Eric Pettersson, IVM: Please briefly introduce yourself.
Brian Fletchner: Well, thanks for the interest in what I am doing. I have a family and they are wonderful. I have friends that love me and inspire me. Music is very important in my life, and I am very happy that others find what I am doing worth paying attention to.

E: I thought it would be fun to start this interview off at the beginning historically and then work our way up. So let’s go back to the days of Warlord. You were the vocalist of one of the first bands on Solid State Records. What was that experience like?
B: It was fun and quick. Really, Warlord only existed for about a year. Three of us came together and we had an opportunity to record really before the songs were even finished. Then we found a bass player, toured and fell apart. I did not value it when I was in the midst of it like I do now. That year of my life still affects my life in many ways.

E: What made that time come to an end after only one release?
B: After the national tour with Training For Utopia I quit Warlord. It was for a variety of reasons, the other three guys continued for a bit, recorded Rock the Foe Hammer and moved to three different states. I think now that none of us really knew what we wanted with the band and were going through many changes personally.

E: How does it feel looking at the current condition of Solid State? Would you ever have expected them to come this far?
B: They (Solid State) always thought big. I am not surprised at all. They gave people like us in Warlord tremendous opportunities that we would have never had without them. I actually do not follow the label now much.

E: I know a lot of bands in the past have horror stories about that label (or so they say), although the majority of recent bands seem to love them. What is your relationship with SS now?
B: I do not have any relationship with them. I have no hard feelings towards them. I think there was a lot of confusion in the beginning as to what they were about and how that worked with individual bands. Like I said, I am very thankful for the opportunities they gave me.

E: Your new label, Quiver Society, isn’t exactly a label. Could you better explain what it is?
B: I run it as a co-op amongst friends. I say often that you get out of it what you put into it. It’s pretty much a flag for those who are involved to rally under. There are no contracts. We are all funding our own releases and press, etc. We are inspired by the DIY culture and have been involved with it for many years, so doing a record co-op is just a natural outflow of who we are as people.

E: There was obviously a gap in time between Warlord and Quiver Society. What happened in between (what did you learn, and how did you grow) that lead to the creation of Quiver Society?
B: I had to go through many years of self-doubt as to who I was as a person. It was a confusing and difficult time. However, I am happier with myself and my music than I have ever been before. Quiver Society was started as an avenue for me to release music that I was creating. Others wanted to be a part of it and I am glad to have them along for the ride.

E: How are things going at QS right now?
B: Awesome. We have had many artists on national and local tours this last year and a bunch of releases. And I feel that the artists involved are putting out the best work for them to date.

E: What is the main idea behind your own current musical project, Pilgrims? Where did the name come from, and what inspired you to play something so drastically different from your first band?
B: I am not sure where the name came from, it just fit when I was first starting. Pilgrims has always been about me recording songs and playing live. Learning from the process, having others come and go in their involvement, and not being afraid of trying new ideas. I still love the style of Warlord and would love to do something like that again, but all the pieces are not there right now. Something might be coming that is very similar to the old EP style Warlord, we’ll see if it happens.

E: Your first genre listed on MySpace is “minimalist.” What exactly does that mean to you?
B: Finding beauty in singular notes, not playing a bunch of complicated parts, but something that relaxes the body, is revelatory in spirit and is accessible.

E: Tell us a little about your most recent release as Pilgrims, The Joy of Sales Resistance. It’s a CD unlike anything else I’ve heard. What were the concepts going into that?
B: I was really inspired by an author named Wendell Berry, he wrote a book called Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community  that I have read and re-read all this last year. The introduction is called “The Joy of Sales Resistance.” I did not want to sing and felt that I could express the emotions and ideas that I had through music better than I could by words. I also listen to a lot of instrumental music and was inspired by what I hear my favorite artists doing.

E: On your websites and in your songs and liner notes, you talk a lot about poverty and racism. What makes these issues so important?
B: Those issues make me very passionate and disturbed. They are like fuel for me feeling things and wanting to be a positive change in the world.

E: What’s something that God has been teaching you lately?
B: He is mysterious. I had a good friend bring this up this summer. I find peace in His mysteries.

E: What are your future plans with Quiver Society (or anything else going on in the future that you’d like to tell us about)?
B: I hope to continue to work with friends at getting music out there to folks and to interact with those who are moved by what we are doing.

E: Thanks again for taking some time out of your day to answer these questions. Anything else you’d like to say, a closing comment or just a bit about something that’s been on your mind?
B: If anyone really does like the early Warlord sound they should check out my friends’ band, Thee Letting Forth of Fire. They are the really inspiring to me. Pilgrims and them have formed a deep bond.

Quiver Society Official Site
Pilgrims on MySpace

Eric Pettersson, IVM: Let’s get started with your name and duties in the band.
Brandon Welch, Far-Less: Brandon Welch is my name. I play guitar and I am the lead vocalist in the band.

E: What are you guys up to right now?
B: We are waiting for our record to come out in October. We have a tour with Secret and Whisper and Glass Ocean coming up and a tour with He Is Legend after that. Other than that we are just hanging out.

E: Cool. So how did Far-Less first come into being?
B: Jordan, Joseph, and our old drummer, Ray, set off on a musical quest together like 6 years ago, with a buddy of ours named Jake. Things happened, and now we have the 6 of us. Well… a lot happened.
E: A lot?
B: They fired Jake, hired me. We added Mark, lost Ray, added Todd and now Elizabeth. Jordan was the singer at first, but when they fired Jake they asked me to come and sing.

E: Hm, okay. That was one thing I wanted to talk about actually. With all the line-up changes since the last record, how have things been working out with that?
B: It has been a blast. I mean we aren’t a huge band or anything but we always have fun. The writing process was very relaxed as well. Everyone had something for this album.

E: How did you get to be hooked up with Tooth & Nail? What made you choose each other?
B: The first label we were on flooded their offices with our CDs, I’m pretty sure. So John Frazier called us up and told us he liked us. He’s cool, so we signed with them. We needed them, and we hope that they will need us.

E: What’s the significance of the name Far-Less?
B: There isn’t one really. At this point we have even made up tons of meanings for our name. We have a buddy with the last name “Farless.” They just split it up and used it. It’s not the coolest name ever, but I think the music makes the name eventually. Think about The Smashing Pumpkins. What is that? They are one of the best bands ever, though.

E: Haha, yeah. So what’s been one of your best experiences on the road with this band?
B: The best experiences are the cheesy ones. When we went to Niagara Falls or when we went to the Hoover Dam. The Grand Canyon ruled. We also went to visit what was left of the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco. That was weird.
E: Ooo, I bet.
B: We needed some excitement.

E: Far-Less’s sound has been one that’s changed a lot over the years from your pre-Tooth & Nail stuff to the EP to the last record to now the upcoming A Toast to Bad Taste. How would you personally describe to fans what to expect with the new album?
B: It sounds like we grew up. For this record we had, for the most part, a very unified vision of what we wanted out of it. It was way more like an art project then piecing cool riffs together.

E: Yeah, one thing I noticed was that you almost completely did away with the screaming, which I think is a big step since it was so much of your old sound. What influenced that decision?
B: The record is more mellow, with more singing. It gets raw at times but we just wanted to play rock and roll. I was just tired of seeming like I was all the time pissed off at something. I’m not pissed off all of the time. I get sad, but that’s about it. Also, I just really enjoy singing and listening to singers.

E: Cool. And what was it like working with producer Mike Green?
B: Mike Green is very chill. It was one of the smoothest recording processes ever. He’s awesome.

E: Why are you toasting bad taste?
B: Because I feel like I have been doing it over and over for years in my real life. So, to do away with that whole idea, we wrote a record about it.
E: What do you mean?
B: Getting involved with the wrong people and getting stepped on. Caring for people that don’t care for themselves. It gets old.

E: Hm. So lyrically then, what themes are going into these new songs?
B: Lyrically, it’s just everyday feelings, but from my brain. It’s about missing things and people in your life that you were so used to. The balance of power and peace inside ourselves and in the world. Trying to come to terms with and enjoy what you have and what you don’t have.

E: Alright, cool. So what role does faith play in your music?
B: I don’t really bring faith into our music. I tend to write about what’s going on around me… or aliens… or cartoons.
E: Okay. I know a lot of bands on T&N have different philosophies or purposes with that.
B: It’s a sensitive subject. I don’t want what we are doing artistically to be looked at as particularly a certain type of mindset. I will use “the devil” in a song because you can relate that to something bad or wrong very easily, NOT because I am saying that you should go to church.

