Traitors is a brutally dazed death metal band out of south Florida, comprised of five members: Tyler Shelton (vocalist), Dave Moore (bassist), Mikey Ingram (guitarist), Alan de la Torre (guitarist), and Stephen Arango (drummer and manager). Their most recent album “Night Terrors” was released January of this year, and the boys went on a nationwide tour to spread the sound.

Unfortunately, due to the hellish cold (and probably the quality of hygiene that inevitably accompanies touring with 6-7 dudes in a van), the tour was cut short for some of the members who came down with some serious colds.

However, anyone who missed them on the last tour is getting their second chance starting April 7th in St. Louis, Missouri as the band kicks off their tour with Oceano. So don’t blow it: look out for Traitors in a city near you, and whatever you do stay out of the mosh pit if your soul isn’t made of metal; the pits at their shows are not for the faint of heart.

I got to talk to Traitors about their experiences on the last tour, the influences behind the music, and their individual and collective journey as a band... oh and catching themselves on fire, untrustworthy farts, and nutsacks, of course.

Can you tell me about the tour you went on back in January for the release of Night Terrors? What were some of your best memories, worst memories, lessons learned?
Mikey: “The night Terrors tour was an amazing way to kick off the New Year. Having started on New Year's Day, it felt like a great indicator of what 2016 will have in store for us. I would have to say my favorite memory was getting to perform our song Burnout ft. Trevor Strnad of The Black Dahlia Murder with the man himself at our Detroit show. As a long time TBDM fan, getting to play on stage with the vocalist of a band I’ve looked up to for such a long time was pretty surreal.”
Dave: “The Night Terrors tour was insane definitely the best Traitors tour to date! The best memories from this tour were this tour seeing all the fans supporting us and so excited to see us perform and meet us that feeling was too surreal.”
Tyler: "I came into this tour thinking 'Man we're not big enough for this yet, to headline a tour with support on only half of it.' But we pulled it off and it was very successful; it was such a motivating experience. It was also very heavy with anxiety. I've been a homebody my entire life. Born and raised in the same small town. A piece of me felt so empty and hollow and it was such an explainable, new feeling. It was like the worst home sickness I'd ever felt."
Alan: “The whole thing is one big good memory, but being sick for the second half of the tour and getting rained on in the van was the worst part.”
Dave: “The worst memories for me has to be getting sick; it's hard to give 100% and stay level headed when you’re sick as a dog.”
Stephen: “Lessons learned? Never tour in the coldest time of the year, impossible to not be a walking zombie from getting sick.”
Tyler: "Touring in Touring in January is a true true test. It'll show you if this kind of lifestyle is for you or not. It's insanely cold, especially from being raised in FL, everyone inevitably gets sick, and you're Tokyo drifting basically the entire time."
Dave: “The biggest lesson I learned was to never, and I mean never trust a fart.”

Who is mainly responsible for your lyrics? What was the main influence or inspiration behind Night Terrors?
Stephen: “Tyler does all his own writing for vocals. Main inspiration for the record was based off the idea of a few things, from personal situations of sleep disorders to being influenced by horror movies, believe Tyler had a bit of inspiration with lyrics as well from his [girlfriend’s] experiences from sleep disorders.”
Mikey: “I know the idea of the theme for Night Terrors started based around a Nightmare on Elm Street vibe, but Tyler’s lyrics stem from personal experiences of his [and] his girlfriends…”
Alan: “I love [Night Terrors]: brutal, no control, no way out.”

You're about to go on tour with Oceano; is it going to be your first time meeting or working with those guys?
Dave: “This will be our first time meeting most of the members. We actually played one of our first shows with Demolisher back when Adam was the vocalist. It should be exciting to meet them on a more personal level though!”
Mikey: “Very excited to tour with Oceano, longtime fan. ... I caught Oceano last year at their Lake Worth, FL show and actually met Adam Warren [(vocalist of Oceano)], and hung with him for a little bit, so it'll be cool to chill with him again on the road.”
Alan: “Last time I actually talked to Adam I was a probably wide eyed 16 year old just loving Depths.”
Tyler: "Yea! Oceano was one of my first bands of the heavy genre. This will be an absolutely awesome run. I'm excited to be meeting new people."

