Asking Alexandria guitarist Ben Bruce recently spoke to Linea Rock about the band’s musical journey. The musician reflected on their perspective towards fame, success, and popularity.
Ben Bruce founded Asking Alexandria in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in 2006, and the band officially started its musical journey when Danny Worsnop, James Cassells, Cameron Liddell, Joe Lancaster, and Ryan Binns joined. The band released their debut studio album named ‘Stand Up and Scream’ on September 15, 2009.
Since then, the band went through several lineup changes for various personal reasons, but they preserved their fame with numerous well-received records. During a recent conversation, Ben Bruce stated that they’re making music as a band because they are still passionate about it.
Bruce highlighted that many bands started their musical journey due to their love of creating music, but money and fame made them forget their initial source of motivation. He stated that he’s pleased to play and perform and enjoys the whole process instead of focusing on record sales or deals with companies.
In Bruce’s words, he said:
“I’m hoping we’ve made it through, made it to the stage where we’re doing this for the love of it now again. You start a band for the love of it in a garage with your friends. There’s nothing, no expectations from anyone. We’re just doing it for the love of it. Then, somewhere along the line, more people, money, and contracts get involved.
The band starts getting picked apart, and the reasons you’re doing it become lost, and you’re just in this blur. A lot of times, some bands won’t make it out of that section because it’s so stressful, confusing, and hard. I think they can come to a point in every band’s career if they go for long enough where they say, ‘Wow, what’s going on? This is not what we signed up for, isn’t us, or what we want to be doing.’
That’s where we’re at in our careers now. We’re doing this for the love of doing it, for writing. We love writing music, touring when it suits us. We love being around each other and creating music together solely for these reasons, and that’s enough.”
You can check out the interview below.
