The Ultimate Warrior has been known to say some pretty fucked up things. But when he gets in your face and says stuff like, “You want to be a fucking monster? Be it, body, mind and soul, every-fucking-thing. I saw that fucking belly. Rip that fucking gut into an eight pack. Look like a fucking god up there. LOOK LIKE THE FUCKING IMAGES THEY PUT ON THOSE T-SHIRTS! BE SOMETHING!,” it can be pretty intimidating. Especially when he also makes you do 50 push-ups and run around a parking lot with heavy chains draped around your neck. But in the case of Asking Alexandria front man Danny Worsnop, whose sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle appeared to be steering the band into oblivion just as last year’s aptly-titled Reckless & Relentless (as well as the Stepped Up and Scratched remix album) was released, it was clearly very motivating.
Having just finished this summer’s Mayhem Festival, Worsnop and his bandmates look to put the finishing touches on the band’s third album before heading to South America for a fall tour. Before all that, however, Wrestling with Pop Culture had an opportunity to talk to Worsnop about Asking Alexandria’s appearance on the pilot episode of The Warrior Show, the band’s use of electro and dubstep in its heavy metal sound, and the short film that shows the debauchery that led up to the band’s encounter with the Warrior.
Those cowboy boots you’re wearing look familiar. Aren’t those the same ones you have on in the pilot episode of The Warrior Show?
Yeah!
How did Asking Alexandria’s inclusion on that show come about?
It came about as an elaborate ploy to get me to lose weight, via my record label and the Warrior. I had gotten up to 210 pounds and it was their elaborate way of posing to me, “Danny, you’re going to be on a TV show.” I was like, “Hell yeah, I’m going to be on a TV show!” I didn’t realize at the time that it was just a ploy, but it worked.
It being the pilot episode, do you know what the status of the show is now?
I don’t. I haven’t seen him in a while because I’ve been on the road. I’m going to try to get together with him and find out.
How long ago was that episode recorded?
It was Nov. 10, the day before we recorded our live DVD, which was also never released.
The whole band was part of the show…
Yes, but it was very much targeted at me.
Have you taken the Warrior’s teachings with you since the show was recorded?
I’ve lost 30 pounds!
You were also chugging a bottle of wine at the beginning of that show…
And I’ve quit drinking since then and quit drugs. I’ve had a life turnaround, not directly because of the show. There was other stuff involved with the alcohol and drugs, but the weight loss can definitely be attributed to the Warrior and his show.
Your latest album came out last year, and a remix album came out around the same time that you were doing The Warrior Show.
We didn’t actually write any of it. It was all other artists’ takes on what we’ve written previously. We mentioned that we wanted to do it and people started approaching us. So we just selected the best ones and put them on the CD. I think they came out really well and the respective artists did a really good job of interpreting the music.
Your last album had hints of electronica to it, so I guess it lends itself to that kind of thing. Is that something you think you’ll continue developing as you record your next album?
We’re writing our new album right now and there hasn’t really been any of that yet. But I guess we’ll see, through the recording process, what comes out of it.
How far along are you with the new album?
I’m halfway through recording it. I’m recording the second half in September and it should be out in late November/beginning of December. We also have a short film called Through Sin + Self -Destruction available on iTunes. It consists of three songs and it’s a story about debauchery in Los Angeles. There’s talks of there being a full-length movie next year. It’s autobiographical, but not jumping on this trend that’s currently forming. It’s not for cinema release or anything, it’s just some insight into our story, which is very interesting. It’s a very, very long story, so the film is going to be about two hours long.
Given that you’ve worked with the Warrior now, have you guys ever been approached by other wrestlers who want to use your music as their entrance themes or anything like that?
There were talks with WWE for a short time about us doing the opening credit music. That just kind of dwindled out, but I think that’s something I’d like to try and re-establish and go with. We’ve done some stuff in the MMA community, but not really much within the wrestling community, although I would like to. There are two fighters in England that use our music.
For more information, go to www.askingalexandriaofficial.com.