Asking Alexandria. As easily one of the biggest bands in their scene, they have made a huge name for themselves but recently made a big switch of lead singers. This can make or break a band. For Asking, it only made them stronger and bigger!
Lead singer Denis Stoff has been with the band for a year now and in our interview, he told me it feels like it’s never not been that way. With the band’s fourth record coming out March 25th, I was grateful for the opportunity to chat with Stoff before the band took the stage in Boston just a week or so ago. If the record is anything like the four tracks we’ve heard so far from the band, this album will easily be their best received album they’ve put out. The band’s energy with each other is fantastic to experience live and from catching their set that night, it’s easy to see that the band is the happiest they’ve ever been. Read our new one below, pick up the record a week from Friday and see the guys on their next run with Bullet For My Valentine starting at the end of April!
To start it off, what are the three things you must have with you while on the road to survive?
I must have with me clean underwear, my headphones and what else? A lot more clean underwear. That’s all you need on tour. That’s what truly makes you happy when you’re on the road for like fifty days.
Then you’ve done Warped Tour with the band, this is your second full US tour with Asking as the singer. Maybe how has it been going for you? How has the run been going?
Oh, it’s been amazing. Above and beyond all the expectations. It’s really good. Almost every single show is sold out. If it’s not sold out, it’s very close to being sold out. So it’s always a packed show and the response has been absolutely amazing. So, blessed!
Then the new record comes out in just a few weeks now (March 25th). You’ve released three singles, the last being “The Black” (As of print time, the band released their fourth single ‘Let It Sleep). Maybe how long has that record been in the making for the band?
I think it was already fully written by like June I’d say or like late May. We started writing in February of last year.
Then for you, with this recording process and with the he writing process, was it something where each of you brought your own ideas? Like how did you kind of fall into the writing process for the band?
The writing process was honestly super simple. If we have ideas, we share them and that’s how we write stuff. It’s mostly Ben and I. We’re really open minded when it comes to writing. If we feel like we can do better, even though it already sounds really good, we’re like okay let’s just ditch this idea and come up with something better. Because I know we can do it.
Then obviously just from speaking to other bands who have new singers come in like Suicide Silence with Eddie who have head really smooth transitions, how has that been for you kind of coming into this band?
Honestly it doesn’t even feel like I’ve replaced someone. It feels like I have been here forever and the fans made me feel this way. They just accepted me so well. Can’t honestly still believe that it’s already been a year.
It just feels like normal for you, it feels like it’s always been this way?
Yeah, it feels exactly like that for everyone in this band now.
That’s amazing, that’s really good. I’m glad it’s been a smooth transition.
Yeah, thank you!
Then for you, maybe a soft one. The first CD or first cassette you can ever remember buying as a kid and the first concert you can remember going to?
First CD, I can definitely remember how I bought Marilyn Manson’s “The Last Tour on Earth” which was a live CD. It was my jam. I remember the first time I went to school I grabbed it with me. I was just a really diehard fan. I was like seven years old. And then the first concert, I think it was Deep Purple. My dad took me to see it. It was amazing. Definitely a lot of inspiration. A lot of very first impressions of live music. Really good and really well performed live music. So yeah, it was a good one!
Perfect! Then you’ve announced the second leg of this tour that you’ll be doing with Bullet For My Valentine in the states. April/May being the bulk of that tour but considering the album is coming out in a few weeks, what is in the plans for Asking Alexandria like for this next year? Do you think it’ showing to be steadily touring, will you be taking kind of a breather because you have been steadily touring?
No this year is going to be really busy. We’re going to tour a lot. I know that we’ve been booked right up until the end of this fall. So yeah we have a lot of stuff going on. I would love a little breather for sure because we’ve been on tour and in the studio for like ten months out of the past twelve months. Since I joined the band, I’ve pretty much spent maybe a month and a half with time off, maybe two months tops. So it’s pretty crazy.
It’s good though, that means it’s going well.
Yeah I’m definitely not saying it in a bad way. It’s good stuff, it’s good to be busy!
