Watch Of Mice & Men’s festival-centric video for ‘Back to Me’

Ever since the departure of Austin Carlile, the remaining members of Of Mice and Men have been doing a good job of keeping the group going with several music festival appearances and some new tunes. On Monday (May 22), the California-founded band premiered “Back to Me,” their second song to feature bassist Aaron Pauley’s shift from backing vocals to frontman. The music video for the new track is a simple premise we’ve seen many times before; a day in the life of the band when they’re out on tour. Footage for the clip was recorded during the band’s performances at Jacksonville, Florida’s Welcome to Rockville, Fort Myers, Florida’s Fort Rock, North Carolina’s Carolina Rebellion, and the inaugural Las Rageous Festival in Las Vegas.

While the video may be simple, it does allow for the new song to shine. Watch “Back to Me” above.

In an interview with Alternative Press, Pauley reveals that Carlile’s departure earlier in the year helped inspire “Back to Me.” “For maybe a fan of the band this is an entry on our Wikipedia page about the chronology of the band, but for us Austin leaving the band was a life event.”

Pauley continues: “That’s a big thing, and I think in major life events, it’s easy to feel like you lose yourself or to feel like a piece of you is gone or to feel like, ‘How can I be the me that I’ve always known that this is different now?’ If you can hold onto the passion—whether it’s passion in art, or music, or, I don’t know, video games, anything—if you can find what you love and work diligently towards it and remember that that’s a huge part of you, then you will always be able to find a way back to yourself.” To see Pauley’s full interview from this past weekend’s Rock on the Range, head on over here.

“Back to Me” will join previously released song “Unbreakable” on a special 7-inch the group will release in  late June. Pre-orders for the record, which is set to be released on June 30 through Rise Records, is currently available here. “Back to Me” and “Unbreakable” are the band’s first set of new tunes since the release of 2016’s Cold World.

Of Mice & Men unleash first song without Austin Carlile

Earlier this year, Of Mice and Men frontman Austin Carlile surprised fans when he announced he would be leaving the group he helped form in 2009. Carlile was honest with fans when he revealed that main reason for his departure was to focus on bettering his health. At the time, the remaining members of the band were left without a frontman, but Carlile had told them to soldier on without him. Months later, the group confirmed several music festival appearances, and this past weekend, unleashed their first new song without Carlile.

On Sunday (April 23), the California-founded band premiered their brand new single on Daniel P. Carter’s BBC Radio 1 Show. The new track which is titled “Unbreakable” is not only the band’s first new track without Carlile, but it also marks bassist Aaron Pauley’s official shift to vocalist. Listen to Of Mice and Men’s interview with Carter here while the music video for “Unbreakable” can be seen above.

In a post to fans about the new track, Pauley had the following to say about the new tune: “We’re incredibly excited for the world to hear our brand new song, ‘Unbreakable,’ which is all about staring fear in the face, overcoming fear’s ability to keep you stagnant, and telling it where it stands.”

He continues: “Through this transitional time, we’ve felt the tremendous outpouring of love, encouragement, and support from our fans around the world, and we can’t wait to see you all soon. None of this would be possible without you, and we thank you all, endlessly.”

“Unbreakable” is the first new song since the group released 2016’s Cold World.

Of Mice and Men frontman leaves band, group issues statement

As the world was getting ready to bid adieu to 2016, fans of Of Mice and Men were given the news that an important member of the band will no longer be featured in the lineup. On Friday (Dec. 30), frontman Austin Carlile announced he had departed the band. The singer’s announcement came a couple of months after the band had to pull out of their European tour due to Carlile having to undergo surgery again for his Marfan’s Syndrome. In a lengthy post to fans. The former frontman revealed in the post that he finally realized he needed to stop during that cancelled tour. “I had three tears in my dual sac surrounding my spinal cord, and we discovered that every time I would push down to scream spinal fluid would rush though the tears which was causing me the violent pain every time I’d perform,” Carlile explains in his letter. Since revealing to the public his longtime struggle with Marfan’s Syndrome last year, the frontman has been open about his struggle every day.

During his time in the hospital in 2015, Carlile had assured fans that he was hopeful he would be well enough to perform for the group’s dedicated followers. Apparently, as explained to Carlile, his team of medical professionals had advised him that if he continued, he would cause “permanent and irrevocable damage” to his spinal cord and nervous system. Because of the news, Carlile decided to step away from the band, even if he says it was the hardest thing he had to do. “After learning this I realized that I had to step away from Of Mice and Men. No longer able to scream most of our old material, or continue to scream on anything new, I cannot continue on. This has been the hardest thing that has happened in my life for a very long time, but thankfully the band, my family, and closest friends stand behind me and understand.”

