We here at Down The Line love good music. Yes, we are a “Christian” magazine (whatever that means), but we are also happy to bring you articles and reviews by bands that relate to that exploration between faith and art. Seventh Circle is one such band… they are not a “Christian” band, but we will discuss that in more detail later during the interview. Without getting into the whole “Christian/not Christian/not Christian but comprised of Christians” argument I will just say upfront that this band is worth checking out on every level. This is great music, and while not “Christian” per se, it is heavily steeped in spirituality based solely on the subject matter alone. Adam Pederson is the architect behind Seventh Circle. It is his brainchild and his band. I first came across Seventh Circle because Adam is the moderator of the Saviour Machine message board entitled the Arena, and I spoke with him there at one point. I was happy to hook up with Adam, he’s a super nice guy and his music is genuine. I immediately noticed a resemblance to Saviour Machine and that is always a welcomed plus. In addition to this interview, Adam is also helping us at Down The Line with a special surprise for the future, another special edition by a phenomenal artist. I won’t give away the surprise just yet, but it will be well worth the wait! So, enjoy this read and check out this band!

1) Can you tell me about Seventh Circle and how it came to be? Where did the name come from?

In 2000 I released a demo under the name The Crimson Sky Project but it wasn’t great quality and it was thrown together pretty quickly. I can hardly listen to it anymore. After that is when I decided to switch gears and I started writing new music. It was back in 2001 or 2002 when I decided to use the name Seventh Circle. I don’t remember if it was something I saw somewhere or something that just popped in my head one day. A lot of people think it’s in reference to Dante’s Inferno but it’s really just something I thought sounded cool and captured the sound I was going for.

2) Seventh Circle is comprised of just you and a couple of contributing artists, are there ever any plans to play shows live?

I would love to play shows one day and I am actually starting to seriously think about it. Kevin Wiler is a longtime friend and he would definitely be there to play guitar if we ever did a show. I’m working on finding a good drummer, a bass player and a piano/keyboard player. My goal is to find people that will share the same vision I have and will have the desire to work with me on a long term basis. I want Seventh Circle to be around for a long time to come.

3) The music is reminiscent of Saviour Machine, are they an influence on your work?

I have been a fan of Saviour Machine since 1993. It was some years later when Eric and I really became friends and a few years we ago starting working together on some SM projects. The music of SM is a very big influence on me and being close to Eric I have really learned a lot about his composition style which in turn has made me a better composer I believe. I don’t listen to SM nearly as much as I used to but they will always be a part of me and my music for sure.

4) Given that you are the moderator of the SM board (and friends with Eric), have you ever played with them in any capacity?

I have never played with SM before but as I said above, Eric and I have worked together on some SM projects the past few years. My role has been on more of the graphic design and merchandise operations side of things. I was most involved with the Rarities Box Set as I actually was involved in some of the editing and choosing of the material for that release.”

5) Are you involved in any projects outside of Seventh Circle?

Currently I am not involved with any other projects, at least not on a creative level. I do have future plans of doing other solo projects though as there are many different styles of music I would like to do and I can’t do it all with Seventh Circle.

6) I believe The Struggle was based on your grandfather? Can you explain that a little more?

The Struggle deals with the last couple years of my Grandfathers life and the events leading up to his death. It is taken from many different perspectives and touches on life, death, love, loss and greed. It’s a story that I wanted to tell for a few reasons. I think mainly it was probably my way of coping with the loss but also a testament to a man I loved very much and he was someone who was always there for me when others were not. It was the first time someone really close to me ever died and it was difficult for me for many months.

7) Your website says that The Struggle Remixes are coming, tell me about that project?

I have always been a big fan of remixes and alternate mixes of the music I listen to. I decided very early on that I wanted to do a couple remixes of these songs and decided to take it a step further and actually make a release out of it. I have a couple friends doing remixes as well. The ones I have completed so far turned out pretty good I think. It’s not something for the average fan really, it’s more for the bigger fans so hopefully I have a few of those out there, we’ll know soon enough. I am hoping to release it in June or July. I am also working on a couple other projects for release later this year and sometime in 2010.

Given the length of time to make The Struggle, why have you chosen to give it away as a download? Are there any more physical copies that are left?

Being that Seventh Circle is just starting out, I thought it would be better to just get the music out there and try to build a fan base than to try and sell the CD’s and maybe only have a couple hundred people hear it. In my opinion it has been a success since it has been downloaded something like 3 or 4 thousand times. I’ve got nothing but really good feedback across the board and that has definitely helped me in working on future projects. It kind of lets me know that I’m on the right track. I spent a long time on that album and I’m very proud of how it turned out. It’s comforting to know that people are enjoying it.

9) I know that Seventh Circle is not a Christian band, given that you work closely with professing believers, is that uncomfortable at all?

Some of my closest friends are Christians so I’ve never been uncomfortable around it. We have a mutual respect for each others beliefs and we don’t try to influence one another either way. There are people I have met over the years that assumed I was a Christian and when they found out I was not, they actually stopped talking to me or expressed that they felt deceived. I think that kind of thinking is unhealthy, I’ve never understood why some people of faith think they can only have friends who are of that same faith. If there is a mutual respect than it shouldn’t matter as far as I’m concerned.

10) What difference do you see that exists in the Christian and secular markets?

This is kind of a hard question for me because I really haven’t been too involved in the Christian market for some time. Back in the mid-late 90’s there were several bands I liked and would listen to and I even went to Cornerstone a few times. One thing I do remember is what non-believers views often were regarding Christian music. I would tell friends of mine that I really like this band or that band, I would play it for them and half the time they might like what they hear but as soon as I told them they were a Christian band, some of those people would immediately write it off… It was like, because it was Christian it automatically had to suck or something. I never understood that way of thinking. I’ve always been a person who just likes what I like, regardless of its message. I hear about that a lot though, even today. There’s a lot of great music out there and there is a lot of not-so-great music as well… I don’t think the good belongs to one market just as I don’t think the bad does either. I’m not sure I answered the question the way you wanted but that is what came to mind when I read it.

11) Who are your musical influences, and who are you listening to right now?

Some of my main musical influences are Saviour Machine, Tool, Nine Inch Nails, The Mars Volta, Pink Floyd and The Doors. I also listen to a lot of electronic music as well as classical music and movie scores.

As far as what I am into right now, I have been listening to Fischerspooner, The Mars Volta, Tori Amos, Tool and I actually recently re-purchased the Mortal album Wake and the Argyle Park album.

12) What do you think about the digital revolution and how it affects the music industry?

There are good things and bad things in my opinion. I love that you can release an album digitally like more and more artists are doing, but my biggest problem with that is the whole MP3 thing. I’m really excited for the days when we start using wav files in our iPOD’s instead of MP3’s. The sound quality of an MP3 is just not that good. With technology going the way it is, I think in a few years time we will probably be at that point. I actually said many years ago that what I thought what would eventually happen is you would be able to get a full album on a digital music player. You would have all the artwork, lyrics and the songs in CD quality. It would be like having the CD itself right in a small player. I’m still very much into buying actual CD’s though, there is something about holding that CD in your hand and being able to flip through the booklets that I don’t think I will ever want to give up.

As far as how it affects the music industry, I think over the course of the next ten years maybe we will near the extinction of record labels all together. More and more artists are releasing albums without labels and are finding success on their own terms. This is the way it should be. Why should some record exec get filthy rich off the music you pour your heart and soul into? It’s always been something that bothered me so I say good riddance to the labels. Distribution companies are a different story though and I think they will always have a purpose in the music industry. Sorry I went on a little long there but I see what happens to some bands when their labels screw them over and it really makes me sick sometimes.

After we had already done the bulk of this interview, Adam updated his website with a couple more releases that are coming. As you read above he released The Struggle in 2008 and those remixes are coming in August (he just completed them). In addition, Adam is also releasing two other projects. The first is called Human, another full length release that will be coming out. The second project is called Horror Show. Next is the brief question and answer session we had about these upcoming releases.

1) In regards to the upcoming Human release, who are the players on this recording?

As of right now, Kevin Wiler will likely be playing all the guitars on the entire album. I would like to add some other musicians but I won’t know for sure what that will be until I get back into production on it this Fall.

2) Musically is it similar to The Struggle, or what are the differences?

Human will sound quite a bit different than The Struggle. It’s much more riff and melody orientated and will also be more up-tempo and heavier than The Struggle. There are a lot of electronic and percussive elements as well. That’s about all I can say right now until production resumes.

3) In what formats will this one be available?