E: Hm, alright. Well, how have you grown through your experience in Far-Less?
B: I have met lots of great musicians and I have collaborated with some of them and learned more about music. That’s what we are here to do. Play music and get better at it.
E: Collaborated? Really? Like how?
B: I wrote songs with the guys in House of Fools and The Commonwealth dudes. I write songs with my friends all of the time.
E: Are these songs going on records or just for fun?
B: After shows, it is guaranteed the cops are coming to the house we are at. We also go on the back porch and jam.
E: Haha, hilarious. And awesome. I bet many a fan would love to watch that on YouTube.
B: Well, there is a song on the H.O.F record I helped with and Josh helped me with a couple on this album. It happens all of the time to us.

E: In your opinion, best CD release of 2007?
B: oh man… the new Queens of the Stone Age rules me and so does the new Wilco and the new Oceansize. Otherwise I just listen to oldies. And the new Brand New too. And the House of Fools. Our record is pretty rad too.

E: Haha… yeah it is. I’m listening to it right now, actually. Dude, this thing is so long. It’s definitely a refreshing break from the 25 minute CDs I’m used to spending money on.
B: Good. Thank you. We wanted to make an album that flowed well. The next one will probably be longer.

E: Wow. So with wanting it to flow, is that the idea behind all the “segue” tracks?
B: Yeah, we actually wanted to make it more like a Pink Floyd album, you know?  We didn’t have the studio time to really get down and turn the whole album into one big song. We have always tried to make our albums flow well. I really like what we did with this one.

E: I always wondered, do bands actually ever choose to listen to their own records? Like, simply for enjoyment sake like you would choose any other record?
B: I listen to our records all of the time when they are new, maybe just to correct myself for the future. I catch myself putting the new album in my car quite a bit, but I like it. I can’t help it.

E: Okay, one more fun question and then I think I’m out of things to ask. What’s been your favorite of the recent flood of superhero movies?
B: DUDE!!!!!!!!! Batman Begins! And the new Fantastic Four was fun. But I read these comics, and Batman really nailed it. I really wanted to see Galactus. That disappointed me. I went to see Fantastic Four just to see Galactus,

E: Alright. Well, thanks so much for the interview. It was fun. Anything else you’d like to add?
B: Not really. Thank you, man. We appreciate you spreading the word.
E: Hey, no problem.
B: Cool. Let me know when it’s up. I’m gonna go play Halo 3 now. Peace.

Thanks to Christine Ernest at The Planetary Group, Nathan Mallon at Thoughts on Vinyl, and of course Brandon Welch from Far-Less for working out this interview.

Official Site
MySpace
PureVolume

Spoken interview
August 18, 2007
By Eric Pettersson

Eric Pettersson, IVM: Can you start with your name and what you do in the band?
Matt Baird, Spoken: My name is Matt from the band Spoken, Matt Baird, I sing.

E: Your band’s been around for ten years?
M: Eleven years. February was eleven years. Started in 1996.
E: What keeps you going?
M: the desire to play music and to feel like I’m being obedient to God. We love music. We love it, and until I have that overwhelming feeling in my heart and soul that I’m done, I can’t stop. I would go nuts. I really would. When music is in your blood, you have to do it.

E: It’s been two years since your last release. How have you grown since then?
M: Well, we’ve toured a lot since then, which we always tour, it’s just… when you tour on a new record and it has new topics or maybe certain songs that people relate to maybe a little differently than before, there’s all these different conversations about those songs and stuff that you grow by hearing people’s stories or their translations of the songs, you know, how it affected them, so it’s extremely encouraging, so I feel like I’ve been encouraged a lot in this past year. My wife and I had a child, so it’s our first child. We bought a house, you know what I mean? All this stuff, so, I’ve kind of grown up a lot this year. I think I’m finally starting to realize what wisdom is, and that’s just everything as a whole. Not about music, not about being a dad, not about being a husband. Everything. I feel like God is in the refining process, like “Hey, seriously, here’s what matters.” And priorities change. And I think it’s great that as long as you’re trying to be obedient to God that He’s gonna move you. And I just wanna grow. The desire is to completely grow closer to God, to be a better husband, to be a better father. You know? But, we’ll see. We’ll see what God does.

E: You said about new topics. I noticed with the last CD, it started out with a bunch of love songs and then towards the end moved into a bunch of worship songs, I guess…
M: Yeah, yeah, I guess you could say that. We didn’t really set it up that way as far as song arrangement. It just happened, like the songs flowed good that way. And I love singing songs about my wife, and just always trying to write… my thing before we write each record is like God, you write it, because I will only screw it up if I try to put it in my own words, or like oh I wanna write about this or that, let God guide the steps, and hopefully it turns out okay. On the new record, there’s a song about my wife and my son, in the same song, so it’s like that’s a whole other swing for me. But there’s just a lot of topics on the record. I’m excited about it. I’m excited about people hearing it.

E: What have you been writing about on the new one?
M: There’s a song about redemption. It’s a song called “History Erased.” It’s one we have on myspace right now. Our history can’t be undone, cause what is done is done, but it can be erased, with the whole clean slate mindset. When you come to know Jesus, you get a clean slate. Or when you repent, you get a clean slate, so it’s a song about redemption that way, starting over, moving on from your mistakes. Of course try not to make those again, but at the same time, there’s always someone watching, always, who’s standing there watching for you to fall, so try to ignore those people and move on. That’s one. There’s a song about this kid I talked to a while back who was way down in the dumps. He had gotten arrested for some stuff. He’s like “I wanna be in a band, but I could never do that. I’m not good enough. I’m just not good enough.” And I got to thinking like, who told him that? Like, who told him you cannot do this? I’m not saying that his musical ability was where it might have needed to have been to be in a band, but it’s like, somewhere along the line, all of us hear, oh you can’t do that, or you’ll never do that, and so it’s like not listening to those people and just, once again, moving forward with your life. And just songs about love, songs about repentance.

E: There was also a big variety of music on Last Chance to Breathe. Like “Love in Return” was kind of slow, and “Bitter Taste” was pretty crazy. What made you branch out like that?
M: You know, we’ve always had an edge to the band, but at the same time, we’ve always, on each record, we’ve had at least one song that was kind of slow, kind of, you know, not as heavy. And last year we toured with a lot of metal bands. We really did, and it was amazing, so on this new record there’s some heavier songs. I mean, there’s three really heavy songs on the record, but yet there’s the softest song we’ve ever done. It’s a mostly piano driven song with some drum loops and stuff. And it’s cohesive, you know? It works. It’s not something where it’s like oh where’d that song come from? When you listen to the record as a whole, it fits. We have a song on the record about hope, it’s actually the radio single right now. There’s just a lot of different things. But also getting new members, each person brings a new idea, like how about we do this, or could we try this, or why not this, and all this stuff, and you’ve got five opinions, and you take those five opinions, and you mix ‘em all up and you throw them into a song and see if they work. And if it doesn’t work, you don’t play the song, you don’t write the song, you don’t record the song.

E: This is your sixth album coming out, right?
M: Yeah, sixth album.
E: So why is this one self-titled?
M: Cause we always wanted one. I know that I’ve always wanted a self-titled record, but we’re always like oh let’s do this, let’s do this, and a lot of times, the artwork is built around the title of the album. And this time, we kind of didn’t decide on like hey, what title are we gonna have? We just all couldn’t come up with the same one, like oh I like this, or I like this, or like I’m not sure about that, but we’re all like why couldn’t it just be a self-titled? Everyone agreed on that. It was like yeah, why couldn’t it be? And that’s what we wanted, and with the artwork that Invisible Creature came up with, it didn’t need a title. So it totally fell together really good, and plus we’ve always wanted a self-titled album.

E: Could you tell me a little more about The Syndicate?
M: Yeah, street team! We started trying to figure out stuff with a street team years ago, and it just didn’t come to fruition. It didn’t come to that point where like okay, street team is ligit, it’s ready to go, whatever. So recently we’ve been working with a guy who’s really helped us to get things together and we’re serious about it, we wanna make it work and a better way to connect with our fans, and just get to know them better as people, the same way they can get to know us as people. Instead of just oh it’s Matt from Spoken, you know it’s like Matt: he’s the singer from Spoken, it’s like, here’s who he is. It’s not just… too often, people only know the name of the person. They don’t know anything about them. So this is a good way to just tie into that.

E: This is your third CD with Tooth & Nail. How are things going with them?
M: Amazing. We love it. We absolutely love it. Great label. Great bands on the label. We’re totally stoked. No complaints whatsoever.

