From Ashes to New is a rock band that was founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Its members are lead vocalist Danny Case, lead and rhythm guitarist Matt Brandyberry, lead guitar and bassist Lance Dowdle, and percussionist Mat Madiro. Their sound is filled with rap-like beats and lyrics, with heavy guitar, bass and drums, having been described as alternative metal or rap metal.
Their first single “Through It All” brought attention to the band, acting as their breakthrough single and bringing them opportunities to tour and be on the radio. The band’s first studio album, Day One, was released in 2016. It reached number 4 on the Billboard’s Top Alternative Albums. Soon after in 2018, their second studio album, The Future was released.
In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, their third studio album named Panic was released. The album reached 23 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums. Last year, From Ashes to New released their fourth studio album Blackout. One of the singles from Blackout, “Barely Breathing (Feat. Chrissy Costanza)” has reached 2 million hits on Spotify.
The band is getting ready for their Blackout Tour Part 2 which will appear across the U.S. from April to June. They are also going to be performing at festivals like Inkcarceration, Upheaval, Louder Than Life, and Aftershock. They recently finished a tour supporting rock bands Shinedown and Three Days Grace.
We had the opportunity to meet with lead vocalist Danny Case and guitarist/bassist Lance Dowdle while on ShipRocked. We chatted about the highlights of their headlining tour, their perfect day in their hometowns, and the favorite ShipRocked moments.
What’s the story behind the new song “Barely Breathing?”
Danny: We initially wrote that song in 2021, which is insane that it took so long for it to come out. Sometimes these things take time. We kind of wrote that in the studio together, and it was just your typical song about having a bad breakup. Thinking someone is one thing and then having them turn out to be another. It happens almost every time, it seems, except for the one that it doesn’t eventually. That’s the good one. So many people have that experience with relationships. Then Lance had the idea of putting a feature on it.
Lance: We had kicked around the idea because of the way the song is based on relationships, we should have a female feature on this song. We had different people come up with a list, and I’m like, ‘I got the girl.’ I showed him the League of Legends song that she sings on and heard that voice. It’s Chrissy Constanza from Against the Current. She’s great, she’s awesome. She is killer. I got my way and now you guys get to enjoy it.
What was the highlight of the tour last year?
Danny: You know, that’s so tough to pick a specific, singular moment. I would say on the Shinedown tour, the moment that was really special for me was, my wife came out for a week. We weren’t married quite yet. Just being able to be in that environment, these huge arenas, these incredible crowds, Shinedown treated us so great. Being able to have that experience of having her with me for once while we’re out doing our thing and playing these gigantic shows. That was really special for me because she works really hard at home. I’m obviously on the road a lot. To be able to have her out there with us was really awesome.
Lance: I’m kind of on the boat with him. There was a certain special moment with Shinedown and even Motionless in White. My favorite part was the puppy days. We had days where they just brought in a bunch of dogs from the local shelters.
Danny: It’s therapy. It’s awesome.
Lance: On the Motionless in White tour, we actually had the opposite, which for me, I’m a cat guy. There are days where they bring in the little kitties.
Danny: I think I can speak for both of us for our headlining tour. We more than doubled our numbers and everything. VIP, the merch tripled, the ticket sales. Our headlining hometown show sold out in four days, and then we sold out the second day as well. It was insane. It was genuinely wild. We ordered way more than we thought we would need for VIP stuff, and we ended up having to order more. So, for us, that was really special.
What are your cat’s names?
Lance: There’s Tormund, there’s Beep, there’s Azazel, and there’s Toby.
What do you do during downtime on the road?
Danny: I still like to find a gym whenever I can to go work out. We usually just hang on the bus, play games or go find good food.
Lance: I usually make smoothies, morning and night. The first thing I do when I wake up is pull up my maps and look for the best ramen or sushi spot I can find.
You guys are from Lancaster. Do you still live in Lancaster?
Danny: The band is based out of Lancaster, but we’re all kind of from different areas. That’s where we operate out of. Lance is from South of Cleveland in Akron. I’m from Rochester, New York. For people who don’t know where that is, that’s in-between Buffalo and Syracuse. So nowhere near New York City.
What’s your perfect day in Akron and Rochester?
Lance: Avoid everybody. That’s my perfect day. I don’t actually hang out in Akron a lot. Canton has some new spots. There’s a new ramen spot that just opened, like, three weeks ago. It’s Momohana by Belden Village Mall. It’s freaking awesome, I love it.
Danny: So, in Rochester, the key is to avoid the city and hang out in the suburbs. My perfect day is to wake up, maybe go to the gym, maybe get some Chipotle for lunch. For dinner, there’s everything in the area where I live. You could go to a bunch of really, really nice high-end restaurants, and then you could go out to a bar in the Village of Fairport. You can get drinks. It’s a really cool small-town vibe in that area. Then you end your night with a Garbage Plate. If you don’t know what it is, just look it up. It’s drunk people’s food heaven.
What’s your favorite ShipRocked moment?
Danny: Being the last two people to make it on the boat before it undocked today in Jamaica. My wife and I got off, went through and checked out Jamaica, and realized I couldn’t get any phone service. I don’t know how to get in touch with people. I’ve tried everything. I’m going back. As we got on the boat, they made everyone stop because the ramp was moving so much. I probably would have preferred to be on land, but the fact that we got on the boat and then within the next five minutes they undocked, I was like, ‘Holy sh*t, we just barely made it back and we didn’t get stranded in Jamaica.’
Lance: A couple of us did stay back. There were like four of us in our group and they were sending pictures, like lounging on the deck with an ocean view. They were just rubbing it in. But we are glad everyone was safe in the end.