Autumn Burn

Last week, Eric Romero noticed that some of his friends were missing.

At first, it was just 10 or 20, but soon, they were disappearing by the hundreds. By the end of the week, more than 10,000 had vanished.

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Someone had hacked into the Autumn Burn frontman's MySpace page (www.myspace.com/autumnburn) and was deleting thousands of MySpace "friend" contacts that the Fort Collins rock band had spent the past four years making.

"I was literally watching the numbers go down," Romero said. "I would click 'refresh' and it would go down 100 people."

Romero received confused and angry e-mails from dozens of former friends asking why the band had dropped them from its page on the social networking Web site.

MySpace, the third most popular Web site in the United States, allows people to create personal Web pages where they can blog and interact with others. Users can also add "friends" - people and groups with whom they regularly e-mail and share social circles - to their pages.

"We use the MySpace page for booking, promoting shows and promoting the band," Romero said. "In a week, we lost half of our 'friend' fan base. It sounds ridiculous, but that fan base is critical to us."

Friends lost translates to money lost, especially when about 80 percent of the band's advertising comes from online marketing - Autumn Burn sends targeted e-mails to fans from its friend list to let them know about upcoming shows. It also gives the group a black mark in the minds of deleted friends.

Slowly, they're getting friends back, including R0ckm0m5280, who recently posted this note to the band: "You're still with me! In the top row, where you belong! ... Don't worry fellas, they'll be back!"

But the band, back up to more than 12,000 friends, is still concerned that upcoming events - like its March 22 show at Hodi's Half Note - won't be well attended.

The Coloradoan's efforts to contact MySpace officials were unsuccessful, but Romero said he was told by site technical support that the hacker likely got his e-mail password via the generic questions used to identify a user.

"It's really sad that someone would have gone to that length to sabotage us," he said. "Four years, and literally thousands of hours, worth of work - gone."

Despite it all, the band will continue to rely on MySpace.

"It's an amazing tool," Romero said. "Bookers and record companies don't look for your Web site," he added. "They look to see the interaction on your MySpace page - how many friends you have and how many plays you get on songs."

The band's MySpace page used to get 100 or more song plays daily via fans who accessed its site; now it's down by half.

"I don't think we'll have to totally start over," Romero said. "We'll just have to give 140 percent now instead of 100 percent. After something like this, we can't afford to lose any more fans."
- Coloradoan (Gannett publication)

Autumn Burn is a band that at first listen seems at once familiar and inextricably unique. It seems as if thier sound reminds you of something else, but it's always on the tip of your tongue and never quite verbalized. With beautiful melodies that are in league with bands like Hurt, vocals crooning and climbing like Soil, and the emotional range of Staind , Autmn Burn has definately scortched thier own style into the grain of the music world. Now the music world is taking notice of what Northern Colorado fans have already known, members Eric, Jeremy, Kent and Matt have taken the band a step further and have been selected as one of the eighteen finalists for KBPI's best band in Denver! There's no doubt they have paid thier dues and even without the nomination, they stand as a prime example of musicianship and act as excellent ambassadors for the Colorado music scene.

Here's what they had to say about it:

1. What type of band are you?

Hmmm. A fan left this as a comment once:
Autumn Burn is a band being rising out of Northern Colorado. They blur the edges of metal, hardcore, and rock. They are dynamic, hard-hitting, and sensitive as well as risk-taking in truly EXPLOSIVE fashion. Autumn Burn is a band that by design makes you take notice.



2. Who are your musical and non musical influences?

Oh f**k lol. ALL music that gets us going. Everything from Slayer to Bullet for my Valentine...to VNV nation to Eminem or the Beatles. And Dane Cook. He's a silly bitch.


3. What's your band's claim to fame?

We've played Warped, and have done mini tours with great response.

4. What do you think about the state of the music industry today?

It's sad. The economy is effecting a LOT of things. People go to concerts less, buy less albums. It's not in a good state.

5. How does music affect you and the world around you?
Music and math are the 2 universal languages. You don't need to know what music says to feel it.

6. What are the biggest obstacles for your band?

Putting yourself in the right situation at the right time in front of the right people. I've seen bands worse than us get great opportunities, and I've seen bands better than us COMPLETELY unnoticed. We're blessed for all the progress we make. Plain and simple.

