Five and a half years after Alien Ant Farm formed, the band hit it big with the help of its insect friends. More specifically, it was the band's ties with Papa Roach that proved the vital link to a major label contract.
"They just wouldn't shut up about us," said guitarist Terry Corso with pride. His voice crackled in and out of aural focus, coming from a cellular phone on the band's bus. As part of a ten-date tour with 311, the band was heading from Houston to Amarillo, Texas when the Daily caught up with Corso.
"They thought we were a great band, had the potential for becoming one of the greatest bands," he continued excitedly. "And [Papa Roach singer] Coby Dick has a huge, gigantic mouth... when they started reaching a certain level, people started listening to what they had to say. When you sell a million records, you have instant credibility."
With the help of Papa Roach's much welcomed credibility, AAF, rounded out by singer Dryden Mitchell, bassist Tye Zamora, and drummer Mike Cosgrove, signed with Dreamworks under Papa Roach's imprint. The group released its first full-length CD, ANThology, this year, and the album has already been certified gold. Quite unlike the band's independently released debut, Greatest Hits, which is now out of print.
"I saw it on eBay, but they wanted like 300 bucks for it, which is ludicrous," Corso said. "I don't even have a copy."
Though you may not yet be familiar with Alien Ant Farm's original work, you doubtlessly have heard the band's take on "Smooth Criminal," Michael Jackson's Bad 1987 hit.
"We used to play a different cover song every night, and this one kinda stuck," Corso said of the path to fame this song helped his band discover serendipitously.
"K-Rock New York let 'Smooth Criminal' out of the bag - we didn't want to release it until the end of the album cycle," he noted. A point well taken; why would a band that works so hard to create original material want to release a cover as its first single? But K-Rock, which Corso called a "huge trendsetter," set the pace for AAF's success. Soon the song was on alternative stations' playlists nationwide, and a staple on hip-hop and teenybopper-dominated MTV. Surprised at how much the cover did for his band, Corso and his bandmates now don't mind its early release at all.
"It doesn't bother me in the least," he said. "The kids like finding out that we have songs that destroy that Michael Jackson song. When the kids come to the shows, they sing every word on the album."
"Smooth Criminal" has been on the airwaves for a few months now, and AAF has followed up with the release of "Movies," an angst-laden, sing-along single. "Wait till you see the video," Corso said emphatically. "'Movies' is gonna rip 'Smooth Criminal' a new asshole!"
Since the release of its major-label debut, Alien Ant Farm has toured the US extensively with alternative bigwigs Linkin Park, Taproot, and, of course, Papa Roach.
"It's our kind of element," Corso said about the realm of the live performance. His band has also toured Europe four times and performed on this year's Warped tour. Thanks to the Warped tour, the boys of AAF became friends with their heroes, 311, and landed a spot opening for them on a leg of their US tour.
"Now we get to see one of the greatest bands play every night," Corso said.
Boston gets to see Alien Ant Farm tomorrow night, when the band headlines Axis. It'll only be the group's second show in Boston, but Corso is sure he'll find "lots of kids with very positive minds" here, the type of crowd his band has been drawing worldwide.
Opening for AAF is Pressure 4-5, a hardcore act, and Dredg which Corso described as "outright mellow, kind of a Radiohead." Despite Dredg's mellowness, Corso says his audience has been readily accepting the band, a fact he appreciates. "Kids would just love 'em... they'd watch 'em and get tranced, get captivated by that band." It is precisely that musical open-mindedness that Corso hopes to find here tomorrow night.
In the meantime, things are looking very positive for Alien Ant Farm. Corso says that after finishing its tour, the band will go "right into the Christmas radio show circuit." The band works with new material every day; there's a portable recording studio on the bus. And there are talks of touring Europe and Japan.
"It depends on the success of this record, we still got a ways to go on this one," Corso cautioned. But for now, he can't complain about life on the Ant Farm.
