By: Jackie Rudolph
Sitting with bassist, Anthony Dilonno, from Armor for Sleep in an Orange County college basketball locker room, I was able to learn more about him, the band, and the success that Armor has reached throughout the years. Anthony first started with Armor when Ben Jorgensen (lead singer, guitarist) of Armor for Sleep came up to him at a local show in their home state of New Jersey, and gave him a demo that Armor had been working on. Anthony liked the demo, but was still in another band. Yet, coincidentally two weeks later his band broke up. It was the great year of 2002, and Anthony had just joined this new band which included a pair of cousins, PJ and Nash, and Ben, to form Armor for Sleep which was now in tact.
Armor for Sleep is the perfect name for these guys. Anthony explains that the first few songs that his band mate, Ben, stirred up late at night was his armor for sleep in the dead hours of the night. With Ben’s skill of writing, he dedicated this sophomore album, “What to Do When You Are Dead” to writing songs about death. But why death? Anthony answers, “Car underwater is about suicide. The rest of the record is based loosely around the person who died and how they made a big mistake and how much they want to be back. It’s just an idea Ben had which he wrote about. There’s no primary message. I like how Ben writes the lyrics because his lyrics can relate to a lot of people in a lot of different ways. There’s many different meanings.” There you have it. So try not to underestimate these fellas and think that they’re just writing about death, when really these guys see the world in so many different ways and value their lives.
These four band mates put a ton of effort into making Armor for Sleep what it is today with their constant contributions. Anthony explains, “Everyone contributes in the music part. Ben usually comes in with something that he wrote or was playing with and we’ll feed off that until we’re happy.” With the success of being signed to the major label, Warner Brothers/Sire Records, with artists such as H.I.M and Less Than Jake, Armor for Sleep has shown true success. Yet, success is different in many ways. Anthony says, “I can’t judge success because you work so hard to try to get to the next level and you never know if you’re gonna get to that next level. I can’t put my finger on it because we’re just gonna keep on working as hard as we can.” At least we can say that Anthony is more successful than when he worked as a cashier at Shop Rite at the ripe age of 15.
Now that Shop Rite is in the past, he feels that he has definitely changed over the years. He talks about how he has seen so much, more than what men twice the age of him have seen. He comments, “When you’re doing what we do, I mean you really get to see so much. It’s really kind of just a head start at seeing the world. Just because, you see my dad is 50, and he hasn’t been to half the places that I have. There’s kids my age now who are out of college and do not really know much because they grew up in one place and then moved to another place for 4 years. It doesn’t really go for everyone, but there are a lot of people who don’t get to see much since they’re in one place all the time.” Exploring and creating yourself is what had made Anthony. He loves the life he lives, and is more than satisfied with his career with Armor.
Looks like life is good for Armor. Hopefully, more success is on its way as their third album hits stores this summer. These guys have been working extremely hard on this next album, with recording taking place ever since December 2006. It’s obvious that a ton of effort has been put into this third album. So watch out this summer, with all of Armor for Sleep’s crazy touring and promoting, but most of all make sure you go out buy their new record!
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