First things first… who are we talking to? Name and instrument(s).

Ryan Cooney (drums)- talking in these questions

Brendan Cooney (guitar and vocals)

Dave Mozdzanowski (Bass and BGV’s)

Shea Brennan (Lead Guitar)

Give us the story of The Gallery. How did you guys get together, and how did you decide on your current musical direction?

The story of The Gallery…well, Brendan and I are brothers, so we’ve known each other for about 20 years now. When we moved to Wilbraham, MA when we were 8 or so, we met Shea and have been buddies for a while now. The three of us met Dave at a church youth group in town about five years ago, and we found out that he played bass. Things clicked real well, and we’ve been playing with each other since then. About two years ago, we started playing music in my basement all the time and decided it’d be fun to write some songs of our own. So, we recorded some songs, liked them, and thought that it’d be cool to do a 5 song EP. We released that on our own and, of course, like most bands, weren’t satisfied and wanted to make something new and better immediately after. Thankfully, Blue Duck Records thought that our EP was good enough to sign us, and we got the opportunity to record a fully funded album. It also happened to work out where we could all move down to Florida, where Dave and I were attending college. Despite the busy schedule of four college guys, we were able to practice and write every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to finish this album. With a whole year to focus on writing, we had a lot of time to decide what direction we wanted to take with the new songs. We had all been listening to a lot of not so modern music (Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Oasis, etc) and really learned a lot about songwriting. We focused a lot on melody, and creating some songs that would stand out among a pop/rock scene today, where a lot of bands seem to be doing the same thing.

How did you get hooked up with Blue Duck Records? What made you and the label choose each other?

We sent Blue Duck our EP in a press kit as soon as we got it pressed. We hoped that it would catch the attention of a smaller label that would be willing to work with us, knowing that we were in school and couldn’t be touring year round. I spoke with Jay, the CEO, on the phone and I got a really good vibe. Jay seemed to be very honest and definitely seemed to be on the right track with the label. Thankfully, he liked the EP enough to take a chance with us, having never seen us live or anything. Blue Duck is awesome in that they can give you the attention that a larger label cannot, and that the guys at the label have a vision that helps us stay on track with what we are doing. I think that the label liked us because they saw that we were hard working on our own and would continue that hard work, on another level, when we had the backing of a label. I’m guessing that Jay and John at the label were pretty nervous to see how the new songs would come out, but I think they like them, haha.

Your new record, If You Know What I Mean, is set to release August 12. What should music fans everywhere expect from this album?

Yea, the album is going to be released August 12^th. We are really excited about the new songs. Another thing that worked out awesome with getting this album finished was working with our producer Andrew Wade. He has worked with There For Tomorrow (Hopeless), and A Day to Remember (Victory), as well as many other great bands. We couldn’t be happier with the sound quality of the record, and with the abundance of input he had in the final product. From the people who have heard the album already, we have been hearing that it is a refreshing sound, something that is different from bands that we could be grouped with, genre wise. The choruses are big, and I’m hoping that these will be the type of songs that will get stuck in a listener’s head.

What were some of your influences for it, not only musically, but also thematically/lyrically/personally?

We all have a lot of influences musically. Brendan, who sings, and plays guitar listens to a lot of folk and blues and has guitar training in both of those genres. We all started to listen to some older rock, which I mentioned earlier. That helped teach us a lot about song writing, which we didn’t focus on as much with the previous EP. One band that we are all influenced a lot by is Saves The Day. We call their singer, Chris Conley, the king of melodies. In terms of lyrics, the words on this album are very transparent and personal. The lyrics are influenced a lot by the world and what we make of the world. I think that listeners will feel like they know us better by the time the album is over.

I heard a rumor that this CD is expected to be so huge that bigger labels are considering picking it up. Is that true? What else can you tell us about it?

I don’t know how “huge” the album will be. I can’t say that I think the album will be huge, because I had a role in writing it. I think that some people will like it, and hope that tons of people will like it. We can only hope that enough people will like the album where we can continue to make records, which is all we want to do. I know that our label has been sending the album to some connections that they have at larger labels, so we’ll have to keep you updated with that.

What are your plans as a band once you get the record out? Hitting any of the summer festivals?

Once the record is out we plan on playing out as much as we can. This summer we are hitting a few festivals including a pretty big one called Inside Out Soul Fest in New Hampshire, where we’ve played the last two summers. We plan on keeping in touch with all of the people that like the tunes on Myspace, etc. We will be putting up new videos, pictures, and that kind of stuff all the time so people can sort of be along for the ride with us.

Speaking of summer, which movie blockbuster will be the best?

If I said anything besides Batman- The Dark Knight I think Dave would be mad at me.

What’s the craziest thing (on tour or otherwise) that’s ever happened to The Gallery?

I think that pretty much everything that has happened to us so far is pretty crazy, including the fact that we have a full-length cd, but let me think. This was pretty nuts: When we were driving down to Florida one time, Shea and I were in one car, and Brendan and Dave were in another. Dave and Brendan were about a mile ahead of us, when the timing belt of my legendary mini-van broke, sending a plume of black smoke out behind the car, landing us stranded on the side of the highway in Virginia at about midnight. I was forced to glide through three lanes of traffic wondering where I would stop. We got towed, and it took another full day and about $700 to get the van fixed. Needless to say, that was a bummer, and I hope it’s crazy enough to make the interview.

Alright, that’s about it for the questions. Anything else you’d like to add?

I think that’s about it. Thanks a lot for doing this for us, and hopefully we can do something like it again soon. For everyone reading this, just know that we love to hear from you and we love responding so don’t be afraid to get in touch with us.

Thanks to Ryan for taking the time to answer these. For the record, I am one of the people he mentioned above as having had the chance to hear the new album, and I love it. Go buy a copy as soon as it comes out. You won’t be disappointed. See my review here.

Things I’ve learned from conducting this interview: Leather pants are cool…pre-show rituals are over rated…and the guys from My Children My Bride are just as awesome as I could have imagined they’d be! Just for some clarity, this interview was conducted on a sweaty and historic walk to Taco Bell during the June 15^th Scream the Prayer tour …Enjoy…
 
Alright, so we’re out here roasting. It’s about…a million and a half degrees or so.  Why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourselves.

 
Matt: I’m Matthew, the singer of My Children My Bride

 
Robert: I’m Robert, I play guitar in My Children My Bride

 
Well, I guess I never really found out where the band name came from. How about you fill me in on that since I’m super lame.

 
Matt: (Laughs) It’s all good. When we started like a million years ago, we were all still in highschool. We, and one of our guitar members that isn’t currently with us anymore, were trying to come up with names and we all just kind of made a list. Well, he found that (My Children My Bride) in some old poem book and we were like, “Well, that sounds cool. Nobody else has a name like that right now.” So,we went with that and at the time didn’t really have a meaning for it. Over the years we’ve sort of adapted the meaning to, “God calls us his children and calls the church his bride.” So I guess it’s like God addressing everyone or something like that.

 
Lovely, I dig it! So how would you convince someone to give your music a chance if they were kind of old fashioned and not so up to date.

 
Matt: Refer to it as like Pantera or Metallica or something

 
Robert: Yeah, refer to it as any oldies…modernized!

 
Matt: Try to relate our music to something that they may of heard before.

 
Robert: Yeah, I would say like a heavier, modern Iron Maiden because we have a couple of songs that have a little more–

 
Matt: Riffage?

 
Robert: Yeah, more riffage goin’ on.

 
Matt: Riff-tacular

 
Robert: That usually gets them

 
Ok, that works! So my interviewing style is really chill and I like to ask questions that my friends and I can laugh at later on: So on a scale of 1-10 how gangster would you say you are?

 
Matt: 11! Is that even a question we have to answer? Look at this, (points to shoes and area on his shirt) baby blue, baby blue! (Points to sunglasses) DG!

 
(Laughs) Whoa! You really are gangster! So say you were a tagger, what would your tagger name be? Mine would be OG Skittles!

 
Matt: A tiger
 
Lke (Makes spray paint noise)

 
Matt: OH! A TAGGER! I thought you were saying tiger! That’s funny!
 
(Laughs)

 
Matt: Hhmm…If I was a tagger what would my name be?…That’s rough dude!
 
Robert- Yeah, that’s random…
 
Matt:…Uhh…Let’s go with…Dracula!!
 
Ok that works! (Turns and points recorder in Robert’s face)

 
Robert: That’s really tough…can we come back to that?
 
Sure! So what’s your favorite Disney movie? I like The Little Mermaid…and Lion King.

 
Matt: The Emperor’s New Groove
 
(A fairly loud motorcycle passes by us)
 
Matt: That was a motorcycle that just passed by us!
 
(Laughs) Yeah it was!

 
Robert: Well, I’d have to say ‘A Goofy Movie’
 
(Gasps) That used to be like my favorite movie of all time! I should have said ‘A Goofy Move’!

 
Robert: Yeah,it’s a good one!
 
Definitely is!

 
Robert: GOOF TROOP!…Anybody?
 