It will likely be available on CD as well as a digital download.

4) Can you tell me a bit about Horror Show and who plays on that?

This one is all me…

5) Musically, what is the style here?

Basically, it’s like a score to a horror movie. A lot of orchestration and percussion as well as different sound effects and samples interlaced throughout. There will be no vocals so I really want to tell a story through the music. So far, I think it is working well.

6) Is there a back story to the imaginary film? If so, what is that?

I wrote a very rough story outline just to give me direction in writing each movement. There will be song titles but that will be all the listener will have to go by. I want the music to fill in the gaps.

7) Will there be any other media accompanying this?

At this point, it will likely just be the CD/download.

So, in conclusion, check out this band! There is so much in the works, coming out soon. Seventh Circle is a group that should be around for a long time to come. As you can tell from Adam’s influences, the genre here is broad and encompasses goth, industrial and ambient. I was honestly impressed at the quality of The Struggle when I first heard it. In this day and age where everyone has free downloads through MySpace, the problem for me is finding something that is of good solid, lasting quality. Seventh Circle is that band. You will be able to check them out on FaceBook soon, but for now here are the links to their MySpace site and their regular website. Please support this music and purchase upcoming releases if you like what you can hear. Thanks for reading, and thanks again to Adam for his generosity!

www.seventhcircle.net
www.myspace.com/seventhcirclemusic

I-Dragon-I is another band that I found through MySpace – which might possibly be one of the best networking sites for bands that has ever been created. I’ve found a bunch of great stuff there. Anyway, I found IDI after looking for a band that I am fond of that you might remember called Wedding Party. William A. Knight and Jamie McCavanagh were both members of Wedding Party and are now the sole members of IDI. Wedding Party only released one album entitled Anthems back in 1998. I found them through their affiliation with MCM music, which was originally the label and management company for Saviour Machine. Back in the late ‘90’s MCM released a compilation that had, among others, Saviour Machine and Wedding Party.

As it sometimes happens with bands (even the great ones), after an album or two they quickly disappear. But I feel fortunate to come across them again at some point. I think the internet has made things much easier to follow, and fortunately I don’t lose track of things like before. Anyway, back to the music… I Dragon I formed and released a limited edition album which I missed. They have only played live once, but they have a double album coming out soon. The future is looking brighter for IDI and hopefully we will be seeing them in a much more visible capacity. If you go to the IDI MySpace page you can sample songs from their upcoming release entitled Ocean Of The Divine Inferno. The samples that are up are just what I love to hear… driving guitars, spitting vocals above the backdrop of deeper, more melodic vocals. I cannot wait for this album to come out! I was able to catch up with Jamie and William and ask them a few questions about the upcoming release. Enjoy all that is IDI.

1) After Wedding Party dissolved, were there any other bands that Jamie and William were a part of?

William Knight is the lead singer and founder of I-Dragon-I. He founded the band after Wedding Party dissolved in 1999 and Jamie was invited by William to be a part of I-Dragon-I in 2001 as the lead guitarist and co writer.

2) Are there any other contributors to I-Dragon-I other then Jamie and William?

Libby Luckey sang background vocals on the Limited Edition CD, Steve Casto and Sean Savacool played bass and Kari McCavanagh sang the intro on the Limited Edition CD.

3) As a point of reference for our readers who might be familiar with Wedding Party – did any of the other members go on to any other bands or musical pursuits?

William Knight went on to form I-Dragon-I in 2000 and also appeared on Midnight Orchestra and sang with Eric Clayton of Saviour Machine in Mexico City. Sheri Luckey went on to sing in Psychosis, Lucifer’s Key, Dark Valentine, and Iron Scepter. Libby Luckey went on to sing background vocals in I-Dragon-I before joining Iron Scepter. Sean Savacool played bass for I-Dragon-I before joining Eastern Block in 2007. John Williams is now a pastor and Ken Lemery went on to form the band Bridgeshadows and now plays keyboards for Coriolis.

4) How would you describe the music of IDI? How is it the same/different from Wedding Party?

IDI’s music is music filled with raw emotion. It is music that tells a story, a story that began in the Limited Edition album and will be finished with Ocean of the Divine Inferno. It is a concept album.

5) Are there any plans to tour behind the album when it comes out?

Ocean of the Divine Inferno is set to be released 2010 so when it is released we plan do festivals as well as other venues. William Knight is of course available for speaking engagements. For booking info or questions please contact Inferno Management at: Inferno_Management@hotmail.com

6) Where did the name I-Dragon-I originate, and what does it mean?

It originated from William Knight. The church blames the devil for everything all the time, but we are the dragon ourselves. Instead of blaming the devil for everything we should look at ourselves and take responsibility.

7) What are your thoughts and ideas about the digital age of music, and how does this affect/impact I-Dragon-I?

The digital progression of music is a benefit to many, many bands. Speaking of the digital age, Ocean of the Divine Inferno will be mainly released digitally on iTunes.com with a limited amount of CD’s available for purchase. Also a few vinyl copies will be available for purchase as well.

Can you give anymore info on this – who it involves, etc.?

This album is still in production and is set to be released in 2010

(Beginning in January 2009 they both began working with an all star cast to produce an all new, one of a kind Sanctuary Praise and Worship Album. This album is being co produced by Jim Laverde of Barren Cross and Jamie McCavanaugh of IDI. It is set to be released in 2009.)

9) According to the MySpace site there was merchandise available at one time. Is there still anything that people can order? Without PayPal what is the best way to order?

We still currently have merchandise available for purchase. We have Limited Edition CD’s as well as I-Dragon-I T-shirts. Since we are without a PayPal link at this present moment we are looking for alternate methods to sell this merchandise. We are going through Ebay and we will be at Cornerstone 2009 with merchandise for purchase. CD’s are $6 each and T-shirts are $7.

10) What is it that you would like to share and have our readers know?

It seems over the last 10 years since the demise of Wedding Party that people believe Wedding Party was just a fad or a phase, but it wasn’t. It was only for a short time. The seeds that were planted from the ministry of Wedding Party have been watered and grown. It was never about being a rock star. It was never about the thousands. It was about the one. If only one person had been touched by the ministry of Wedding Party it completed its mission.

I-Dragon-I is a completely different entity than Wedding Party. It is still an extension of the unconditional love, grace, forgiveness, and full acceptance of our Father, our Daddy, God. I-Dragon-I represents a minion of mainstream and underground people who have been wounded, outcast, and left for dead. We do not blame the church nor do we blame the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. We do hold the shepherds of all the flocks accountable and responsible for such great losses in this secret war. The shepherds have abandoned their flocks. Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe that all shepherds have done so, but if the shoe fits, wear it.

Ultimately God is the judge. Theology, doctrines, and denominations have ruled the believers thought life, spiritual life, and even our pure existence as God’s creation here on this earth. Though imperfect, God created man in his image and through the blood of Jesus we are made perfect. The millions of prayers, screams, and deaths (spiritually and physically) surround his throne in the eternal. He is long tired of calling his people to their aid and only a few have answered his call when there should be the many. The army that is the church has failed its mission today. If we could lay down our ideals and our divisions and be one body, one denomination, one creed, one doctrine, one belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior – to bind together to fight what seems to be a war we cannot win, and to beat an unbeatable foe which ultimately is ourselves.

We have blamed the devil for far to long for our indiscretions. He can influence, he can definitely destroy, and his armies are poised even at this very moment to lie and to deceive all of us into thinking that we have no authority or power. Yet we were given the understanding through the word of God, through the blessed hope of forgiveness and grace and love to defeat the enemy on their own turf. In Wedding Party, as well as all the other Christian Goth bands, we brought light to places that were created void of light. But nothing, and I repeat nothing – not drugs, not alcohol, not sex, not the way you look, not doctrine, not race – nothing can separate you from the love of God. I-Dragon-I over the last 10 years has performed 1 concert, released 1 limited edition album and most peoples would say this band is going nowhere, that these people are not qualified to minister, that even I have committed so many sins from the time Wedding Party ended till now. From death to resurrection, in living, trying to find who I am after all was said and done. To relearn the ways of God in total humility, being lost in a wilderness, walking between heaven and hell as a ghost and looking for my home and finding no where to call home, so with this even though I may have lost heart at the state of the union of our ‘body’, we will complete the mission that God has set before us. We are not out to be rock stars. We are not out to be famous. We want to tell the true spirit of prophecy, which is the testament of Jesus Christ as well as our own testimonies, our stories, our legends.