E: Will any of you older, pre-Tooth & Nail stuff ever resurface somehow in like a rarities or greatest hits?
M: You know, it is out of print. It’s been a year and a half/two years since we’ve gotten any of those, cause we just can’t get a hold of those anymore. But they sell really quick, so it’s kind of hard to keep a hold of them. But you know, we are trying to figure that out. That’s all I can say. We’re having conversations with people about that, to see about being able to get it going again. Just for those that may not have gotten it, we’re working on it.

E: Listening to your last CD, there are a lot of different sounds that go into that. Who are your major influences?
M: There are so many. We all listen to so many different styles of music, all of us. Whatever. I love everything except Southern Gospel, like really, it drives me crazy. I wish it didn’t, but it does. I’m fine with jazz, I love country music, Keith Urban is my favorite artist. I’m wearing a Keith Urban shirt [points down to his shirt]. We love classic rock, we love metal. We love R&B, some hip-hop. You know, anything, really. Each person has a favorite band and it kind of comes out in their writing style. Brandon, our bass player’s favorite band is Smashing Pumpkins. Aaron, our guitar player, his favorite band is Red Hot Chili Peppers. Oliver’s favorite band is probably Blindside, that’s our drummer. Jeff, our guitar player’s favorite band is Metallica. And that’s before The Black Album, okay? My favorite artist, is Keith Urban, but forever it was Bon Jovi. So, it’s really crazy, but I really love country music, and it doesn’t really come across in our music. But, who knows? Maybe someday it will.

E: With going on tour so much and being away from your home, how do you remain spiritually alive?
M: Music plays a great part in that as well. We all try to read. Before we took the last break, we’re like “Alright, on this break, everyone read Romans!” You just try to stick with that and just read whatever, certain books, anything, seeking books on how to grow deeper with God. Music… just listening to praise and worship, listening to some band that has something to say that you’re like, “Man. Yes. I relate to that.” Small groups at home. With me, it’s my wife and I. My wife is the most godly person I know. So that’s that. On the road, it’s phone conversations home, really. Phone calls home. We know some amazing people on the road, fans pour into our lives, as far as spiritual things. Certain promoters at shows. If we play churches, you’ve got the pastors that are there. You have people that prepare our food, this lady that cooked our food that night and just talking to them. We have a lot of accountability. A lot. And I think that’s how we kind of keep it intact. And the fact that we have hours upon hour a day driving, you have plenty of time just to pray, the whole time. And plus, as much as you travel, you see all of God’s creation, thanking Him for it. And just questioning, “What is this? Why did You invent mosquitoes? What the heck?” It’s a combination of a lot of things.

E: Cool. What’s something that God’s been teaching you lately?
M: I feel like God’s always teaching me patience, like always. Something recently is “I’m in control no matter what.” That’s what God is saying. God is in control, no matter what. Upon anything, whether it be financial, loneliness, just missing my wife and child on the road, dealing with promoters that maybe didn’t treat you right at a show, people that were rude for no reason whatsoever and you’re puzzled by it. All this stuff is just like… take a deep breath, swallow… I’m going to do the best I can in this situation. Try my best to show people Jesus, show them grace. And God has taught me that hope in Him is all that we have. That’s it.

E: Two part question: Christian band or Christians in a band? And what’s your take on that whole debate?
M: Spoken is a Christian band. There’s no way around it. We talk about Jesus every show, whether we play at a bar, a church, a school auditorium, outside at a park, someone’s basement.  Jesus is mentioned because we believe that all that has to be done is to mention the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit will work. Therefore, I can’t make someone come to know Jesus, only the Holy Spirit can. So I’m not gonna spend twenty minutes talking about it. I am going to show them love, I’m going to treat them with respect and I’m going to let God work. That’s that. My whole take on it: it’s not about Christian bands, or Christians in a band to me, it’s are you a Christian? If you claim it, live it.

E: Last question: how can we pray for you?
M: Oh, gosh… just pray for safe travels. I mean, we travel so much. Pray for our families at home. Pray for our traveling vehicles. Pray for us as guys, I mean, we’re a bunch of dudes on the road and we want to do what’s right. We want to live our lives with integrity. And pray for us for when we play with non-Christian bands that we can be a positive influence to them, because that is our desire. Christian bands are around Christian bands all the time. Very rarely are non-Christian bands surrounded by Christian bands, and I don’t want them to feel awkward. But at the same time, I want them to know that there is something different about this band. So just pray that God will move. Really, pray that God will move in our lives and in our ministry and that’s probably the best thing.

E: Alright, anything else you’d like to add?
M: Thank you, very much, to everyone for paying attention to our band and for taking the time to listen.

Spoken Official Site
MySpace
PureVolume 

The Apathy Eulogy interview
August 17, 2007
By Eric Pettersson

Eric Pettersson, IVM: Name and what you do in the band.
Rob Kelly, TAE: Rob Kelly, I play guitar, sing, and write the music.

E: So I heard you got into Alternative Press. Did they dig it?
R: Yeah, from what we heard. We didn’t get an official interview. We actually got mentioned as an unsigned band. They choose I believe it’s 8 bands a month that are notable unsigned bands, and they found us on Smartpunk which is our online vendor, and just asked us if we wanted to be featured. It’s pretty rad. We got compared to Dashboard Confessional, Guster, and Something Corporate.

E: Now you’re playing on the Mono Vs. Stereo New Band Showcase stage [tonight at Purple Door]. You got second place in a battle of the bands or something like that?
R: Well, the way that works is it was a contest that Mono Vs. Stereo had. I don’t think it was a battle of the bands. It was a submission, bio, and an essay of basically like why you should be chosen, and we were chosen out of however many bands submitted as one of three winners to play on the stage, mostly by the sound of our CD.

E: When I first saw you, you had three members, now you have five. Why the line-up change?
R: Ben and I had some personal differences, a falling out, but it centered around, his reason for leaving was more around work and school. We were starting to up our commitment level and our time and things got really crazy, and he just didn’t have the time and the energy to keep up with what we wanted to do, so he bowed out then. So we got John. Keyboards really I feel like added a real production type, added a lot of energy to the set. Adding bass was just a logical next step because it bottoms everything out and makes it a little bit more full.

E: Alright, so how’s the whole new line-up working?
R: Pretty good. We might be experiencing, we’re not really sure, another change in the future, because when John originally joined the band, it was definitely a good match for us, but we’re not sure that if we do end up signing a major record deal sometime in the future (hush, hush, zip zip the lip), if that does occur, then we’re not sure that John is down for full time touring and the aggressive commitment that that’s gonna entail, so as of right now we’re keeping options open in case some changes need to be made, but it’s nothing bad at all on a personal level, we’re all getting along great.

E: Do you write differently now? How does a typical jam hit come to life for you guys?
R: Typically speaking, The Apathy Eulogy started with just me playing acoustic songs at coffee houses, and so because of that I wrote the whole song in my head and then performed it, and then adding one member at a time didn’t really change the evolution of our writing process. For the most part, I write the songs, all the different parts, and then each member adds their own flavor. John has a really sweet voice, very breathy, but still able to be forceful and his register is really good, especially with the falsetto, and that’s become something that’s really influenced the vocals because he’ll take a melody that I write and he’ll just express it much better, so it all helps. Everyone has their own little incentive to add, but for the most part I write all the songs.

E: Where do you find is the best environment to write lyrics?
R: I often write from emotion, and the only good stuff I write is from pure emotion. So if I write something potentially sitting down to write a song, it comes out as crap. So I have to be inspired, normally by sincere heartfelt emotions. And so I either A: try to draw from a personal experience or a relationship of any kind, either with God, family, or a girl (surprise, surprise). But I can also use situations like nature and go out and sit out on a lake or the reservoir or Loch Raven in Baltimore, and take everything in and let it hit me.

E: Your new CD, which came out in April, was called Beauty for Ashes. Why’d you call it that?
R: It’s actually a scriptural reference to a Bible verse and the whole concept of it (and the album art corresponds with it) is the idea of having something that is totally dead, the ashes, totally devoid of any kind of life and having it turn into something beautiful. If you open up the CD art, it’s on the outside all the colors are desaturated. When you open it up everything comes to life and the flowers grow out and it’s in bright, almost neon colors. And so we wanted to kind of paint like a picture through that album title and also through the art of something old and dead being made new. There’s a lot of symbolism that it could apply to, but I think you know where I’m going with it…

E: Yeah. How did fans and critics react to the new record?
R: For the most part, we’ve gotten favorable response. Like I said to AP Magazine when they asked me, no one has ever really accused us of being unoriginal. We do see some negative commentary, most of our negative commentary would be centered around the fact that our songs are kind of poppy, you know, the catchy, happy-go-lucky sound. For the most part we’ve gotten a majority of positive responses.