(Laughs) I back that!

 
Robert: Oh man, I totally forgot about that movie till you just asked that!
 
Alright, so would you rather chill with an alien or a robot?

 
Matt: Alien!
 
Robert: Yeah alien!
 
Matt: Pssshh, robots aren’t real!
 
Your ipod is a robot! Your sidekick is a robot!…

 
Robert: Well then I’ve been chillin’ with a robot this whole time.
 
Matt: Exactly!
 
You have a valid point there…

 
(As we cross the street, there’s a hoard of cops there to mind the streets for the days festivities. Safety first everyone!…But we all J-Walk anyways…)
 
Matt: I’m crossin’ right now! Nobody can say anything!
 
(Laughs) Man, you are such a rebel! So which 80’s trend wouldn’t you mind coming back into fashion?

 
Robert: I’d definitely have to say leather pants
 
That’s not gonna cause some chaffing issues?…

 
Robert: No, I mean people wear tight jeans and I think those are actually less comfortable.
 
(To Matt) Any input other than leather jeans?

 
Matt: Umm, I don’t know. Go ask Blessed By a Broken Heart. They are the 80’s!
 
Pretty much! So tell me what it was like signing your first autograph, was it awkward?

 
Matt: (Laughs) I was like, “Why does this kid want my signature?” At the time I didn’t feel like I was that important.
 
Robert: It won’t mean anything till we die anyway.
 
Matt: Yeah, your signature doesn’t mean anything unless you’re…
 
Robert: Dead
 
Matt: Dead
 
(Laughs)
 
Are you guys gonna dress up for Halloween this year?

 
Matt: Umm, last year we wanted to do Slipknot but it didn’t work out.
 
Well that’s not very original is it! (Laughs)

 
Matt: (Sarcastically) Well you’re not very original!
 
(Super sad pouty face)

 
Matt: Your questions aren’t original!
 
My heart is broken…I feel so bad!

 
Matt: Just kidding! Just kidding! But yeah, I don’t know…Where is this Taco bell!?!
 
(Laughs)

 
Robert: (Points)
 
Matt: Where!? I don’t see it!
 
I see it! It’s over yonder… (Little inside joke, sorry)

 
(As we stand directly in front of some other fast food establishment)
 
Matt: Well what is this place? Let’s go here.
 
Robert: I don’t care, I just don’t know what it is.
 
Matt: What is this!?
 
(We all say simultaneously)
 
GUS JR.!
 
Robert: Is it good?
 
Never been there.

 
Robert: I don’t know dude, taco Bell’s like right over there.
 
Matt: You don’t wanna give Gus Jr. a try?
 
Robert: Gus might get me sick.
 
Gus might give you food poisoning.

 
Robert: Yeah, that too. There’s a BK lounge straight ahead.
 
Matt: I’m down! We ate taco Bell like 3 days ago!
 
(There was more to their discussion, but this was the base of it) I just witnessed the biggest debate of all time…I feel really special.

 
Matt: You should
 
Well I do! What under the radar bands do you feel we all need to check out?

 
Robert: Umm, depends on what kind of music your talking about because I listen to a lot of stuff.
 
It can be whatever. Any band that’s on your mind.

 
Matt: Progress In Color. Everyone go listen to Progress in Color. They’re from Oklahoma and they’re my buddies.
 
Robert: Great! Well now I want to say something for a friend! Umm, I really don’t know.
 
No problem, well everyone be sure to check out “Progress in Color!”

 
Matt: Where’s Burger King!?
 
(Laughs) It’s like right there! (Points)

 
Matt:…Eh, that’s to far!\
 
(Laughs)

 
Robert: You ask some tough questions
 
Do I really?

 
Robert: You’re puttin’us on the spot!
 
Seriously? Aww, well I’m sorry.

 
Robert: It’s like when you walk into a CD store and you’re like, “What should I get” and you don’t know because you forgot! But when you’re not at the store you’re like, “Dang, I gotta get that CD!”
 
So you’re thinking about whether you’d like to hang out with robots or aliens on a regular basis when I’m not around?…

 
Robert: Yes
 
Oh! Well ok in that case…

 
Robert: We were just in New Mexico so we were talking about aliens anyway.
 
Matt: Yeah, while we were in New Mexico, we’d look at people and we’d label them either: Alien, Alien Hunter, or Abductee.
 
Hhmmm…

 
Matt: It was a fun game, you should try it out some time.
 
Ok, I think I will.

 
Matt: You don’t have to be in Roswell…but it helps…
 
Robert: We should plug Braveheart. That’d be an automatic thing Joe would say.
 
Matt: No way! Braveheart sucks, don’t ever listen to Braveheart!…Just kidding…
 
Do you guys have any pre-show rituals?

 
Robert: Wow, pre-show rituals? Not really. I just stretch my neck out. That’s about it.
 
(We finally enter Taco Bell)
 
Oh my gosh it’s so not that hot in here!

 
(We take a sit)
 
Matt: Alright, pre-show…Nothing!
 
Nothing?

 
Matt: Absolutely nothing! I just wing it! I wing it every night!
 
Nice! So when’s the last time you cried?

 
Matt: Cried from crying or cried from laughing? Does laughing count?
 
Laughing counts

 
Matt: (To Robert) The turtle thing was the last time I think.
 
Robert: (To Matt) What turtle thing? Oh, the turtle! Yeah, that was funny!
 
(I was doing my confused face)

 
Robert: It was on an episode of Rob and Big.
 
Matt: The one with the turtle races
 
I saw that one!

 
Matt: The one where they get the turtle from Ohio–
 
Robert: Then he slides down the stairs!
 
Matt: Yeah, he slides down the stairs! It was the funniest thing that ever happened in my entire life.
 
Robert: That made us cry.
 
Beautiful moment right there

 
Robert: It was hilarious!
 
So this will probably be one of the only serious questions I ask you guys so appreciate it! This being Father’s Day and all, tell me about the relationship you have with your father and how that’s made you the person you are today.

 
Robert: It’s made me better
 
Matt: That’s a deep question.
 
It is. That’s why I want to ask every band I interview today.

 
Matt: It’s definitely awesome how much my father supports me and that’s meant a lot to me. I’ve had a lot of family stuff happen to me with my dad though. Like my parents got divorced and it kinda even hurt my faith a little bit, but thank God that everything is ok and that I still love him and all that. So yeah, I guess it’s made me a better person to.
 
Robert: My parents spilt when I was 6-months old so I’ve spent a life of going back and forth. It’s definitely hard feeling like it’s your fault partially because your parents are fighting over you. Now it’s like my dad wishes he could have been that father figure with his youngest son.
 
You guys have similar stories to mine. (Gives high fives to both guys) Seriously, thanks for sharing.
 
Following the moment I decided to press stop on my recorder, Matt bought me a taco and I pretended to be paparazzi and take about a million pictures of the both of them. We goofed off for a while inside of Taco Bell and Robert ended up winning a taco! I called Matt and Robert scene because they eat at Taco bell and on the walk back to the venue they won the battle of who’s scene and who’s not scene by pointing out the fact that I have purple hair and I was wearing ripped leggings…they win…THE END =]

Myspace

Purevolume

I recently had the honor of interviewing James who plays the drums for the post-hardcore band Oceana.  The band is from just out of St. Petersburg/Tampa, Florida. They currently released their debut album called “The Tide,” on March 4th, 2008 through Rise Records.

Manufacturing of the band

How did you all meet?
We were all in previous local bands, and finally just all came together and started writing stuff, and it went on from there.

How long have you guys been playing together before being signed?
About 2 months

Was it difficult getting signed?
We actually lucked out on that, we recorded 2 demo songs and Rise loved them, so we hit it off with them very quick. It was definitely a right place right time type of situation.

Other Jobs

What jobs have you worked at?
We’ve all worked various jobs like pizza places, K-mart, Tijuana Flats, etc. Just low wage jobs pretty much

If you were not involved in music as a profession, what would you guys do?
We would all be in college/finishing highschool. I (James) was originally planning on going to school to be an aerospace engineer before Rise threw a contract at us.

The Record

Who wrote the lyrics for the album Oceana.
All of us did, we all wrote to ourselves and then sat down with what we had written and used that.

This question is for any and everyone.  What is your favorite song on the record?
We don’t have one favorite song to be honest, we all love different ones. Personally, mine would have to be The Portrait.

Touring

How is touring going for you guys?
Amazing! It’s so much fun and we’ve had some really amazing shows along with life changing experiences that I wouldn’t give up for the world. We’ll be out with Destroy the Runner, In Fear and Faith, and Sever Your Ties in July/August.

Where do you guys like touring the best?
We just got back from our first West Coast tour and it would definitely have to be out there, especially Cali!

Is everyone excited about touring on the Van’s Warped Tour?
We’re so rediculously stoked about it, it’s been a big dream of ours for a long time and it finally came true. It’s just a few days but that’s way more than we could ask for.

How did you get selected to tour on Van’s Warped Tour?
Kevin (the guy that runs Warped) personally selected us to play his stage after listening to us.

