JULIA BARNES
PRIDE STAFF WRITER

Escape the Fate originally formed in 2004 in Las Vegas, NV. Though the band’s line-up changed, four members currently make up the band including singer Craig Mabbitt, bassist Max Green, drummer Robert Ortiz, and lead guitarist Bryan Monte Money. This punk rock band just put out their most recent self-titled album in Nov. 2010 and will finish their two-month headlining tour Saturday, March 12 at Soma San Diego. Supporting acts include Alesana, Motionless in White, Get Scared and Drive A.

Here are some questions I asked Craig in a phone interview last Thursday, March 3: Julia Barnes: How does the most recent self-titled album differ from the previous Escape the Fate albums? Craig Mabbitt: “It’s doing great! The crowd response has been amazing, the tour for it has been amazing, and everything has been really, really awesome.”

J.B.: What is one of your craziest experiences you’ve had while on the road, either with fans or band mates?

C.M.: “Well all the craziest shenanigans that we’ve had on tour I mostly don’t remember because I’m usually too drunk. But I can tell you the best time we’ve had on this tour was we got together with this contest winner from a radio station and went to a bar called Risky Dick’s and we all sat in a limo and went over to the bar and just had a really good time, so…”

J.B.: What is your absolute favorite song to perform?

C.M.: “I don’t know. I like to perform all the songs for different reasons, ya know? I like getting heavy when it comes to the heavy songs and I like singing in the crowd and they sing back.”

J.B.: How long have you gone without sleep?

C.M.: “48 hours without sleep, then I passed out during the day on the second day.”

J.B.: If you could pick only one band to listen to for the rest of your life, which band would it be and why?

C.M.: “One band? Hmm I think if you had to listen to anything for the rest of your life you’d get sick of it, but I guess the band that I would listen to would be Aerosmith and their album “Big Ones,” but if it was between me and my roommate it would be the new A Day to Remember album because that’s all we listen to when we’re home.”

J.B.: Are you guys currently working on your next studio album?

C.M.: “We’re always working on new material, but were not working on an album; but we do have a bunch of new songs”

J.B.: Is Robert (Escape the Fate’s drummer) aware that he looks exactly like Slash from Guns n’ Roses?

C.M.: “Yes, he is very aware, but he actually looks way more like Kirk Hammett. The aviators are what throw him off, but once he doesn’t have the aviators on he looks like his twin.”