As stated in Carlile’s letter, the remaining members of Of Mice and Men (Aaron Pauley, Alan Ashby, Phil Manansala, and Valentino Arteaga) are supportive of his decision, especially his well-being was always important to them. “Though we’re heartbroken that he [Austin] can no longer continue, his health has always been of utmost importance to us and we support him now in this decision and are proud of his perseverance over the years.”

While they are currently down a singer, the band has announced that they will continue as a four-piece. Currently, the first show the band has planned for 2017 is their appearance at the Download Festival during the weekend of June 9-11 in the United Kingdom. After that, they are scheduled to hit the European road later that month. For now, both letters from Carlile and the remaining members of Of Mice and Men can be seen here.

Of Mice & Men get ‘Real’ with new music video

According to Of Mice & Men in late 2015, 2016 was supposed to be the year the group returned with a fiery vengeance after several medical emergencies resulted in all activities being suspended. With a couple of months left in 2016, the California-based band has done just that by hitting the road with Marilyn Manson and Slipknot as well as announcing the impending release of their fourth studio album. On Tuesday (Aug. 23), the group unleashed the music video for the second single off of Cold World; “Real.” The almost three-and-a-half minute clip asks the question, “What makes you real?”

As the video progresses, we see the band performing the new song while clips of people with signs are interwoven throughout the performance. Every single person in the clip, hold up a sign explaining exactly what makes them real. Watch the music video for “Real” below.

“Real” will join lead single “Pain” on the band’s upcoming release, Cold World. Cold World is set to be released on Sept. 9 through Rise Records.

In conjunction with the music video’s release, frontman Austin Carlile sat down with Rolling Stone for an exclusive interview where they spoke about several things. During the chat, Carlile revealed how during a show earlier in the month in Denver, he suffered a collapsed lung, but instead of cancelling the rest of the set, he soldier on.

“I couldn’t breathe right and I was gasping,” he recalled to the publication. “I managed to do the rest of the show. Then, the medics came and gave me oxygen and the lung somehow kind of naturally re-inflated. But, things like that happen every day and I’ve just learned to deal with them. The best laid plans for Of Mice and Men often go awry. I can’t plan for much because I feel like life is always going to throw me a curve ball.”

To read Carlile’s complete Rolling Stone interview, head on over here.

Of Mice and Men frontman opens up about heart surgery

Last year was not a very good year for Of Mice & Men frontman Austin Carlile. A few days before their spring 2015 tour was to wrap up, the singer was hospitalized and later underwent heart surgery to deal with ongoing issues brought on by Marfans Syndrome. After undergoing the surgery, and even having a misfortune event when he was electrocuted in September, Carlile and company are back on the touring circuit.

During a recent sit down with Metal Hammer, the frontman opened up about everything that has happened since the surgery and how he was clinically dead for a couple of hours.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. It’s hard to go through something like that that’s dangerous in general, and just to not know if you’re gonna be there, four, five or six hours later. When I had my heart surgery, my heart was stopped. They put my head in a whole thing of ice, to stop your brain activity, you’re dead. I was clinically dead for three hours while they did the procedure,” he explains.

“There’s so much stuff going through my head. Like, ‘Am I going to see my mum? What’s going to happen?’ Like, who knows, I was kind of excited. But the one thing I remember right before I went under, and before they put in the relax sedative into you, I was just sitting there and my sister and my dad were there and they said goodbye and started wheeling me back. I just remember being so at peace, and I remember saying, ‘Look God, this is in your hands.’ It was out of my hands completely at that point.”

He continues: “I said, ‘I have to have faith that you have a plan for me and you want me to do something with my life. And if you don’t, then it’s just going to end right here. And if it doesn’t, then I need to wake up and do that.'”

With such a serious surgery, it should come as no surprise that the pain post-surgery was just worse. Carlile goes on the explain how the post-surgery pain was probably worse than any of the pain he had felt in his life. He ended up spending two weeks in the hospital working on his recovery and then an additional week-and-a-half fighting pneumonia.

