From Autumn to Ashes

From Autumn to Ashes is a band at a crossroads. Throughout their six-year existence, the Long Island-spawned quintet has undergone heavy transformations, but none as drastic as last year’s departure of frontman Ben Perri, a split that was far from amicable. Fran Mark, the band’s former drummer and main lyrical and musical vehicle, has assumed the position vacated by Perri, and has also been thrust into the spotlight as, presumably, a new chapter in American hardcore unfolds. The band’s new album, Holding a Wolf by the Ears, splatters thick walls of heavy guitar, explosive lyrical foresight and projects a newfound aim to keep the focus on the music. Synthesis.net caught up with Mark to discuss the recent transformation, as well as his intriguing approach to consciousness, while From Autumn to Ashes stopped in Lawrence, KS, on their most recent tour.

Last time I interviewed you, you mentioned that you were learning to appreciate the smaller things in life and to tolerate the gross things about humanity in general. Has that vision been realized?
I think that that’s something that really requires constant work because every time you get a grip on things, you see things get worse and worse. I’m still working on that philosophy. When everything started to go sour with Ben, we just kind of turned it around. I think that we used it as a catalyst to reinvent the band.

You’ve mentioned that you’re anxious to get people to realize that From Autumn to Ashes is a new band now. In what ways do you see that, other than the obvious factor of Ben leaving?
I think that we’ve finally gotten our priorities straight. When the band first started receiving attention, I was 18, 19 years old and very naïve about things. I think that we probably did a lot of things to give the band a pretty lousy reputation. Some of the people who contributed to that aren’t in the band anymore; I’d like to think we’re different people. A lot of people have told me, “I hope you don’t get offended, I was never a fan of your band but I really like the new record,” and I’m hoping that will be the general trend of things. I just hope that people can put off everything that they think they know about the band and give it a fresh listen.



Do you see yourself branching off lyrically?
There is different subject matter on this record and also just different techniques employed. I actually had been going to this place and using a sensory-depravation tank. I was just trying to explore different techniques of mind expansion and trying to use parts of my brain that have been dormant all my life. I built a dream machine that William Burroughs — ironically I’m in Lawrence, KS, right now where Burroughs lived a lot of his life — and a lot of those guys used these dream machines to tap into their subconscious. They’re pretty simple to build; it simulates rapid eye movement and produces a dream state, but you’re awake. It just made me look at things a little differently and exposed me to things in my subconscious that were locked away, kind of like exorcising your demons.

Do you feel an obligation to your fans to continue the From Autumn to Ashes sound even as a new entity with you as the frontman?
I think there’s a real delicate balance there because…I mean I’m sitting on a bus right now. I’m getting to travel the country to play shows, I haven’t had a day job in quite a long time and everything I have I owe to the kids who are buying our records and who are coming to our shows. There are so many bands that say, “I’m just gonna make this real experimental record. I’m just gonna do what I want and I don’t give a shit what people wanna hear,” and that’s really selfish. You have to recognize that you owe all of your success to these people. You can’t just completely discount their opinion. At the same time you really have to be doing what’s in your heart and satisfying yourself artistically. I think if you can find some sort of balance there, that’s ideally what I’ve been striving for. I’m not gonna turn around and make a From Autumn to Ashes record that sounds like the Mars Volta; that would probably just piss a lot of people off.

Do you feel like that’s a difficult decision sometimes when you have both of those sides pulling at you?
Yeah, but at the end of the day I think it’s not really a decision at all. When I sit down to write something, it’s whatever’s coming out of me is coming out of me. I think that all of these songs are probably done and are waiting to get out. Maybe I don’t have as much control over them as I think I do; maybe I’m just the messenger for these things that already exist.

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