They overcame him by the word of their testimony and the blood of the lamb

Selah,
William Ashton Knight

I hope that this article has brought you up to speed on the exciting developments that are in the works with William and Jamie. Definitely give them a listen over at their MySpace page. As soon as the payment system is figured out we will update our ‘zine and let the readers know where to buy merchandise. In addition to the upcoming album (Ocean Of The Divine Inferno) that was mentioned above, there is a part two to that release that is called A Season In Hell. Here is the little bit of info on that I found on William’s MySpace page:

“A Season In Hell is the acoustic project written and recorded by William Knight (aka: the Dragon) during a 2 year recovery period, after surviving a near fatal gunshot to the chest!……It is the second half to a double album Ocean Of The Divine Inferno & A Season In Hell to be released this fall….. Albums are written and produced by: William Knight & Jamie McCavanagh both formerly of Wedding Party”

www.myspace.com/idragoniidi (band)
www.myspace.com/dragonidi (William)
www.myspace.com/inferno_management (for booking and information)

BATZZ In The Belfry was one of those bands that I somehow came across on MySpace. I can’t remember who I was looking for, but when I found these guys I was so moved by the music that I bought both of their CD’s immediately. This is gothic music in the truest sense. It’s deep, dark, emotional and moving. It would satisfy the purists among us. Nelson is the founder of the group and started recording the music back in 2003. I was able to catch up with him for a few questions about his band. Below is our conversation in straight question/answer sequence. If you like goth music that hearkens back to the early days, you will enjoy this band. Check out their MySpace page and support them by purchasing their albums, you will be pleased at the depth and sounds on these discs. In addition to listening through MySpace, their website has several songs that are free as a download. Each CD also has a couple of instrumental tracks which is always nice, kind of like a sonic freeway to just keep moving without being interrupted by anything else.

1) Give us a history of BATZZ In The Belfry and how the band came together?

I started BATZZ In The Belfry in 2003. At the time I recorded a few tunes and worked with Marc, who played some guitar on one of the tracks. We spun up the website, posted the tunes and sent out a few e-mails and demos. We received some really nice support and feedback, so we kept going from there.

In early 2004 we officially released a small collection of songs. By then Deena and Araina joined in on keyboards and violin, respectively. The EP got some good reviews from Automata, Chain D.L.K., and Mick Mercer.

We started to get airplay on some radio stations and at clubs in various parts of the world. By 2005 we re-released the EP with a couple more tracks, which included Rick on guitar. Cold Fusion invited us to be on the Lunar Eclipse compilation CD that year as well.

In early 2007 we released Sparks Fly Upward, our first full-length CD. People said nice things about it, which made us very happy. We appeared on a compilation CD put out by Gothic Magazine in Germany called Goth Is What You Make It, Vol.6. We were in good company and it was a lot of fun. Sparks Fly Upward was reviewed in a few magazines and websites in Europe, South America, and Russia.

In 2008 we were included in HM Magazine’s Pick of the Litter. We appeared on a couple of compilation CDs; one put out by Crawling Tunes Magazine, and another by Gothic Magazine (our second time around with them).

We’re currently hard at work finishing up our next CD, which, Lord willing, we hope to release sometime this summer.

2) Is the band still predominately just you with a few contributing artists?

Yes. On the new recordings only Rick played a little bit on a couple of tracks.

3) How would you describe your sound, and who are your musical influences?

I would say our sound is unashamedly old-school goth predominantly. There is a bit of a mish-mash in there (some art rock, ethereal, dream pop, and shoegaze), but for the most part, it’s goth rock in the classic tradition.

Going way back my influences were hard rock (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc), along with glam rock (David Bowie, Mott the Hoople, T-Rex, Roxy Music), art rock (Yes, early Genesis, ELP, PFM), and some jazz fusion (Return to Forever, Weather Report, Area). After that I was heavily influenced by English punk rock and the post-punk bands that followed (Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Killing Joke, Bauhaus, The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim). There were a number of death rock groups in San Francisco (it wasn’t called goth back then) that were a huge influence: The Black Dolls, Fade to Black, Dangerous Visions, and Vile Under Vile. There are probably many others, but some notable ones would be Iggy Pop, The Cocteau Twins and Switchblade Symphony.

4) Your new release that will hopefully come out this summer – musically what is it like, are you staying with the sound you have, or has it changed at all? (Obviously sounds change as art progresses, but BATZZ has a very distinct flavor, as you called it ‘old-school’)

The new record is pretty similar to Sparks Fly Upward. It’s a little more guitar-heavy and up-tempo, but otherwise pretty traditional old-school goth. We got a little musically adventurous on a couple of tunes, but
nothing drastic.

5) Do you have the ability to get out and play live much? Any plans at a tour that will follow the new release?

We have the ability, but not the will.

I just haven’t been able to convince like-minded musicians with whom I’m acquainted to put in the time to play live. It’s too bad because I think it would be fun, but I know the time and effort it takes and everyone is busy with their own stuff. We’ve talked about it, but it hasn’t materialized. So at this point, no plans to play locally or elsewhere.

6) What do you think of the digital revolution in regards to the industry? How has that helped/hurt BATZZ In The Belfry?

I think the digital revolution is a double-edged sword, in terms of music sharing and digital downloads. On the one hand it helps to get music out there and get heard by a lot of people, but on the other hand, there’s no way to make money with recorded music unless you’re very popular. It’s been going on for so long now that I don’t think about it much and there’s certainly no way to reverse it. For BATZZ In The Belfry it has been a great way to promote the band, especially since we don’t play live, but it does make it a little difficult to keep things going. By the same token, being able to record digitally on the computer is really great.

Just as a side note, after we had wrapped this interview I got a message from Nelson that the new release will hopefully be finished in August. He said that they were putting the finishing touches on iTunes and getting the artwork done. Below are some lyrics to one of my favorite songs by BATZZ In The Belfry. Drop by their website for some free downloads, check them out on MySpace and help support independent music!

Sunday Mourning
Sun, rise today, like the sunrise long ago
This day, we say goodbye, you are going home
Days begin, like grains of sand, falling
Through the hourglass, held in God’s hand

Somewhere the days are all brand new
Sunday mourning

Hiding from the thought, that someday you’d be gone
We may never understand until we meet again above
I never thought the tears would fall so easy to the ground
Before the day, before the dawn, the pain would be set free

Somewhere the days are all brand new
Sunday mourning

(Sunday Mourning off BATZZ first, self titled release)

www.myspace.com/batzzinthebelfry
www.batzz.com

Photos courtesy of Marie Healy, skelton photos by Bob Healy

You are about to embark on what is possibly the longest interview ever written. This one was a lot of fun to do. Brian and I have talked numerous times through this process and I have enjoyed talking to him because he is very articulate about what he is conveying. Many of his beliefs and ideas I relate to, and to top that off I have always loved the music of Dead Artist Syndrome. This has been a hard article to write for numerous reasons. The disclaimer is below, I felt kind of like that had to be written. The other thing that was kind of hard was that Brian kept joking about this being his ‘career ending’ interview. It is definitely controversial, especially if you fall into a more fundamentalist mind set. Trying to understand (and recover) from the modern church in America has always been a personal thing to me, and DAS’s music has always been very tongue in cheek with the issues regarding Christendom as a whole. I enjoyed discussing this stuff with Brian. I started this interview to find out if DAS was going to be making more music in the future, but we definitely ended up talking more about the church then music. One issue that we won’t touch on very deeply, even though I’m sure many are wondering, is the issue of Brian’s health. How is it? Well, I guess it is safe to say that Brian is on a timeline… the doctors have told him that. I won’t go into great detail because Healy lives with the ins and outs of his condition and he doesn’t want to invite the vulture watch (as he calls it) every time there is an issue. The best thing that we can do is pray for his health, and pray for his family. For now, enjoy this marathon interview!

6:55 PM… sitting down to start writing out the interview with Brian Healy from Dead Artist Syndrome. Going over my short checklist… sugar free Red Bull – check – pop in DAS CD – check – printing out the most profanity laced interview that I have ever done – check. Yep, that’s the way this one started out. I’m not a stranger to profanity, and I’m not really offended by it because I realize that this is just the way some people talk. However, since you are reading this I feel it necessary to put a disclaimer here. The reason this article is so heavily edited, and the reason you see all the little * signs here is because I had to tone down the language so we didn’t have to put age limits, etc. on our website. Obviously we understand that people are free to express themselves in the fashion that is most comfortable to them, but we want to keep this one clean so the kiddies can read if they so desire. It’s not about censorship, I do not believe in that, it is about trying to maintain the vision and goal of our ‘zine, and have it available to as many people that want to read it without having to worry about filters and being over 18 to read, etc. Fortunately Brian did call me one evening and said he understood and we had his permission to do what we needed to so this interview did not adversely affect us. So, if you like profanity you are free to use your imagination. The difficulty in writing this was that the profanity (in my opinion) actually expressed the emotion behind what Brian was saying, and to edit it out completely took away the passion behind what was being said. Hopefully you, the reader, can understand what I mean by that. Still, I have tried to be as clean as I could figure, and still convey the emotion and intent behind Brian’s words.

