Ben Bruce Admits ‘Like A House On Fire’ Is The First Album He’s Written Sober

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Asking Alexandria’s Ben Bruce has admitted to “Whiplash”, the KLOS radio show (full interview below), that the band’s sixth album ‘Like A House On Fire’, is the first album he and his bandmates have written sober.

Talking about writing while not under the influence, Ben said “I didn’t think I was gonna have anything interesting to say” Adding “It’s so stupid — it sounds ridiculous — but I kind of thought without it, I’d lost my superpowers. And I was really worried that I was gonna go in the studio and not have anything to write about and not have any way to get anything out that people might wanna listen to.”

“I was really in a dark place for a very, very long time” The guitarist said, going onto talk about how life is hard “And I attributed a lot of those negative feelings to being able to write songs that people can relate to. Because people go through shit; life is hard, no matter what age you are. It’s not easy when you’re a kid. People go, ‘I wish I was a kid again.’ It’s not easy for kids, and it’s not easy for adults, and it’s not easy for teens. Life’s hard, and so I thought, when I was sad, ‘Oh, I’m writing songs they relate to. Everyone’s sad.'”

“And I was really scared that, once I stopped doing drugs and everything, I wouldn’t be able to write sad songs anymore. And the thing is I realized very quickly when I was in the studio and I was sober and I wasn’t taking copious amounts of drugs and stuff is that those experiences that I had that made me sad, they never went away — they’re gonna be part of my life forever — but I just have a fresh perspective on them. Now I can kind of, rather than keep myself in that deep, dark hole, I can look back at those times and reflect on them.”

“I took a different approach on this record, and I thought, okay, well, maybe I can show people how to get through those dark times, or show people that those dark times are inevitable; they’re gonna happen. But as corny as it sounds, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.”

Continuing “So once I got in there and started writing and realized, I can still write, and I do still have stuff to say, all my worries kind of went away. But they definitely were there to begin with. It was a scary time, for sure. I kind of put off going to the studio for a while, because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to do it anymore.”

You can check out the full interview below:

‘Like A House On Fire’ was released back in 2019 via Sumerian Records. The album was recorded by producer Matt Good, who’s previously worked with Hollywood Undead, Sleeping with Sirens, as well as releasing his own material with From First To Last. Good also produced Asking Alexandria’s 2017 self-titled record. ‘Like A House On Fire’ featured Antisocialist, which you can check out below: