Atreyu hails from Yorba Linda, California, formed in 1998. The band has been recognized as one of the most accomplished metalcore bands, and one of the first to bring metalcore to the mainstream. The band’s current line-up consists of clean vocalist Brandon Saller, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, and bassist and unclean vocalist Marc “Porter” McKnight. The band has released nine studio albums, the most recent being The Pronoia Sessions: Reimagined and Revised in 2024.
In just about a week, Atreyu will embark on their The Curse – 20+1 Years Anniversary Tour in celebration of two decades with their sophomore album made in 2004. The album marks Atreyu’s first commercial breakthrough, making the US Top 40 chart, and topping Billboard’s Independent Albums chart. It contains popular singles “Bleeding Mascara,” “Right Side of the Bed,” and “The Crimson.” The first leg of the tour begins in South America and Australia, extending until July 15. Then, in late September the group will be touring around the UK and Europe until late October.
The band will also be participating in music festivals around the world amidst their anniversary tour, a seemingly never ending showcase of metalcore music. Their most recent work was a new single released in January called “Chasing Shadows” featuring Zero 9:36. The band is currently working on new music and expects to put out a new album later this year.
We talked with vocalist Brandon Saller about his best Warped Tour memories, their upcoming anniversary tour, and craziest close-call travel story.
What’s your fondest Warped Tour memory?
The first time we did Warped, I think it was in ‘05. I remember being way too heavily into coffee back then, and it was myself and Gerard from My Chemical Romance would always meet each other to get coffee. We were seemingly the only two people on the whole tour that were just crushing hot coffee when it was like 105 degrees out. That’s a good memory. I felt like showering with those bags you hung outside the bus while people were walking by was a core memory as well. That was fun. That was a regular occurrence on Warped Tour. There’s so many good memories of Warped Tour.
Are you guys working on new music?
We are. We’re kind of spending the majority of 2025 doing some anniversary tours for our album The Curse. All the while we’ve been writing new music and we’ll be making a record as well this year.
Do you all live in L.A.?
We’re spread out. Some are in Woodland Hills, Costa Mesa. I’m in Nashville and our bass player’s in Germany.
Were any of you involved in the L.A. fires?
No, thank God. I have some friends that lost their houses, which is just crushing. But no, we’re lucky that no one was involved.
Do you know any good organizations that have helped that you can shout out?
I mean, any and all pet organizations are great. MusiCares, all that kind of stuff. A lot of musicians don’t have backup plans when their house burns down. They need all the help you can get.
Atreyu has a South America and Australian tour coming up. Any areas you’re looking forward to?
Absolutely. I mean, we’ve never been to South America. I’m really stoked for Sao Paulo, Bogota, Mexico City. We’re just stoked. It somehow took us 25 years to do our own tour in South America, so we hope it’s a good one.
What’s your craziest travel story?
God, we’ve been really lucky that we don’t have any that crazy. We were on tour and we were playing a show in Arizona, and my wife and kids were out with us at the time. We were in the dressing room, my wife was taking a nap with our kids in the bus, and our bus caught on fire. Everyone started running around and they’re like, ‘the bus is on fire.’ I’m yelling, ‘which bus?’
My wife grabbed both of our kids over her shoulder like a freaking superhero. Our drum tech at the time, like another superhero, grabbed every fire extinguisher he could and was putting out our bus fire. The fire department came; the whole shebang. We had to finish the last couple shows of the tour in a van and flights and we made it happen. But everyone was safe. That’s what happens sometimes on tour.
What are your must-have travel items?
Headphones. Deodorant. Cologne. Plenty of underwear. I always pack a lot of underwear. I’m a sweaty guy too, so lots of t-shirts. Too many t-shirts.
Tell me about this song you have with Josh Todd, the vocalist of Buckcherry.
We had a song off of our album Lead Sails Paper Anchor called “Blow.” I’ve told the story a few times this weekend, but for some reason, it was sort of the most under the radar feature that I’ve ever come across. I don’t know why. Maybe we were just young kids not paying attention, and neither was the label. We barely even crossed paths because we didn’t even know he was coming in when he came in to sing.
We felt bad that we weren’t even there for the whole thing for him to record it. We were fans of his for a long time, and our producer knew him in some way. He came into that song, and I don’t even think people know that it’s him, but we do, and we’re stoked that we can hopefully get him on stage. After 16 years on ShipRocked, what better place, you know? It’s a full circle moment on the boat.