It took me getting used to Brian when emailing him, talking with him is easier. Because he is quite possibly the most humorously sarcastic person I have ever met, the written word came across harsh… I never quite knew how to take him until we actually spoke. Once we spoke, things moved along well. Brian is actually an extremely light-hearted and funny guy. He laughs frequently and tells plenty of jokes as we have poked fun at everything in Christendom, even ourselves. In addition to being humorous, Brain is very passionate. When he talks about Jesus, he is talking about the grace that he obviously values deeply and appreciates on a very personal level. With that passion comes an almost overwhelming disdain for those who cast God’s grace to the side in favor of a homogenized religious system of do/don’t and do what you’re told. He equally finds humor and distaste for those in Christianity who make a buck, or a healthy living, off Jesus and his name. Just remember as you read this, Healy’s words are directed at a specific group, he’s not out to offend everyone, rather I think he wants to illuminate those who are missing what is important… those who have been mistreated and misdirected by the system of religion.

I don’t know when Brian started DAS, I forgot to ask him. I know that Prints Of Darkness, his first release, was re-released by Blonde Vinyl back in 1991. It was first released on a different label the year before. Anyway, doesn’t matter really, Healy has been around for a long time. When I asked him how DAS came to be, this was his answer… “I was herding sheep and an angel came and spoke to me… D**n dude, I answered that question years ago, look up other interviews on Google.” Sarcasm firmly in place, we moved on. I was curious about many things with Healy. DAS was really the first Christian band that I remember carrying the ‘goth’ title around. Other bands came later, but DAS was the first. Back then times were different. This was back in the days of all the televangelists preaching to the converted about the evils of rock music. Even the faithful wrote books about the evils of Christian music. It was a strange time. Enter DAS with an album titled Prints Of Darkness. I asked Brian what some of the obstacles were that DAS faced early on, and here is his charming response. “Early on and to this day I’m the biggest obstacle to Dead Artist Syndrome. I’m a total a**hole when it comes to doing the business end of things. I used to do management and most people want some fluffy artsy guy they can rollover and jerk around and then deal with the dirty parts of the industry with some fat idiot agent on the phone or some passive aggressive women they can flirt with. Well, I am the fat idiot in DAS and I upset people by wanting them to do what they agree to.”

“Music people don’t mind screwing you behind your back while telling you how much they love you. I don’t suffer fools gladly. It’s common for club owners, stage managers, A&R guys and promoters to try and renegotiate their negotiations and most don’t want to do that with the artist, most of whom are usually pretty easy going. And let’s face it, a lot of artists need business people because they sure as hell aren’t the type of people who are bringing the potato salad to the MENSA picnic, otherwise, they wouldn’t be artists. They would be on wall street or out making the big bucks instead of doing what they love at midnight in a half empty room in some god forsaken holler. I get things done, I collected what the promoter said he was going to pay the band.”

“This is not everyone in music, but for some reason Christians are the worst because they actually use Jesus and the Bible as weapons to manipulate people and it really pisses them off when you call them on it. Besides, I make it easy for them – I don’t give a flying f**k what they say about me. I am who I am and I’m not turning into Ned Flanders just to whore myself out so Jesus can pay my rent. The best part is someone reading this going ‘Oh gee, he’s a potty mouth, I thought he was a Christian, I thought you are ordained? I don’t think he’s surrendered to the Lord? We can’t have that, it’s not Christian, and of course in interviews like this I give them the excuse they need. I want too, it’s who I am. The best thing that has happened in my walk with the Lord is when they started treating me like the unsaved friend. I was already liberated by Jesus’ blood and they wanted to jam me in a ‘American Christian fish on the car box’ – I’m free of that sh*t. My God is bigger than yours; He takes people as they are and too d**n bad for you.”

Obviously, I thought I’d hit a nerve here with Healy, but he told me he wasn’t angry he just sounded harsh on paper. So, we continue… “The sad truth is I have out lasted most of these f**kers. I still believe in Jesus and his grace and mercy. I want to do Gods work as the salt of the earth and 90% of these a**holes returned to their own vomit. They’re f**king worse off than I am or ever was, they were mostly a**holes before they found Christ… they found him, used him, became religious a**holes who judged the crap out of every one who didn’t want to sit around majoring in the minors, debating shades of white, and the second real life showed up with real problems that couldn’t be solved by simple solutions they hit the f**king door. Well, I’m still here and my faith is stronger than ever. I didn’t run, I didn’t turn my back on my faith and I live it the best way I know how, as ugly as it looks at times. Regardless of how bad I f**ked up, I know it’s real. Some people didn’t have that, they lived a lie and tossed the whole thing and if they did, so what! We are dealing with the Creator of the universe here, they can get their f**king heads out of their a**ess and Jesus is still waiting for them, I just hope they do it right next time.”

For those of you who have listened to DAS over the years, there has always been the underlying stream of sarcasm and disdain towards what Healy calls “a small but vocal minority” in the church. As you read, that is really what is coming out from the answers above. It sounds harsh I know, but it is directed at those who have held others down and judged some for not lining up to what the ’church’ thinks is right. It is directed at those who want to debate unimportant issues and those who want the church to be an exclusive club. We’ll come back to that, but for now let’s move on.

I know some of the readers here will be interested in the other artists who have contributed over the years on numerous DAS records. DAS is really a ‘virtual’ band as Brian describes it. Healy is the only reoccurring member, but some of the finest in Christian music have contributed at various times. Players have included Sean Doty of Veil Of Ashes, Mike Roe of the 77’s, Steve Hindalong & Derri Daughtery of The Choir, Ojo Taylor of Undercover, Michael Knott of L.S. Underground, Eric Clayton of Saviour Machine, Jeff Elbel of Ping and numerous others that have been a part of the ‘casts of thousands’ during different seasons. When asked how he got so many different artists from such diverse genres to play on his albums, this is what he said. “I think you should really ask that of the people I’ve worked with. I wouldn’t want to hang out with me if I didn’t have to. I just ask them if they want to play. I’ve known them as friends for years, not as rock stars or artists. Friends do things they like together, most of my friends do art so it’s no surprise that we would be doing it together, it’s not for the money that’s for sure.”

“I think DAS is fun for them, it gets them out of the box of their main project. They are the genius’s… they are brilliantly talented musicians and I stand on the shoulders of giants holding it all together. DAS is more of an experiment than a band. It’s never the same, it always evolves and changes with every gig. I never promise it will be great but it will always be a memorable musical experience and even if someone didn’t like the songs, the show and the players are too good to not be appreciated as artists and the talents they are. They just have to tolerate me as the weakest link in the chain. I also think for the players who all have their own well known bands, they like the risk of me as the lunatic leading them to the edge and seeing where I will take it that show. Hell, maybe they are just grading life on a curve and I can make anyone look like an A+ in a heart beat. The other thing is they get to work with each other as artists and the music has a life of its own. Music takes over, as a musical conversation can start in the studio or at a show. At any time musicians who have totally different backgrounds in taste and style can start playing together and they communicate musically… they create something just for the sake of doing it, and I try to capture that lightning in a bottle… that moment, that performance in a live show that unless someone records it is gone forever. I love that part of life – creation is beautiful. I guess that’s why we do it. DAS doesn’t really exist, it’s a virtual project, it lives only in the music recorded or at the live show at that moment and it goes away till it rears its head again.”

