Assuming We Survive - Photo: Rockwell Anderson Media

Fall Into Mourning - Photo: Rockwell Anderson Media

Fall Into Mourning during the video shoot - Photo: Rockwell Anderson Media

Patent Pending - Photo: Michael Meade

Next up was Off With Their Heads bringing that good old ska and reggae to the stage with their Minneapolis twist. They rocked out during their half hour block as more people trickled in. The atmosphere was getting clouded with the smell of alcohol, sweat, and other assorted scents best not mentioned.

Supervillains - Photo: Michael Meade

Less Than Jake's Chris Demakes - Photo: Michael Meade

LTJ's Peter Wasilewski (sax) & Buddy Schaub (trombone) - Photo: Meade

Divide the Day’s Super Future & Raucous Past
By Melissa Anderson
Posted 1/31/11 11:30PM EST

Billy Haig, bass player and founding member of Divide the Day, recently took time out to sit down with me and talk about what it is like to be a rock band signed to a major label.

Divide the Day has played thousands of shows, toured with countless bands, and their song “Let It Roll” is used as one of the theme songs for the WWE. Their new big news for the start of 2011 involves the biggest sports spectacle in the world. “Let It Roll” will be played in the stadium at the 2011 Super Bowl. Billy was open and honest on the struggles and the triumphs that he has experienced, both before being signed and after. He shared this and a whole lot more of how he started playing music, and what life as a rock star is like in our interview.

“Being on a record label sounds great and exciting but it can suck the life out of you musically. The plus side is exposure and more respect from people, and getting your songs on the radio.” Billy also went on to say that they had the choice of record label deals and neither was that good of a deal, but they really wanted to get signed. “I would tell bands to focus on legitimate management, a good booking agent, and focus on publishing. Once a song gets out there that you have written that is when the money comes in. I would also tell bands to look at Indy Labels. We used to be part of Pluto records and they looked out for us. It was more personal.”

Photo: Rockwell Anderson Media

Dave Strickland of Idasas provided guest vocals for 2 Divide the Day songs

Billy not only had advice on what it was like to get signed and his views on it, he also shared with us what life on the road is like. “Your practice is the shows. You're out there playing every night.” I asked him if any tour stuck out in his memory. He went on to tell me about how the band signed their record label deal at South By Southwest. “Everywhere we went it was a party, everybody new we just got signed and people were congratulating us.”

I asked Billy what coming home after a tour is like? “For me it is sitting on the couch, turning on the tv, not going out or drinking for a couple of weeks.” That is how Billy re-acclimates to a regular life. “I don’t talk to the guys for a few weeks either. We have just been on the road together everyday and every night.”

Divide the Day has been a band since early 2001. In that time it has went through a number of lineup changes, at least 5 drummers and at least 8-9 guitarists.” I remember a time when it was just me and Joe the lead singer. It was that way for about 6 months.” However, the current lineup has been the same for the last 3 years and the band has been signed for 2 years

I was curious what venues Billy liked the best. “The small dive bars that hold 50 to 100 people are awesome. The fans are in your face and spilling beer on you. Some people might think that is annoying but I love it. But on the other hand there is nothing like being in a huge stadium with thousands of fans singing your songs. What I don’t like about the big venues is that the audience is so far back you can feel a bit disconnected at times. I just get up there and smile. Some people love it and others tell me that I am in a rock band and I should not smile. But I love what I do. Rock and Roll. I can get up there have fun and shake my ass; that is what rock and roll is to me.”

To all up and coming bands, Billy’s advice is to build a strong fan base, practice and enjoy it. “When you are on the road for months at a time that is your practice.” He also points out that when you are not touring that practice is important, as well as writing new songs and recording.

Billy Haig of Divide the Day - Photo: Rockwell Anderson Media

The story of how Haig started his bass career is in his words “totally ridiculous”. “I was in class and there was a girl sitting behind me that I had a crush on. My other friend was talking to me about being in a band so I said “…yeah I play bass.” He said “great - lets jam sometime.” “The truth - I had never played bass and I had only played my brothers guitar twice. One day the guy said come and jam with me and my band I said I can’t - I don’t have my bass here. He said he had one. It was the first time I had seen one (a bass guitar). I put it in my hand and tried to play. The guitarist in the band wanted to know why I was at practice ‘cause I sucked, but the drummer, who was my friend, told the guys to teach me. So the guitarist taught me Stairway to Heaven - but he only taught me the last part and said that there was no bass in the song after that. That is how I started bass.”

As for influences in his personal life went, Billy credited his mom and his brother. “My mom would sing and play the piano. She was talented but I didn’t really think about it because it was something she would just do. I got my influence from my brother, he would pick up the guitar. I know he got it from my mom - he was older than me.”

When asked about advice to up and coming bands about wanting to get signed by a major record label Billy stated “It isn’t what you think it is. You have to work twice as hard once you get signed. A lot of time people fail because they think it comes easy once you are signed.” Along with sharing this with new bands out there trying to make it, Haig had a few words to say about the music business over the last 10 years. Where it was and where it is going. “I have seen the birth of MySpace, the death of MySpace. On the one hand it gets your band noticed but with all the free downloads and people buying tapes and cd’s less at the end of the day, it hurts small bands. They should lower the cost of cd’s. With auto tune the business is less about talent. I am sort of scared of where the industry is headed. What we need is another great band like the Beatles, Guns and Roses, Kiss (some people may disagree with me on that one). I think there are too many bands out there for this to happen.”

Joe, lead singer for Divide the Day, wasn't able to make a recent show due to illness.

Billy had a bit of advice for the Inland Empire in California. “It lacks a good venue. There is no place like Showcase Theater. I wish we had something like that again.” What Billy likes about the Inland Empire music scene is that all the bands get along and look out for each other. Divide the Day proved this when they performed at Stingers on January 8th and there singer had to cancel right before the show. “I didn’t know what to do but I was not going to cancel on Steve (show promoter and lead vocals for Fall Into Mourning) or our fans. That is when I asked Steve to step in and sing - he knew the words. I also asked Dave of IDASAS to step in. My nephew was there and he knew the songs.” By the end of the show the fans were on stage with the band rocking out. It was a shortened set but it left the fans with an experience. They got to rock out with Divide the Day.

In the end it is all about the music. “Keep jamming and having fun!” Perhaps Billy’s best advice.

Divide the Day Rock Star Karaoke 2011 from Rockwell Anderson on Vimeo.

Rehab show at Stinger's features East Coast, West Coast, & Southern Talent
By Melissa Anderson
Posted 2/10/11 4:45PM EST

J-Riva of Osology - Photo: Rockwell Anderson Media