Musical TasteWhat bands are you guys inspired from?
We get a lot of inspiration from bands like As Cities Burn, Confide, Misery Signals, etc.We get a lot of inspiration from bands like As Cities Burn, Confide, Misery Signals, etc.

We get a lot of inspiration from bands like As Cities Burn, Confide, Misery Signals, etc.What bands did you guys grow up listening to?
Garth Brooks, Pink Floyd and Zeppelin when I was younger, some of the dudes listened to a lot of Hip Hop and Pop Rock also.

Video Games

Are any of you guys video game enthusiasts?
I definitely am!

If so, tell me about your favorite video games.
I play Counterstrike a lot, mainly while on tour. It’s too much fun, I’m also a fan of Metal Gear Solid 4 for PS3, and all the Grand Theft Autos for sure.

Miscellaneous Questions

Tell me about your free time is spent.
I lounge in my hammock and on the beach, and eat haha

What are some of your other hobbies?
I’m really into astronomy and I also work a lot with a new clothing company I have getting off the ground (DeadTree Brand)

Is there anything else you would like to add?
Come see us on tour! And hang with us, we love meeting new people everyday. And listen to The Tide! Love yas

When I gave a list of questions to The Myriad’s management to email to them, I wasn’t expecting four out of the five band members to answer them for me. What a great surprise! So here is my interview with The Myriad, split up according to who is answering each question.

JONATHAN YOUNG (GUITAR)
How long have you guys been around? Can you give us the history or your band?
The Myriad began with two very bored college students passing notes to each other in philosophy class trying to figure out a band name that would encompass what they most loved most about music.  From there, Jeremy and John Roger planned the move north to establish Seattle as home base for what was to become The Myriad.  There they met up with a local Seattlite (me: Jonathan), newly transplanted Steven from Arizona and Randy from California to round out the band that will soon take over the Milky Way Galaxy…

It looks like the next thing on your schedule is a bunch of summer festivals. Which do you prefer, festivals or tours, and why? What is your favorite and least favorite part about each?
That is a great question… so I will try and figure that out by making a pros and cons list to decide which I prefer.

TOURS
pros: usually touring as a package, so you get to forge great new friendships over a long period of time; you get an opportunity to see a lot more of the country; you get to sample a bit of regional foods that you normally can’t get at home such as sweet tea, Phily cheese sandwiches, Chicago deep dish pizza…; one word - BUS (that is if the tour calls for it); playing in some of the most famous venues in the U.S.; toilets that flush

cons: long daily drives in between shows; driving through the night or through inclement weather; the unhealthy feeling you get from sampling too much of regional foods that you normally can’t get at home such as sweet tea, Phily cheese sandwiches, Chicago deep dish pizza…; one word - VAN (that is if the tour calls for it); playing in some of the darkest and dirtiest venues in the U.S.; public bathrooms

FESTIVALS
pros: artist hospitality… especially the massages!; seeing friends in other bands that you aren’t able to tour with in one big festival package; the really large stages to get your rock on

cons: festivals are usually during the HOT season… and heat and me don’t mix well; only quick short periods to catch up with friends in other bands that you aren’t able to tour with; public bathrooms and toilets that you can’t flush

After that extensive experiment, the empirical data tells me that I prefer TOURING over FESTIVALS by a margin of plus or minus .7%.

How did you come about recording a cover of “Perfect” for the Smashing Pumpkins? What was that like for you?
The Smashing Pumpkins are a huge influence on a lot of us in the band.  So, it was an amazing opportunity to pay homage to them and in a way thank them for their amazing years of music. As the Smashing Pumpkin’s new album Zeitgeist was nearing its release, they wanted to do something special to go along with it.  What they decided was to contact bands who were greatly influenced by SP to record covers of songs from previous albums to coincide with Zeitgeist’s release.  We decided on “Perfect” from Adore and tried to stay true to the song while adding our own Myriad flavor to it.  In the end, after a very short and quick three days of recording, mixing and mastering we were really proud with what came out and hope everyone else agrees.  The cover is finally available with our new release With Arrows, With Poise on iTunes if you are interested!

JEREMY EDWARDSON (LEAD VOCALS, GUITAR)
The new record, With Arrows, with Poise, was just released on May 13. Tell us a little about it. For those unfamiliar with your band, what should they expect from it?
We really sought out to capture a moment with this album.  Our favorite records feel most complete within themselves as opposed to a compilation of ‘hits’ or exploring several different life themes and ideas.  We wanted to capture a feeling from beginning to end. The title for the record and even the album artwork was created before the first song was written.  It was important for us to be clear on direction before we began.  Our ’studio language’ was less musical and more visual.  We would say “let’s make this sound like old war blimps are burning in the sky while a 1000 men storm a city” as opposed to “we need to make the drums really intense and have some huge guitars”.  We were highly inspired by cinema throughout the writing process.  How can we best support this story through music and what movements and sounds can we introduce to really paint the picture.   At the end of it all we ended up with 12 little movies, vignettes, if you will.

And for older fans, how have you progressed from previous material?
The two albums are not really comparable.  The first album was thrown together as we got signed to our first record deal.  It was scatterbrained but nice…the roots and getting our feet wet.  With Arrows, with Poise was written after putting 200,000 miles on our van and playing 300 live shows.  We really figured out what kind of music we wanted/needed to write.  The writing became rich and purposeful.  There was a responsibility within every chord and lyric.  We weren’t just writing for ourselves anymore.

In support of this record, you’re currently touring with Eisley. How’s that been going? Any crazy stories so far?
Eisley is fabulous.  They are such a talented family and it has been a real honor to join them on the road. No real crazy tour stories thus far.  They are traveling in a huge silver tour bus and we recently started thinking of the bus as a big grey slug that we are always hunting.  They arrive at the venue a few hours earlier than us and as we are driving through the city looking for the venue we began to think of ourselves as gigantor slug hunters.  We aren’t really looking for the venue but rather hunting the mighty slug! Weird – I know…but that’s tour for you.

How have crowds been responding to the new music?
The crowds have been awesome.  It’s been fun to craft the live set after putting together this album.  We are playing 8 songs on this tour and we are very meticulous with the set order and arrangement. Really trying to capture the moment within the time frame we are given.

JOHN ROGER SCHOFIELD (BASS)
Your website lists a phone number for fans to call with a promise to keep in touch. How has that been working out for you so far? Are you getting a lot of calls? Is it hard to keep up with?
We’ve been getting about four calls a day, so it’s not really that hard to keep up with whilst on the road. Actually, it’s quite easy since there’s a ton of highway time in the van. It’s refreshing to hear what our fans have to say about our live show and also the new record. It’s like ginger snaps for the soul. Tasty.

I remember seeing you play live at Purple Door a couple years ago, just another small band with an early slot on the mainstage to get the crowd ready for the popular bands. And now all of a sudden I go to your website to see “MTV Artist of the Week.” That’s quite a climb. What do you think deserves the most credit for bringing you guys this far?
Blood. Sweat. Toil. And. Tears. Plus God. A lot of God. A mighty, heaping spoonful of God being all ninja and providential. We’ve been a band for seven years now… with four EPs and two LPs, 240,000 miles, and around 500 shows under our belts, so it feels beyond wonderful to be getting some delicious buzz from various media giants right as our new record drops… a record we worked really, really, really hard on for the past two years. Forsooth!

How do you feel personally about all the exposure?
Like a giant Christmas tree all lit up on December 25th, with jolly children dancing about, their hearts full of wonder and joy! Food everywhere. Presents everywhere. Family and friends everywhere. The Carpenters Christmas album filling the air everywhere. Snow blanketing the countryside outside with peace and quiet… and spiced eggnog to boot!
I am quite happy about all of the exposure! It is LOVELY.  :)

RANDY MILLER (DRUMS)
Now, back in October you released an EP titled Prelude to Arrows with similar artwork to the new record (which, by the way, is some fantastic artwork). What was the idea behind this sort of venture?
Knowing that our full length album would not be ready for our fall tour, we brainstormed the idea of ‘prelude to arrows”; a pleasant taste of what the big album would be. We put a few of our favorite finished tracks together and then asked Dave Gorum to do the artwork. He came up with the night before the battle scene which we all thought was amazing. Yeah Dave!

The video for “A Clean Shot” is pretty original. Not to try to get too in-depth about something that could just be plain fun, but is there something more going on in this story besides the sheer greatness of being able to act alongside puppets and someone in a costume?
Josh Forbes, the director of The Myriad’s video “A Clean Shot”, shot his first elk on a hunting trip when he was 13 years old.  When he neared the fallen animal he began to wonder what kind of life the animal had.  Did he have children?  Did he go to an elk school in the forest with all the other elk youth?  Was he married?  This experience spawned the idea for the video. We wanted to make something that was fun and interesting to watch for three minutes. We received a few ideas from producers and decided to go with Josh Forbes because we felt he understood our adventurous spirit. It was so much fun, puppets and creatures everywhere!

