WTOMTS has recently completed an extensive East Coast tour and have just announced their "pre-holiday" tour kicking off in November, dutifully named the "So Heavy" tour, where they will share the stage alongside labelmates, An Early Ending."

antiMusic caught up with charismatic frontman, Blake Martin, who effortlessly pulls the spirit of untamed music from some sacred place inside him, for a little Q&A in-between tour dates.

antiMusic: Take me on the journey of how you met and how this band started?

Blake Martin: The band initially started as a project with myself and Marc (guitar/vocals). At the time, we wanted to be a southern-esque hardcore project along the lines of MAYLENE & THE SONS OF DISASTER. We formed the initial five piece incarnation of the band and over time we ended sounded nothing like what we originally intended. A few member changes later we arrived at the current lineup, which is the lineup that wrote and recorded our newest effort "Empires" and we couldn't be more proud of where we are or how far we've come as a group.

antiMusic: What is everyone's past history, bands they've played in?

Blake Martin: Marc and Alex both were in a band called Fire In The Eyes Of The City at different times, Matt was in a band called Streetcar, Jim was in a band called Rise Before The Fall, CJ was in a band called Heed The Warning and I started in a band named One Sweet Sorrow. We all met through shows where we would play with each other's bands and such.

antiMusic: How is this project different form other projects your members have been in previously?

Blake Martin: Our old projects ranged from pop punk to southern metal, to hardcore, to straight death metal so this is a mish mash of all of those elements formed into one big angry ball!

antiMusic: What is the story behind your name, Where the Ocean Meets the Sky?

Blake Martin: I wish the story behind this name was more interesting but honestly I just came up with it one day. I later realized that it was from the Rod Stewart song "Rhythm Of My Heart." The more of thought about it over the years after being asked this question I came to the realization that that phrase has a really awesome meaning to me though. "Where the ocean meets the sky" is essentially something you can never reach. No matter how far you go, that point where ocean meets sky will always be out of reach. That hits home for us as a band because becoming a famous band that can rely on their music as a career isn't the most likely of pursuits but we do it because it's our passion. So over the years the name has fit more and more with us as a band.
antiMusic: If you had to choose between melody, lyrics, or hooks, what do you think is the most important? Why?

Blake Martin: Personally I would say lyrics. Lyrical content and meaning in music means the world to me. Songs with strong lyrical content that really mean something to the person who wrote that truly have the chance to effect people. I try to write things people can identify with and things that can help them go through similar situations. The lyrics are the heart of a song, and without a heart the song would cease to live.

antiMusic: You've been quoted as saying, "Empires is directed towards our faults as human beings and the idea that we destroy ourselves from the inside out." Can you elaborate on this thought?

Blake Martin: A lyric we repeat a few times on the record is "we build these walls around us." The idea there is that basically we build these things up around us but we constantly destroy our lives with bad decisions. This album is about embracing those faults, and rebuilding what we destroy. It's not negative or pessimistic per se, I'd say it's more about a self-realization that we understand that we all have faults, and we all tear down the lives we build for ourselves in one way or another over time, be that through drugs, alcohol, infidelity, or even just not enjoying the 'little things'. It doesn't have to be something extreme.

antiMusic: You've also said the prevailing theme for your album is one of "falling from grace;" can you talk a little bit more about this?

Blake Martin: When we say the prevailing theme is falling from grace we mean getting off of a positive righteous path. Empires is about getting off the rails then finding your way back on. We're trying to keep driving home the notion that anyone can get off track. Not everyone can get back on. That's the hard part.

antiMusic: Because your music is so cerebral with your do you think your album alienates any fan base? Is it accessible to those who want to listen to good music without the heaviness?

