Coliseum.

THE LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY punk scene has recently captured quite the amount of attention as a slew of home-grown bands--Black Cross, Breather Resist, and Lords, to name a few--have shredded eardrums and blown minds with their unique brand of tumultuous hardcore punk. Not to be outdone, Coliseum--a thundering, fist-pump inducing three-piece--has jumped right into the mix alongside their Louisville brethren and made quite the name for themselves over the past two years due to a relentless barrage of touring and a prolific streak of powerful recordings. Known for their sonic dexterity and unflinchingly honest live performances, Coliseum have hit the road with the likes of Kylesa and From Ashes Rise, often stealing the show from their more recognizable counterparts due to high-wattage, hyper-charged rhythms and riffs which harken back to the most fervent early-eighties hardcore epic. After a recent cross-country trek, vocalist/guitarist Ryan Patterson sat down to chat with Thrasher about the evolution of his current musical vision. While Patterson has developed his own reputation with other musical projects (Black Cross, National Acrobat), Coliseum just might be his most personal, artistic experiment, as each recording and each show allows Patterson to unshackle his once-troubled spirit and engage with folks in quite the honest way.--Brian Peterson

How would you say Coliseum has expanded since its inception two years ago?

Well, I'm thankful we've been able to accomplish so much. I've been in a lot of other bands that have never done as much touring or released as many records as Coliseum has in such a relatively short amount of time. Even when times are tough, I just have to remember that the band is so young and we've done so much so quickly. It's been pretty wild!

How has the band progressed since you started?

We had a fill in drummer--Al Biddle from Rammer--on our most recent tour and we had to teach him our set, so we had to listen to a number of songs and recordings we hadn't heard in a while. It's interesting to have a different person's perspective on our songs after we've played them so many times. Al gives us an extremely unbiased opinion, as he doesn't come with the same attachments to the songs that we have. He might say, "Do you guys really like that song?" and it forces us to think about it and maybe even reevaluate some of our songs. So, it's been interesting to have refreshers on all of our songs, especially those from the first record because that's our most widely promoted and distributed record, but it was written before we'd even played a show. It's a decent reflection on where we came from, but we've definitely evolved since then.

Where would you say the band is at now in terms of evolution?

Well, it's become a band, for one thing. A lot of those early songs I had written before we'd even assembled the band. Since we've been playing out we've collaborated a lot more and become more focused. My goal is to simply be a good band and let things evolve on their own course. It's been exciting to find more of our own voice and sound. You've mentioned the growth of the band, but how have you evolved as a person during the evolution of Coliseum?

The largest part of the band for me has been learning both good and bad things about myself. I feel like a completely different person than I did before I started the band. I had a lot of demons and issues to work out as I was at one of my lowest points when we wrote the first record. Once I was able to get that out, people began to take it in and interpret it in their own way. Then they bring it back to you in a different way and some of those problems have been lifted off my chest due to those experiences. For so long I felt like going on tour would be an escape from a lot of things that I was unhappy about in my life and in myself, but I've realized that these things follow you wherever you go. I realized I needed to face problems head-on, and since then things have gone in a more positive direction. I feel like I'm a better and happier person, and the last year has been a major turning point.

You guys have hit the road non-stop since you started. How has that time away affected your outlook on the world?

I mostly appreciate how lucky we are and that so many people don't get to do what we do--go out and travel the country and play our music for people. I've also been seeing so much of America, and a lot of it is depressing. There are so many abandoned buildings and cities and stop-offs along the highway, and it makes you think, "That was someone's life or home and where is that person now?" I've been reading this book called The Long Emergency, about America's dependency on non-renewable fossil fuels and what will happen when they run out. The author of the book believes that peak consumption will be by 2010 or earlier, and after that the whole world is going to change. Suburbs exist solely on the ability of being able to drive a long ways to work or the grocery store. It's almost too much to comprehend. I guess thinking about this stuff just makes me thankful that we currently have the opportunity to do what we do, and to cherish the times spent on the road sharing experiences with people.