Thanks to the band for filling out these questions and for getting such a variety of answers! Check out With Arrows, with Poise now, and catch them this summer at one of those many festivals.

Esterlyn Interview

May 16th, 2008

By Jonathan Andrews

Esterlyn’s debut album Lamps came out back in February on Rooster Records. This is an email interview I did over the past week thanks to their management and the band.

Q: First off please state who you are and what you play in Esterlyn.

Hello my name is Luke Henry Caldwell- I sing and play guitar.

Q: What is the purpose of the band Esterlyn?

In short- to create, to love, and to serve.

In long- our desire is to be legitimate in all that we do in our sphere of influence as individuals and as an artist. I think for Esterlyn we really strive to be transparent and desire to represent Jesus Christ in all we do.

Q: For those who aren’t familiar with where your band’s name came from can you explain it?

The name Esterlyn comes from my little niece Esther Lyn. My sister and her family adopted her from China. The Lord really used the whole situation in my life. The power of God’s love to change a person’s future is remarkable. As a band we truly want that same love to impact the people around us just like it did for Esther Lyn. She is such a cutie. Her first word actually was love. If you get a chance, go check out the video on our myspace about the meaning of our name - www.myspace.com/esterlyn.

Q: As a band, how do you feel about being labeled “Grand Prize” repackaged?

It doesn’t really bother me. However this is a hard question because I’m sure some people do believe that we tried to repackage ourselves or that Grand Prize wasn’t successful or was dropped so we just tried again. The honest reality is none of those things are true. Grand Prize started when I was a youth pastor. I hadn’t picked up a guitar until I was 19 and really had no desire to be in the music industry at all. The Lord just kept opening up doors without pursuing them and so Grand Prize went from a simple worship band to a signed artist. I am super thankful for the season in each of our lives. I believe God used Grand Prize in great ways and I was privileged to serve the Lord through the band. We sold over 20,000 albums and saw the Lord’s faithfulness throughout- the truth is I felt like my vision wasn’t overly clear for the band and I also desired to move in a different direction musically. I asked our label if we could leave and go in a different direction and they allowed us to. It was at that time I really felt the Lord stirring something new in my heart. I wanted to start fresh with a clear vision of what I felt the Lord was specifically calling me to accomplish within the music industry, so I started Esterlyn. Tony was the only other original Grand Prize member other than myself. Esterlyn has been a completely new venture. We know our purpose and we know where we fit.

Q: What is the meaning behind the album title “Lamps”?

Matthew 5:16

Q: What are some ways you guys have already been able to be “Lamps” on tour?

Just seeking to be “real” Christians everyday. We want to come into an event or concert desiring to serve and not to be served. For us, we desire Esterlyn to be so much more then just the music. I think when you do that, you are a lamp. You are shining God’s Character to the people around you.

Q: Was Jeff Schneeweis someone you pursued to come alongside you guys to help write and produce? How did he help you guys?

A mutual friend recommended him to us. Jeff was just getting into producing. I sent him a few demo songs and he liked them, and I familiarized myself more with Number One Gun. We felt like it would be a natural fit. We both enjoy a lot of the same music, and I loved writing with him. It was a lot of fun. Jeff is an amazing frisbee golf player and I still have never beaten him so we are going to have to do it again. After we signed with Platform Management they hired in another producer named Steve Wilson to work on some more songs and go through some of the songs Jeff and I had done. It was a joy working with two very talented people as well as the band. As far as it helping… A producer helps you think outside of the box that a band can get in. I felt they both brought great perspective to our songs.

Q: I read that your album cover was done by pop artist Grady McFerrin. Who in the band is a fan his work? Did you come to him with ideas for the album cover or what was it like working with him?

I am huge fan - I am intrigued by Grady’s art. He is one of the most talented people I know. He has done work for such artists as Bright Eyes, The Decemberists, and Modest Mouse. We are so grateful he worked on our album. I told him about the concept of lamps and basically said we want to be a light- can you visually show that in your style? I love where he went with it. We didn’t ask him to change one thing. Let art be art. www.gmillustration.com

Q: There has been some confusion as to who or what Rooster Records, the label that you’re releasing Lamps on, actually is. Could you clear this up and let us in on who is behind this label and what set it apart that you decided to work with it as opposed to other labels.

We wanted to be a part of something innovative and new from the get go. We turned down multiple big label offers. Rooster Records is just a name behind a greater vision. It is much more and much less then a standard record label. Our management (Platform) came to us from the beginning asking us if we would partner with them to do something that they believe could truly change some of the ways the Christian industry is run. So basically Rooster Records is a system that our managers, Darren and Chance, have been creating for the past 2 years. They brought us into the picture last year and we have been at work ever since. I will explain some of the specifics in the next question but overall the system is truly artist driven. Understanding that industry is changing so quickly you have to come to terms with a few things. Music is basically free, radio is playing a smaller role every year and print is nearly dead. So taking all those things into consideration we created a totally different strategy from making this record to getting it out to the public. The concept is a long-term partnership and being open to introduce new ideas often. We have freedom to be who we are and create what God has put inside of us. Rooster Records has put a long-term investment into us and that is priceless in the music industry. We are the only artist for the time being.

Q: What separates Esterlyn from other bands in the industry right now?

On the business side we have one of the best record deals in the Christian industry right now. I don’t say that in an arrogant way- we honestly are amazed at the situation the Lord has put us in. Let me explain.

A standard record deal is 10-15 points for the artist. Basically 10-15% after the record is recouped. The average Christian artist typically doesn’t ever recoup their record because there is a great deal of overhead and excessive spending with big labels. With Rooster Records, we have 50 points on our album and have zero of our own money invested. We are 2 months in and over 30% recouped. We will recoup by the end of the year. All profit is split 50/50 after that. We also get paid on all mechanical royalties from album sales on the road, which is unheard of as of now. The record industry is changing rapidly and we are guinea pigs in a new system and loving every minute of it.

On a personal side there are so many amazing bands out there. We just want to play our part whatever that might be. Our focus is to be creative and ministry driven.

Q: What’s the hardest thing about being in Esterlyn?

Being away from our families.

Q: What are some things our readers might not know about you personally?

I love wax lips.
I love the Seattle Seahawks
I go to IVM everyday
I love vintage and classic things
I would love to own an otter
I have the sweetest wife
I have been to India 4 times
I lived in Europe for a year and went to Bible College
I modeled for Nike
I love the movie ‘A River Runs Through It’
I love fashion
I want to serve the Lord with all my heart for all my life

Q: Growing up, what were some bands you looked up too and why did you look up to them?

Switchfoot for their originality.
Keith Green for his ministry
Third Eye Blind for the hooks
Amy Grant for the looks

Q: Now, working in the music industry, who are some artists who you look up to and think have set a good example?

Jars of Clay- amazing people- they are sincere and real- true artists
Kutless- we were just on their bus for the past 2 months- they are great people.
Leeland- I love their hearts for ministry. It brings joy to me.

Q: Where can our readers pick up a copy of your new album Lamps?

Well the IVM store of course, esterlyn.com, iTunes, Family Bookstores, Calvary Chapels, from your friends.

