Over a late afternoon lunch on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, Asking Alexandria guitarist Ben Bruce expresses his admiration for actor Charlie Sheen. “I just want to meet him. I just want to party with him. I wish he’d call me and say ‘hey, come to my house tonight, and let’s go crazy.'”
The band, who was recently offered an opening slot on Sheen’s current tour, has been showing up on more than just the actor’s radar. The group’s new album Reckless and Relentless debuted at #9 on the Billboard 200, selling over 30,000 units in its first week.
But despite the impressive numbers, and a network TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Bruce assures that it comes with a downside. “We’ve been through so much shit,” he says. “So much shit.”
In March, Asking Alexandria was banned from a Nashville music venue for being “too controversial,” and earlier this month, vocalist Danny Worsnop was escorted offstage at a show in Seattle for being overly intoxicated.
I sit down with Bruce and second guitarist Cameron Liddel to talk current happenings, the band’s new album, and to find out just how reckless things really get.
From left to right: Cameron Liddel and Ben Bruce begin with discussing their new effort.