In keeping with the conversation of music, I asked Brian what advice he might have for bands starting out. His answer was funny… well, funny and long. “My advice is always the same… don’t do what I did because you don’t want to end up like I have! While I have a wonderful full life that I choose to live (and always have) very simply, on paper I am a total failure, like a notch above bum. Semi-poor and semi-famous totally sucks! All the judgment for everything and none of the perks of real fame. It’s a lot of good times and fun but even that is just a memory at a certain point and you look around and go, “was it worth it”? All my non-artist friends have RV’s or boats, houses, real families and of course 20 years in a REAL JOB where they can retire and enjoy life. With art you will end up saying, ‘I’ve got a closet worth of CD’s, a couple file cabinet drawers of articles, my beloved songs and some gear and the dream….. but you never know, it can still happen’. Oh pleeeeeeaazzzze….. Remember next time you see a singer on stage staring upwards into the lights, he’s most likely looking for his lost youth. Unless you die young, that’s the future – I’m not talking about Bono here. I’m talking about the guy singing in the lounge that you make fun of. The guy doing his lame dreadful act at the fair, the mall or open mic night. Take a good hard look because that’s gonna be you. The numbers don’t lie, the odds are way too long to think you are going to make it. If you want a life as an artist it will cost you everything before it ever gives anything back.”

“Whatever you do, never, never, never claim you’ve got a mission or you are doing it for Jesus, because if you do, you are full of s**t. God and/or Jesus don’t need you or your crappy songs to do anything. He can use an ass and has an army of angels, so die to that vision! You can’t do a d**n thing for God, he doesn’t need your f**king help! Repent for your arrogance you poor deluded fool. If you are writing songs you think will lead others to the Lord, you are a hack, shill salesman and you might as well be doing beer commercials, because at that point you have a utilitarian purpose and your song is just a f**king jingle for God and anti-art as far as I see it. Like most CCM, it’s more propaganda than art if that’s what you want to do. If you do that then fine, but it’s not a “calling” or a “mission”, it’s a gig selling a product called “God” in CD form. If you want a “calling” go teach children in Ghana music, English and the gospels or go and teach music to children in China. How about working with inner city kids in the US or playing senior centers for free, but do not claim the honor of ministry if all your life and music is just to entertain bored house wives and entertain Christian youth in rated “G” entertainment. That’s babysitting, not a calling of God. Of course I’m not talking about hymns or praise music that is designed for worship – that is a real but totally different art form.

“There are a few ‘sure fire’ proactive things someone starting out should do. Take in as much education as you can stand and learn a craft that can be done anywhere. Skills like welding, building skills, auto repair, etc. Get a teaching credential because that will free you up to go anywhere and know you can make cash to support your music, because chances are it will never support you. Never quit school for music until you have a degree. I know there are situations that look like once in a life time chances, but in the long run keep education in your career plan because you will use it in the long run no matter what the major, it will work into your art. Always give credit where credit is due, especially in song writing. Willingly sharing credit will never hurt you as much as the harm you cause yourself and others if you don’t. I have seen lives wrecked because of pennies years after the fact, it’s like a toxic splinter that is never ever going to heal, so when in doubt give credit. In general always share the pie and make the pie bigger, everything does really count in large amounts. Be inclusive, not exclusive, and get others involved. Give them a chance to profit as well as make your dream bigger for everyone involved. If you make promises always keep them and don’t make any you can’t keep…that’s one for life and music. Another thing I tell everyone is always keep your publishing whenever possible, but that takes forever to go into and if you don’t know what that means you’re not ready for the real world of music and need to learn so you can earn…get a copy of the book ‘This Business Of Music’ and learn it like a Bible so you know what you are dealing with.”

Moving back into the territory that really interested me the most, I asked Brian again about his views of the church. If you have listened to his records, there are so many lyrics and songs that come to mind. One of my favorite lines is, “Jesus I love You, but I don’t understand Your wife, she wears such funny make-up and she always wants to fight, every time I turn my back she’s waiting with a knife.” Healy has the talent to drive a point home with humor and sarcasm, but in a way that has never come across as alienating. Perhaps it alienated some, but for me I always appreciated the lyrical style. In talking about the church with Brian and after soaking in his first, somewhat abrasive, response I pushed deeper. I told Brian that I understood his frustration with the church. I knew it had been somewhat of a focus with DAS, but I asked him that if he thought he might have become close-minded himself, just from the other point of view? From his earlier response I asked if he really believed that people didn’t think that God accepted him as he was? Brian relates, “I think I need to clarify that I have no problem with the church at all. I think the majority of the church is doing just great and they are trying to be Christ on earth and do his work. I have a major problem with a small, but vocal, group of fundamentalist dominion theology based people in America who have hijacked Jesus for their own twisted view of Christianity… for their own power, financial and political gain. These people do not accept people as they are until they either whip them into submission to their causes/belief system, or drive them from Christ unless they build him in their image. This is not something new; this is something that has always been a problem. It is something Jesus faced in his time on earth. It was the vehicle which was used and that lead to Christ’s crucifixion. Still that lesson has been lost or ignored. I find I am in a place of God’s grace and mercy in spite of myself, not because of it. I truly believe that God is the author and finisher of our faith, but I keep running into or seeing people who want to act as editors by demanding more from people than God does.”

“Jesus wants people to be themselves and be honest with Him, but to a group of people in America that’s not good enough for them. They have to sign off on a list of bulls**t to prove they are saved and most of it is more culture based than faith based. I’ve seen people’s faith called into question because of who they voted for and because they disagreed with Rush Windbag, James Dobson or Glenn Beck. Seriously!? D**ning someone to hell because of a f**king talk show host!? How f**ked up is that? God forbid they have a real issue or they might be gay or they’re liberal or the ultimate… had an abortion. Oh please come to our church so we can tell you what a murdering slut you were, or its okay fag we don’t hate you anymore now that you’ve joined our club… just don’t be gay because we will disown you. Meanwhile with straight sex issues people look the other way. The people I’m talking about are the people who build walls to keep the wrong people out of our churches. Well f**k that! I want churches filled with whores, junkies, gay, straight, rich, poor, homeless, all colors, legal and illegal aliens, all backgrounds and the more f**ked up the better… WELCOME! Christ came to heal the sick and save us, not start a country club. The group or individuals I b***h about claim they want that, but really they don’t. They want to hide and keep their life from the evil sinners. I want to vaccinate people from evil, not quarantine them. Real faith is dangerous and churches aren’t suppose to be safe. Jesus isn’t safe, look who he hung around with. The church should look like Matthew’s party, not a hiding place from the world.”

“As for the second part of your question, it’s kind of ironic… usually I’m accused of being too open-minded or liberal. I can understand how someone might interpret me as close minded, but rest assured that’s not the case. To quote Leonard Cohen, “They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom for trying to save the system from within” The easiest thing for me to do is walk away and not care. I have many Christian friends who have given up on evangelical or non-denominational churches and have fled back to orthodoxy which is fine if that’s where they feel they need to be. I would rather try and expand the body of Christ to the point where the whack jobs are marginalized so the people that don’t fit in have a place to land. I know a lot of what I’m saying is hard for some people to hear and I know I have a very loyal fan base that has to put up with a bunch of crap even if they wear a DAS shirt to church or Cornerstone. I’m very grateful for them for defending me and my music, but I don’t do this for money, I don’t do it for fun , I do it because no one else can take the risk. I have lost a lot of things in life I cared very deeply about, and that has freed me up to be controversial and be the bad guy bursting the bubbles and myths that have been sold off as Christianity in the church and in CCM. Most my other friends in music don’t have this luxury. They know the rules and they play by them, I can’t. I would rather try to change the game and let the chips fall where they may. If this all ends tomorrow at least I know I did my best to do what I believe God and this life have given me to do.”

Okay, I know this is a long story, but I wanted to figure out how to bring this back around. I see the flaws with the few, vocal fundamentalists. Oddly enough, while we were doing this article one of these guys popped up in a thread that Brian started online. I won’t say who it was, but the anger and intensity behind this guys words was almost unbelievable. So, my next question to Brian was how we take back the church seeing that it has gone so far off course. How do we bring it back around to being about Jesus, not a political party, not of set of rules and not a system of ‘do & don’t’ so God will be happy with us. I knew his answer would be controversial, but it was eloquently simple as well. Healy said, “I have yet to see any scandal, any problem in the church, or with any ministry, that could not have been solved a lot sooner had someone just done something really simple, and oddly enough it’s something Christians are very reticent to do… that’s call bulls**t!. I have seen more lives or ministries and more people go under because no one had the nerve to just say bulls**t! They heard someone say something that they knew was untrue, that they knew was ridiculous, but they didn’t have the nerve to just say bulls**t!”

“I mean you think about it , Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart , James Dobson, Ted Haggard, Larry Norman, Keith Green and all these guy’s… if someone would have just said Bulls**t, you’re out of your f**king mind! That’s not the way the faith is, it’s not the way it works. There’s no scripture to back that up, what the hell are you thinking! WAKE UP! They were just as betrayed as the people they let down, we owe it to our pastors and leaders to call bulls**t! Now, while I think that needs to be handled with grace and compassion under the same way you would approach someone under Matthew 18:19, I also believe at the same time calling bulls**t would save the church a lot of trouble.”