Official Site

Myspace

Purevolume

Virb

Youtube

Mike of the So Cal bred band Sever Your Ties, so graciously allowed me a bit of his time to talk about the band, their message and their future…
Kim IndieVisionMusic- For the record, state your name and what you do in Sever Your Ties.
Mike- I’m Mike and I play guitar
KimIVM- So how long have you been with the band?
Mike- I’m one of the original members. We started back in I think 2005, earlier 2005, I don’t remember when.
KimIVM- Sweet. So is there a story behind he band name?
Mike- There’s not really a story but there is a meaning. It’s basically…well we are a Christian band, and as a Christian band we actually believe that there’s a difference between a Christian band and Christians in a band. While we are all Christians, we’re also using our band as a ministry. So it’s basically calling people out to Sever Their Ties with the world and their old ways
KimIVM- I totally appreciate you guys for that. So you have a new album coming out July 8^th, tell me a little about the writing and recording process.
Mike- Uh, we have been writing, or had been writing the album for quite some time. Basically, how we work is we do all of the writing together. There’s not really one person who does all the writing by themselves or anything like that. We all get together in writing sessions and put the record together, all six of us. We recorded with uh…well he’s the singer and all the members of Number One Gun, his name is Jeff Schneeweis. We recorded with him up in Chico from October through December 2007. Yeah, we just got the records back a little while ago from mixing and mastering and it’s ready to come out on July 7^th with Solid State Records
KimIVM- Definitely can’t wait. So the date is July 7^th?
Mike- Sorry, pardon me you got me! July 8^th
KimIVM- Alright, because I was about to say that’d be my birthday and everyone who wouldn’t know what to get me could right out and get the CD for me and I’d have like 20 copies! So the date is July 8^th then?
Mike- Yeah
KimIVM- Alright, so how do you think you guys have progressed musically and personally since the earlier days?
Mike- Could I actually call you right back? There’s a cop following me.
KimIVM- Yeah definitely!
Mike- Thanks
So there was about a 3 or 4 minute interval here where I repeatedly made small talk with myself, but I don’t think there’s a point to put any of that here. Well he eventually called back…
Mike- Sorry about that.
KimIVM- No worries! Is everything ok?
Mike- Yeah, I’m not in any trouble or anything. I got my windows tinted a while ago and in the back, the guy that tinted them, like pulled out some of my electrical or something like that to get to the back windshield. He messed up my like…you know how in the middle of the windshield on the back there’s like one brakelight?
KimIVM- Yeah 
Mike- Well that one he like messed up so they just use that as an excuse to pull me over all the time. Well like it’s good. I understand why they do it. It’s just an easy excuse to pull people over and maybe they’ll find those people doing something wrong
KimIVM- True
Mike- But yeah, I get pulled over like all the time because we’re up here in like the Mission Viejo area and there’s like the most cops ever! So they pull me over like once a week and I tell them you know “The guy messed up my taillight and I’m in the process of getting it fixed but I don’t have a lot of time to do that”. So whatever! I was planning on him pulling me over because he was following right behind me and I just didn’t wanna be on the phone while that happened. So anyways I’m all good now!
KimIVM- Great! So where did we leave off? Oh, ok got it. So how do you think you guys have progressed musically and personally since the earlier days?
Mike- Uhh, well we started out harder and a little more, I guess with a little more “brutal” sound, if you will. (There were) a lot more break downs, less structure, not very much singing at all, and that was when we had our old singer who was a completely different style. Our current singer now, Sean, actually played keyboards for us back then. He did the clean vocals for us on one of our first demos that some people have but it never got released. But uh, anyways, after that we actually let our singer go because that wasn’t really the direction that we wanted to move with the band. We were searching for a new singer for a while and didn’t really find an exact fit we were looking for, but we knew that Sean had always done the backups and all that stuff and he was awesome at it, but he just hadn’t really been frontman. So after some time and prayer and all that stuff, we felt like he was being called to step up to vocals. So we brought on his friend Justin at the time to fill in on keyboards, and that’s kind of the sound we got out of that. That’s when we recorded our EP First Sign of Light. If you listen to the difference from that first demo to First Sign of Light, you’ll already see the direction the band was heading. But we already had those songs written so we just recorded them and put out the EP. We always had the thought in mind that we were gonna move toward our more current style now which is a little bit more rock influenced. We like to consider ourselves party rock if you will. But again, we’re doing the whole ministry thing but we’re definitely out to give kids a good time. We’re not trying to be toughest guys ever, we’re just dudes and we’re playing fun music. We just wanna give kids some entertainment and a show worth their money and a CD that will definitely be worth their money! Yeah, I don’t know. We’ve progressed like that I guess! I kinda rambled on there.
KimIVM- No, you’re answer totally works
Mike- Well I guess we just wanted to do something more fun and not so completely serious. I mean we take our music seriously and we put a lot into writing it but it’s not like “Oh My God here comes the crazy breakdown everybody dance!”
KimIVM- Haha!
Mike- We’d rather people come to our shows, have a good time, and actually watch us and the effort we put into our shows, rather than stand with their backs turned to us and wait for a breakdown.
KimIVM- Yeah, I can understand that. So how’s Solid State been treating you guys so far?
Mike- Uh, they’re awesome! It was a great, great feeling when we were finally able to nail that down. It was something that was a long time in the making and a lot of people don’t realize that. It’s probably been a little over a year now but we’re finally able to share that with everybody. We have the CD coming out now and all that stuff, and they’ve been totally awesome and very supportive. The whole team there is way cool. We got to meet them on our last tour when we went to Seattle and it’s an awesome label and it’s really awesome that they’re supportive of our ministry and all that also.
KimIVM- So how would you describe your live performances musically and visually for someone who hasn’t gotten the pleasure of seeing you live yet? 
Mike- Umm, well it’s a musical party. It’s a real rockin’ good time! Yeah, we really want kids to come and feel good after leaving our show. I’ve been playing in bands for a while and so has Philippe, well we’re from Orange County and we’ve been playing in bands in this area for a while now. We just got tired of the whole dancing thing, like with people crowd moshing. It’s not supposed to be like a contest or anything. I don’t know about anybody else, but I go to concerts to see bands that I like to hear their music and to watch them perform and all that stuff. I just think it’s kind of weird when people go to prove themselves or prove whatever. We also want kids to come and feel faith and have an awesome time and leave kind of feeling better about themselves. We always open up a window of opportunity for anybody that wants to talk about anything with us. That’s like the main purpose of our band; to help people out and be there for them, giving back to everybody else. It’s not really about us.
KimIVM- Do you guys have any pre-show rituals?
Mike- Gosh…lot’s of eating, we stretch…oh and we give ourselves high fives and headbutts amongst the band
KimIVM- Wow, high fives and headbutts! That’s nice!
Mike- Yeah, get ourselves a little riled up there.
KimIVM- So what are some of the ups and downs of being in a band in general?
Mike- Well the biggest struggle when you’re trying to do something serious in music is probably the financials. It is so hard to put so much time and effort into something like this. It’s basically like a really expensive hobby. I’m so stoked that we were able to get noticed and maybe something will start paying off for us soon. But one of the biggest struggles is definitely financials. We’re trying to work as much as we can but still take the band seriously and have enough time for it. I mean we have a lot of bills to pay, buying all this equipment, paying for gas for shows; it’s all on our dollar. It’s not like we’re rich or anything. I know this is like a huge struggle for so many bands: finding money to buy equipment, pay for everything and make things really legit, get recordings, pay for CDs to get printed out and pressed. It’s a huge drawback for a lot of bands. Also, staying disciplined to rehearsal and all that. That’s one thing that I’m so stoked that we’ve done. Over the past few years we’ve been very disciplined to working really hard and always making sure we’re having rehearsal a few times a week with set times and everything. In a way, we’re kind of running it like a business I guess. Everybody’s really pulling their weight. It just gets hard because it’s all in our own free time but it’s something that you want to be doing as a job, but you’re not getting paid to do it so you have to work full time somewhere else.
KimIVM- If you weren’t involved with music what would you be doing with yourself?
Mike- I have a company that I run, we do band merch. That’s like my day job. So if I weren’t in the band I’d still be doing that. I also have a design company so I’d probably be doing all that stuff. I’d probably really bummed on life if I wasn’t playing music. So I don’t know if not playing music would be really an option for me…or any of us really.
KimIVM- So which bands or artists are you listening to right now?
Mike- Uhh…I really like The Secret and Whisper record that came out.
KimIVM- I know! Isn’t it great?
Mike- Yeah, I really like that album I’ve been listening to it a lot. Also, umm I can’t think of what I’ve been listening to! Well I’ve been listening to mewithoutYou and lots of Thrice. I’ve been listening to our record a lot, no joke…This is really hard. I have this thing about myself where I can’t listen to records over and over and over again so I switch it up, all random stuff everyday. I guess I’ve still been listening to MxPx and Millencolin also.
KimIVM- Definitely very eclectic. Well what do you see for the future of Sever Your Ties?
Mike- I see…the biggest band in the world! Haha!
KimIVM- EPIC!
Mike- Yeah, well honestly I see lots and lots of touring and lots more party music with kids. We’ll be working hard and putting out more records, paying our dues and trying to just get somewhere…get noticed.
KimIVM- Sweet! Well I think that concludes our interview, any last comments?
Mike- Uumm…
KimIVM- [In a whispered sort of chant voice] Go buy the album July 8^th!
Mike- Haha! Ok you can put in there that you said that!
KimIVM- Haha! Ofcourse! (Writer’s sidenote- I said that!)
Mike- Well yeah, on the behalf of the whole band I’d just like to thank George Costanza
KimIVM- Well alright there you go.
Mike- Do you know how to spell it?
Kim- I, well, I can…No haha!
Mike- Well are you gonna write it on down!?
KimIVM- I think I will!
[Spells name for me]
KimIVM- Well thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview it’s extremely appreciated.
Mike- No problem, and it would be our pleasure to talk to you guys (IVM) anytime.
Sever Your Ties is a band that’s pumping out the word of loving Christ right along with the vibe of a good time and enjoyment among eachother. Who doesn’t love a band that produces their own brand of self proclaimed “party music” and uses their band as a ministry to reach out to others?! This band is definitely worth checking out so look into getting their album coming out July 8^th on Solid State Records.
Myspace

Interview with Gasoline Heart (4-16-08)

As a 19-year-old, it was a little awkward walking into the Green Rock Tavern in Philly for a 21+ show asking for Gasoline Heart, but their manager Jimi met me pretty quickly since I was early enough to be the only one there not with the band. After Louis finished his sound checking, we walked outside to look for a place to do the interview while he had a “smokerette.” We chatted about the problems with liberal Bible colleges and my possibility of sneaking back inside to watch the show after our interview, which I was lucky enough to be able to do. Realizing there was nowhere to go, we first tried just standing outside and doing the interview in front of the venue, but that was soon to change.

