Music Scene Media had the absolute luxury of having a conversation with Miss May I's frontman, Levi Benton, regarding the rerecording of their debut album Apologies Are for The Weak. The band has been nothing but securing a place as "metalcore legends" as they've been conquering the world ever since forming back in 2007. Hear what Benton had to say as I had the conversation of a lifetime!
MSM: How does it feel to be celebrating 15 years of Apologies Are for The Weak?
Levi: It’s been pretty surreal getting to celebrate our first album. Especially getting to 15 years is crazy. I remember when we first created it all we really wanted was just to have a published version of our art. For fans to still be wanting more all these years label is humbling and we are more than thankful.
How did you go about choosing who should be featured on each of the tracks for this reimagined version?
We chose friends from all eras of our career for this reimagined version. We had friends that we toured with when the album came out, friends who were inspired by the album and friends who inspired us when we were making AAFTW originally. Then we found a song for each of them that would fit best.
You haven't performed some of these songs in many years. How would you describe the process of relearning these tracks?
It has been a task for sure. Since a lot of these never made it to the live set we haven’t revisited them since the studio originally. So it’s felt like learning a song from scratch, but the excitement has overshadowed the learning process even though they are fast and currently kicking our ass.
Is there a track that stands out as a favorite?
‘Not Our Tomorrow’ has always been my favorite track off the album because its the first one we completed in the studio together, but after tracking I would say ‘Arms Of A Messiah’ is my favorite.
Can you talk about any other upcoming projects or collaborations in the works?
Since we have been in the studio a lot lately working on this new release it has also been a great environment for us to start working on new material. There will be new music ready to be released on the upcoming tour and 2025 will be filled with new music.
This upcoming tour has such a stacked line up! How are you feeling about it?
We are so excited to get back out on the road and especially see our friends in In Hearts Wake again. It's been a while since we’ve toured together! Also we are fans of Traitors and Bloom and can’t wait to see them live nightly on this run. It's the perfect package for us to bring across America for this celebration.
This tour is incredibly important to long-time fans of your band. Other than the setlist, what other surprises are in store for your fans?
This tour is important to us and we really want to prove to our fans that we can bring something new to the mix as well as celebrate where we began. So for this run, we have put together a new type of show and stage for our fans and I really think it will bring a new element to Miss May I.
Speaking of tours, is there something that you absolutely must have on tour? Like a special thing from home, coffee machine, snacks, etc.?
I have to have my running shoes on tour. That is my daily therapy and meditation and I would destroy everyone around me if I couldn’t get a good run in.
You have toured with a wide variety of musicians over the past years. Tell us some words of wisdom that you collected along the way.
The biggest words of wisdom I have taken over the years has always been to remember things will always be changing. There will be ups and there will be downs, but the only thing to remember is to have fun throughout the process or it's not worth it.
Do you have a favorite stop location while on tour? Whether it be a specific city or a restaurant or rest stop, what’s the place you see the sign for and go “We are stopping!”?
On the West Coast there is a fast food place called Veggie Grill which is just standard fast junk food, but it's all Vegan. With me being Vegan it's a must-have because I can go all out without any repercussions.
What’s your motto or some good advice that you live by?
“If it’s real, they will feel.” which comes from my good friend Shawn Keith who runs SharpTone Records. It helps me realize and remember that all of this creativity only matters if it's genuine and real. That's what the fans want and what we want at the end of the day.
It might be too soon to say, but Monument does turn 15 years old next year, can we expect a 15-year tour for this album?
Only time will tell. That’s all I can say at the moment 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview and I can’t wait to catch you at the Dallas date!
Thank you for having us and for the support! We cannot wait for you to come out to the show and see what we have in store.
