Exclusive Interview with Alexia Rodriguez of Eyes Set To Kill
by Michelle Oberg
RUKUS MAGAZINE: Tell me about your new record, White Lotus. You were quoted saying, “We wanted to use a white lotus to symbolize how confident and focused we are.” What is the message or goal you are trying to get out?
ALEXIA RODRIGUEZ: I guess the ultimate goal is to burst out of the screamo world. We’ve always been more fitting into the metal world and right now were doing really well on a screamo tour, but we’re in a weird spot where our fans are super diverse, which is a good thing, but we want to appeal to the older crowd. So the goal is to reach a wide variety of people and as many as we can.
RM: A lot of the songs on the record are very emotionally-based around relationships. Whose experiences are those?
AR: There’s some relationship ones, there’s one positive and then there’s my first real love song. Mainly, the concept of the album is where we are with the band and how clear minded we are but, yes, I write about stuff that I have been through recently between my band and my boyfriend and people who just didn’t believe in me. It’s a couple different types of ideas in each song; they’re not all about relationships. It’s not all about intimate relationships, it’s more about relationships with people in general. The last album I was comfortable writing about pain and the relationship I was in before. I was stuck in it and I just didn’t want to be in it anymore. So for this album I wanted to dig deeper.
RM: It’s difficult to express your life through lyrics. Does it ever come back around when performing on stage and singing about something so personal?
AR: Yes, sometimes. There was a song I wrote about for an ex-boyfriend and I really don’t give a shit about him anymore, so when I sing the song I think about something else. The same way you can listen to another artist’s song and interpret your own meaning. I want to still feel while I’m singing so I think about something else who pertains to the lyrics. The one downfall now is my boyfriend thinks I’ll be thinking about my old boyfriends when I sing but I am really not; it’s retarded. You can change your words into different meanings; it doesn’t always have to be so literal.
RM: You covered Nirvana’s “Polly” and Hole’s “Doll Parts” for White Lotus. Why did you opt for the two lovers from the ’90s-grunge era?
AR: It’s funny; everyone thinks I’m contradicting myself by doing that. But I’m a fan of music and all the drama. I love Hole and I love Nirvana most. Those two songs, I had a connection with both of them. “Doll Parts” feels like I wrote those words because I personally felt them and I chose “Polly” because I love the unplugged version and I do a lot of unplugged music for our shows. That song really spoke to me because I too strip a song down to its skeleton.
RM: Are you trying to go for the grunge sound with ESTK?
AR: Yeah, kind of. We’ve always had a tiny aspect of it, whether it’s self-loathing lyrics or a slower tempo of a ballad. Anissa and me have grown up with that. It’s cool because it shows the fans we are into with the music that we’ve grown up on.
RM: Since you did cover those songs, were there any legal issues involved putting those songs on your album?
AR: No. I mean, they get full copyright of it but we didn’t have any problems. I got permission; I didn’t steal anything.
RM: What is the hardest part about being on tour?
AR: Of course, missing family and friends, but not being able to shower when you want and not having full privacy. Girls need that sometimes. Anissa and me aren’t really high maintenance—at least one of the guys in the band is pretty high maintenance. We’re pretty laid-back and don’t really complain. We’re just happy to be out on the road. Being on the road feels more like home than home does. Home is starting to feel more like vacation. We’ve had members quit because they couldn’t do the whole touring thing anymore. There were some people that we were friends with who were in the band a long time ago and now they are feeling bad on the decisions they made since they’re working at Blockbuster.
RM: What’s your answer to them?
AR: Well, you have your health…and your mom.
RM: Who’s your favorite artist to tour with?
AR: We’ve toured with a bunch of different bands. We toured with Drop Dead Gorgeous a lot and like them, but I don’t even know if they’re still a band. Our favorite tour was with Dr. Acula; they’re really fun to party with. We always bump in to them on the road, too. We’ll be on our day off, traveling through to another city and then there they are. It’s crazy. I think we’re destined to be band best friends.
RM: Do you check out other artists on your time off?
AR: We try to do that but we end up on long drives in the middle of nowhere on our days off. We’ll go to local bars or do karaoke or go to the movies on our time off. We’ll have days where we just go and do laundry.
RM: What’s a typical party night like for you on tour?
AR: After we play we usually, if we don’t have to drive, go to a bar. We’re the band that tries to get all the bands to hang out together at a bar. Then we’ll move to a hotel party and then crash.
RM: Has there been any crazy party or fan experiences?
AR: There was a fan that went to our New Mexico show that bought us a bunch of bottles. We were parked in Wal-Mart and he was one of those cool fans who just wanted to hang out; it wasn’t creepy. He wanted to enjoy our company. We were kind of drunk and we all went into Wal-Mart and I saw those little-kid play cashier registers and I said I liked it and we should buy this, but we didn’t. The next day he showed up with the little register. Now Chino, our merch guy, plays with it at the merch table and he gets more tips now because of it, which is weird and funny.
RM: You just got back from touring in Asia. What was that experience like?
AR: It was incredible. We’ve toured in Europe before and we have a ridiculous amount of fans overseas. We’ve never been to Asia before and it was surreal to see people who don’t speak our language singing our songs. It wasn’t sad but there were some more poor parts of the country that we passed through and it opened my eyes to appreciate what I have.
RM: Does that make you want to do a benefit-type show for the next Asian tour?
AR: I think we should do that in the future. We’ve never done anything like that but we’ve always wanted to.
RM: What is something that most people don’t know about you?
AR: I don’t know if its hidden, but I think I’m a good painter. I sell prints of my art at shows. I like to cook, too and I make things taste really good but it always looks really ugly on a plate.
RM: Have you ever stolen anything?
AR: I used to have a stealing problem when I was 8. When I was 8 I stole a wallet—not a persons wallet—but one that was on sale at a store. After that I developed a little problem. I stole my friend’s key chains and wore them to school on my backpack and apparently I stole my cousin’s money. My mom said I went to therapy at school for it, but honestly, I don’t remember any of that except for stealing the wallet because it was shiny and I liked the texture. When I stole it I didn’t think it was bad, I really don’t know. It’s funny, because now I always buy really shiny things like sparkly shorts or shiny glasses and I never end up wearing them so I think it’s my childhood coming back around.
RM: When you write songs about specific people do they know it’s about them and have they ever approached you about it?
AR: It’s really weird, I’ve written all negative songs about my ex-boyfriend and he never said anything. I think he was just an airhead and just didn’t get it or care. My boyfriend now, I wrote a love song about him and I thought it was romantic and he’d be flattered but he wasn’t fazed. I think it’s because he’s seen me write about others in the past so he doesn’t take it seriously since he knows I can write about anything. At the same time though, he doesn’t realize those were all negative. But I also don’t want to go to them and be like “I wrote this song for you,” because those weren’t romantic. It’s more selfish writing than selfless.
RM: Are you a romantic?
AR: I am, yeah. Every relationship I’ve been in I didn’t care that much about except for the one I’m in right now. No matter what, I always try to give the most I can. I prioritize my relationships. For this one I definitely want to be with this person for forever so I’ve matured and I’m not going to sacrifice everything because I’ve done that in the past and you get taken advantage of and getting hurt.
RM: Do you have any band news you’d like to share?
AR: Yes! Please make sure you mention that the band and me are so thankful for our fans. We wouldn’t be touring or writing music if it weren’t for them. Thank you all!