Saliva's Bobby Amaru

By Jay Oakley

Good evening Bobby and thank you for taking some time to talk with me. Where are you calling from?

From Memphis, we're rehearsing for the upcoming tour.

Your tour kicks off at the end of the month right?

Yea, Friday in Orlando.

Nice. How long is this tour going for?

Oh, like three and a half months.

Right on, the tour will have some length to it. So you joined the band in late 2011, early 2012 and you had a self-titled band, your name-sake band correct?

Yeah, I did actually and I did that for a couple years.

Your first band was Burn Season correct? And you were the drummer.

Yes.

Did you find it hard in any way to have to transfer over from being the drummer to being the singer and front man? Was that an easy transition?

No not really. They're both different. I started on drums but I like both. I like entertaining, man. I like being out front more because I can interact with the crowd.

Are you a real crowd interactive person? Is that something you really enjoy when you perform?

Yeah for sure.

When you got involved with the band how did you get tied in and introduced? My understanding is that it was through a mutual friend?

Yeah, they got in touch with me and we started working together, recorded some songs and then started touring. We recorded a record in early 2013 and toured the rest of the year and know we have the release of the new record on April 29th. So we're getting geared up for that and we'll be out promoting that for the next few months and the rest of the year cause this tour's pretty long.

Did you feel embraced by the band and feel at home?

Of course, yeah man. It's been really good.

One of the things I wanted to talk to you about was your first album with the band, In It To Win It. It was sort of discontinued to a certain degree. Rise Up, your new album to be released is being talked about as your first major release and it has songs from In It To Win It on it. What was the reasoning for doing that instead of doing In It To Win It as a regular record and Rise Up as a shorter EP.

Basically, we had an issue with retail and distribution. So we decided to release it online for the fans, it's pretty much a fan release. So we decided that when we got a release date for stores with the new record we would pull it offline and do a new record cover. Then we would release different singles and such. We released In It To Win It as a single for the fans and for the people that were feeling like the band might be getting soft. We wanted people to realize that the band was coming back.

With you being Josey's (Scott) replacement, was he someone that you ever got to know? Did your paths cross at all.

No.

What are you hoping to achieve overall? Either with your records or your personal goals with the band?

Ya know, everyone wants to be successful and with their work. With this record we definitely put everything into this record. Ya know, we want it to do well. It's what we do for a living, we play rock and roll and we want to keep doing that. The fans have been so supportive and that's why we do this.

What are some of your influences? What brought you into the music game?

I like everything. I grew up on the Mötley Crüe's of the world. I also got into a lot of the 90s bands like Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, even a band like Oasis. I like it all.

Do you have any favorite new bands or things you've been listening to recently that you're really into?

As far as new bands not really. I don't listen to the radio that much. But there are bands I do like.

So as far as other projects go, you are still working with Burn Season, correct?

Sometimes, we still write together and things like that.

That's great, and you guys have put out some new releases and new songs here and there right?

Yeah yeah, we did.

Since you're preparing for tour this Friday are you staying mostly in the states or are you going over seas at all?

Well it'll be mostly in the states but them we're going to Russia. It was going to be for only two shows and they wanted to expand the amount of shows so we pushed it back.

For any fans that will be seeing you or Saliva for the first time what can they expect out of a show?

We're going to have our full blown lighting rig for this, a large back drop and we're going to have a lot of fun.

Do you have a preferred type of venue that you like to play? Do you like them as big as you can get or do you prefer the intimate settings?

Yeah for sure, both really. Whether small or large, of course the larger ones have more room. But sometimes the smaller ones can be the best because the fans are right there in front of you.

That's great. Bobby, I want to thank you very much for giving up a couple minutes of your time to talk to me and let me know if there's anything you need.

Everything's been great. Anytime and just help us plug the record out on April 29th.