Interviewed by Kim Friedrich

The Specials
William-Vocals, Guitar
Angel-Guitar
Zombie-Bass
Jake-Drums

Coming out of Seattle, Washington, Rock, Gothic, Punk band Aiden, have already been whipping up some real notoriety for themselves since their formation in 2003. From their first album, "Our Gang's Dark Oath" in 2004, onto winning two Best Newcomer awards and high profile magazine covers in both the U.S. and the U.K in 2006, right through to the latest album for Victory Records, the lyrically controversial "KNIVES", the band show no signs of losing their edge or their roots.

I was kindly granted this exclusive interview with Drummer Jake Davison, to talk about the band and their music, which is gaining them fans all over the world.

Punk Globe: How did you come up with the name Aiden?
Jake: Along Time ago we were putting together demo Cd's. We were going to put them out ourselves. We didn't have a name and I was watching the movie "THE RING" and there's a little kid in it who's named Aiden ,and we all thought it sounded cool so thats how we came up with it.
Punk Globe:You had a lot of criticism for moving away from your punk sound on 2007s "Conviction " album How do you react to this?
Jake: Its a bummer to hear about people being not into something we do and seeing people not be into it. We love that record . You win some, you lose some. We love it so that's all that matters.
Punk Globe: You just put out your fourth album "Knives", How does it differ from you previous albums?
Jake: We really went back to our beginning. It sounds a lot more like our older stuff. A lot more angry than "Conviction." Its a lot more old school.
Punk Globe: What inspires you to write your music?
Jake: A little bit off everything really, all of us pull from different stuff, that is going on in the world and life experiences.
Punk Globe: So what do you guys warm up to when practicing?
Jake: Oooo We like to play a lot of improvised hardcore songs with a lot of break downs.
Punk Globe: Tell me about getting your music into films how did that come about? (Their songs have also appeared on the soundtracks for films like DEAD SILENCE, RESIDENT EVIL 3 and UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION.)
Jake: We really had that come about through our label and people that we met on the road. Really, it was just pure luck and a lot of cool people.
Punk Globe: Which was the one movie you couldn't wait to tell everybody that you were going to have your music in it?
Jake: "The Dead Silence" movie that was pretty cool.
Punk Globe: Who is you biggest influence?
Jake: Oh man...I don't know that's a tough question. Everybody is just so different. A Lot of it is from Seattle like Nirvana and all that. A little from a lot of places.
Punk Globe: How did you feel when your song "One Love" went to number one in the UK Rock Charts?
Jake: That was insane. I didn't even really know what to think. It was the craziest sh*t I heard in my life. It was awesome, super flattering. It was exciting.
Punk Globe: You won best international newcomer at the Kerrang awards and at the Metal Hammer awards in 2006. What was that like?
Jake: That again was crazy, definitely were not expecting to win the awards at all. We found out when they announced the names at the awards. We were just happy to be hanging out with everyone there. Then to win the awards was totally mind blowing.
Punk Globe: Tell me how it feels to be supported by a huge magazine like Kerrang?
Jake: Amazing we love everyone at Kerrang so much, such cool people. They are always so supportive. They're Good People.
Punk Globe: Tell me about the "World By Storm Tour" that was broken up into three parts. Which kicked off Jan 2008 in Alaska, ending May 2008, in Seattle. I know you had to unexpectedly pull out at a time but came back to finish out your Spokane and Seattle dates.
Jake: Well for 3 years we toured, probably about 11 1/2 months out of a year. It kinda caught up to everybody and along with some personal stuff we had to take care of. We felt really bad about having to pull out and wish we didn't have to. We wanted to do everything we could but it was just something we couldn't help.
Punk Globe: You will be on the Vans Warped Tour again. You were on it in 2006.What are you looking forward to the most about it?
Jake: We are looking forward to everything about it, Its just a awesome tour, the shows are great. There's so many bands to hang out with Its like the best tour you can go on.
Punk Globe: Tell me more about your 'Unholy Fan Package' which fans can buy through your My Space profile and your website.
Jake: It has some great things in it You get a T-shirt, a vinyl and whole bunch of super cool stuff. It was put together with our labels and our collaboration and meeting down the middle.
Punk Globe: You also do side projects. How do you find the time with all your intensive touring schedules?
Jake: Wil just did a tour for his side project ,while we had sometime off. Angel and I started doing one, its called "Rock and Roll Weekend". AIDEN is our focus and when we have some extra time, we do what we can.
Punk Globe: So tell me about the rejection letter from Apple and them stating that they can't use your material in the Apple APP Store. I read from your blog on My Space about the rejection and I think you have some very good points on how it seems weird that you were singled out when we know that there are other groups with some pretty hardcore lyrics out there, that we all have downloaded. "Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users."
Jake: No our stuff is not any worse than what they already have there definitely. Its ridiculous and I am sure you will hear more about it in the future. "Yeah, yeah, you will hear about it... Read the blog."
Punk Globe: Anything you want to say to your fans?
Jake: Thank you, Thank you very much for the support. We can't thank you enough. Look for our new record that we just put out.
Punk Globe: Thank you so much, Jake for your time.
Jake: Thank you as well Kim.

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