After releasing a holiday album late last year, August Burns Red return with their latest full-length Rescue & Restore. They have a busy summer planned, as they'll be on the road playing Warped Tour. I caught up with the band's guitarist J.B. Brubaker.

Chad Bowar: How did the writing and recording process for Rescue & Restore compare to your previous albums?
J.B. Brubaker: The writing process was similar, though I think we spent less time working together as a band than we have on past albums.

We didn’t have as much time to work together as we have in the past due to the writing and recording of our holiday album, Sleddin’ Hill, occupying a good chunk of down time in the first half of 2012.

In the past we’ve spent a fair amount of time in our rehearsal space playing the new songs together before we enter the studio, but on Rescue & Restore, more of that time was spent writing alone and sending ideas to one another.

The recording process was fairly typical, with the exception of the vocals. Since we had two producers working on the record at the same time, our singer Jake Luhrs and producer Grand McFarland spent about three weeks together working on vocal production while Carson Slovak worked on the other elements of the album. This system worked out quite well and saved us a lot of time as we were able to basically do two things at once.

What led you to work with producer Carson Slovak again on this album?
Carson Slovak has been a long time friend of the band and is an up and coming producer.

We’ve always liked working with him and he has taken great strides as a producer in recent years. ABR has tried to keep things “in the family” since our inception, meaning we have always worked with people in our local area be it for management, tour crew, vinyl releases, etc.

Carson Slovak is a talented up and coming producer and while we knew he would knock this album out of the park for us, we also wanted to give him the opportunity to work on something that could possibly put him on more peoples' radars.

What will you remember most about the recording of this album?
For me personally, it will be the meticulous attention to tuning the guitars. We were exceedingly careful to make sure every chord and note was perfectly in tune, more so than on any previous album. This can be time consuming and quite frustrating, but obviously it makes for a better sounding product in the end. I think we probably spent more time tuning chords than actually playing them. That’s how the studio can be, though.

How has your sound evolved/stretched/progressed on this one?
The goal for ABR on this album was to try and push the genre and ourselves a little bit. We have noticed some pretty bland trends occurring in this genre over the past few years and it is important to us to avoid these clichés and try to keep some level of innovation present in our music.

We incorporated some additional instrumentation beyond the typical guitar/bass/drums. We used cello, violin, piano, Chinese harp, trumpet, etc. There are all kinds of bells and whistles on this album. We began experimenting with that kind of stuff on our holiday album and we continued to do those things on Rescue & Restore. Jake Luhrs tried some new elements vocally including some small, layered singing parts sprinkled here and there. ABR has never been a band to incorporate a lot of singing, and while there isn’t much on this new album, there is more than there has been in the past.

You released a lyric video for “Spirit Breaker.” What’s your take on the whole lyric video phenomenon?
Personally, I’m not a big fan of lyric videos. I understand that they are a popular trend currently, but I think most of them are pretty lame. I was, however, quite pleased with both the lyric videos we’ve released for this album. I think they are pretty well done and a lot more interesting than what I’m used to seeing. At the end of the day, if fans are excited about this sort of thing, then it’s probably wise to continue making them.

How was the actual video shoot for the song, and have you filmed videos for any other tracks yet?
We shot two videos over one weekend in May. We shot videos for the songs “Fault Line” and “Provision.” It was a pretty great experience compared to how some of our past shoots have gone. Director Daniel Davison really had his act together and kept things moving efficiently. Shooting music videos is always exhausting and these videos were no exception.

We shot “Provision” the first day and my back and neck were so sore the next day that it was pretty rough banging my head and rocking out for the “Fault Line” shoot. Nevertheless, we got through and I’m pretty stoked on how things turned out.

You’ve played Warped a few times before. What were some highlights of past Warped tours for you?
In 2011 we were playing the Chicago Warped date. Our album Leveler had come out recently and we were playing the opening track “Empire” which has this big group singing section in the middle. I remember looking out over the huge crowd and seeing tons of kids crowd surfing on top of one another and singing the part at the top of their lungs. It was a great indicator that people were into the new album and that 2011 Warped Tour was going to be a freaking blast. It was something I won’t soon forget.

Who are you looking forward to hanging out with most on Warped this year?
I’m most excited to hang out with my friends in Silverstein, Blessthefall, and Architects. Those bands are some of our best friends to tour with and we get to spend nearly two months with them. Should be fun.

What advice would you give a band playing Warped for the first time?
First and foremost have fun, because Warped is unlike any other tour. You are basically part of a traveling carnival that feels like summer camp for bands. It’s cool. Roll with the punches even if you’re not happy with something, such as your scheduled set time or the long lines for catering. Everyone deals with those things from time to time, so all the bands are in the same boat.

You’re headed back to Europe later this summer. What’s your level of awareness/popularity over there compared to North America?
I think we are pretty well known in the metal community in Europe. We have spent a lot of time touring there since we first crossed the pond in 2008. Our crowds aren’t as big in Europe, but I think in general that’s the case for a lot of American bands. We do well enough to warrant a couple tours there every year.

Where haven’t you played live that you’d still like to get to?
China, South Africa, Israel, South Korea, India, and a slew of small countries in Eastern Europe. There are always new places to play.

What’s the most unusual venue you’ve played?
In 2008 we played in the belly of a small boat in Porto, Portugal. It was freezing cold and there was icy cold air blowing in through an air vent on my side of the stage. I couldn’t keep my guitar in tune and my fingers had awful dexterity due to my cold hands.

What was the response to your Christmas album?
It was overwhelmingly positive. I was really surprised at how many we sold. It was something a lot of people were asking us to do for a few years now and though it was a lot of work, I’m glad we took the time to do the album. My mother especially likes the Christmas album.

What’s the most impactful story a fan has told you about how your music affected them?
I can’t pinpoint one particular story. I’ve had fans tell me that our music has helped them through some really hard times, depression, thoughts of suicide, etc. Hearing those things is motivation for all of us in the band to keep doing what we’re doing. We’ve always wanted to make a positive impact on the metal scene, and I’m glad we’ve been able to do that for some people.

What’s been in heavy rotation on your MP3 player lately?
I’ve been listening to Deafheaven's albums Road to Judah and their new one Sunbather and the latest Matt Pond album The Lives Inside the Lines In Your Hands.

Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
For those interested, we’d obviously like it if you checked out our new album Rescue & Restore on June 25th. Thanks!