It might have been the third day at Download but despite all the miles, all the hills, all the foot stompin’ and all the sunburn on my neck, Alien Ant Farm relit the fuse inside me as they tore up the stage like it was 1999.
Under the ever cosy embrace of the sun the California misfits proved they’ve still got the fire — and maybe even a few tricks left up their sleeves.
After their set BringTheNoiseUK waded through the chaos to catch up with Dryden Mitchell and Terry Corso, who were cooling off. The set was short and sharp – no messing, and all killer – no filler.
“A nice beautiful crowd, warm weather, and a nice little punchy set,” Dryden smiles, still buzzing from the reaction.
“Yeah,” adds Terry, “it was a great turnout. I mean, considering it’s day three and a little hot for England, people showed up and seemed happy.”
And that right there says it all. Alien Ant Farm have ridden the ups, the downs, and all the other bits in between – and they’re still here, still getting crowds going, and still relevant to my generation and the new breed of gig goers and music lovers.
Alien Ant Farm’s success wasn’t always predictable. They were the alt-rock underdogs who found themselves riding the MTV wave in the early 2000s, with a Michael Jackson cover that hit harder than a Mike Tyson uppercut. But while many of their peers fell off the radar, AAF kept the engine running – but what’s the key to their enduring longevity?
“We don’t know,” Dryden says bluntly, when asked how they’ve stayed the course.
Terry grins: “Have you ever seen a surfer when the wave is dying and you have to keep pumping that shit? When you’re starting to lose a little momentum, you gotta dig deep and pump a little harder – and hope another wave kinda comes.”
It’s a brutally honest take, but it fits. There’s no myth-making here – just four guys who never stopped playing, never stopped evolving, and never stopped pushing, even when the spotlight moved on.
One thing that’s always set Alien Ant Farm apart is their refusal to be pinned down. Were they nu-metal? Alt-rock? Pop-punk? Something else entirely?
“We try consciously to reach and dabble in the genres,” says Dryden. “We all came from that metal pedigree, but we also knew we didn’t wanna be a metal band. We wanted to dabble in these ponds but not be fully committed, you know?”
“I don’t think I could be a metal singer anyway,” he adds. “That shit’s a totally different vibe – although I love it and appreciate it a lot.”
“We used to do some screeches in the old days when we were kids,” Terry laughs.
That wide lens is exactly what gives AAF their strange charm. They can rip through distorted riffs and still slip in a melody that stays in your head for days. There’s always been something else going on behind the guitars – and it’s kept fans (old and new) coming back.
Of course, the mix of styles didn’t come from nowhere.
“I was a metaller – mostly because my older brother was,” says Dryden. “But my guilty pleasures were all over the spectrum, from Wham to Michael Jackson. We covered both.”
Terry nods: “I was a metal head for the most part. But I crossed over when metal and punk kinda merged. I went deep into punk both ways. I used to go to a lot of local metal gigs in the scene throughout the ‘80s.”
That fusion still lives in their DNA – and it shows when they talk about the bands they’re excited to catch at Download this year.
“Korn are always fun to see,” Terry says. “I was packing gear while Meshuggah were playing. We saw a bit of Jerry Cantrell, which was awesome.”
Alien Ant Farm were never meant to be this enduring. But here they are – a little older, maybe a little weirder, but still standing. Still playing tight, still drawing crowds, still loving the chaos.
They’re not clinging to past glories. They’re still penning the next chapter in their musical story book – and even if it’s not as big as the last one, they’re gonna make it hit as hard as they can.
“You gotta dig deep,” says Terry. “And just keep pumping.”
Download didn’t know what hit it. Again.