Eric, IVM: You can start with your name and what you do in the band.
Louis, GH: Louis DeFabrizio, I sing and play guitar. What’s your name?
E: Eric Pettersson.
L: What do you do?
E: I write for Indie Vision Music dot Com [laughs].
L: There we go! We have artist on artist profile.

E: Alright, so what’s new with Gasoline Heart? What are you guys doing lately?
L: We just got a tour with Murder by Death in May. That should be awesome. So that’s all of May, and it’s all like West Coast, and Gasoline Heart’s never been to the West Coast, so my old band The Kick, and our bass player was in Squad Five-O and they played there, and we always played West Coast then, so I’m excited about Gasoline Heart doing a West Coast thing because it will be good shows. I think there’ll be a lot of people there, so…

E: Would you mind holding the tape recorder a little closer?
L: Sorry about that.
E: The mic’s right there. [Points]
L: There we go, could you hear that?
E: I’ve had problems with that before, so…
L: Alright, we’re gonna go sit in my car. Let’s make that happen. [Louis narrates into the mic] Alright, now we’re walking to my car. It’s over here.
E: OK. Is it the van?
L: No, it’s not the van, man. It’s just me. I’m driving by myself. I’ve so far logged about 1800 miles.
E: Is this just a solo tour?
L: Mmhmm, yup. You can sit in the front. [Continues to narrate into the mic, as my girlfriend and I continue to laugh in the background] We’re opening the car. [Unlocks the doors] There you go. Into the mobile. That’s better. I’ll unroll this window. Yeah, so I’ve logged… let’s see how many miles I’ve logged… 1827.2 miles to get to you. Isn’t that cool?

E: Alright, your first album, You Know Who You Are, was on Mono Vs Stereo. Now you’re doing it independently. Why make that switch?
L: Well, it wasn’t on purpose. Mono Vs Stereo went out of business.
E: Really?
L: Yeah, they folded about eight days before we were supposed to make our new record, so we had all the studio time booked and everything. But since we were still in contract with Mono Vs Stereo, like the way record labels work is as soon they agree to do your next album, they have to make your next album. But the record label wasn’t going to be around anymore, so what they did is gave us a couple of thousand dollars. And we just, instead of dumping more money… I was like $25,000 in debt with my old band The Kick from doing everything so DIY and punk rock. And I was like, “Why don’t we just take the money, and let’s just record an EP.” And we just recorded six songs, so… yeah, so then we were like, “Instead of dumping any money into it, let’s just put it on iTunes and press 1000 of them, and see what we can do.” Like completely word of mouth. And it was probably inspired by Radiohead who just put out their record out of nowhere. And we’re like, “We can do that too! Wait, we don’t have millions of fans.” But we still sold a decent amount. I just want to see how many we can sell with nothing. Like no ads, no anything, just word of mouth. So we’ve sold about probably 500, so that’s not that bad, like just completely on iTunes and stuff. So… and then, it looks like we’re probably going to be signing with a label this summer, but I can’t tell who. But it’ll come out pretty soon. And it’s somebody that you’ll probably know of or whatever. So I’m excited about that. But that’s why we did that. We just put it out ourselves, and blah blah blah.

E: You can’t say any more about the other label?
L: No, not yet. Soon though! Really soon. But you’ll know a guy who’s doing it. He’s been a part of some other labels, so… yeah, I was told not to tell.

E: For everyone who didn’t get a chance to hear the new EP, what should they expect from it, compared to the old stuff?
L: The EP that we did, I think it’s a little bit more… like the first album, I wrote that record, and I didn’t think… like when The Kick and Squad Five-O and stuff, when we broke up, I don’t think we ever thought we’d be in a band again that would jump in a van and go on tour and stuff, so I just started writing songs that I never really thought about performing live or anything, like just writing kinda some slower, prettier songs—not necessarily prettier. But I was just doing something different because I never thought about playing it live. And our buddy that we go to church with, he played like piano and organ, we just started messing with some demos and stuff, and then all of a sudden Mono Vs Stereo was like “We want to put out your record,” and we’re like, “Oh, okay, great.” So it was just all a lot of like singer/songwriter kind of songs, and then we went on tour for like a year, and then when it was time to make a new record, we were like “We want to make it a little bit more kick ass, like just a little bit more rock and roll.” So, I mean, it’s the same thing, it’s just probably a little bit more angry. I joke around, I say the first album was miserably married, and the second album is miserably divorced. [All laugh]

E: You just put some cover songs on myspace. Two part question: why those songs, and what was it like recording that and putting it out for everyone?
L: I recorded them right on my Mac with Garage Band. Actually, my buddy Adam who played on the new Gasoline Heart record, he also plays in a band called Adam and Dave’s Bloodline, and he played with a band called Marah, he played with Squad Five-O as well… But um, he was in Orlando, and we were just sitting there, and he started playing “Glad Girls” by Guided by Voices, and then we just pressed record on it. And one night I was just like, “I should put this on myspace.” And then I put the Tom Petty song on there too, “Apartment Song,” just because I’m doing this solo tour… or not tour, but like I’m playing shows just me by myself. So that way people can, you know, if they see me just with a guitar, they can hear what I do without a big rock band behind me. And then I decided to make all the downloads free one night too. I think a lot of things happen, bad decisions, after a couple of drinks. So I’m like “Ah, I’m putting all of the songs on for free! Yeah, this song’s going up!” It’s kinda funny, our manager always gets pissed. “You put all your songs for free last night!” I’m like, “Yeah.” “Well no one’s gonna buy them!” And then he goes on there and takes them down. I’m like, “Who cares?” [All laughing throughout this story] It’s kinda funny.

E: So does that mean you’re playing cover songs on this tour right now?
L: Yeah, some. I don’t know many. A couple, I’ll play a couple. I’ll play that Tom Petty song, and then maybe a Neil Young song. But mostly mine and some new ones. I’ve actually been covering a song that I want to put on the next record. I think it’ll be awesome. “The Mighty Jungle.” You know that song? [Sings “In the jungle, the mighty jungle”] Yeah, so I’ve been playing that a lot. It goes over kind of well. Oh, there’s Adam right there. [Points at Adam walking from his car to the venue] Ooo, that’s a cool hat he’s wearing.
E: Alright, you talked a lot about The Kick, Squad Five-O. How did being in those old bands and having that experience sort of..
Adam: [Steps up to Louis’s window, along with a friend] What’s up asshole?
L: Heeey!
A: What’s up?
L: I’m an asshole?
A: Yeah.
L: Why? What did I do? The way that I parked?
A: Just messing with you. What’s up?
L: What’s going on? Just hanging out. You’re looking good with that straw hat!
A: Thanks dude. How’s the tour?
L: It’s awesome. The vehicle’s doing well. I was telling them, 1827.2 miles.
A: Nice.
L: You wanna say hello?
A: Who’s that?
L: Indie Music Vision something.
A: Is this like a tour diary?
L: It’s like an online magazine or something?
E: Yeah
L: Here you go, say hello.
A: What’s up? This is Adam Garbinski. I’m a loose friend. [All laugh]
L: He was just asking me about “Glad Girls” on the myspace [Laughs].
A: Oh yeah, [Laughs] that’s me too!
L: Yeah yeah, that’s Adam singing on that too.
A: We’re gonna get some food cause we’re starving, dude.
L: Yeah, I’ll be in in a couple of minutes. Are you gonna eat there? [Points to the venue]
A: Yeah
L: Alright, cool. [Turns back to me] Sorry about that.
E: It’s cool.

E: So yeah, The Kick, Squad Five-O, being in old bands, learning experiences, transitioning to now, how did that help you with Gasoline Heart?
L: I think we stopped, like, with those bands we always tried so hard to like, I don’t know, we were always on Ten or something like we… like now we just don’t really care as much, like we’re just all friends playing music, where before it was a little bit of an attitude or something. I… not that, not like a bad attitude or something. But nowadays it’s just like, “Eh, let’s play some songs.” And it’s a lot less stressful. It’s more like buddies just hanging out.

E: What role does faith play in Gasoline Heart?
L: Well, I think it plays a lot in just that I am a Christian. Even though sometimes I’m not… Not sometimes I’m not a Christian, but like sometimes I have major doubts or whatever, but it just affects my outlook on life or whatever. You know, like I never try and think I’m gonna write a song that expresses my faith. I always just think, “I’m gonna write some sort of song about the type of stuff that’s going on in my life.” And my faith is a part of my life, so that’s always going to be expressed somewhat. Which I always think is funny, because we don’t have a lot of fans from the Christian scene or whatever, if there even is a Christian scene anymore because it’s so crossed-over now. But so many people… I’ll get emails like, “I saw you guys, and you guys have bad attitudes,” and how like “You lost a fan.” And I’m like, “Huh?” I’m just so confused. Like, if you like the music, like the music. I mean, if you wanna hear a song that is like a faith-based song or something, then go to church or buy like a Delirious? CD or something. You know what I mean? It’s just kind of weird, that whole scene. I don’t even know if it even exists anymore. I mean, faith definitely plays a part of Gasoline Heart. That is where I lean. I lean towards the Christian faith, you know.