But all that is now a thing in the past as Carlile has returned to the stage, just like the group has promised at the end of 2015. In addition to their slew of current tour dates with Slipknot and Marilyn Manson and then their own headlining gigs in Europe, the California-based band also confirmed the release of their fourth studio album.

Cold World and is set to be released on Sept. 9 through Rise Records.

Of Mice & Men announce new album, release lead single

Towards the end of 2015, Of Mice & Men had promised fans that they would “come back in 2016 stronger than ever.” On Monday (June 27), the California-based band kept their promise and announced plans to released their fourth studio album. The new record will be titled Cold World and is set to be released on Sept. 9 through Rise Records. In addition to the new album reveal, the group also premiered the music video for the album’s lead single, “Pain.” The music video for the new song can be seem below.

Pre-orders for Cold World are currently available on Of Mice & Men’s website here. Cold World marks the band’s new studio record since 2014’s Restoring Force. Back in 2015, the band released a re-issue of Restoring Force titled Restoring Force: Full Circle. Behind the re-release, the band went on tour only to cancel the finals days of the trek due to frontman Austin Carlile being hospitalized. During Carlile’s recovery, which found him in and out of hospitals for the remainder of 2015, the vocalist stayed positive with the group releasing a music video for the song “Never Giving Up.”

Earlier this year, it was announced that Of Mice & Men would hit the road alongside Slipknot and Marilyn Manson for the latter’s joint, co-headlining tour. After that, the Los Angeles band will play at a couple of music festivals before heading overseas to Europe for their own, proper, headlining tour. The tour dates for the Slipknot/Manson tour can be found here, while Of Mice & Men’s European tour stop can be found here.

Of Mice & Men announce ‘Live at Brixton’

After taking some time off last year to allow frontman Austin Carlile some time to relax and recuperate, it looks like Of Mice & Men are ready to come back in full force. Earlier this year, it was announced that the California-based band will be hitting the road with Slipknot and Marilyn Manson on their upcoming joint summer tour. On Monday (April 11), the band followed-up the tour announcement with another piece of good news; they will be releasing a CD/DVD.

The CD/DVD combo will be titled Live at Brixton and is set to be released on May 27 through Rise Records. Pre-orders for the CD/DVD combo are currently available on the band’s website. Live at Brixton marks the band’s first release since their reissue of Restoring Force which was released back in 2015. At the time of Carlile’s hospitalization, the band was wrapping up their tour in support of the release.

Of Mice & Men’s post on Twitter about the upcoming release can be seen below while the complete itinerary for their summer tour with Marilyn Manson and Slipknot can be seen here.

#OfMiceAndMen #LiveAtBrixton Album/Live DVD coming May 27! Pre-Order at https://t.co/ZA9Gf8NXbI!!! pic.twitter.com/H62bb1PqJD

— Of Mice & Men (@OMandM) April 11, 2016

Slipknot Confirms Summer 2016 Tour Dates

It’s been a couple of weeks since Slipknot announced that they will once again head out on a summer tour; mirroring their trek from 2015. Earlier this month, the Iowa-based metal band revealed that they will be embarking on a co-headlining tour with Marilyn Manson which will receive support for Of Mice & Men. On Monday (Feb. 29), the much-anticipated tour dates and performance venues were announced.

The summer tour will kick off on June 9 at the USANA Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City and wrap up about two months later on Aug. 5 in the metal band’s hometown of Des Moines, IA at the Wells Fargo Arena. For those in Slipknot’s fan club, they will be given the opportunity to get their tickets ahead of everyone else on Tuesday, March 1, at noon local time. Citibank member’s pre-sale will happen on Wednesday, March 2 while LiveNation pre-sales will go live on Thursday, March 3. General ticket sales will then open up on Friday, March 4 at 10 am local time.

Check out the complete list of the upcoming tour dates below.