7. When are your upcoming shows and why should we be there?

We have nothing scheduled. We're headed into the studio with Ahrue Luster (Ill Nino / Machine Head) to record right now. We may do a few shows in CO here and there until 2009, but nothing for sure. The album should be out early 09 and we're stoked!

Contact Autumn Burn
On Myspace ADD THEM
See how you can Support Autumn Burn as the Best Band in Denver
KBPI



Be on the lookout for live shows, this is one band you don't want to miss!



Be excellent to each other!
~B from Hot Topic - Hot Topic

Being welcomed into the private sessions of a band can be not only humbling, but also intensely exciting. After a few hours you begin to feel like family. It was only after direction from a close friend of mine, and a certain website that we all may be addicted to, that I met up with a local Fort Collins band that has been gaining notoriety and publicity all over town. Autumn Burn, hailing their name from a crowd of fans voting between five separate choices, has been playing as Autumn Burn for over a year and half. Not bad considering the average age of the group is 24.

Eric, the lead singer is inviting, he smiles as he shakes my hand, a formality that makes me feel ancient. He immediately leads me to his computer where the tracks are ready and waiting to be played. He makes some half attempt at an excuse for what he calls “shitty vocals on the recording because I just threw them together after lunch today.” To me they sound well rehearsed, raw, but rehearsed. I can tell at first glance, what was later confirmed by his band mates, that Eric is the ladies man of the group. He keeps himself well groomed and is handsome. His hands are adorned with silver rings, and he wears the badge of a working man, a blue shirt with the logo of his job.

“You ask me about a local band, and I’ve probably played with them..” he says, speaking candidly about his career as a musician. ”The whole Fort Collins scene is like a big family” he tells me. Eric and I make small talk, finding the industry in’s and out’s and comparing notes. He is intelligent and well-spoken. Something you wouldn’t expect from a band whose heavier songs' lyrics you might have to have in hand for you to understand them. Lyrically, the band is solid as a whole, some words striking to the bone “...we came to this nation to be free, investigating the twisted truth, paying your way to the better seat, oh what have you got to bleed, for the sins of society?”

The rest of the band trickles in; first I meet Kent who jokes politely with me before we are introduced. He wears a hoodie, and seems to open up to me the quickest. Next comes the quick-fingered guitarist Jordan. He wears a beanie on his head, taking up the solace of his guitar before meeting me. He sits on the floor, cross legged, strumming the lines to a song I cannot hear no matter how hard I try. Next is Matt. He's polite and seems shy and reserved until he gets behind the pit of drums that surrounds him. Then the backwards baseball cap comes off and he is kicking ass.

I sit on a tattered couch with a Golden retriever at my feet. Josh nudges his ball to the tip of my shoes. He is used to the loud music and enjoys the attention that he gets from each member in the band. The band is relaxed and seem to be comfortable with my presence, they joke with one another with topics ranging from band break-ups to masturbation jokes. These boys have bonded, and it shows not only in their stage presence, but here in the middle of the week for practice. They eat together, a meal of salmon and vegetables, something my mother would force me to eat (and Id eventual thank her for). They seem close enough to be called family.

“The whistle is wet” says Matt behind the thump of his foot on the pedal “let’s do it.”

The boys launch into their first song a clever sampling of all of the boy’s talent. Midsong, Eric walks halfway down the hall to play with one of his biggest fans, he picks up the slobber drenched tennis ball and throws it down the hall. He makes it back to the mike to kick in his vocals.
Jordan is quiet, until he plugs in his guitar. His intense guitar licks make me want to get out of my seat. Watching him makes me think of a jam session I attended with Counting Crows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. He pulls off his hat and drops the entire college boy fascade. He smiles as the camera flashes close to his face.

“What would be the sign that says ‘you have made it?” I ask Eric during a break in the music.

“I just want people to sing the words of our songs at the concerts” he says. “And screaming for an encore, even though we have already had that. That would say to me, we have made it.”

Jordan breaks in joking that he will feel that their band has made it only when they open up for the popular and sometimes outrageous comedian Dane Cook. The boys all laugh and I’m unsure whether he was serious or not.