E: What else influences you as a musician and a lyricist?
L: Lyricist, I always say I’m really not that good of one, even though a lot of people like my lyrics. It’s just I don’t write like 500 songs a year or anything. It’s just whatever’s going on in my life. That’s the thing with that first record, I never thought anyone would hear those songs, and then all of a sudden they’re on a record. I’m like, “Oh…” You know, people asking “What’s that about? Is that about me?” And I’m like, “Yeah, kind of.” [All laugh] It’s like a little bit more like a journal, you know? So, it’s probably that I don’t write in a journal, I write songs. But just life, everyday life. I love music. I love rock and roll. And I always try and… most songs that I write I’m always hoping, if any of my fellow musicians and songwriters that I’m friends with or who I may not even know but who I really respect, if they heard this, would they like it? Would they get off on it or whatever, so… I just played a couple of shows with the guy from Hot Water Music, and that was awesome, because he loved it. I’m like, “Man, I remember buying Hot Water Music seven inches!” You know? And then I played a show with David Bazaan. He’s from Pedro the Lion. He’s one of my favorites. I’ve been going to his shows for like forever, and my old band Dear Ephesus played a couple shows with his band too. So just you know whenever they say anything nice is kinda cool. They’re probably just being polite, but who knows? But that’s the thinking. Actually, there’s not much thinking. It’s like, “Just don’t let this suck or be corny.”

E: Any record releases you’re looking forward to this year?
L: New albums? Umm… what albums? I got a record by this guy named Damien Sumie. It’s awesome. You can get him on iTunes. And then I got the Adam and Dave’s Bloodline record is really good. What else did I get? Let’s see… ooo, my iPod [Begins digging around the car looking for it]… the new Patty Griffin album is awesome. [Still digging, now under my seat] We’re looking for my iPod, I’m not looking to do something weird to you. [Laughs] Um, no, I can’t if I… it’s under your seat somewhere… I can’t think of any new records that are coming out that I’m looking forward to. I like that Spoon record was really cool. But there’s just so much music that’s been made, I feel like I’m always finding new artists that I’m getting into. I like that new Bruce Springsteen record, that’s pretty sweet. And then I’ve been listening to Simon & Garfunkel a lot, and then I got this Bob Dylan live album that I’m really liking. And I’m always listening to a lot of Pearl Jam. Neil Young… I like Neil Young’s new record is awesome. Living with War, that’s a great record. But yeah, nothing really… what about you? Any new records you like?
E: Ummm…
L: Oh, you know what I like? Oh, I love The Strokes’ record, but that’s not all that new. First Impressions of Earth, that record rules. But, yup, that’s it for records I’ve been liking. My top five… yeah, I don’t even know.

E: Do you have a favorite band?
L: Mmhmm, Pearl Jam is probably my favorite band. Everyone kinda makes fun of me for that. My top five is probably Pearl Jam, The Who… I love The Clash, I love Patty Griffin, love Pedro the Lion, I love the Boss (Bruce Springsteen), Tom Petty. That’s my top five, even though I gave you seven. [All laugh]

E: Okay, that looks like everything. Anything else you want to say?
L: Cool man. No, just we’re probably going to make another new record this summer. It’ll probably come out in the fall. I think it’s gonna be called Scram. We’ll see. I think it’s gonna be good. [Laughs] Murder by Death tour, it’s all West Coast. Come out to that. And then other than that, thanks a lot. I hope you like us. We love you. [All laugh] Alright, goodbye.

We went back inside and I sat with my glass of water watching Louis perform one of the most fun shows I’ve ever been to. He was super friendly and added hilarious stage banter to keep the mood going. He even did a cover of “Stairway to Eternity,” the song that Led Zeppelin ripped off when they wrote their hit. This one was earlier and really obscure, only appearing on a British three-inch. Or so the story goes, according to Louis.

I recently had the privilege of doing an interview with Chris, vocalist from The Famine. Enjoy the interview, and I hope you learn something new!

ChrisTheFamine: Long overdue. Here you go.

MattIVM: Let’s start off by stating your name(s) and role(s) in The Famine.

ChrisTheFamine: This is Chris McCaddon and I am the vocalist. Mark Garza is the drummer, Andrew Godwin is the guitarist, and Nick Nowell is the bassist.



MattIVM: So, what’s been happening with you guys between the collapse of Embodyment and the formation of The Famine? Were you guys involved in music at all, or did you have other jobs?



ChrisTheFamine: We all went our separate ways and decided to do other things. I moved around a bit with my wife, living on the Los Angeles and Seattle for a while, now we live in New York. While in Seattle I was in Demon Hunter for a few years. We all still have careers and jobs. Unless the band can support us and our families, I don’t see that changing.



MattIVM: Along with the release of your new album, inevitably, will come comparisons to Embodyment. While The Famine plays enterely different music, there naturally isn’t a way to avoid it. Is this something you’re dreading and will try to avoid, or do you welcome those comparisons?



ChrisTheFamine: I can’t really say I care either way. It’s going to happen regardless of us what we say.

MattIVM: Having previously been on Solidstate Records, what are the major differences between then and now? Are there many familiar faces and old friends around? Does the label still operate the way you remember it?



ChrisTheFamine: The major difference is now they have more money! They can give bands the budgets they wanted in beginning but couldn’t. The label is still run by people that love music, buy albums, and care about their artists. It’s a tight family.



MattIVM: What was it like working with Andreas Magnusson on “The Raven and The Reaping?” Was he easy to work with, and what would you say he added to the over all record? Did any members of the band have any experience with him prior to this record?



ChrisTheFamine: None of us had worked with Andreas before. When it came time to start looking for a studio and producer his name came up. He was one of the first ones we contacted and he immediately was excited about the record. What we loved about working with him is his attention to detail. He loses sleep at night, like the rest of the band, if the guitar tone isn’t blowing his hair back, or if he should see if this or that mic would be better. He was awesome.



MattIVM: As it says in your bio on the Solidstate website, your songs are have a more structured feel to them than anything you’ve done before. Is that something that came naturally, or did you have to work at it?



ChrisTheFamine: It definitely came naturally. I mean, we didn’t want an album full of riffs but wanted to write songs. In our early days of playing together we often got accused of having an album’s worth of riffs in one song, I think we just got bored easily.



MattIVM: The Raven and the Reaping. I’m sorry for the cliche interview question, but how did that title come about? Personally, even if it doesn’t have meaning, I like it alot. Also, even more specific, what is the meaning of the song “Stitched In Plastic?” I have a personal interest in that, but I couldn’t find lyrics or meanings when I searched for them.



ChrisTheFamine: The album title came after the album was recorded and mixed. We had no idea what to call it and a metal album certainly can’t be self-titled! After just going over the lyrics we came up with the title. It does represent the duality represented on the album, the raven being inherited sin, bad judgement, substance abuse, corruption and the reaping being the act of turning a new leaf and overcoming those things. Stitched In Plastic is basically about those who are elected and given power and forget those that put them in that position.



MattIVM: Would you say the record has an overall lyrical theme? If so, do you work to make it that way on purpose, or does it just happen. Is it easy for you to find inspiration for the lyrics to a song?



ChrisTheFamine: Not really. We all contributed to the lyrics so there wasn’t a single source but they all do somewhat tie in together. Personally I think finding inspiration to a song is extremely hard, its about the inspiration finding you. I can’t just sit down and say “this is what this song is going to be about.”



MattIVM: Well. We’re at the point where I ask you the question that every Solid State/Tooth & Nail band gets asked sooner or later. Is The Famine a “Christian band,” or Christians in a band? Do you purposely incorporate your faith into your songs, or is it something that comes naturally from a Christian mindset?



ChrisTheFamine: You can call us whatever you want. We are a metal band and wouldn’t label ourselves anything but and honestly don’t care what people label us. Our faith isn’t forced into our music, nor is it an obligation. It is embedded in the fabric and is who we are.



MattIVM: Why do you play music? Is there a specific feeling that you get when a certain thing happens that brings you to realize that music is what you’re supposed to be doing? Something involved in the music-making process that brings satisfaction which nothing else can bring?



ChrisTheFamine: I play music simply because I enjoy doing it. I can say that’s true for all of us, especially metal. It’s such a raw, emotionally charged form of music. Fans go to shows to air their frustration, to leave their job behind for that moment — there is nothing else like it.



MattIVM: Are there any venues that you remember specifically from the Embodyment days that you are excited to be able to play at during the Storm The Gates of Hell Tour? If so, which ones? Are there any you haven’t played that you’re particularly excited for?



ChrisTheFamine: I’ll be honest, I don’t think we played any of these venues!



MattIVM: What do you guys do when you’re not playing music? Video games? Football? Any hobbies or pastimes that you spend a lot of time on?



ChrisTheFamine: Mostly working and spending time with our families. I do enjoy videos games and maybe spend a bit too much time playing them.



MattIVM: What, within the musical realm, are you most stoked for for 2008, be it a certain tour, or album or what not?



