There are two generalized groups of local musicians: those who are content with making music a part-time hobby, and those with aspirations of making a career out of it. For the latter, it takes years of hard work and loads of talent to stand out from the pack and be able to have the true chance to follow your dreams to success. And for one Ft. Collins band, Colorado can no longer keep them a secret from the rest of the world.
Arcanium (www.arcanium.info) has been entertaining local crowds and writing some of the most heart-pounding, earth rattling music for several years. They earned a golden opportunity to unleash their music on the country by serving as support on Megadeth’s tour late last year, and have now set out on tour in a similar role with Bullet For My Valentine.
The members of Arcanium, who include Sinn (vocals), Cate (guitar), Messiah (bass), Mystress (keyboards) and Thommy Razor (drums), released their album The Architects in 2009, and have been seemingly unstoppable ever since. They credit a lot of their success to meeting their manager Shawn Barusch.
"We were talking about getting on a couple of different tours, and we had a band meeting with Shawn," Messiah says. "He said, ’Sorry guys, we didn’t get anything.’ He paused, then said, ’Just kidding, we got Megadeth.’"
Sinn says he was absolutely floored at this news bombshell, with Thommy adding, "We couldn’t tell if he was joking. I mean, we had been talking about tours, but this caught us off guard."
"It never felt like it was real until I was actually there on tour," Cate says.
As an unfamiliar band to crowds in cities across the country, it goes without saying that you have no idea what to expect or how the crowd will accept you. This can cause nervousness in a musician, and Arcanium was no exception to that rule. Yet, at the same time, they didn’t let it consume them and throw them off of their game.
"We were accepted amazingly well," Cate says. "There were some cold sections of people at some shows, but we easily won over about 80 percent of the crowds."
"Our biggest fear was that we would be opening up the shows to about 50 people who were going to hate us," Messiah says. "It was the exact opposite. (Sinn) would do this thing at every show where he would tell the crowd we were doing a video, and tell them to say our name. It gave me goose bumps every time I heard it."
But it wasn’t just the crowds that showed Arcanium acceptance on the tour. The other bands involved made them feel welcome, as well.
"The other bands treated us great," Sinn says. "We partied with them, barbecued with them; they made us feel really comfortable. Dave Mustaine told us, ’You guys are doing it right.’ That really meant a lot."
"Megadeth even let us borrow some equipment so we could keep one of the shows going," Mystress says.
"All of the guys were really cool, they embraced us," Messiah says. "We were in Dave Mustaine’s dressing room, and he poured us a glass of his wine. He basically said he doesn’t bring just anyone on the road with Megadeth. He hand-picked us and said he saw our potential."
Less than half of a year after the Megadeth tour ended, Arcanium is setting out on the road once again, this time serving as the opening act for the Bullet For My Valentine tour, which is also alongside Chiodos and Airbourne.
"Getting ready for a tour is like packing for a vacation," Thommy says. "Only it’s a six-week vacation without any showers or clean laundry."
Arcanium expects several things to be different from the Megadeth tour, which will also include a new tour bus for the band. They know that the vast majority of the crowds will be different, which also opens up the chance to have their music exposed to people who may not have seen them on the last tour.
"We kinda know what’s going on and what to expect this time around," Cate says. "But this time we’ll have new personnell, a new crew and a new tour manager."
"The first tour was like us saying, ’Hey, we’re Arcanium.’ The Bullet For My Valentine tour is like us saying, ’Hey, we’re not fucking going away,’" Sinn says. "But we’re still going to be pretty timid, we want to make sure we don’t overstep our bounds anywhere."
The members of Arcanium are quick to supply each of their own takes on the best parts of being on tour, be it the simple things in life that get taken for granted, or the chance to interract with the crowd after finishing a set in a new city, with Mystress saying she loves the potential of making new fans.
"It’s great to leave the stage, go back to the bus for a few minutes to cool down, then head back into the venue to meet new fans, talk to them, and sign things for them," Sinn adds.
They also say that they didn’t have any of the fabled nightmare moments that the touring life has the stereotype of being full of. Being as close of friends as they are has helped keep this group on the positive side of the musician’s life.
"You hear all these horror stories about bands on the road, you know, people quitting bands mid-tour," Sinn says. "Nothing like that happened to us, there wasn’t even a tiny squabble."
During the Megadeth tour, Colorado, unfortunately, wasn’t on the list of cities the traveling show stopped at. However, with the current tour, Arcanium will get the chance to play in front of their home state fans and friends when the Bullet For My Valentine show makes it’s stop at the Gothic Theatre in Denver on May 19.
"We’re expecting it to be sold out, with tons of our friends there," Sinn says. "We’re going to open the show, and party all night. And it’s also going to be (Messiah’s) 30th birthday party that night at the show, too."
By embarking on their second full tour with nationally known musical acts, Arcanium is possibly bringing exposure and a focus on the music scene in Colorado from the outside industry. So what can other bands in Colorado stand to gain from Arcanium’s success?
"Hopefully it will bring a lot of attention to the area," Thommy says. "Colorado is becoming a metal hot spot. There’s a lot of phenominal talent here."
"We’re all about local," Sinn says. "We use a lot of local businesses, and show camaraderie. We had Whisper Fiercely do our shirts for the last tour, and we’re having them do the shirts this time around, too. We’re really excited about all of the new merch for this tour. We’ve got three new shirt designs, water bottles, coffee cups, key chains, coasters, buttons, you name it."
But Arcanium is also humble enough to make it clear that they aren’t the only band gaining success and notoriety in Colorado.
"There are other local bands that are doing very good too, like Allegaeon," Cate says.
Though they have reached this level of success, they aren’t about to stop here, stating that this is just the beginning for them. Thommy says they have an ultimate goal, and this is one step closer to it.
"Music isn’t paying my rent yet, and that’s one of my goals," Cate says. "I want this to be my job, I want to have all of my time to do this. Think about it; if you have all of your time to focus on music, then your music can only get better."
Not looking past the tour, but always with the future in mind, Arcanium also has a few shorter-term goals in store.
"We’ve got a new album planned, and a few special surprises," Sinn says. "We’re talking seriously about some overseas tours, too. If we all had it our way, we’d be out touring eight months out of the year."
Whether it’s spending Thanksgiving at the Golden Coral in Florida, or trudging down the icey, snow packed roads of Fargo, ND, Arcanium ends by saying they’re doing what they love, and that they feel at home on the road.
"We’re living the dream," Messiah says. "Who doesn’t want to be a fucking rock star?"
Be sure to check back soon for Arcanium On Tour, Part 2 after their tour stop in Denver on May 19.