E: I don’t know if you can talk about this at this point, but is there any label interest yet?
R: Umm, I don’t know if I can talk about this at this point. (laughs)
E: Okay, do you want me to completely strike that out or…
R: No, I think it’s alright to mention it but I think for the most part we haven’t made any commitment, but we’re definitely in the process of… You can say this if you want: the trouble is that we all have full time jobs and so for us, without trying to sound completely snotty, it’s either all or nothing. We can’t really afford to go to too small of a deal because if we can’t quit our jobs and still be able to pay the mortgage then it’s not going to work for us, so we kind of have to hold out.

E: Why should anyone buy your CD and where can they find it?
R: As of right now it’s available for sale at all of our shows for $5, which is bonus price for a nine track CD of pure acoustic wholesome goodness. You can find it on Smartpunk.com for $8 plus shipping. Pretty soon we’re signing a contract with Mud Hut to digitally release it on iTunes. And as of right now, that’s a pretty big step for us, you know, doing everything ourselves, DIY. But you know, if something happens down the road, we might go to a more aggressive distribution plan for selling it.

E: So you’re touring a lot?
R: We just finished up a three and a half week tour, went as far south as Florida, as far north as upstate New York and we went all the way out to Illinois. So we did quite a few states and quite a few areas and it was our most successful tour to date for being by ourselves. We toured with a band called Aniston, from North Carolina, really good guys, check them out.

E: Tell me about a time recently when you’ve been able to use your position in this band to show God’s love to someone.
R: It’s funny you should ask that because we’ve actually had a lot of those opportunities. And most of the time it happens on a one on one type circumstance. We don’t actually use our band as an evangelistic band, we don’t call ourselves a Christian band with the goal of entertaining Christian kids. Our goal is to make positive music that really reflects who we are as people and emotively can touch people’s lives, and we find that through conversations that develop mostly from talking and meeting fans that we have opportunities to either be an example or to share and affect people. We were in Lynchburg, Virginia and I had a chance to talk to a young guy who was really struggling with some issues of depression and he said that he listened to the song “Be My Rescue,” and it really struck a chord with him and he felt like for him personally it was a good way… it painted for him a picture of his goal, of how he should be dealing with it. And just sitting down and having those one on one conversations is kind of like a treasurable moment. It’s more our niche, to be real, to be who we are, to express ourselves in art, and then once people can trust and respect that, then we can have deeper conversations and really reach them where they’re at.

E: Cool. I’ve got some fun ones now. What’d you think of the Simpsons’ Movie?
R: I haven’t seen it, and I really want to. Mitch told me it was hilarious. I spent my last $9 on The Bourne Ultimatum, which was phenomenal.

E: Which band member is best at Halo?
R: Ohhh… I would say probably Mitch. I’m really pretty good at Rainbow Six Vegas, on 360, and I definitely own everybody else on Guitar Hero. Definitely.

E: Do any of you have any secret talents or gift?
R: Mitch can do an awesome impression of a velociraptor, shrieking and all.

E: Lastly, when I say “Rock,” you think…
R: Roll.

E: Thanks, anything else?
R: No man, thanks so much.
E: Alright, thanks.

Thanks to Rob for taking the time to do this on a busy (and probably stressful) night, right before preparing to go on stage at Purple Door (which was a super-fun performance, by the way). To everyone else, more info on The Apathy Eulogy can be found here at their myspace.

Stephen Christian: I’m Stephen Christian and I sing in the band Anberlin.

How’s the Warped Tour been treating you so far?

SC: Unreal man, we’ve been meeting so many cool bands like Circa Survive, Coheed and Cambria, Kill Switch Engage and all these incredible bands all in one place. It’s just been amazing. The community has been really cool, and the fans have been amazing. We’ve never been on Warped Tour before so this is definitely a huge experience.

How have the crowd’s been responded?

SC: Well, we’re not really a Warped Tour band and we’ve never been on the tour like I said before, so I think a lot of people are discovering us for the first time out here. Maybe they’ve heard the name or seen the CD somewhere, so they’ll say “Hey, lets go check out this band today”. I would say 30-40% of the crowd is singing along and everyone else is getting into it but they’ve never heard it.

Would you say reaching new fans is your favorite thing about the Warped Tour?

SC: Yes, definitely. Also like I said before, the community is great. The people behind the scenes, the production people, the crew, everyone. It seems like we’re all one giant family and in this together.

Do you have a least favorite thing about the tour?

SC: The heat. I mean I love Florida, it’s where I’m from, but man, it is just so stammering out here. But you know, if the fans can put up with it for a day then so can we.

What’s your opinion on the 30 minute set-times here on Warped?

SC: I think it’s great, it’s very conducive to the fact that people go to Warped Tour with the intention of seeing a few bands they like and discovering a ton more. Warped Tour is almost like a greatest hits set, you play all your best songs and maybe when you come back on a headlining or supporting tour, fans who discovered you at Warped will come see you again.

Cities was released a few months ago, how would you compare that album to your past efforts?

SC: I think it’s our best work to date, I really like how it came out. Musically I really think it challenged our listeners and we challenged ourselves. Lyrically I think this was our most “heart-on-sleeve” album. I wasn’t sure if people really wanted to hear that, but apparently they do. We’ve gotten the best response from this record. I can safely say Cities is our best work to date in my opinion.

Do you have any b-sides you might put out in the future?

SC: Yeah, a couple of them are online right now like ‘The Haunting”, “Uncanny”, and the two covers we did.

What song are you most proud of on Cities?

SC: I think “Fin” because of how unique the writing process for that song was. We all sat down, started playing and thats what came out. A nine minute song with a boys choir and some weird instruments. It was probably the most fun I had writing a song on this album.

After recording Cities you went to India on a missions trip with some other bands and the guys of To Write Love On Her Arms. How as that experience?

SC: It was heart wrenching, challenging and just overall insane. There were moments where it hurt, but I definitely walked away from that feeling like I made a difference.

Do you have plans for more trips in the future?

SC: Yeah definitely. In January we’re going to Nairobi, Kenya in Africa. We’re gonna stay there and work a couple of weeks with the One Campaign teaching people farming and also trying to fix a roof that caved in at a school killing two young boys. I want to continue doing this and taking more and more bands.

So going back to the new album, Cities has been getting great reviews and Anberlin has been called “the next Radiohead”. How does being compared to one of the greatest bands of our generation feel?

SC: I can’t believe people say that. Radiohead is so good, so challenging and just beyond my ears. We’re nowhere close to them [Laughs].

Who would you say your biggest influences as a song-writer are?

SC: I would have to say The Smiths overall. As far as lyrics and storytelling are concerned The Beatles are way up there for me. Radiohead like we talked about earlier and tons of bands I listen to on a daily basis influence me. Right now I’ve been listening to a lot of basic rock bands like The Doves and The Stills, stuff like that.

The last thing I want to ask you about is Anchor & Braille, your side-project with Aaron Marsh of Copeland. Whats the status on that?

SC: Well, we just finished writing all the music. I only have three more tracks to do vocally and the whole record will be done. I’m so proud of it, it’s going to be nothing like I’ve ever done or worked on so I’m really excited. We should have our record out by early next year.

Any last comments or thoughts you want to get out there to our readers?

SC: Don’t just sit around, try to make a difference in the world. You don’t have to go to India like I did or anything, just make a difference.

Myspace | Official Website

Interview by: Julio D. Anta

If you could tell the readers your name and what you do in the bad?

Nick Moore: My name is Nick Moore, and I’m the vocalist in the band.

So, how did the band get started?

NM: Well, I was in another band that ended up breaking up. I knew a few other guys guys from other bands that we had all played with in the past. So I called Jared our drummer and told him I wanted to start a little side project and if he was interested playing drums for it, and have his friend Cory who was also in his old band play bass. So they said yeah, and our original guitarist for the band, his name was Jim and had played in another band with me but he eventually quit BTE.

How long ago was all of this?

NM: This was back in October of 2006.

Your debut album was on Rise Records, how did you get signed with them?

NM: Well, in December we played a show with The Devil Wears Prada in Toledo, Ohio. Their drummer Daniel really liked us, so I’m guessing he put in a good word at Rise for us and it all just fell into place from there.

How was the writing and recording process for that album, I heard it was really rushed?

