All That Remains frontman Phil Labonte may seem like a tough guy onstage (and he is) but he also has a great sense of humor, as we put him through our game of ‘Would You Rather?’ He shares why tardiness isn’t tolerated, why thumbs are so very important and what a big Metallica fan he is. Check out our latest installment of ‘Would You Rather?’ with Phil Labonte of All That Remains:

Would you rather be late for a show or mess up onstage?

Mess up onstage because it’s forgivable to make a mistake, if you’re late for a show then you’re insulting your audience. In the entire time I’ve been in bands, I’ve never been late playing onstage, I’ve messed up more times I’m willing to admit. [Laughs] If you’re late you’re telling your fans that they’re not important, they’ll forgive you for making a mistake or they have four beers and six shots and they’ll tell you it was great anyway. Regardless of how drunk they are, if they realize that they’re been waiting 20 minutes they’re going to be mad. I would much rather mess up onstage than be late.

Would you rather be in the studio or on tour?

I like them both for different reasons, I like the tour thing because it’s comfortable on the bus and I’ve got a routine. In the studio, things change a lot more but you’re creating music and there’s nothing cooler, for me as a musician, than taking an idea, recording and hearing it, play that without having to perform it, without having to worry about my delivery or whatever – just sit back and listen and be like, “Cool that’s what I wanted it to sound like. It sounds like what I hoped it would sound like.” They both have their pros and cons, I don’t know if I can pick one.

Would you rather tour with a band that you didn’t respect or tour with a band that didn’t respect you?

It doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t really care. [Laughs]

Would you rather have an accordion for legs or drumsticks for hands?

[Laughs] Accordion for legs because you can chase people and annoy them at the same time. Drumsticks? The great thing about being human is thumbs really, that’s really what separated us in the first place and it’s really what gave us the ability – forward facing eyes, thumbs, you know the big things for evolution.

Would you rather have lunch with a music icon who has passed away or one currently alive? Who would it be?

I’ve met some of the people I thought were my heroes when I was a kid and they have been less than impressive. You know what, I’ve heard great things about James Hetfield and I am a huge Metallica fan so it would be awesome to sit down and have lunch with James Hetfield. Every single person that I know who has talked to him or met him, they’re just like, “He’s the nicest guy, he’s so cool,” so it would have to be James Hetfield.

Our thanks to Phil Labonte of All That Remains for playing ‘Would You Rather?’ with us! Pick up the band's latest album, 2015's 'The Order of Things,' at iTunes.

All That Remains’ Phil Labonte Plays ‘Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?’

More From Loudwire