Sighting the opinion that they have the most hardcore fans out there, Autumn Burn is working diligently to provide their fans with an upcoming cd as well as band paraphernalia like bumper stickers. If they could say one thing to their fans, it would be "Rock on, thanks for the killer ride, we wouldn’t be anywhere without you guys!”

Those same hardcore fans have requested a joint venture with Immortal Dominion, another Northern Colorado favorite, to play alongside Broken Image in the next few months. “Get your head out of your asses and do a show with us!” says Eric, laughing at the fact that with the shakeup of local bands comes the possibility of a rift between friends and former band-mates.

“We are all in this together” he says playing off the fact that bad blood has ruined careers before and after his “we should be working together, promoting one another.” He brings this up three or four times during my stay in his house, and reiterates it only by introducing another band on his personal website.

The boys gather their instruments, and I ready myself for the last of their songs. With a nod Eric looks at me and says “what the fuck, lets dance” into his mike. Their lyrics are striking and sometimes brilliant, spilling truth into the air. Their self-proclaimed classic staple, a song by the name of Spiritual Democracy has a cut to the core kind of feeling. Matt is beating the skins into submission and I can’t help but wonder where the almost timid and almost tentatively polite guy I had just recently met had gone, with the sticks in his hands he is strong and solid on the beat. Kent drops the last striking note to the ending of the song, that “kick started it all.” Though it is only practice, he is so intense into the music that sweat beads on his forehead. A sure sign that he is devoted.

Devoted - to each other, to their fans, and most of all, to the music that inspires each and every one of them. They are a family and they would like to welcome you into it.
- Scene Magazine - Denver, CO

Fort Collins band Autumn Burn is ready to set the local music scene on fire. The heavy metal rock trio has steadily grown in experience, talent and musical views.

Eric Romero, guitarist and lead vocals and Josh Murrow started playing together about five years ago.

“We started writing a bunch of music,” Romero said. “We were still real inexperienced with writing and playing in a band setting.”

The group played at venues like the Starlight and eventually expanded to Denver. After awhile, the bassist left the band and three months, ago Kent Cutler stepped in.
Cutler played in other bands but finds the camaraderie of Autumn Burn extraordinary.

“It’s amazing how much we click and get along,” Cutler said.

Murrow agrees, but also points out that they are also very different.

“Kent is married, I’m married and have a daughter and Eric is dating,” he said.
Those differences seem to subside come jam time. The music is impulsive, gritty and strong. The musicians are passionate, intense and focused.

Now, a little older and a little wiser, Romero says he tries to write lyrics that will make people think.

“My goal is to know my lyrics have affected someone in a positive way,” he said.



———— CONVERSATION —————

NEXTnc: How often do you ride a bike and where do you usually go?
MURROW: The last time I rode my bike, I rode it to Eric’s house, left it in his garage and never saw it since. Between 8 and 13 years old, I knocked myself out twice and had five or six concussions. I had a really cool chopper bike. I loved that thing. I was really clumsy with a bike though.
CUTLER: I had a bad accident riding my bicycle drunk on the way home from a Victor Wooten concert on my birthday.
I live five blocks from Old Town. It took me longer than half an hour to get home. Now my bike is waiting to be thrown in the trash. I like to ride bikes every once and awhile.
ROMERO: I used to do downhill and mountain biking. That was a long time ago.



NEXTnc: What is the most challenging aspect of maintaining a healthy band?
CUTLER: For the most part, you have to have really good communication at all times. If you find out about a show, you do not commit until everyone is OK with it.
MURROW: And I appreciate that.
CUTLER: Enjoying what you are doing is probably the most important thing. Being able to hang out outside of performing. If you aren’t enjoying it, then why the hell are you doing it?
ROMERO: A band in a way of sorts is like a friendship or a business. You’ve got to keep up with contacts, make it as personal as possible and do everything with gratitude. Not a lot of people are able to get out of their garage with their amp and that’s really cool.


NEXTnc: If you could have anyone’s voice or musical talent whose would it be?
MURROW: If I could be any drummer— and I don’t even try to play like them because I respect them too much— it would be Danny Carey from Tool and Neil Peart from Rush. For his time he was way before the times. The stuff that man did on the drums plus they were a three man group too. I really look at bands that are trios and see how they sound. They are all extremely talented musicians. The reason I picked up sticks to being with was because of Sean Kinney from Alice in Chains. That is more or less my style.
ROMERO: I’d have to say Jesse Leach from Seemless or Lajon Witherspoon from Sevendust.
CUTLER: I’d have to say Les Claypool from Primus or Victor Wooten. There are lots of styles I would play. I’d like to play the style like Mike Inez.