ChrisTheFamine: Mastodon’s new album.



MattIVM: What is your favorite album of 2008 thus far?



ChrisTheFamine: That’s tough. I’m really enjoying the new Trenches stuff which I’m not supposed to have, Hate Eternal “Fury and Flames”, Origin “Antithesis”, Radiohead “In Rainbows”, The Mars Volta “The Bedlam in Goliath”, Nine Inch Nails “Ghosts I-IV”, they’re all up there.



MattIVM: Does The Famine need prayer in any particular areas from the readers/writers of IVM and I?



ChrisTheFamine: You can pray for our safety, the safety of every band on the road, and the loved ones left behind.



MattIVM: Last words/final comments?



ChrisTheFamine: Sorry it has taken me so long to reply to your questions!



There ya go folks. I hope you liked it, and don’t forget, The Famine’s album The Raven And The Reaping releases on May 27th.



-Myspace

-Purevolume

-Solidstate Bio

Interview Done By Matt B

PlayRadioPlay! interview with Daniel Hunter

April 3rd, 2008

By Jonathan Andrews

Daniel Hunter just released his latest album titled Texas under the name PlayRadioPlay! on March 18th, 2008.  At first I wasn’t sure if this interview was going to work out because of scheduling issues but I’m glad it finally came together and that Daniel had a chance to answer my questions.

Were you in any prior bands before starting PlayRadioPlay?

I played in a local band, punk bands and stuff in high school but prior to doing my own solo project which ended up turning into PlayRadioPlay! I hadn’t really done anything serious so yes but no.

Where did the name PlayRadioPlay! come from?

Its kind of a nod to a Smashing Pumpkins song Eye Of The Morning from Machina where the lyric is “radio play my favorite song” and I love Billy Corgan and Smashing Pumpkins.

I read that you said that basically they’re the biggest influence or one of the biggest influences in music in your career. Why is that, why did they effect you so much?

There are definitely bands that I like more artistically now but as far as a group that has really influenced me for a long period of time, you know very dramatically, Smashing Pumpkins have been around in my interest since I was a young kid. They have always been my all time favorite band.

Did you find it hard at first to transfer what you’d done in your room on computers and make it presentable to a larger audience live?

I pretty much just took the identical tracks that I recorded vocals on top of and played them from the headphone jack on my computer. Technically it wasn’t really hard because it was just karaoke I guess but I as far as becoming a performer that is alone on stage, I guess its kind of nerve racking to be alone. Not hiding behind anything, there’s no one else to take the attention away from you. Performing alone at first was definitely interesting but I guess I like being…I wouldn’t say I like the attention, but I liked that the focus was all on the music and not on the stage show.

Is it friends playing with you in the band or did you audition people to come play for you?

They were kind of acquaintances that I become friends with and met randomly. My drummer and my keyboardist I met while on tour while I was doing my own thing.

I’m sure at first, it all happened pretty fast getting all those hits on Myspace and stuff and with record labels approaching you. What was kind of your first reaction when you started? Did you get emails from record labels or did someone actually contact you over the phone or how did that start?

I got an email first…I mean six months before any label had come to the table. Back at a time when I definitely wasn’t ready to be an artist on a major record label, Virgin Records contacted me. He just kind of said can I get some more music and I sent him this long burned cd of like 25 songs that were all a minute and a half long. They were just crappy crappy demos which is the worst thing you can do if you’re trying to inspire interest in your project is send him all the crap that you’ve made. So that was the first thing that happened and obviously nothing came out of that. But I think several months later, I was putting out a song every week or two on Myspace. I was kind of jumping leaps and bounds as far as my abilities recording and song writing and stuff monthly. A short time later I think Island Records and a few other labels became interested and at first it was kind of surreal and then I kind of was of the mentality there is a 99 percent chance this wont work out or it will fall though or something like that but it ended up happening so it was exciting.

What tours are you going to be apart of in the near future?

I’m on tour with a band called Yellowcard and Spill Canvas, Secondhand Serenade and Treaty Of Paris

What would the list of bands be on your dream tour?

First of all this would never happen, this dream tour. And I know for a fact that this wouldn’t be a good tour for what the fans of these other bands would want to hear. I would love to tour with Muse or Arcade Fire or Sigor Ros. Some of those bands that on the surface I don’t have a lot in common with that have influenced me a lot.

I read that you recorded your record over in England. What was that like? Is it a lot different as far as the recording process?

I did 4 songs no five songs over in England and the other 7 and all the interludes over in Los Angeles. When I was in England, I mean I had never been over there before. Like I flew over once to meet the producer Garret Lee who I was potentially going to work with and the second time I flew over there I was recording the record so I had only spent a few days there prior to recording the record there and its obviously a different world for anyone who hadn’t been to Europe. It’s a different world view of Americans over there so I mean it was definitely a culture shock but I definitely liked it over there.

In recording the Texas album, were you able to pick the producers who you worked with or were they selected for you by Island Records?

Island records had a long list of people that they suggested and I kind of picked out of those. I met with a bunch of producers and tried to figure out who I would want to be in the studio with for several months late into the night with. Yeah they gave me a list and I kind of picked. I think Garrett Lee was one that from the beginning Island was hoping I would work with and I ended up picking him so they were pretty excited about that. But the other producer Lester Mendez who did most of Texas in Los Angeles was kind of out of left field. He does Latin and stuff but we just hit it off and the work we did together was great.

For fans of your previous work and for new fans, if they haven’t got their hands on Texas yet, what can we expect from it?

It’s bigger, it’s more epic and it’s easier to listen to. It’s very diverse, not just all dance pop stuff. It’s a very diverse listening experience.

What was the reasoning behind the half tracks on the Texas album?

I think Island got really nervous when I started to suggesting that I wanted to…..I mean when I first told them that I wanted to do a record that played straight through without stopping really I think they were worried that it would be super weird or concept or artsy or something. They were definitely scared at first I guess but it ended up working out. I tried to make it with segues so that when you’re listening through it’s never just a halt and then boring silence but at the same time its not something hard to listen its not something you want to skip through necessarily. I wanted it to be short and concise and not a pain.

Have you thought at all about how long it’ll be before you put out a follow-up album or are you just going to enjoy playing this one for a while?

I’ve written enough material for the next record already. I wrote probably an entire full length while I was in the studio recording Texas. So I mean the songs are definitely on my mind, I’m definitely writing, writing and programming all the time. But as far as plans to go into the studio to record, that’s probably pretty far off.

What’s the writing process like for you?

When I’m writing I pretty much have Reason open and I’m programming in the chord progression and beats and ideas and stuff. Sometimes I’m transferring stuff on the guitar that I wrote on the guitar into Reason. Sometimes I have a vocal melody worked out and I’m trying to fit lyrics to it but it always normally involves my laptop as far as laying out the ideas and really shaping it.

Do you have any other passions other then music?

I like movies a lot. I’m a big computer and technology person I guess but I don’t play any sports or anything.

(sXe=Straight Edge)

I’ve read that after you came out of your drug use and depression you started to embrace a totally different lifestyle. One part of that was you being sXe, the other you becoming a Christian. How did both of those come about?

I actually was a Christian my whole life prior to that. The sXe was more of a new thing after I got out of rehab. But I mean it was kind of an obvious decision after being in rehab and you know after missing 4 months of school and being in a treatment center over holidays was kind of… and seeing people that were in a lot worse spot then me whose lives had completely fallen apart. It was just a pretty obvious decision for me to cut it completely out of my life because I’m kind of a person of extremes. I’m really not able to drink moderately or smoke a small amount or anything. For me it was all or nothing and I chose nothing.

How do people react when they find out you’re sXe and has it been harder since you’ve been signed and toured to be and stay sXe then it was before?

I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody that I was straight edge and them react with anything other then respect I guess because I think a lot of people realize that that’s a very difficult thing to do to just say you’re not going to touch or think about any of that stuff. its always been a good reaction. People have always respected it. When I’m on tour with bands that do drink a lot…when I first got out of rehab it was hard to be clean and sober I guess but I’ve been clean and sober for 3 years now. Now it’s really just second nature to me, I don’t think of it at all.

How do you feel your Faith intertwines with your music? Are they one in the same in your opinion?

I guess as far as writing music and stuff and my beliefs they’ve always been the same thing because I’ve always written very honestly. I’ve never set boundaries for myself as far as what I will or wont write about. I’ve always just written straight from my head and never said this is off limits. All my music is extremely honest and extremely open. As far as my beliefs being in my music, my beliefs are apart of me and my music is apart of me so they’ve always kind of gone together.

Do you find being a Christian in the mainstream music industry that the Christian industry expects you to be a certain way, or like people in it do? Do you ever find that when people come up to you in concerts or just talking to people in Christian media at all?

I don’t know, I’m not sure

It’s not a rigged question, it’s just something I came up with off the cuff. I’m just interested because I know a lot of bands talk about how the Christian music industry seems to make them want to fit into a mold.

Yeah I guess there’s a difference between the praise and worship Christian music industry and the Christian hardcore label music industry. I guess like th