NM: Oh it was awesome, and it was great working with Joey(Producer), it was really rushed though. Our band was formed in October and we didn’t start playing shows until December. So right after we signed to Rise we figured out we had to do a full-length. So we wrote and finished the rest of the full-length by the end of February of this year, we did it in about two and a half months.

Did you go into the studio with all the songs written, or did you write while recording?

NM: We wrote most of the songs before hand, but we did write some songs in the studio.

Do you write all the lyrics?

NM: Yeah, I write most of the lyrics.

So what would you say inspires most of the lyrics?

NM: With a lot of my lyrics people think they have to do with relationships and stuff, but really most of them have to do with my relationship with God. I kinda write abstract, so you might not think that my lyrics are about my Christian walk, but in reality they are.

Do you think thats the only way Christianity affects your music, or does it affect other aspects of the band?

NM: Well, all of us in the band are Christian, so we do our best to live the right lifestyle. But for me lyrically thats my main influence and when we started this project I said I wanted to write more spiritually based lyrics and songs and just let God put the words in my mouth.

What would you say are your biggest musical influences are?

NM: I’m really big into Copeland, Punchline, He Is Legend, and Underoath are probably my top bands.

And collectively between the whole band what are your biggest influences?

NM: I would say about the same. I’m more of a pop guy, I don’t listen to much hardcore or anything. But everyone else in the band is into Norma Jean, The Devil Wears Prada and a lot of the Rise bands. Musically I would say a lot of our stuffs more edgier, but vocally I think it has some pop in it coming from my influence.

What does the band name Before Their Eyes mean?

NM: It’s from a Bible verse in Romans, but I honestly just thought it sounded cool. The verse is about how a lot of people don’t really fear God anymore, or don’t have the fear of God in them. The last line in it is “There is no fear of God before their eyes”.

Is there a story behind the Derek Hess artwork, or was it just his own idea’s?

NM: Yeah, there is a story behind it. The guy thats standing there is supposed to symbolize a character thats walking in sin. Thats what the trashy and gloomy look behind him is symbolizing. Then in front of him theres the shadow casting a crucifix with the nails laying on the ground. That symbolizes that he’s not dead and the angel with the gun to his head symbolizes that God’s bringing him home. So, it’s a little weird.

You recently added a fifth member to the band right?

NM: Yeah, his name is Corey, he was one of the original members. He started off playing bass for us, but ended up leaving the band like a month after we formed to pursue another opportunity. So, we eventually wanted to add another guitarist to the band after playing a few shows with just one guitarist, so we called Corey and he was totally down for it.

So, you guys are about to go on the Rise Records tour with The Devil Wears Prada, and Dance Gavin Dance. Do you want to continue playing the secular venues, or do you prefer Christian events?

NM: Well, we’ll play anywhere, we play a lot of secular venues. For me personally, secular shows are where it’s at because thats where the people I feel in my heart I need to reach are at. I feel more drawn to play the secular crowds even though I love playing the Christian festivals as well.

What would you say are your biggest hopes for this band?

NM: Well, our hope is to keep making records, playing a lot of shows and doing the whole band thing.

Any last words to leave our readers with?

NM: I don’t know, this is my first interview so I’m not really used to this. Um… go buy the new Emarosa CD!

Special thanks to Stephanie Marlow of Heavy Hitter Inc. for setting up this interview.

Myspace | Purevolume | Album Review

What’s your name and what do you do?

Ben Cook: My name is Ben Cook, I play guitar and sing. I’d like to get a full band together but it’s just me for right now.

The records are more than just guitar and vocals right?

BC: Yeah, the recordings I did with a friend of mine who was in the band when I lived in Jacksonville, Florida. He did some percussion, second guitar and harmonies.

Have you ever played under your name or other alias’?

BC: Yeah, when I first started around a year and a half ago the name was “To Live And Die In Dixie” which was kinda goofy so I changed it to Our Departure Project. I’ve been Our Departure project for a year now. I’ve only really been playing out for about six months now.

Where does the band name come from?

BC: The band name is really a metaphor for life. Our Departure Project is speaking of the Christian life. We’re not really here for this life, we’re really here in preparation for our future everlasting life. So, Our Departure Project is our life here on earth.

What are your musical influences?

BC: I listen to everything from folk music like Rocky Votolato, he’s amazing, and Iron and Wine, Sufjan Stevens, to Metal.

So what would you say is your biggest influence?

BC: Musically, probably Sufjan Stevens. Lyrically, I would have to say mewithoutYou. Aaron Weiss is an amazing lyricist. I can only dream to be something like him.

Like mewithoutYou, Our Departure Project is a Christian band right?

BC: Yes, definitely proclaiming the name of Christ everywhere I go. Like I said, the name itself speaks of what we’re hear to do. Lyrically my music is mostly situational. My friend just got married so I wrote him a song for his wedding. The song is geared towards a husband and wife serving each other here on earth. The husband is supposed to be the example of Christ, and his wife is the church.But my goal for the next coming months and my summer break off of school is to write songs specifically taken from the Bible, not situational.

The Bible says that God’s words will not return void. So what better way to share the gospel than to use the book rather than your own situations. I think the strongest effect’s are the words of Christ.

Do you see a concept album coming out of that in the future?

BC: Maybe eventually, but really it’s just going to be song’s taken out of specific parts of the scripture. I want to eventually do an entire album based on the book of James because it’s a really awesome book. It’s the proverbs of The New Testament.

Any plans for the future?

BC: Well, I’m at school in the University of Mobile, so I want to write and record some new stuff this summer and hopefully get a full band together so we can tour during the breaks and stuff.

Any final words?

BC: I don’t think so, just thanks for doing this interview and continue enjoying my music.

Myspace

Formed in the wake of the now-defunct Bernard, A Slight Breeze is the brain-child of ex-Bernard bassist Ryan Adams. About a month ago I had the opportunity of interviewing him in his small St. Augustine apartment where we discussed the unique sound of ASL and the break up of his former band. Interview by Julio D. Anta

Do you write most of the music?
Ryan Adam’s: Yeah, I guess. I’ve been writing and recording for maybe two years, pretty much when I got my computer. I started writing, and sorta had intentions for some of it to end up in Bernard, but it just never happened. So, when Bernard was over, I thought, I have all this stuff, I might as well do something with it.

What do you write mostly on?
RA: In terms of instruments?

Yeah, what do you usually start on?
RA: It depends, I usually start off on guitar. A lot of times it’s started off with a bass riff, or a keyboard line, then build around that. I usually write in sections, so I might start one section off with a bass riff, and then record the guitar over that. Then, in the next section I might want the guitar to do something completely different, so I’ll make the bass around the guitar. So it tends to weave in and out.

And do you record it all on your mac?
RA: Yeah, everything is done on my computer.

Is the EP the full band or all you?
RA: It’s all me. I actually had everything recorded before I even had the band together. It was nice, all I had to do was get friends of mine that I really wanted to play with and say, “here’s the stuff, I can teach you the parts”, and we could just go out and do it. We didn’t have to wait around to start writing together and kinda get the feel for it. So it’s been really nice.

But I think with the guys I got, we’re gonna start writing together more.

Have you guys written anything together yet?
RA: No, it’s been kinda hard. Four of the guys live in Jacksonville, and then one guy lives in Fernandina Beach which is another 30 minutes north of that. So it’s hard for us to get together. We’ve only practiced a hand full of times. Trying to find time to get together, and then writing on top of that is really difficult. We haven’t really gotten to that point yet, but hopefully, in the couple of months we’ll be able to start doing that.

We’re not in a rush though. I wrote enough stuff, that we’re still it working out for the live setting. So we have enough to keep us busy, we’re not really wanting new material yet.

Other than the drummer who you played with in Bernard, have you played in other bands with the rest of the guys?
RA: Yeah, Jared was in Bernard. Joel who we just added on guitar actually played in Bernard also, back when we were a four-piece. The other guys I’ve never played with, but I’ve played with bands that they’re all in.

We’ve all become friends over these past couple of years, so I really wanted to get them involved primarily because they’re my friends and I love hanging out with them. So they understand what I want to accomplish music, and we get along which is a the primary thing. Plus they’re all great musicians.

So, when did A Slight Breeze start as a full band?
RA: We started talking about it in the middle of December, and our first show was in the middle of January. It was also the first time we had all played together. We had practices were one guy couldn’t make it, or two guys couldn’t make it. So I guess it became a serious idea in the middle of December.

