Burning Brides, a great rock band from Philadelphia, will be back in town this week to support their latest record, Leave No Ashes (which you can buy here). The show is this Thursday night at Engine Room, with Mastodon.

I asked Dimitri Coats of Burning Brides a few questions for Houston Calling. Enjoy.

Ten Questions for Burning Brides

HC: Can you give me a bit of history of the band? How did Burning Brides come to be? I read once that you were an “aspiring” actor in L.A at one point yet moved to NYC, met Melanie, and finally decided to make some music.

D: I was acting in NYC when I met Melanie. We fell in love through music and decided to leave NY and start a band somewhere. We ended up in Philadelphia, found a drummer and got started in the basement of our house. We played locally for while, opening for bands that would come through and eventually got invited on tour.

HC: What are your musical influences? I’ve heard Slayer and The Beatles bandied about before.

D: And everything else in between. I have a huge record collection. The style of music is less important. I’m all about good songs.

HC: You have had some pretty good tours–a lot on Lollapalooza, playing with …Trail of Dead/Queens of the Stone Age and also for Audioslave (among many others). You’ve also toured the UK extensively in the past few years. How have your experiences been on tour–have they helped shape any of your new music? Any good stories of “rock stardom”? I recently read a bit about how Jake from Stiff Little Fingers ran into Liam Gallagher from Oasis in a pub during breakfast. He was there to eat and Liam was pounding Guinness at 10 in the morning. Ah, Guinness…

D: I hung out with Oasis once at a club in Philly. They were there to check out The Strokes and thought I was in that band and were very nice to me. I didn’t let them know until the end of the night that I wasn’t who they thought I was.

HC: The first time I saw Burning Brides play was with Local H a few years back at a small venue and was impressed–been a fan ever since. Which do you enjoy more–the bigger venues or the smaller shows? Houston has plenty of both, but I find the best shows are the ones in the more intimate setting.

D: Both are good for different reasons. It’s a challenge to play for thousands who’ve never heard you but it’s also great to get in front of your own fans.

HC: How has the response been to the latest album (Leave No Ashes) been so far? Is the tour going well?

D: So far, so good.

HC: Burning Brides have put out records on both indie and major labels. And V2 seems to be pretty supportive of your latest record. What do you think of the music industry today? What’s your take on the MP3 “revolution”–do you own an iPod yet?

D: Yeah, I own an iPod and haven’t bought a CD in a while because of it. My friends’ iTunes have become the new record stores. The industry is suffering because of it though. Our label wants to kill off the CD.

HC: If you could have any band cover a Burning Brides song, what band would it be and what song?

D: I’d have the Stones cover “Century Song.”

HC: I have heard people compare your band to a lot of different bands–from late 70’s punk to 90’s indie rock. What’s one description you hate to hear about your music/band?

D: Stoner metal or garage rock.

HC: There are a lot of great bands here in Houston, yet a lot of them never get to that “next level.” What is your best advice for a band trying to get started today?

D: Write damn good songs.

HC: What are you listening to these days? Any bands you think I should check out?

D: The Icarus Line record

Thanks to Dimitri for taking the time to answer these questions. Be sure to catch Burning Brides at the Engine Room this Thursday night (3.24.05).

Visit the Burning Brides website.

Now Playing in My iPod: The Sights — self-titled