“Oddly, the church would rather not do that, they’d rather let the insanity go on as long as it appears people are getting “saved”. Folks just look the other way even though it’s something that they know has nothing to do with Scripture or the Bible. It’s almost that it’s so socially uncomfortable, or so popular and profitable, they’d rather just let it go south and burn the bridge and the good, misguided or simply wrong people who got suckered are just grist to the backslidden mill because they were betrayed. We sort of use it to just glean the herd as if their lives or hearts mean nothing. We have to get to a point of maturity and as the body of Christ to just know bulls**t and not standby while some guys try to make a cultural issue spiritual, call Someone’s giving some testimony that obviously doesn’t make sense about how many thousands of dollars a day they spent on their drug habit, call bulls**t. Not only do we owe it to ourselves as His church, but we owe it to them as brothers and sisters in Christ not to be this deluded and not to be falling down or running toward the wrong path. By us calling bulls**t we are doing them a favor. If someone called bulls**t on Jimmy Swaggart when he preached on rock music, it may have saved his ministry… but to not have the nerve to do it when some pastor was going off on rock music?! If someone had just said, “bulls**t, you’re nuts”, instead of going to start going down this insane slope of your own opinion becoming equated to scripture. That would have saved others a lot of time, pain and struggle. When in doubt, call BULLS**T!”

After numerous releases that have pleased the ears for the last couple of decades, what is up next for Dead Artist Syndrome? That brings us back around to the beginning of this interview, back to where we asked Brian about obstacles. Healy confesses, “The other problem (back to the original question) is that I’m lazy and I get bored easily, hence the sporadic work habits. When I work at it I’m tireless to the point of manic but knocking over the first domino to get the ball rolling takes me more effort than the task at hand would. I put it off until I d**n well have something to say. I love doing it; I just hate the crap it takes to put the pieces together. I got into music, acting and the other arts I partake in to get out of having a real job, but it is in fact a real job and hard work to create. That said, it has great perks and its the real job I hate the least”

“I have a lot of unfinished stuff on my hard drive like Kissing Strangers, which is the next DAS project. Now I just need to get the lyrics and vocals done, but by the time I start to mess with it my mind has moved on and I simply can’t fain interest because probably have a new idea I’d rather start. I feel bad about it because someone would kill to have my gear or my home studio. I use to bag on Derri when he had Neverland that if I had his studio I’d be in it everyday… well, thanks to technology I have a pretty good studio but what I didn’t understand was it’s not just looking through the glass saying ‘OK, hit record and I sing.’ It’s like living on own your own the first time and you realize butter doesn’t magically appear in the fridge like when you were a kid, you have to buy it and put it there. Well, the mic just doesn’t set itself up, the EQ doesn’t dial itself in, the mix just doesn’t magically appear in the headphones, you have to do it. When it was the old days you went to a studio and you did it, and did it quickly because time is money and you are paying for it. When it’s a room down the hall and it’s always there taunting you, it’s hard to say goodbye to a book or Speed TV to go down the hall and get it done. It can make you lazy or a workaholic. I kind of choose lazy… that and you spend so much time learning to use the always changing technology that you’re too bored to use it and you convince yourself you got something done when the actual art hasn’t really progressed. Me and Eric Clayton joke about it all the time because we both like to live in all night hermit mode till the last possible minute when you bring other people into a project.”

“The down side is when working alone no one is there to say ‘hey, you wasted eight hours running down every rabbit hole the gear has, pick one and move on’. To us we can lead ourselves to believe its productive because the more you get done on your own, the smaller the box becomes for someone to come in and mess it up with their creativity and talent, which you want, but at the same time you want that maniacal control over the song. Of course it cuts both ways… like a Mike Roe or a Derri will show up, totally get where you’re going and it works. Better yet is after all that time you put in and they think you’re crazy, hearing it totally different than you do and take it to a place you never thought of but it magically sounds exactly like what you were hearing in your head. It’s not always parts or notes; it’s a feel, a tone, a sound or something that’s almost mystical where it just sounds right. That’s the most incredible feeling when you all look around the room and go ‘Oh Yeah’ and everyone knows that’s it!”

Well, after wetting my appetite with the Kissing Strangers nod, I asked (and hoped) that maybe Healy might have that album coming out sooner then later. I asked him about the upcoming release being this year, and even asked him about a possible collaboration with Eric Clayton. The collaboration was not something rumored; it was just something that I, as a fan of both bands, had often thought would be really cool. After hearing them work together on Jesus Wants You To Buy This Record, I was hoping something else might be on the horizon. Healy responded, “I’d like the release to be this year, but no promises. I have to start liking it again and get to know the songs a little better and see if that’s what I really want to say or do. Today I like it, the next time I mess with it I might wonder what the hell I was thinking and toss the whole thing and start over. For all my lack of talent I really take this part of my life seriously and don’t just like tossing out product for the hell of it. In regards to working with Eric Clayton, someday that will happen. We talk about it all the time, but we work so slow apart from each other, together it would be like who outlived the other to get to the final mix.”

So then, in conclusion I ended by asking Brian about the subject of (you guessed it) the church. There has to be a way to bring this home, to share the idea of bringing unity in this body of believers. Since it is such a small part of Christendom that seems to speak so loudly, how do we take back the small part of the church that has lost its way? Brian answers, “Well that’s the easiest question you have asked because Jesus gave us the answer on the cross: Forgive them, they know not what they are doing. It’s that simple and it’s that hard. People of faith need to revolt in love, grace and forgiveness, it’s time to turn the tables on the church and the world. We need to trust and believe in the grace that we are saved by and not our own desire for fairness… look, I have said some very harsh things in this conversation and I’m people can and will say I have been unloving, ungracious and judgmental and like everyone else I’m sure I can and have been guilty of that and will be till the day I die. I don’t claim superiority, just the opposite because I am as guilty of all that I accuse others of. I am a sinner saved only by the grace of God, the complete and total undeserved favor of God bestowed on me by the death of Christ , the only begotten Son of God, on the cross. Nothing I can say or do will add or take away from that simple fact that though I am a sinner, Christ died for me. While I know all that, at the same time I have seen the church go down one stupid rabbit hole after another like Alice in Wonderland buying into to whatever crack pot idea that other Christians, the media, or the big name author/pastor of the month hands them.”

“A lot of it can be avoided if people actually learned what historic Christianity, and our church fathers, are about. The church fathers, you know the guys who lived and died 1000, almost 2000, years before 1776. Before our country, before Columbus, we had a long historic Christian faith. What was accepted? What was rejected? The talk, the debates, their writings, learn to understand the pitfalls and strengths of your current beliefs in light of how the church fathers saw those ideas you hold and simply trust in God and His grace. All that said, I always stress three basic things in all these stupid interviews because I’m just like any other idiot looking for the light in darkness. Remember, always question authority, be yourself and be honest and never believe you totally understand the ways of God. Always live everyday under God’s mercy and grace with the full knowledge that there but by the grace of God go I.”

If memory serves me correctly, I first came across Motonaut on MySpace. I think they liked the influences on our music list and mentioned something about Mike Knott. I can’t really remember, but I liked their music and added them to our friends list. Probably about a month later Matt emailed me and asked if I wanted to review the CD they had sent us, I said ‘sure’ and he mailed it to me. When I got the disc in the mail I popped it in and thought this was quite possibly one of the best indie discs that I have heard in a long time. I was pleasantly surprised. I buy a good bit of indie stuff from bands that I find on MySpace, but rarely am I as pleased as with Motonaut. The disc is entitled The Now And The Not Yet, and my only complaint is that it isn’t longer. We reviewed the disc in an earlier edition of Down The Line, and this is one that you should check out and support. You can find the review in the archives section of our little zine! So, back to the band…

Motonaut is Mike Indest and Jesse Maizlish. Mike handles vocals and all the music/programming, and Jesse adds vocals that support and gel really well with Mike. I asked Mike how the music came together, and here’s the scoop. “I really wanted to do something different. I wrote the songs on the guitar and recorded some of the songs with guitar, bass, drums, piano, etc. but I was kind of burnt out with standard arrangements, so I started looking for a way to do it a bit different. I had actually tried adding some different things to those recordings, stuff like accordion, melodica and exotic percussion, but it still was not exciting me. So I decided to go the opposite direction and use limited instrumentation.”