How long have you been doing it on your own?
RA: Probably, since two summers ago. I had gotten the laptop for Christmas a few years back, then that summer, I starting teaching myself how to record and write. It’s great just from a musicians point of view to be able to record your own stuff and write that way since your able to play with yourself. I’m a very visual person, so it’s great that I can see it all laid out, and structure it that way.

Also, as a multi-instrumentalist, if I come up with a bass riff I really like, I can record that. Then think what I would want to record over it, and just mess around. So it’s helped me learn other instruments in the process.

What about the name, where did that come from?
RA: A Slight Breeze came from a book called “Haunted Weather” by David Toop. It’s about music in the past 50 years, where it’s going, and how it’s not as simple as it used to be. In terms of how it carries you mentally, emotionally and spiritually. In the beginning of the book he talks about coming across one of his dad’s journals, and how it was to read it. His dad would write down the most asinine things, and he said that one day all his dad wrote in the journal was that there was a slight breeze that day. I really liked that image of a slight breeze.

It just stuck. It’s the name I’ve been using for the graphic design stuff I do, and I’m planning on writing a series of essay’s that would all fit under that name.

Do you want it all to go together? Or is the music it’s own entity away from the essay’s?
RA: I think because it’s all coming from me it’ll probably end up correlating anyway. I write about whats important to me, whether it’s writing, or writing music. My focus isn’t to make an audio accompaniment to whatever I write.

Have you ever thought of doing a concept album?
RA: I’ve thought of doing concept albums but it wouldn’t be like that necessarily. You can say our albums are concept albums because they have the same overlying idea behind the music, but it’s not like I’m writing a rock opera about Viking’s.

So, you said A Slight Breeze got it’s start once Bernard broke up. What exactly happened with Bernard? There was never an explanation.
RA: We we had been touring a lot and once we came back home from our last tour with Edison Glass, things were really tense between the three of us. It escalated, and I think the three all did things that in retrospect wish we wouldn’t have done, and said things we shouldn’t have said. At the end we had a meeting with our manager, we just yelled and spat at each other, and kinda hashed it out. Thats when we decided that it would probably be best if we just stepped away from it now, because the reality is that some people just can’t work together. So we decided we couldn’t work together and that seemed like a really good time to stop before things really got serious.

We had tours booked that we were gonna do. The Sleeping At Last tour was in two weeks. This whole spring we would have been doing the To Write Love On Her Arms tour which would have coincided with our nation wide album release. It was weird because the band called it quits three days before the album was going to go out to the manufacturer. It was better to end the band then, instead of letting things get worse and decide to call it off when a lot of people were depending on us.

Is there a possibility of Bernard ever re-uniting?
RA: I don’t know, I mean I don’t want to speak for the future too much, but there was a while where we weren’t talking. Jonathan moved out to California to help The Myriad write their new album. He just got back a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve seen each other a few times, and it’s been great. We’ve been friends longer than we’ve been band-mates, especially Jared and Jon. They’ve been friends for six or seven years. Jonathan and I have been friends for over three years. So, it’s good that we can go back to just being friends and not business partners.

Being in a band, being in a business with friends is really hard to pull off. I don’t think we started off doing it right, and it just accumulated.

Going back to A Slight Breeze, only one of your songs have lyrics. The rest are all instrumental. How do your live shows work? I heard you play projections behind the band?
RA: Yeah, we’ve been messing around with a couple of idea’s. When we played as Bernard, one of the things we did was have projection running at the same time. So, we had the technology in that band to create our own videos and sync them up with the music perfectly. We haven’t been able to do it with this band, we use more of a streaming idea. We have a couple of films that we play behind us that are kind of non-scripted objective things just to give it a visual element. We’re using lights, and are trying to figure out how to set-up on the stage.

That song with the lyrics we haven’t done live yet, and I don’t know if we will. I actually wrote that song for Jared, he was going through some really hard times around a year and a half ago. So, I just wrote that for him, and it ended up having lyrics because it was written with a very specific idea. The thing that I like about instrumental music is that you don’t really get the musicians idea’s, instead you can formulate your own about what it’s about and how it makes you feel. So for that song I wanted to be a bit more specific since it was for him.

Is it hard to connect with the audience since there are no lyrics for them to sing-along to or get a message from?
RA: We’ve gotten varied responses, which I suppose a lot of bands do anyways. The same thing happened with Bernard, were people walk away are just like “I don’t get it, this is horrible”. They don’t like the repetition. We’re very repetitive with the way we write, It’s very circular writing. But a lot of people love it and they really connect with it. I think it really depends on what our listeners are bringing to the table. Since we don’t really have anything for them to immediately grasp onto, I guess the listener has to work a little harder to get something out of it. Some people find it hard, and others find it really easy.

Do you guys play the song’s exactly how they’re recorded, or do you give them room for improvisation on stage?
RA: We’ve messed with them a little bit, and kinda re-arraigned some of the song’s so there a little better formed. I taught them the parts the way I recorded them, but since they’re obviously better than I am at their individual instruments I’ve given them free reign to add their voice into the parts.

What influences your song-writing?
RA: Pretty much whatever I’m listening to at the moment. But, of course theres instrumental post-rock bands that I always find really interesting and influential like, Explosions In The Sky, and Godspeed! Black Emperor. Also band’s that use a lot of layering and texture like Mogwai, Mew. Mews new album kinda just freaked me out. I got it and it was just so well put together. Brian Eno is also a really big influence, so is Philip Glass especially with what I’ve been writing recently.

What would you define A Slight Breeze’s sound as?
RA: Rock.

Just Rock?
RA: Haha, so I guess you want more than that. Well, usually when people ask me I just say we’re instrumental rock, or post-rock. Some people would say ambient rock but I hesitate from that term because I think that ambient music is such a definite genre, and I don’t think we fit into that necessarily.

Any last thoughts or comments?
RA: Thanks for doing the interview. Whoever reads this can listen to us on myspace.com/aslightbreeze, and buy our EP I Am Not Prepared To Receive That Which I Desire Most there too.

Myspace

Interview by Julio D. Anta

What’s your name and what do you do in the band?

Jake Schultz: My name is Jake Schultz and I play bass.

How’s the tour with Underoath and Maylene been going?

JS: It was awesome, I mean this was the last show. It was ten days I think and we’ve known basically everyone on this tour for years, so it’s been a really big hangout. A bro-fest if you will.

How long have you been in the band?

JS: Pretty much, I joined right after the first record came out. The other guy quit right before the record came out so they had a fill in guy for like a month. So, I joined after that.

What does Norma Jean mean?

JS: Well, it’s just a cool name. You know, it’s Marilyn Monroe’s real name. A while after it was picked though we found out it mean “patters of grace and mercy” which was cool. But thats not why we chose the name, it was kind of an extra bonus.

You guys have a very distinct sound, can you describe it to me?

JS: Noisy and straightforward would be a good way to describe our music even though those are totally opposite ends. If not, I think our genre should simply be really good.

How is “Redeemer” different from your older albums?

JS: It’s definitely easier to listen to than our other records. It’s more straightforward, it’s a really natural sounding record. Also, very raw and passionate.

How do you think Christianity affects your music?

JS: Well, Christianity only affects the lyrical content of our music. I don’t really believe it affects out music at all.

What’s your opinion on labels who market their bands only to Christians as opposed to everyone else?

JS: I don’t like it, but then again the bands that are marketed only to the Christian market are the really Christian bands.

Like worship music?

JS: Yeah, either that or just really cheesy music. But you totally limit yourself when you do that, when you say we’re gonna make only this kind of music for this audience only. You really limit yourself, but our label has never tried to do that with us. Our label, Solid State pretty much let’s us do whatever we want which is awesome. We would never limit ourselves to a certain demographic.

Any tours planned after this?

JS: We’re off for like a week and a half after this and then we go to Australia with Everytime I Die for two weeks. The next tour we’re doing in the states is like a week of Warped Tour, but thats all we have booked for now.

Do you plan on continuing to tour “Redeemer” or going back into the studio to record?

JS: I guess we’re gonna find that out in the fall since we’re booked till September. So when all of that’s said and done we’ll find out if we’re gonna tour more or sit down and write a new record.

Have any song’s written yet?

JS: No. I mean, everyone’s got stuff on their own stuff, but we never start writing until we set aside time to write. You know, everyone’s got their own stuff and then we just put it all together when we decide to write.

So now, the last and most important question. What your most anticipated album of 2007?

JS: Well, it already came out and it was the Maylene record. It’s awesome. I’m sure there’ll be another record coming out that I’ll really like, but so far thats it.

Any last thoughts?