Blake Martin: The album will only alienate you if you allow it. If you go into this album with an open mind we feel there is something for everyone. We've got the heavy, we've got poppy catchy parts, technical instrumentations, thoughtful passionate lyrics and we feel we pull all of this together into one package. The initial response we've seen to the album has been predominantly positive. Obviously, we'll never please everyone, but we feel that real music fans, even if they don't like the album, will respect what we were trying to do with it.

antiMusic: What is the most definitive aspect to your music?

Blake Martin: It's really tough to nail down one thing but I'd say it's between our vocals, with the contrast between brutal screams and harmonized clean vocals, and our technical musicianship. We try to be technical but while still having songs with structure that are easy to follow and enjoy.

antiMusic: What makes you unique from other bands?

Blake Martin: I'd have to say our vocals again. Not a lot of bands use 3 vocalists. All of the harmonies you hear on our album we do live and that's something that doesn't happen very frequently. Also, I feel the way we use our 3 guitarists really sets us apart. We harmonize guitar parts, have unique leads and some doubled rhythms which really serve to beef up our sound.

antiMusic: Empires is your debut full-length. Talk about the inspiration behind your album?

Blake Martin: As clich� as it sounds, our biggest influence is the day to day lives of our individual members. Every line of every song I personally write is directly from experiences I've had. In my opinion, personal lyrics lead to more passionate performance and will allow people to connect with them more.

antiMusic: What song on Empires is most reflective of your growth and maturity as a band? What makes this track standout?

Blake Martin: I would say "Who We Are." I feel it's the perfect meshing of the screams and the singing, and the best arranged song we have. It goes from catchy choruses to intense verses, to breakdowns to a choir sing along. It pulls the whole album together and I feel it closes the album very well. It shows where we've come from but also shows where we are going. It's got some of the synth we've started using as well as the technicality that is becoming our signature. The song comes in with a fury and settles and fades out nicely wrapping up 'Empires' into a tight little package.

antiMusic: Is the listener encouraged to listen to the album track-by-track the way its been laid out or can they skip around and still walk away with the same sense of completion after listening to it?

Blake Martin: I feel like the album lends itself to either way of listening. You will get more of the overarching theme if you listen to it as a whole but you'll still get the song meanings. Every artist wants people to take their work and listen to it as it they intended but to be honest, I feel like once they hear a few songs they will want to hear it straight through.

antiMusic: Talk about your genre and how you've carved your own niche?

Blake Martin: Our genre is tough to define because so many bands are bending and tweaking the boundaries of our genre. We try to make our niche by doing our damnedest to take every aspect we bring into our music and do it better than anyone else (whether or not we succeed at that is determined by the listener!) Our genre is filled with people who try to mix so many different things and eventually some stuff becomes too eclectic and harder to enjoy. We do our best to merge everything we do into one cohesive unit.

antiMusic: What are your best memories from recording in studio? Your hardest challenges in studio?

Blake Martin: The whole studio experience was amazing. From running upstairs to watch the series Finale of Lost on day 1 while Matt tracked drums, to the 11 hour drive to get there, to all the fun nights out with the band. The biggest challenge was once I started my vocals we were running behind a bit so we barely finished on time. However, I feel that pressure lead to some really good results from me.

antiMusic: What was the music scene like growing up and how has that influenced you as musicians?

Blake Martin: The music scene around me was all pop-punk and punk, so I feel like that's where some of the attitude comes from. When I turned 17, the scene started switching to some more melodic stuff with the screaming like, Finch, A Static Lullaby, etc and that is how I learned to scream and thusly that influenced me in terms of style. A lot of the bands of that time in my life were very "heart on their sleave" lyrically and that is a style I embrace to this day.

antiMusic: Has living between NY and Philly played into your music?

Blake Martin: Being from South Jersey, the Philly scene was something we were a lot more a part of then the New York scene but it definitely has influenced us.

antiMusic: What's next?

Blake Martin: Well with our new album out we wrap up this tour with Texas In July and This Or The Apocalypse, then November 4th we head back out on the road. We are basically going to tour as often as humanly possible, pushing this record and trying to get as many people s possible to hear it.