NEXTnc: What is your favorite radio station or which stations do you listen to the most?
CUTLER: That’s hard, especially since my brother works for a radio station. I would have to say it depends on the time of the day and everything. Overall, ‘90s at 9 on 99.9, The Point kicks ass. Otherwise, I jump around from KTCL and KBPI.
ROMERO: That’s pretty much the same thing I do.
MURROW: I will listen to the Locker Room on KBPI if I am up early enough, but my staple as far as radio stations go is 94.3 MAX FM. That era of music is always going to be my favorite— mid ‘70s and ‘80s— I’m talking rock.



NEXTnc: Who is your favorite cartoon character and why?
MURROW: Homer Simpson because he enjoys life and he lives every day like it’s his last. Even though he forgets Maggie all the time, he will die for his family. He does stupid things, but at end of the day he’ll be there for his family.
ROMERO: Eric Cartman because yes he is a fat ass, but he brings fury to the name of Eric.
CUTLER: You stole mine! I’d say probably Glenn Quagmire from Family Guy because he gets so much ass, it’s ridiculous. - www.nextnc.com

In Colorado’s massive hard rock and metal scene, one power-trio is spearheading a movement of local progressive metal with a unique addition to the genre. Making more noise on the local scene with every show they perform, Autumn Burn has gained Colorado’s attention as one of its top progressive rock/metal groups.

Fort Collins-based Autumn Burn (myspace.com/autumnburn) consists of Eric Romero (vocals/guitar), Kent Cutler (bass) and Matt Durnil (drums). The sound they bring to the table isn’t your run-of-the-mill, cookie-cutter rock or metal, and because of that, it makes it hard to pinpoint the group’s genre of rock.

Romero describes the band’s sound simply as, "Us," then further defines Autumn Burn’s thrashing sound as progressive, melodic hard rock and metal.

Autumn Burn pulls from a combined extensive pool of musical influences, including Faith No More, Dream Theater, Acid Bath, and older sounds of Metallica and Killswitch Engage, just to name a few. From out of this, only an extremely unique style could emerge.

Eric Romero ...Click to view larger image Romero says he first picked up a guitar at the age of 8, but quit soon after. It wasn’t until six years later that he decided to give it another go.

"Autumn Burn really began about four years ago," Romero says. "I started recording guitar parts I had written, and put some beats to it. I sang for like four years, and sang badly for about two of them."

At the time, Romero was the vocalist for another band in Loveland. This was how he met Cutler, who was serving as the band’s bassist. After both taking their leave from the Loveland band, the two musicians got together to form the original foundation of Autumn Burn.

The year 2007 has seen several lineup changes for the band, mainly in the position of the drummer. However, Romero and Cutler sound certain that they have found the missing piece to the puzzle … enter Matt Durnil.

Matt Durnil ...Click to view larger image With 16 years of experience on drums under his belt, Durnil brings a new form of technical ability to the table. Called a human metronome by the rest of the band, Durnil shows the progressive rock/metal drumming ability that suits Autumn Burn’s sound perfectly.

"He’s not just an addition to the band, he’s an integral part," Cutler says. "We love his energy, his input and his creativity. You run across a lot of drummers, and a lot of them are sloppy. Matt is just stuck on time and tempo."

Durnil adds, "What I love most about this band is how we all work as a team. We can try a lot of different styles, and that really opens up the opportunity to change the rules of rock."

One of the rules they’re changing is by not sticking with one band-defining sound. By hopping around from genre to genre, they have created a sound that as a whole keeps the crowd interested and into the songs from beginning to end. Through this, Autumn Burn has gained the reputation as a band true to its roots, with commercial appeal, as well as appeal to both the rock and metal underground. They have even gained airplay on multiple occasions on Denver’s 106.7 KBPI.

"Uncle Nasty likes our sound, so we’re killing it on Metalix," Romero says, referring to Uncle Nasty’s nightly hardcore and metal radio show on KBPI. "I mean, we’re the softest band played on the show, but we still get played a lot. We even got played twice in the same night on the show. So, we do have that ability to be played on the radio."