JS: BBQ rules!
Special thanks to Brian Rocha (publicist) and Jess McBride (manager) for setting up this interview for me. This is my first interview here so constructive criticism would be great! I’d love to hear from all of you!

Official Site

Myspace

Purevolume

(picture courtesy of Reuben Wilson)

To start things off, who are you and what do you do in He Is Legend?
-I’m Schuylar and I sing.

Could you give us a brief update on what you’ve been up to lately?
-We’ve pretty much just been preparing for our headlining tour.

A month or two ago, you started pushing the movie, The Reaping, to fans. How did this come about?
-They expressed interest in having us help promote the film. I think it’s known in the industry as “Selling Out” but we figured, why not?

You also just started advertising your Virb account. Why should users convert to Virb?
-The site is just less of a fad I think. It’s really geared toward music, which is a good thing for people passionate about finding new acts.

Since the mourned leaving of McKenzie, you’ve added a new guitar player, Mitchell Marlow. How is he doing so far, adjusting to being in the band?
-It’s good. Pretty laid back…we are just excited about working on the next album. Mitch is doing a lot of studio work right now.

Have you written any new material with him yet? If so, does it sound a lot different than the last release, Suck Out the Poison?
-We haven’t really put anything down yet. We’ve just been fooling around in the practice spaces. I’m sure the new stuff is going to be phenomenal.

Speaking of your recent album, the style was obviously a lot different that I Am Hollywood, and some people apparently didn’t appreciate that, while others loved it and soaked up the controversy like the media during a presidential election. What happened that you changed so much musically, and how have you been handling the response to the record?
-I think we have always changed our style from one way to another over the years. This is just the first time we haven’t changed our name along with it. The people who don’t dig it are the people we are kind of trying to weed out anyway. I think with each fan we have lost due to the changes, another has come along & they are really interested in what we are doing.

Not too long ago, He Is Legend also did a split with Classic Case, covering each other’s
songs. What gave you such a unique idea?
-Ton’s of bands have done this in the past. We were just stoked to work together…Classic Case is one of our favorite bands.

Are you satisfied with the results of the split?
-Not with the He Is Legend tunes. But the Classic Case side rules. I think that recording came at the worst time for us. However, it’s funny to hear the comments from the fans.

I understand you’re not all Christians, but this question has become a commonplace in all my interviews lately, because I think it’s the best way we can really support a band, taking the next step beyond buying CDs and going to shows. How can we at Indie Vision Music best pray for He Is Legend?
-Prosperity, good health, safe travels, a million dollars.

Are there any other ways fans might want to support you?
-Come to our shows and have a good time. Buy the record if you dig it. We don’t ask for much.

-Which internet controversy would you rather He Is Legend be remembered for. Your admittance to liking Korn, or the massiveness of Schuylar’s beard?
-Korn all the way.

Most importantly, in a free-for-all fist fight to the death (no foreign objects, please), which member of He Is Legend would win?
-Mitch knows Kung-fu.

What potential plans can you tell us? Future tours? Upcoming CDs? Running in the ‘08 election?
-Headlining tour June 14th - August 4th. Record ASAP

Thanks for the interview and for your time. Any more words to our readers?
-Listen to My Morning Jacket.

Thanks to Schuylar again for filling this out and to Nathan Mallon at Thoughts on Vinyl for helping set it up.

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To begin, you can state your name and your duties in the band.
My name is Ben Olin and I am the Vocalist for This Beautiful Republic

So how’s touring going?
Touring has definitely been an adventure. It’s not as glorious as most people believe it to be, it’s a lot of really hard work, but the rewards outweigh the amount of work put in. Sanctus Real are friends of ours and Needtobreathe are just really great guys so it was a great first tour for us to be on. People like that make experiences so much fun and inspire us to get better at what we do. As far as crowd response, it’s been overwhelmingly positive despite our polarizing presentation. It seems like very few people say, “eh, they’re ok.” They either greatly enjoy the passion with which we present our songs and the energy we exude from stage or don’t. …but judging from the reactions we’ve had from this tour, most people are really into it and go to pick up the CD or a poster for us to sign later.

With all that time on the bus, what’s been getting the most playtime in your personal music player?
Well, we don’t spend much time in a bus, we spend more time in a van dragging a trailer behind us begging for 11 mpg. But we definitely get to listen to music. I’m a hard sell on a lot of music, there’s no real formula to what I like, but I typically enjoy things that have a lot of passion to it or are just hard. So, right now, according to iTunes under the “most played” section, it’s UnderOath, Deathcab for Cutie, Norma Jean, The Chariot, mewithoutYou, Terminal, Taking Back Sunday, Pedro the Lion, Relient K’s new record, and Weaver at the Loom. Those are pretty much in a constant rotation lately.

Have you always been on the road a lot? What’s been the hardest part of adjusting to this new lifestyle?
We really haven’t been on the road a lot. We’ve been away from home a lot, but not really touring. It was to finish the record, working towards signing our deal with Forefront, photoshoot, meetings, and other behind-the-scenes things. We’ve played a lot of spot dates and have had to travel all over the country for that, but it wasn’t for really extended periods of time. Now that we ARE away for a longer period, the hardest thing to adjust to, for me, is to appreciate what we’re getting to do every day. It’s not the waking up early after going to bed late, it’s not the hours of driving each day, but it’s the acknowledgment of where we’re at and how we got here. It can easily get monotonous if you let it, but no job is without monotony and it’s our jobs to find the pleasure and blessing hidden in every morning.

“This Beautiful Republic”… that name is an obvious tribute to our nation, right?
Totally. …NOT correct, that is. But kind of at the same time. If you prefer to call the Kingdom of Heaven a nation, then yes it is. It’s our way to represent the Bride of Christ that exists now and will exist forever. It’s something where all of the people are equal, capable, and working towards one goal; glorifying Christ. We feel that way about our band. That everyone, no matter what connection you have to the band, is equal to the members in the band, can have a part in it, and feel accepted. We hope to encourage those who join with us towards the goal of glorifying Christ.

And your guitarist Adam Smith- is he really the Adam Smith, the father of modern capitalism?
Yes. He’s looking good for his age.

Now can you tell us a little about your new record, Even Heroes Need a Parachute. I’m listening to it right now, to be honest, and it’s got some good stuff on it. How did you guys get together and form this sound?
Well… the long story is REALLY long, but as cliché as it may be to say, God really formed this band from two really different bands. I was in a harder melodic rock band and they had started by playing original praise and worship songs with an interesting edge. When both of us had needs, we never thought to get together until an act of God really put that possibility out there. We got together and the sound was born, worshipful lyrics and content with good solid rock and great melody. …and thanks!!

If a listener were to only take one thing from this album, what would you want it to be?
That God doesn’t care who you are, what you’re going through, or where you’ve been. He just wants you. He wants to rescue you from those things dragging you down and be your parachute.

With such a large number of Christians taking their music to the larger market and with so many great bands like UnderOath having a chance to reach kids in a way that Christian bands wouldn’t have thought possible five years ago (at least not in this scene), what made you choose to take the more tradition “Christian band” route, playing churches and signing to Forefront Records?
Great question. With the music industry struggling to move records and finding themselves in a situation where they have to be very careful with the acts that they sign, most bands figure that it makes more sense to appeal to the greatest of audiences; everyone. So they walk the line between general market and Christian to do that. We love all of these bands it seems like. Those are the ones that we seem to listen to the most, but for us, it didn’t make sense. We really don’t understand people in the general market as well as we do the Christian one. We all came from youth groups and churches and Christian schools, so we know a lot better what those kids are dealing with and feel called to try to encourage or reach them in some way.

Have you received any negative criticism for this decision?
Not at all. People respect our passion for that demographic and just try to find a way to help us.

How can we at Indie Vision Music best pray for This Beautiful Republic?
You can pray that we would always be safe and healthy as we travel. With our CD just being released, we are certainly going to be traveling a lot. Also that we would continue to be able to write and have those songs truly be coming from God. Then, most of all, you can pray for those who are going to be seeing us play or listening to the disc. Pray that they would be encouraged or pushed to further their relationship with God.

What’s something God has been teaching you lately, either as a band or personally?
Personally, I mentioned it a little bit above. That the monotony in our lives are really what make us who we are. The way that we approach or view the mundane is so overwhelmingly important because God loves the mundane. He’s in those experiences as much as he is in the most memorable ones. He doesn’t want credit for just the mountaintops, He wants to be with you every second of every day and have you know that. That’s been the trick of me, to appreciate every single morning before we take off or get moving for the day. Whether you have to get up for your job or school or you have to stay home with the kids, those are blessings from God. Thank Him for them.