What are some of your favorite places/cities you've been to while on tour?
Dave: “Portland and Austin will always have my heart. I do not think I've been anywhere more creative, artistic, and flat out fun than these two cities.”
Mikey: “Personally I love visiting the West Coast, Portland is one of the coolest places to hang out and I also really like being in California. I also have to give a shout out to Richmond, VA… I've spent some good time there and really dig that city. Really dying for Traitors to play a show there sometime!”
Stephen: “My [favorite] places to play are usually New York or Michigan, just something about those two places that I can't get enough of.”
Alan: “I have a new favorite town every time we tour, but I love the west coast because it's less familiar to me. A few of the cities on this upcoming run are new to me so I'm just stoked on the adventure!”
Tyler: "I love Texas, Cali, Colorado, and upstate [New York]. I'm excited to be playing new venues this run absolutely. We're playing bigger places this time around!"

So far what cities have had the best turn out or strongest fan base? Have you gotten to hang out with any of your fans outside the shows? Do you have any interesting fan stories?
Alan: “Michigan, Cali and Texas dates are usually the bangers, along with some East coast love. … Unless we have a long drive that night we're usually always hanging out with fans [or] friends in that city. My favorite chill night from last tour was in Massachusetts when our boy hooked us up fat for the night and helped us with van troubles in the morning. Some real homies out there!”
Tyler: "Detroit is our number one stop. Every time we go there the place is incredibly active and full of energy."
Dave: “Detroit Rock City has never let us down, some of the rowdiest most hyped fans to date! I always love hanging out with fans and getting to meet new people that's probably the best part of touring. … Once in Cloud Springs, Georgia two of our fans passed out in their car, so I decided it would be a great idea to let myself in and take some less than flattering selfies with them. They had no idea I did this till I later post the photos on Instagram.”
Stephen: “Almost every place we tend to tour has been insane lately so to pick a few places would be impossible. We always love meeting and hanging out [with] fans … we are always down to meet and hangout [with] everyone and anyone.”
Mikey: “We're always grateful to those that have given us a place to stay, fed us, and let us shower. One interesting fan story I have was on the last tour, our friend Franki was letting us crash at her place and treating us to a late night smoke sesh’ and somehow in my dazed, exhausted state I ended up catching my hair on fire in her dining room!”

What has been the biggest struggle you've faced as a band?
Stephen: “Negativity used to be rough to deal [with] personally, but then you realize you can't please everyone … We are who we are, you either love us or hate us, but in the end we are here to stay and won't be disappearing anytime soon.
Mikey: “Personally for me a big hardship has been trying to hold down work at home being a touring Musician. I'm on the road pretty frequently either with Traitors or driving for one of the bands I work for. I wouldn't trade it for the world but in the past when I come home and need to make some money in-between tours, a lot of places don't want to hire you when you're [going to] be gone again in the next month or two. … But at the end of the day it's always worth it to pursue the goals we have with Traitors. I certainly don't see myself finding any other line of work I would put over that for anything.”
Dave: “For me the biggest struggle has been being away from my home. I've spent the larger portion of the last 3 years on the road with Traitors, Cannabis Corpse, & Iron Reagan. It doesn't get easier, but in the end of the day I can't complain for the opportunities, memories, friends, and experiences I've gained from touring.”
Alan: “Being 6 or 7 individuals in a van for a month [or more] at a time. We're all best friends, but sometimes it gets to where you need a break from all the smelly nutsacks for a second.”
Tyler: "Progression. I'll humbly say we've come onto this metal scene fast. So now the true challenge is can we keep this sort of progression going? Can we keep moving this fast? It's definitely an intimidating feeling."

Find the tour schedule and more Traitors’ news on their Facebook page.
Purchase merch at www.traitorsfl.bandcamp.com or www.traitorsfl.bigcartel.com