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 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 European tour

When Of Mice & Men announced that they would be coming back in full force in 2016, they did not mince words. On Tuesday (May 31), the California-based band announced a slew of headlining European tour dates. The European headlining tour dates comes about three months after it was confirmed that the band would be supporting Slipknot and Marilyn Manson on their upcoming, joint summer tour.

The OM&M’s European tour will kick off on Sept. 30 at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, United Kingdom and wrap up almost a month later on Oct. 25 at Trix Antwerp in Belgium. The complete list of recently announced European stops can be seen below while the dates for the Slipknot/Marilyn Manson tour can be found here.

The Slipknot/Manson tour marks the band’s first official excursion since having to cancel dates last year. During the final days of their “Restoring Force” tour, frontman Austin Carlile was hospitalized which led to all tour dates being cancelled. Since being given the “okay,” Carlile and company have been working on a brand new album. Last week, it was reported that the group had finished working on their brand new album. Though that was confirmed, there has been no mention of potential release date for the new music.

To tide fans over until then, the group released their Live at Brixton CD/DVD last Friday, May 27 though Rise Records.

For now, you can check out Of Mice & Men’s lengthy, upcoming tour schedule below.

OF MICE & MEN SUMMER TOUR DATES:

09/30 – O2 Academy Birmingham @ Birmingham

10/01 – O2 Apollo  @ Manchester

10/03 – Rock City @ Nottingham

10/04 – O2 Academy @ Newcastle

10/05 – O2 Academy @ Glasgow

10/07 – O2 Forum @ London

10/09 – The Great Hall @ Cardiff

10/11 – Trabendo @ Paris

10/12 – Ronda @ Utrecht

10/13 – Live Music Hall @ Cologne

10/15 – Batschkapp @ Frankfurt

10/16 – Kesselhaus @ Munich

10/17 – LKA Longhorn @ Stuttgart

10/19 – Kofmehl @ Solothurn

10/20 – Arena @ Vienna

10/21 – Taubchenthal @ Leipzig

10/23 – Columbia Theater @ Berlin

10/24 – Grosse Freiheit 36 @ Hamburg

10/25 – Trix @ Antwerp

Houston Open Air Festival to launch in September

A couple of months after announcing the launch of the Chicago Open Air music festival, festival organizers have unveiled that the fest will be getting a sister location. On Monday (May 16), the people behind the World’ s Loudest Month concert series announced that they will be launching the Houston Open Air music festival in September. During the announcement, it was confirmed that acts like Avenged Sevenfold, Pierce the Veil, Of Mice & Men, Alice in Chains, The Word Alive, and more would make their way to the Lone Star State at the end of September.

Heading to the NRG Park in Houston during the weekend of Sept. 24-25 will also be Deftones, Slayer, Chevelle, The Cult, Ministry, Alter Bridge, Ghost, Anthrax, HELLYEAH, Avatar, letlive., and many more. For those who are interested in attending, early bird tickets for the two-day event will begin this Tuesday, May 17, at noon CDT. A limited amount of tickets will be available for $89.50 or $99.50, while supplies last. Those wanting to spend the complete weekend at the show will be able to purchase weekend passes for $234.50. If you are not able to obtain early bird tickets, then general admission tickets will go on sale beginning this Friday, May 20, at noon CDT. The full lineup can be seen below.

In addition to the list of rocking artists heading to Houston, festival organizers have also unveiled that  a portion of the proceeds will be donated Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund to assist with recent flooding in the Houston area.  The Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund was established by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to accept flood relief donations that will stay in the Houston community and aid the victims of the recent storms. If you cannot attend or want to donate directly, you can visit the website here.

Inaugural Texas Mutiny Festival to launch in Texas

Texas will be getting another massive rock-centric music festival this fall. On Monday (May 2), AEG Live (the people behind Rock on the Range, Carolina Rebellion, Rocklahoma, and more) announced plans to launch the first annual Texas Mutiny festival. In addition to the new music festival announcement, AEG has also unveiled the lengthy roster of bands that will make their way to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in September for 12 hours of non-stop music.