SLIPKNOT/ MARILYN MANSON/ OF MICE & MEN TOUR DATES:

06/03 – Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre

06/11 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre

06/13 – Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion

06/14 – Inglewood, CA @ The Forum

06/15 – Chula Vista, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre

06/17 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Hotel & Casino

06/18- Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-chin Pavilion

06/19 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater

06/21 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre

06/24 – Austin, TX @ Austin 360 Amphitheater

06/25 – Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion

06/26 – The Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman

06/28 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena

06/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood

07/01 – West Palm Beach, FL @ Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre

07/02 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at Florida State Fairgrounds

07/06 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater

07/08 – Hartford, CT @ Xfinity Theatre

07/09 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center

07/10 – Hershey, PA @ GIANT Center

07/12 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center

07/13 – Noblesville, IN @ Klipsch Music Center

07/15 – Oshkosh, WI @ Rock USA*

07/16 – Cadott, WI @ Rock Fest*

07/17 – Bridgeview, IL @ Chicago Open Air*

07/19 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre

07/20 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre

07/21 – Québec, QC @ Videotron Centre

07/23 – Syracuse, NY @ Lakeview Amphitheater – Syracuse

07/24 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center

07/26 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live

07/27 – Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion

07/29 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre

07/30 – Burgettstown, PA @ First Niagara Pavilion

08/02 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion

08/04 – Maryland Heights, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

08/05 – Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena

*music festival appearance

Slipknot Announces Tour with Marilyn Manson and Of Mice & Men

After a massively successful co-headlining tour with Lamb of God last summer, Slipknot is ready to hit the road once more this year. On Tuesday (Feb. 16), the metal band announced plans to hit the touring circuit again this summer. The headlining gig will be shared with Marilyn Manson who also had a massively successful tour in early 2015 with The Smashing Pumpkins. Hitting the road alongside the two acts will be Of Mice & Men.

As of now, the official tour dates, venues, and when tickets will go on sale has not been revealed. That information will reportedly come at a later date, similar to what Disturbed and Breaking Benjamin are currently doing. But even without official dates or venues, the towns which the shows will visit have been announced. The list of tour stops can be seen below as well as the official tour poster.

SLIPKNOT/ MARILYN MANSON/ OF MICE & MEN TOUR STOPS:

Salt Lake City, UT

Seattle, WA

San Francisco, CA

Los Angeles, CA

San Diego, CA

Las Vegas, NV

Phoenix, AZ

Albuquerque, NM

Denver, CO

Austin, TX

Dallas, TX

Houston, TX

Nashville, TN

Atlanta, GA

West Palm Beach, FL

Tampa, FL

Wantagh, NY

Hartford, CT

Holmdel, NJ

Scranton, PA

Cincinnati, OH

Indianapolis, IN

Oshkosh, WI

Cadott, WI

Chicago, IL

Syracuse, NY

Saratoga Springs, NY

Bristow, VA

Camden, NJ

Detroit, MI

Pittsburgh, PA

Virginia Beach, VA

Charlotte, NC

St. Louis, MO

The upcoming summer tour will be in support of Slipknot’s recently released album, .5: The Gray Chapter. As for Manson, he released his most recent album, Born Villain back in 2012. While Slipknot and Manson both had very successful touring seasons last year, the same cannot be said about Of Mice & Men.

Last summer, while finishing up their “Restoring Force Tour,” the band was forced to cancel the remaining dates when frontman Austin Carlile was hospitalized. Since his hospitalization in June, the singer has been very vigilant in updating fans about his condition with the band even confirming in August that they will be making a triumphant return in 2016. So far, things look good for Carlile and the rest of Of Mice & Men, except for that little electrocution incident last September.

Of Mice and Men Frontman “Closer to 100%”

Of Mice and Men frontman Austin Carlile has given fans a major update about his health; he’s “closer to 100%.”

The frontman, who was hospitalized at the beginning of June, has had to undergo several serious surgeries during the last month due to Marfans Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the body’s connective tissues. But through the horrendous ordeals, one thing stayed constant, Carlile’s goal of getting better and making sure fans were updated on his recovery.

Last weekend, Carlile posted a major update for fans in which he revealed that he is getting closer to 100%.

Today was my first day "out of the house" since my surgery! Getting closer to 100% with every passing week. Almost out of the woods!

— Austin Carlile (@austincarlile) July 19, 2015

He followed up the good news by revealing that he is also undergoing physical therapy and that even though it’s hard, “nothing comes easy.”

Physical therapy is going well but it sure is kicking my a$$!!!! 3x a week! Have to get better. Have to keep pushing. Nothing comes easy.

— Austin Carlile (@austincarlile) July 22, 2015

It also appears that getting better isn’t the only goal the singer has set. Taking a look at Of Mice and Men’s website, it appears that they have some upcoming shows still scheduled for 2015. The first has the band performing at the Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, KY on Oct. 3 and 4. A little over a month after that, they are scheduled to head overseas to play at Ozzfest Japan on Nov. 21.