UN: When did Prosthetic Records first come into the picture for Antagonist? Were you guys looking for a label to represent the band or did they get in touch with you guys initially? Are you guys psyched to be on such a quality metal label?

Carlos Garcia (guitar/vocals): They initially got in touch with us in the summer of 2007 while we were touring on our last album "An Envy of Innocence," which was put out by a small indie label called Dwell. We only had one album on that label, so it was an easy transition to Prosthetic. We were all super excited to get an offer from Prosthetic, and after some talks with other labels, we decided Prosthetic would be the best fit for us. They're great dudes who really believe in us, and that's what's really important.

UN: Exist is now available to be devoured by the public. How has the response to the album been so far from both a fan perspective and a critical perspective as well? Have the reviews been coming in favorable?

Carlos: Thankfully, I haven't read any terrible reviews just yet!! I won't lie, when the reviews are bad they do get to me at first, but I've learned to brush it off. It just really sucks that we're pigeonholed into the "metalcore" genre, because people are sick of it, especially the music elitists, so they are quick to judge and don't often give us a fair shot. They always say the same thing, "the guitars are great, they're a tight band, but the clean singing is stupid and doesn't belong in this music." The fact is, we've been playing this kind of music for almost ten years now, I've been singing and screaming the whole time, so it's not like we jumped on some bandwagon. But I guess if we're not some brand new experimental genre of music that's never been done before, we're going to have plenty of critics.

UN: How have the songs been received in a live setting so far? I would assume that songs like Angels and Immaculate Misconception would go over very well and cause a lot of bodily harm to those in attendance.

Carlos: Haha, you're dead on about that one!! Immaculate and Angels definitely get the mosh started! We played our CD release show in our town of Whittier a few weeks ago, before the CD was officially released, and kids were already singing the lyrics, word for word, to the tracks they heard on our MySpace. So that's definitely a good sign! Hopefully once they hear the entire CD, we'll be able to throw in a few more new ones into our set and kids will be as into those as they are the old songs.

UN: How long did the writing process for Exist take? Did you guys do a lot of preproduction work to really nail down the songs before going into the studio?

Carlos: This was actually the first time we did pre-production for an album, and it proved to be very effective in terms of fixing song structure and tightening up individual parts. It's hard to really measure how long the writing process actually took, because there are a ton of riffs on the album that I wrote years ago that I couldn't use until now, and some stuff I literally figured out in the studio. Writing is a constant thing that I'm always working at. I've actually already started writing music and lyrics for new songs, that may or may not show up on the next album.

UN: Do you think that you explored the melodic side of the band a bit more with Exist? The previous album seemed a bit more death metal oriented and a bit more speed driven.

Carlos: We've always been a melodic band, and that'll never change, it's just the way we write music. I think it honestly just has to do with the time in which the albums were written. When "Envy" was written, we were feeling a certain way that produced songs that were a bit more extreme and dare I say technical. "Exist" is still pissed off and aggressive as ever, but we got a little more groove oriented, which I think proves to be more effective than just having a bunch of fast songs. But who knows, the next album could be something completely different.

UN: The album was produced by Fred Archambault, who has worked with some very well known bands. Did he help you guys make the best album humanly possible? Did he have a lot of ideas or help you see things from possibly a different side that you hadnt thought of before?

Carlos: Fred definitely helped us out in a huge way, especially from a songwriting perspective. We're always in our little bubble so it's hard to step outside and see the songs for what they really are. Fred was the outsider that was able to tell us what felt right, and what felt contrived. We tried his ideas, and they almost always worked, so we'd go for it.

UN: Exist is a short and succinct album name. Did it take a long time to nail down what the album was called? Was there something about that song in particular thematically that made it suited to be the album name?

Carlos: The title for the album didn't come until we started preproduction and I was finishing all the lyrics. I literally laid out all the lyrics, read them, and realized that the songs as a whole conveyed a message, one of hope. And that struck me as odd, because there's definitely lots of anger and frustration and sadness in this album, but there's always that "light at the end of the tunnel" so to speak. The title track encompasses the message of the album, which is the idea that the human race must work together in order to co-exist on this planet. And as individuals, we must always fight our daily uphill battles with hope and positivity. Otherwise, we'll destroy each other, and ourselves. We'll cease to exist. The message may seem very un-metal, but the album is about resisting failure and fighting until the end. And to me, there's nothing more metal than a revolution.

UN: How does the album artwork work into the theme of the record? One thing is for certain it is a fantastic looking album! The layout is really sharp and its a unique pallet for a metal record.

Carlos: The layout was done by Carson Slovak, in a very short period of time due to another artist flaking out last minute, and it came out better than I would have expected, considering the circumstances. The cover shows a crowd of people walking towards the city, and you could see the destruction all around. You see a similar theme inside the booklet, it looks like armageddon. So it directly coincides with the theme of the album: people as a whole working together to end the destruction of each other and ourselves.

UN: The band is playing a number of record release shows right now. What are the future touring plans like for the band? Are you guys planning to be on the road as much as humanly possible? Any tours lined up with other Prosthetic bands as of yet?

Carlos: We plan to tour forever and a day on this album, and we're very much ready to do so! We unfortunately don't have anything lined up as of yet, but we're in the process of getting some shows together, getting out there and doing our thing. We're proud of this album, and we want as many people to know about it as possible.

UN: Antagonist has been together for 10 years now which is no small feat these days. Has it been hard to keep the band together for this long? Any challenges or obstacles in particular stand out in your mind that made the band stronger for experiencing it?

Carlos: 10 years is WAY too long, we should've quit years ago!! But the fact is, we all love this band so much and it's been such a pivotal part of our lives that we can't just walk away from it. We're very blessed by the fact that we're all really great friends, that actually hang out when we're not doing the band thing. We're four personalities that get along and complement each other, which is probably the hardest thing to find. Sure we get into fights, but not nearly as much as some other bands I've seen. And we face challenges on a daily basis. We only make enough money on the road to pay for gas and merch, we still have to work our day jobs to pay the bills. We still book shows on our own, so sometimes they are cancelled, we don't get paid our full guarantee, we don't always get fed, I could go on and on. So why would we go through all this? Because we honestly love making music and playing shows, period.

http://www.myspace.com/antagonist