Autumn Burn uses a writing strategy that gives every member of the band equal exposure. Avoiding a natural occurrence in rock and metal bands, they stay away from writing songs that makes one individual the lead focal point, which would force the rest into the background.

"We try to write songs in which everyone can stand out, but not too much," Romero says. "Each song is a feeling or an emotion in and of itself."

Romero explains that recently they had attempted to make Autumn Burn a four-piece group, but the addition of a second guitarist didn’t work out like they had hoped.

"The guy was a good guitar player, but he was too young," Romero says. "He wasn’t really ready to run with the big dogs yet."

However, the group hasn’t given up on the idea of a second guitarist quite yet. They are hoping that before the year is out, Autumn Burn will have four members in the band.

Kent Cutler (left) and Eric Romero ...Click to view larger image "With Eric having to be stationary with his guitar behind the mic, we’re kinda restricted. That pretty much leaves me to be the only one roaming the stage to work the crowd," Cutler says, to which Romero agrees, adding, "We’re missing that power of a two-guitar band, we need another. We have an awkward setup right now, and we can’t have that. We’re looking to have another guitarist within the month, and that’s when the power can explode."

Saying they’re looking for a like-minded individual, Autumn Burn wants a guitarist who can fit right into the already dynamic group of musicians with a professional take on being in a band.

"We’re not just players, we’re a family. We’re all brothers," Romero says. "But being in a band is also like doing a business deal. We want someone who can sit down, write music and collaborate with everyone else. We want someone who can create good music and be professional about it, yet still have fun doing it. Because, if it’s not fun, why do it?"

One thing Autumn Burn is looking to accomplish in the near future is going into the studio and recording a full-length album. They have discussed the possibility of beginning the recording of their material in December, which is one reason for the unofficial timeline they have set for themselves to add a fourth member.

Kent Cutler ...Click to view larger image "Its not the money that’s holding the album off, it’s the people," Cutler says. "We want everything to be right. We’ve been checking into a few places to record at, so once the lineup is solidified, we’d like to begin. We want to have a blast doing it, but we also want it to be something we can be proud of. We’re not going to go in and slam a recording out. It needs to be an album we feel confident putting our names on."

Either way you look at it, one thing for sure is people can look forward for new music to come from Autumn Burn in the near future.

The members of Autumn Burn have a different outlook on the state of the local rock and metal scene in Colorado. Hailing from Fort Collins, they are near the epicenter of what is quite possibly Colorado’s largest death metal scene.

Northern Colorado has traditionally been home to some of the state’s most popular local death metal bands, yet Cutler isn’t so sure local music is heading in the right direction.

"Some say the scene is growing, but I think it’s really dieing," Cutler says. "I’ve been around the music scene in Fort Collins for many years, and there are a lot of good bands. But there are too many death metal bands. Don’t get me wrong, I like death metal. But with a lot of bands now, I can’t understand the vocals. And, like a lot of other people, if I can’t understand the vocals, I can’t get into it. Some of the older death metal bands suffer from this too, and attendance has dropped because of it. Bands that have been around for years are still playing the same places they were when they started."

Romero adds, "Around that area, we get a lot of contrasting gigs. Sometimes, we’re the softest band there, playing gigs where all the other bands are death metal. But we also get a lot of gigs where we’re the heaviest."

As a whole, the group feels there’s an element of hypocrisy in Denver regarding music.

"A lot of people say they love music, but they don’t go out to support local acts," Romero says. "There really needs to be a Renaissance."

With Colorado bands such as The Fray making it nationally, Cutler thinks it is great for all bands in the state.

Autumn Burn logo ...Click to view larger image "Even though they’re not metal, it’s still good exposure for all Colorado bands," Cutler says. "It brings more music scouts into Colorado, and more bands will get noticed."

The members of Autumn Burn say they will take the future of the band as it comes, with the utmost optimism for success. Simply stating that the future holds, "Anything and everything," they believe the band’s success lies in their own hands.

"Life’s what you make it," Cutler says. "We don’t care about money; we care about the feeling of the crowd. We enjoy our music and get into it, and we hope people feel the same way that we do."
- www.coloradolocallegends.com / Jake Ryan