The limited instrumentation works well. This is a disc that on first spin was really hard to classify, but I guess the ‘electro pop’ tag works well. The lyrics are really thought provoking and deeper than the standard fare. So, how did the band come together? Mike explains, “Well originally it was just me. The more the songs started to come together I started to figure out where I wanted to go with it. The lyrics were kind of open and direct, maybe a little sad, and the music was fun and upbeat, so I decided to work with those differences and play it out a bit more. I recorded my vocals really dry and upfront against the techno music, and Jesse’s vocals added an ethereal contrast to mine.” While Mike calls the music techno, it is not techno in the sense of Joy Electric or Dance House Children. The music here is minimal and almost a vehicle to carry the lyrics along. Mike continues, “So I brought Jesse on board because with the ReBirth program I had two mono synths, two drum machines and this idea to have contrast with the arrangements. I had known Jesse for a while, and I knew she sang, but I had never heard her sing except for singing along with songs at the art gallery where she worked. I played some demos for her and she was into it. She came over for about an hour one afternoon, we knocked out ‘Gravity’, it sounded great and away we went.”

When it comes to influences, their lists are long and as varied as they come. Mike is a huge fan of Michael Knott as we said earlier, but he’s also into The Alarm, The Choir, 77’s, Terry Taylor, 441, Undercover, Waterboys and Pedro The Lion. Jesse is more influenced by hip hop and a slathering of groups like Snow Patrol, Iron & Wine, Madonna, Talking Heads, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Prince, Modest Mouse, etc. The influence list is long and diverse, but the mish mash of what moves them comes out in a nice way.

When Mike is not playing music, he holds down two diverse jobs. One is doing the morning show at a local Christian music station. His other job is no surprise since he lives in the 9th ward in New Orleans. His second job: he is part owner in a walking tour company in the French Quarter. They do ghost, cemetery and voodoo tours. The radio job he has been working for 15 years. I, for one, thought it would be pretty cool to have a ghost/cemetery tour job, but then again I am a fanatical horror movie fan (much to my wife’s dismay). Anyway, as Mike puts it, “The tour company is fun. I just started a spiritual history tour that is really thought provoking and engaging.”

Since I met Mike through MySpace, I asked him how that website and the digital revolution have impacted Motonaut. “Having a very limited budget”, Mike explains, “ if it were not for the internet there would be no way we could have done this fifteen years ago. From mastering, getting CD’s out, getting on Amazon, iTunes & Napster and mailing press kits to magazines, our total cost was about $400.00 – that’s amazing! MySpace seems to be the best marketing tool for us, the networking is amazing and finding an audience that you think might like what you’re doing is fairly easy, although very time consuming. I have not got back any numbers from the digital distribution sites, but I have received emails from folks who bought the downloads and that is exciting. I’m not expecting to sell a bunch of copies, and that’s not what this is about, but it is very cool to hear from someone in Montana that found us and bought the songs. That is something that never would have happened before the internet.”

As I stated earlier, the only drawback to this disc was that I thought it was too short. So, what’s in the future for Motonaut so we can hear some more music? Funny you should ask… “We are hoping to record a 7” over Mardi Gras, and then another E.P. soon after that”, Mike states. “Musically the new stuff is a little bit different… more dissonant maybe, lyrically the new songs are more focused on failed, messed up relationships with people and not like The Now And The Not Yet that was focused on God. These songs are brutally honest and maybe a bit unnerving to listen to. I am trying to record two new songs for a 7” that a small indie label wants to put out. Hopefully we can get them done in time.”

An update: Since Mike and I talked he has updated his MySpace page with a blog stating that he has finished writing the new E.P. Now comes the laborious task of programming and putting it all together. Looks like the hope is to have it out before summer ends. Check out all things Motonaut here: www.myspace.com/mikeindest

The Sound Gallery is one of the most unique projects that I have come across in the last year. Herb is the sole member, and his MySpace page describes the music as “ambient, experimental, noisy and sometimes beautifully out of tune.” He has put out three different recordings, Designed For Reading followed by Phos and rounded out by my favorite Umbra. I would describe the music as a lush landscape of sonic intrigue. It is ambience that is dreamy, undefined and relevant. I go into my office, pop a disc in, turn it up really loud and just kind of float into the music. This is the kind of stuff that bleeds emotion.

I asked Herb about how the band came about. “While in the Violets I started working on my own material, mostly to see what I had in me. I knew I wanted to stay away from traditional structure and bass playing. I wasn’t happy doing music with the Violets anymore and I wanted to see if the ideas I had would help me get excited again. The first real step to making it all happen was quitting the Violets and asking Eric Campuzano, Jan Johansen and Sarah Hepburn if they would be willing to hear a few tracks I was working on. I wanted to see if they had any ideas they wanted to contribute. When they said ‘yes’ I knew I had to actually work on this, they had called my bluff. From that point I started asking a few more friends to be a part of what would later become Designed For Reading. In my opinion, the best moments of that record are what everyone contributed.”

Each recording from Sound Gallery is unique in its own way. In asking Herb about what he liked about them individually he said, “As simple as it sounds, the strong point of each release for me is that I achieved exactly what I was going for. I was able to say what I wanted to say musically with each one. On Designed For Reading I wanted this to be in the idea of “This Mortal Coil” in the sense that I had different musicians come in and add their take on the material. My favorite parts of the record are the performances they did. Phos was written for my brother-in-law who got me into dark ambient music. A friend of his died and this was a small way of saying I was sorry. I wanted to convey three emotions, one with each track – sadness, anger and hope. This record was primarily guitar and bass which was another goal I set out for myself. I did do a little keyboard and a very short drum beat at the end of the track “Phos III”, but the rest was guitar and bass as the source. As a listener, Umbra is my favorite. In the dark ambient genre I feel Umbra could hold its own. To me it sounds very spacious and claustrophobic at the same time. This is one to listen to with headphones on.”

Herb’s history is long and varied in the music scene, and the future is looking good as well. His next work will be him playing on his wife’s upcoming release. His wife, Leslie Dupre-Grimaud, has also been in the scene for many years. Leslie was in Café Noire which unfortunately has not been together for some time, but you really need to check out their MySpace page and listen to the tracks there. She also did the song “Monica”, which appeared on the Metro One compilation “Hi”, with Steve Hindalong, Derri Daughtery, Tim Chandler and Chris Colbert all playing on the track. In addition she has done vocals on a who’s who of bands including The Violet Burning, The Prayer Chain, At The Foot Of The Cross Vol.1, Raspberry Jam, Honey, The Kreepdowns and The Sound Gallery.

About Leslie’s upcoming release Herb says, “I’m really excited about this project. It’s been a long time coming and we’re finally giving her material the proper treatment it deserves. We did some demo takes at our home studio in 2005, but I’m not the right man for the job when it comes to her work. Andy Prickett approached us and we started laying down the parts. I’ve already done some bass and a little keyboards… we’re taking it slow due to schedules. It’s basically Andy, Leslie and myself. It’s her songs and her vision under the direction of Andy who is the producer and engineer. We’re not working towards a release date at this time, my guess and goal is for this year. Andy is working on a project that will keep him busy for one to three months, after that we will be hitting the studio more frequently. Her MySpace page will be updated with photos and any new information as it unfolds. We will probably release it one track at a time, that’s how we’re recording it. I think the tracks will be available through Northern Records. You can listen to the four demo tracks we did, plus the song she did with The Choir guys at her MySpace page.”

With the last Sound Gallery release being from 2007, I asked Herb about the possibility of any upcoming releases and if they would be in the same vein as the last three. “I don’t have anything ‘on tape’ at the moment. I’ve switched from PC to Mac so I’m going through the learning curve right now. Not very inspiring, but I have some ideas spinning around in my head. I have a friend who designs and builds analog modules for a living and I would like to see what I can come up with using that kind of gear. I want the next Sound Gallery release to have a Umbra feel with some sequencing, a few beats and definitely some serious modulation. I also have this idea of doing a Halloween soundtrack. Every time Halloween rolls around I’m looking for a good scary sounds CD and they all fall short. It would probably be more for myself and a few friends, but it’s an idea I’ve toyed with for some time and would have great fun doing it. It‘s on the ‘to do‘ list.”