Avenged Sevenfold, Deftones, Chevelle, Pierce the Veil, Hellyeah, Of Mice & Men, Ghost, Candlebox, Nothing More, Starset, The Amity Affliction, Skindred, KYNG, Neck Deep, Shaman’s Harvest, Avatar, Twelve Foot Ninja, September Mourning, and more will all make the journey to the Lone Star state for the one day event.

“Considering the ongoing success we’ve had in Dallas for years with Edgefest and the new success story this year with Off the Rails, the DFW market is one that is primed and ready for a top-notch hard rock festival,” explains Joe Litvag, Executive Producer of Texas Mutiny for AEG Live. “We’re taking successful components from several of our other similar rock festivals to create an experience for music fans that is uniquely Texas. Our hope is that this is the first step toward establishing a long legacy that rock artists and rock fans in the Lone Star State can call their own!”

“AEG Live is one of the premier producers of rock festivals in the U.S., and we’re pleased to partner with them on one that reaches the hard rock audience,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said about the new music festival. “Charlotte Motor Speedway, our sister venue in the Speedway Motorsports, Inc. family, has partnered with AEG Live for the [Monster Energy] Carolina Rebellion music festival since 2013 and we’re looking forward to hosting an equally successful event in the inaugural Texas Mutiny.”

Texas Mutiny will invade the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas-Fort Worth on Saturday, Sept. 24. For those living in Texas, or those who might want to take a trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, specially priced general admission and VIP tickets will be available beginning Wednesday, May 4. The special pre-sale will run from Wednesday to Friday, May 6 at 9:59 AM CDT, so make sure to obtain your tickets as soon as they go on sale. For more information about Texas Mutiny, head on over to the festival’s website 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

Chicago Open Air Festival Announces Inaugural Lineup

Last week, it was announced that Rammstein’s only United States show would be happening at the inaugural Chicago Open Air music festival this July. Now, festival organizers have unveiled the complete list of other artists that will be joining the Germany-based band at the festival’s first ever incarnation. On Tuesday (Feb. 16), over 40 bands were added to the lineup including acts like Slipknot, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle, Of Mice & Men, Bullet for My Valentine, and Chicago’s own Disturbed.

“It is long overdue that one of the greatest rock cities in the world has a festival of its own,” write Disturbed in a press release. “We are honored and excited to be one of the headliners at the inaugural Open Air festival in our hometown of Chicago.”

In addition to those who will be performing at the weekend-long event, organizers also unveiled the daily lineups for each of the three days. As a precaution, do not assume that the order of the daily lineup is when each band is actually scheduled to perform. According to the festival’s website, the official performance times will be announced two weeks before the festival kicks off. Until then, check out the daily lineups below and begin to plan accordingly.

Friday, July 15: Rammstein, Chevelle, Ministry, Of Mice & Men, Meshuggah, In This Moment, Hollywood Undead, Trivium, Carcass, Hatebreed, Periphery, Drowning Pool, Butcher Babies, Through Fire

Saturday, July 16: Disturbed, Korn, Breaking Benjamin, Pop Evil, Gojira, Deafheaven, The Devil Wears Prada, Helmet, Nothing More, Saint Asonia, Miss May I, Beartooth, Silver Snakes, City Of The Weak

Sunday, July 17: Slipknot, Five Finger Death Punch, Marilyn Manson, Bullet For My Valentine, Killswitch Engage, BABYMETAL, Asking Alexandria, Corrosion of Conformity, letlive., All That Remains, We Came As Romans, Jim Breuer & the Regulators, Upon A Burning Body, Gemini Syndrome

The inaugural Chicago Open Air festival will take place during the weekend of July 15-17 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL. General admission tickets and VIP passes are currently available for purchase on the festival’s website. In addition to a lot of great bands, the festival will also host a craft beer village and gourmet man food. The beer village will offer national and regional craft beers and artist inspired beverages while the gourmet man food will include selections from some of Chicago’s best eats.