Ten years down the road, where do you see This Beautiful Republic? (If that’s too hard, you can just do five years.)
Ten years? Hopefully we’re still allowed to make music for people and the label likes us enough to keep distributing it. I’d hope that we’d be headlining festivals and tours, with 7 or 8 records under our belts; all that have sold well and been really well received. I hope that we’ll be invited to be guests on other people’s records. I hope that we’re still being relevant in a big way, that our audience continues to grow at an increasing rate and that we continue to be a really accessible band who appreciates every one of their supporters. Oh, with some awards and accolades so that we can get on stage and be one of the few who thank God and mean it.

Any closing statements?
If you get a chance to come see us perform our songs live, please take the opportunity. The live show is like ice cream without the fudge. You might have the record already and like it, but if you throw the live show in with it, it will be that much more enjoyable. We’ll be at almost every major music festival, playing at great times, so please stop and watch and then come say hello or ask us to sign a t-shirt or something. …and thanks for supporting us in our little endeavor.

A special thanks goes out to Ben for sending this to me twice, for recording an awesome CD, and for playing a part in my learning to again appreciate bands who are more outspokenly “Christian bands for the Christian music industry,” because they apparently aren’t all rip-offs of mainstream artists (seriously, these guys are good), and God has called them to this and is using them through it.  May His blessing be on them.

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Eric IVM: Give your name and what you do in the band.
Jeff: Jeff Gray, lead vocal/guitar

Eric IVM: For those who haven’t heard you yet, how would you explain your style?
Jeff: Piano-Centric Alternative Rock

Eric IVM: Where did the name Lost Ocean originate?
Jeff: Two previous song titles of our got married. Once together, we loved the natural implications, imagery, and simplicity of the name.

Eric IVM: What’s Lost Ocean’s story? How did the band begin?
Jeff: I produced a demo for the other three members’ prior band. When members began to shift, I stepped in and eventually became the band’s new singer/guitarist. We had all known each other from common friends and Riverlakes Church.

Eric IVM: How’s the tour with Between the Trees going? Any great stories?
Jeff: BTT is a great band, the tour was killer. Their RV broke down in our hometown. Irony. Some turnouts were good, others were not, but we pushed each other in our live shows and found some amazing friends along the way.

Eric IVM: What’s been playing the most lately in your personal music player?
Jeff: When I drive our van I’m listening to the new Blonde Redhead, the Beatles, Gnarles Barkley, and some Edison Glass prerelease stuff that I’m in love with.

Eric IVM: What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year and why?
Jeff: About six months ago I read The Great Divorce (Lewis). Amazing book because it paints an interesting picture of hell and the afterlife.

Eric IVM: Correct me if I’m wrong on this one, but yours was the fourth album to be released by Credential Records. How did you get hooked up with such a young label, and what is it like helping each other get your feet off the ground?
Jeff: Yes, our self-titled debut album was Credentials fourth release. A friend of ours showed our indie record to our current A&R, Chris York. I spoke with York on the phone for some months and then met up with him in person in LA while he was checking out the Edison Glass record. We really clicked with him. It’s difficult being a new band on a new label with so many established labels already out there, but we feel that our team is so capable and up-and-coming that it will be a worthwhile build.

Eric IVM: What role does your faith play in Lost Ocean?
Jeff: Every member of Lost Ocean has a personal relationship with Christ and listeners will hear an admittance of personal imperfection as well as hope in our lyrics as a result. We are not a Christian band by genre, however.

Eric IVM: How can we at Indie Vision Music best pray for you guys right now?
Jeff: We are having some financial problems as a band right now. If you guys could pray for that as well as putting us in the way of as many people to show love to as possible.

Eric IVM: Thanks for doing this interview. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Jeff: Thank you guys so much.

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An Interview with Jeff Jacquay of Unashamed
A classic trip in time through the years of Spirit Filled Hardcore and beyond…

I first caught glimpse of Unashamed in 95’ at a show with Focused in Capo Beach, CA. and was blown away by the intensity of the band. Their brand of “Spirit Filled Hardcore” blew everyone in the room away with passion of heart and explosive guitars enough to jolt the building to the floor (exaggerated). I had never seen a hardcore show quite like that one. I was a noob and new to the scene of Hardcore but it was bands like Unashamed, Focused, Strongarm, etc. that brought me into this new world of “Christian” hardcore that completely changed my life and showed me that music of Faith didn’t have to be repetitive cheese ball metal or CCM oriented adult pop. Or even worse, the Newsboys. (no offense to you fans out there). This was legitimate hardcore music with a true message of hope for dying world and hope for a new generation of Christian youth. It was because of bands like Unashamed that I rededicated my life to the Lord. Years have long passed and these bands have long since been broken up. Members have carried on with their lives and people have generally changed. Times have changed, for the good or worse, it’s up to you to decide. My interview, this interview, is with the man behind the now classic band, Unashamed. His life, his glories, his hope. Welcome to the world of Spirit filled hardcore.

Brandon/IVM: Where do I begin? Well let’s start with the inception of the band Unashamed. Where did you guys meet and how did you first decide that you wanted to start a “hardcore” band? What were your influences at the time?

Honestly, I kind of feel like an old man reminiscing but here it goes. Unashamed actually existed before I joined so I’m not really sure all of the others met. There were 2 vocalists before me, Dave Bhanson and Dave Lauridsen. I was just a kid in the crowd going to see these bands play but I immediately found a place of acceptance as did a lot of us. I remember in the early days of the Spirit-Filled Hardcore scene like around early 93’, I’d go to these shows about once or twice a month and see Focused, Unashamed, Outnumbered, Plank-eye, Hold True, Change, and these 13-14 year olds who called themselves Bloodshed. This is when the bands were just forming, I think Focused and Hold True had demo tapes which was a big deal. I was playing music with some friends at the time. We called ourselves Found (which later became Never Alone on the first “Helpless Amongst Friends” Album). Early on, shows were a really small affair consisting of roughly 30-40 people so you would see the same people at the shows and naturally you’d become friends and try to start a band up together. It was a great network too. All of the bands would support the others, it was real D.I.Y .and you have to keep in mind, there was no internet availability so flyers, phone calls, and word of mouth were the extent of finding out where shows were. So I gradually became friends with Dave Lauirdsen, the then-vocalist for Unashamed and he’d invite me to go skate and we’d hang out. He decided he wanted to travel a bit so with his encouragement and the encouragement of an old friend Dave Nyguen I tried out with the band. I guessed they like it and asked me to join then and there in our bass player Shane’s garage. I remember the music being so loud that we knocked some oil over and our drummer Chris wiped it up with Shane’s dad’s nice wool shammy. He was pretty pissed but we thought it was funny. That was on January 1^st of 1994, I was 17.

Brandon/IVM: About how long was it from your inception till the time of your first show(s)? Do you remember some of the first places you played at as a band? With what other artists did you share the stage with?

My first show with Unashamed was out in Riverside, CA behind this small record shop that some of the guys from VooDoo Glow Skulls owned. We played there back-to-back weekends so those acted as my first shows with the band. From there we just started playing all of the time, anywhere that would have us play. . In terms of bands, there were the usual suspects like Focused, Outnumbered, Bloodshed, Centerpoint and when we toured we’d play with Overcome, Strongarm, and Six Feet Deep. On our first tourin 1994 with Focused I remember Zao opening one show. They were awful at the time but the nicest guys. We’d play a bit with No Innocent Victim and P.O.D. They’d come up from San Diego and play and we’d go down there. Those guys didn’t get a lot of respect or credit back then and I never knew quite why. I always counted them both as an intregal part of the scene even though we had some 100 miles of distance between us.

Brandon/IVM: Spirit Filled Hardcore was a relatively new term at the time around the beginnings of bands like yourselves, Focused, Strongarm, etc. Who do you credit with coining the term? Did you guys feel comfortable being labeled as such?

I’m not where the term originated but everyone just seemed to adopt it. We would have these sweatshirts shirts with “Spirit Filled Hardcore” running big down the sleeve, it was our “crew” in a sense.. A part of me liked the categorization but another part of me despised it since I thought it created a separate scene or idea apart from the general hardcore scene. Overall it was fine though.

Brandon/IVM: What was it like being a part of the explosion of “Christian” talent at the time? What bands do you credit with re-shaping the scene? Who were your biggest influences?

It was something that never really occurred to me and still is a little vuage. . We were all just playing music and being friends and so on. In terms of influence, I’ve always listened to a wide