Our Last Night's Matt Wentworth on the Unlikely Artists They Crank in Their Tour Van (INTERVIEW)

Posted on Oct 25th 2012 1:30PM by Chris Epting Comments

Mike Dravis

Post-hardcore quintet Our Last Night recently released Age of Ignorance, their fourth studio album, which finds the group taking their sound into several new musical directions. Produced by David Bendeth (Breaking Benjamin, Paramore), Age of Ignorance features more textural nuances in the group's sonic attack, with washes of synth and more guitar interplay threaded within the songwriting. There's also a stronger sense of melody throughout the album.

Our Last Night formed in 2004, was signed to Epitaph Records five years ago and then embarked on their first tour when their singer, Trevor Wentworth, was just 13-years-old. Noisecreep caught up with guitarist/vocalist Matt Wentworth (Trevor's brother) about Age of Ignorance and what it was like to work with such a heavyweight producer in Bendeth.

Matt, give us your take on the new record.

Well, we finished it back in January. So we've been sitting on it waiting for it to come out for a while. We are ready for it to be out though and it's getting a better response than we expected because we really changed our style this time out.

In what sense?

Well, there's more actual singing, less heavy guitars and less screaming. Pretty big changes, but still we think we keep the heart and soul of our sound so for fans we hope the changes are exciting, but it's still us making the music. It sort of goes along with how our personal tastes in music have changed. We've strayed further from certain things recently. If you rode in our van with us you'd see what I mean. You can tell a lot about us by what we listen to in the van. These days it's not as much the screaming stuff. We still play some of it, and our singer wanted to expand beyond just screaming and do some real singing on the record. So that's what he did.

Watch 'Liberate Me' Lyric Video

Give me some examples of what you've been listening to.

Everyone listens to different styles. Our tour manager cannot believe it, how varied all of it is. I listen to all kinds of stuff. I really enjoy softer rock like One Republic, Coldplay and other things that are more piano-based rock. And more melodic stuff based around epic, pretty melodies really hits the spot for me. Trevor really likes Taking Back Sunday and stuff like that. Plus, we play rap, hip-hop, reggae, hardcore - a little bit of everything.

David Bendeth has worked on some huge records. What was it like working with him?

Awesome! He's an inspirational guy that really motivated us. Not just the music but even the marketing. He was really good for all of us. I'm the main songwriter, but I got to work with him the most, so I was lucky. All of the guys loved him, especially his stories.

What is your favorite record of his that he produced?

Paramore's Riot! is a big one. I'm a huge fan of that album. He worked on that thing from the beginning with Hayley [Williams, vocalist] before they even started recording. He showed me all sorts of early versions of things they worked on. I'm just a huge fan of his producing style. He works so closely on song structure, the writing, everything – I learned a ton.



Our Last Night's new album, Age of Ignorance, is out now via Epitaph Records and is available on iTunes and Amazon.

Tour dates w/ Woe, Is Me, Chunk! No Captain Chunk, Secrets, Capture the Crown and The Seeking:

November 2 - The Masquerade -Atlanta, GA
November 3 - The Orpheum - Tampa, FL
November 4 - The Social - Orlando, FL
November 5 - Propaganda - Lake Worth, FL
November 7 - 1884 Lounge - Memphis, TN
November 8 - Warehouse Live - Houston, TX
November 9 - White Rabbit - San Antonio, TX
November 10 - The Door - Dallas, TX
November 11 - The Eclipse - Tulsa, OK
November 12 - The Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
November 14 - Nile Theater - Mesa, AZ
November 15 - Roxy Theater - Los Angeles, CA
November 16 - Chain Reaction - Anaheim, CA
November 17 - Soma - San Diego, CA
November 19 - Ace Of Spades - Sacramento, CA
November 20 - Hawthorne Theatre - Portland, OR
November 21 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
November 23 - Club Sound - Salt Lake City, UT
November 24 - The Marquis Theatre - Denver, CO
November 25 - The Scene-Ary - Wichita, KS
November 27 - Station 4 - St. Paul, MN
November 28 - The Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL
November 29 - Shelter - Detroit, MI
November 30 - Peabody's - Cleveland, OH
December 1 - Altar Bar - Pittsburgh, Pa
December 2 - Upstate Concert Hall - Clifton Park, NY
December 4 - The Palladium - Worchester, MA
December 5 - The Gramercy Theater - New York, NY
December 6 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA
December 7 - The Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
December 8 - Kingdom - Richmond, VA
December 9 - Greene Street Club - Greensboro, NCR

Filed under: News, Interview

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