Welcome! If you’re looking for the hottest insight on today’s Rock and Metal bands, then you’ve found it! Here at Metal Southern Belles Media, we specialize in badass interviews with badass musicians. We’re already creating quite the catalog, but there’s so much more in store. That brings us to our latest interview. Here with us is William Anthony, frontman of A Beautiful War. What is the story behind this band with a name that’s seemingly a poetic oxymoron? And what alluring darkness are they offering to your ears? This Rockin’ Metal train isn’t stopping, so hop aboard and let’s go…

MSBM: Hey, William! It’s an honor to speak with you. Here’s one of those “did the chicken or the egg come first” questions. Which came first, the singing or the songwriting? And what got you into that?

WA: Diving right into things, I wasn’t originally a singer at first. I was actually a drummer, who decided to make the switch to singing. I had a really cool life experience where during my high school years, I became friends with Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit because of gaming. Fast forward to about a year later, I was finally able to see them in concert. He brought me on stage and it was right there that I knew what I wanted to do. My mind at that very moment told me, “pursue this and see what happens”. If I had to pick my top 3 influences as far as who influenced my direction change into singing, it would be Fred Durst obviously, Dave Williams of Drowning Pool, and Brent Smith of Shinedown. As far as writing, I was always a writer. But my writing took time to evolve to the point where I felt comfortable creating my own material.

MSBM: That’s quite the story! I recall seeing a post about you being buddies with Fred Durst, which is pretty cool! Not everyone can say they’re friends with the dude himself! He definitely made an impact on your life when he brought you on stage that day. He set you in the right direction, I’d say. Also, as a fan of Drowning Pool and Shinedown, I love that they are influences for you. Dave Williams, especially! Now, after you realized your passion for singing, how did you form A Beautiful War?

WA: The A Beautiful War story goes back about five years maybe; I have been in the local scene for quite some time now. My previous band had played a show with another band and shortly after both bands had broken up, but certain members had stayed in touch from both bands. Eventually, we got to jamming and it fit like a glove from the moment we started writing music. We have had a few lineup changes over the years. Which funny enough, our current drummer, who was the individual who booked our first show, has now been a part of the band since we picked things back up after Covid.

MSBM: Sometimes, bands have to switch things up to find the right combination, so to speak. Referring back to the song writing and applying it to A Beautiful War, what influences and inspires you? As a writer myself, I find this to be an interesting topic.

WA: The beautiful thing about music and about art itself, is it’s open to interpretation. When it comes to writing, while a song may mean one thing to me, someone else may find a different meaning in it. I tend to find that for my creative purposes and for my own therapeutic purposes, writing about reality, and the things I’ve been through, is the most sincere and honest way to write. If someone can listen to a song and have that feeling as if someone knows what they’ve been through and is listening to them just like the music I grew up listening to and love, then I did my job and I conveyed myself the way that I wanted to.

MSBM: Great response. It is true that the meaning of a song can vary from person to person. As long as there’s a connection felt towards it and it brings something positive into someone’s life, then that’s what matters. It’s about the impact. So, the band dropped a single entitled, “Save Yourself” back in 2019. Can you talk a little bit about that song in particular?

WA: We actually dropped two singles in 2019 with “Save Yourself” being the second, and most recent. “Save Yourself”, to me, is one of the most honest songs I’ve ever written and it’s truly from the heart. I went through a very dark period in my life and I’m one of those people that is constantly writing. Certain situations happened, which inspired that song and that song was my way of getting closure for what happened during that period of my life.

MSBM: Songs written from the heart are the most powerful. I’m sure that song spoke to some people, which is a great thing like we were just discussing. I’m glad you found healing in creating it. You mentioned to me before this interview that there’s a new single coming soon. Fill us in on those details.

WA: We do have a new single coming soon. The single should be out before the end of this year. December, to be exact. If you have seen us live recently, you have heard the song and it’s a song that has seemed to go over very well, no matter the crowd we play to. The song is called “Public Apology”. I feel as if we’ve retained our sound, while pushing ourselves to really do something different at the same time. I am very excited, as are the rest of the band to put this out for the world to hear.

MSBM: I’m looking forward to it! When can we expect an EP or full length album?

WA: In regards to an EP / Album, I can say that an announcement in regards to that can be expected soon and we are hoping for a mid 2023 release. There’s obvious factors that could either push it forward or push it back, but mid 2023 is the timeframe we are hoping for.

MSBM: Well, I’ll be keeping an eye out for it! Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later! As a Twiztid fan, I have to mention this. I saw A Beautiful War played with them and Attila. How was that experience?

WA: This year has been incredible for us as a band. We kicked it off opening for Drowning Pool, ill Nino, and Hed Pe. As I stated previously in the interview, Drowning Pool is a huge inspiration for me. So, being able to have that one under our belt was incredible, and a wonderful experience in itself. We capped this year off with Twiztid and Attila and that show was so much fun. The crowd was wonderful. The Twiztid guys are super cool and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about them. Dreams come true.

MSBM: I’m happy that you got to have those awesome experiences! They were great opportunities for your band as well, no doubt about it. Keep making those dreams come true! Are there any other shows we should be looking out for? Particularly for the coming year?

WA: In regards to any upcoming shows, we don’t have anything on the books for the rest of this year, due to to us currently being in the studio. To stay ontop of show announcements though and all other things, you can follow us on Instagram or find us on Facebook.

MSBM: You got that, everyone? Make sure you give A Beautiful War a follow! You don’t want to miss what’s coming next! Since you’ve obviously played with some pretty cool bands before, what are some others you’d like to play with in the future?

WA: You’re 100% right when you say that we’ve been able to play with some really cool bands. We’ve been very fortunate and I’m very very thankful for that. We have a wonderful support system and without that, none of it would be possible. In regards to other bands that we would love to play with, there’s a laundry list. Limp Bizkit, Shinedown, 10 Years, Saliva, Josey Scott, Alborn, Scowl, to name a few.

MSBM: Fantastic! In the near future, I hope to see you add those bands to your list of cool bands you’ve played with. Now, the last thing I have to ask is where can the interested readers go to get a taste of A Beautiful War’s music?

WA: For anyone interested in listening to our music, you can find A Beautiful War on Spotify, Apple Music, and pretty much any digital retailer that carries music. I just wanted to say thank you so much for your time, thank you so much for taking the time to interview me. I very, very much appreciate anyone that gives this band the time of day. Thank you so much and I hope to see you at a show soon!

Follow A Beautiful War on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abeautifulwarofficial

Follow A Beautiful War on Instagram: https://instagram.com/abeautifulwarofficial?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

Check out A Beautiful War on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7MqRa7hE6piujTG4KzrdUg?si=5Q3UdC_8T6CWobaEyd-5Yg

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