Speaking of Halloween brings me to Herb’s brilliant list of influences. I read his MySpace page and thought to myself, wow – this guy’s list is amazing! I definitely share the list of bands and movies with him. He thinks that Boris Karloff was a genius, and we both share interest in Nick Cave and his unparalleled catalog of work. In asking him what influences him these days he said, “I’m guilty when it comes to long lists of music, but there isn’t anything that’s influencing me in a musical sense currently. The last thing that really affected my music was when my brother-in-law introduced me to “Lustmord“. It had a huge impact on The Sound Gallery. Music became interesting to me again, but that was about five or six years ago. There are musicians out there doing some great music that I still am moved by but aren’t necessarily an influence on my music: Wovenhand, Cat Powers, Grinderman, I Love You But Have Chosen Darkness, Ceremony M83, Nine Inch Nails, Seerena Maneesh, Ladytron, and anything Cyclic Law puts out is always worth checking out. “

Speaking of long music lists, he cites a ton of old school punk rock bands as influences. Seeing the list begged the question was he ever going to put out a punk record. His response was keen, funny and informative. He said, “I’ve already done three of them as The Sound Gallery. To me punk is a philosophy, not a sound or a style. It was a fantastic movement that (like all great ideas) ended up getting whored out and boxed into something that you buy at Hot Topic. As far as a ‘white heat’ feel that people like Minor Threat, The Clash and The Birthday Party did, I’m not in that place. Even those artists are not expressing themselves in that way, but there is no doubt that Ian Mackaye or Nick Cave are not punk rock. I would highly recommend people checking out John Lydon’s book “Rotten – No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs” and watching the documentary “Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten.” The truth is out there.

When it comes to the digital age of music I was interested in Herb’s opinion due to the fact that I found out about his band, and purchased his CD’s through his MySpace page. I asked him how he thought the digital age had impacted and influenced the scene, and whether or not he felt that was positive or negative. He responded, “I like the entire digital movement, from the way records can be made now all the way down to downloading music. From a recording aspect I find it easier and not so costly doing it on a computer, but I must admit there’s something wonderful about recording in an actual studio with tape. I think the impact it’s made for the scene and the music world in general is it allows the musician to be more hands on. It’s more punk rock that way. A lot more people can have a home studio and take their time. If I want to work on an idea that I get and its three AM, I can just turn on my machine, plug in whatever instrument and go. However, it will never replace shooting pool at the Green Room with friends who stop by while you’re working on something. The only real negative I see is there’s no real sense of community anymore. Everyone, at some point, in Southern California recorded at the Green Room. You felt like you were a part of something, if only for that moment, while laying down your tracks. With everyone having a home studio, you eliminate that sense of community. The guys at Northern still have that sense of community which is great. I’ve seen Prickett and Campuzano more recently because of the recording we’re doing for Leslie than I have all of last year.”

So, check out The Sound Gallery! I would recommend buying all three albums, but if you don’t have the coins for all three then I would get Umbra first followed by the other two. Just make sure that you do get all three. Listening very loud is also recommended, perhaps the best way to listen is with headphones because there is a lot going on that you don’t want to miss.

Links:

www.myspace.com/thesoundgallery
www.myspace.com/lesliedupregrimaud
www.myspace.com/grimaud
www.myspace.com/cafenoire
www.myspace.com/raspberryjamoceanic

Interview and photographs by Michael Knott

Rick McDonough has been my friend for many years now.  He’s helped me record several projects including the All Indie E.P., Struck Last May – 16 Flowers, the latest Windy Lyre record.  He is also currently playing on – and engineering – the new L.S. Underground record, as well as my next solo release entitled Even Star.  In the meantime, Rick has found enough time to record his first solo album under the name of Hidden From Blackout entitled Breakups and Fur Coats.

M: So let’s get right to it then, what does Hidden From Blackout mean?

R: The Hidden From Blackout name came from a P.J. Harvey record where she says “I was in need of help, hidden to blackout” and it just struck me at the time. It was actually my favorite song on the record. I remember the song had these sparse verses with piano panned left and right, and then went into this glorious big sounding chorus with vocals that would wrap around and embrace you. It made me take notice and left me wanting more, and then “hidden to blackout” just evolved into Hidden From Blackout. I’m sure all the kids are listening to P.J. Harvey these days, aren’t they?

M: I know you’ve been doing music for many, many years and been in several bands over the years. How long have you actually been doing music?

R: Since I was 13.  I saved up enough money to purchase my first guitar, an acoustic Gibson Hummingbird knock-off. I was so proud of it even though it had a bend in the neck and would buzz on the 4th and 12th frets. I think I handed that guitar down to my brother, eventually.

M: You’re from the D.C. area, isn’t that right?

R: Yeah, I always say Washington D.C.

M: What is that the proper way, the east coast way, or is it like calling San Francisco “Frisco?” Why do you specify Washington D.C.?

R: Technically, I’m from Arlington, Virginia, but I don’t really want to associate myself with a cemetery right now.

M: Yeah, not yet. I may soon, but not you.

R: No, when I first came to Southern California, while going to university, people would ask where I was from. The first few times I proudly announced “Arlington, Virginia”. I started getting questions like “why don’t you speak with a southern accent?” and “do your parents fly the rebel flag?” I quickly realized that the people I was interacting with had no idea where Arlington actually was.  Sure, its south of the Mason-Dixon line, but it’s still a suburb of D.C.   I proceeded to tell people I was from Washington D.C., instead, which sounds quite different to those who may be more geographically challenged.  Anyway, it’s all about perception I suppose.

M: Yeah. So, the title of the record is Breakups and Fur Coats. That’s got a really nice ring to it, what is that all about?

R: It pretty much just came to me one day in the fall. It was overcast and chilly out, and I tend to get reflective and sentimental when the weather’s like that. I was thinking of a friend’s relationship, which led me to consider a former relationship of my own. Anyway, I decided to call this instrumental song that I was working on that day “Breakups and Fur Coats.” The emotion I was trying to convey though the music was that of one attempting to achieve comfort, kind of like me wanting a fur coat that autumn day. I know it’s kind of cheesy, but what are you going to do? Cheese is good in moderation anyway. Well, a few months down the road I decided the title deserved something more, and it ended up as the name of the record instead. Amid momentary frustrations, pains, challenges, and struggles that can come upon us there is always comfort if you seek it out. If you can grab a hold of your perspective and search for positive and comforting things, such reassurance is waiting for you like a big, warm, comfortable fur coat.

M: Great. Well, obviously I’ve heard the record, I love it, and you were kind enough to ask me to mix it with you, so thank you.

R: No, thank you.

M: Let’s move on, what kind of music would you call your stuff, or how would you describe it?

R: That’s a good question. I suppose every musician struggles when attempting to classify his own music, or put it into a category and box it up. I kind of see it as a melancholy cinematic experience but with the visual aspect playing out in your imagination. I would describe it with words like emotional, reflective, melodic, fluid, and textured. It’s emotional and I think it evokes emotion.  It’s got hints of indie, emo, ambient, lo-fi, down-tempo, alternative, ambient, but yet it’s not specifically any of these styles either. With most of the songs on this record I started out writing on guitar, and then they evolved from there. I would often deconstruct them and build them back up on electric guitar. There are vocals on some of the songs, but they play more of a supportive role a lot of the time as opposed to being the emphasis. It’s not like they are completely buried in the mix, but they are more like another instrument carrying out their melody, playing their part towards the whole.

M: I think it’s so surreal and dissident. It really has so many different layers and diverse emotions going on at the same time that overlap and are nicely interwoven within each other. I think if people slow down and soak in it that they will just love it.

Ok, so who in the WASHINGTON D.C. area influenced you and the way you perceived music when you were growing up? Is there one band from D.C. that really moved you, or you would go out of your way to see there in a club, if you were even old enough to get into a club?

R: If I had to pick one band it would probably have to be Fugazi.

M: What did, or do, you appreciate about Fugazi?

R: I love their honesty and their intensity. Those guys always hit me in the gut and leave me craving more. I definitely resonated with them on an emotional level as a youngster, and I still do. They rock in an anti-rock sort of way.

M: Are there any other bands from your youth that may have impacted you or may have had a significant influence on you?

R: I would have to say that the Beach Boys were huge for me. I remember sitting listening to some of the arrangements and layers of vocal melodies on vinyl and later cassettes, and just being blown away. I think when I was like 10 or 11 I had accumulated over 30 Beach Boys records. The way that Brian Wilson placed sounds was simply brilliant. I really think they helped shape my ear for melody and arrangement at an early age.

M: Are there any other big influences when you were younger?

R: I really got into Kraftwerk at one point. I wasn’t Mr. Electronic guy, but they did some pretty crazy stuff. I remember being both scared and intrigued as these German guys would do these futuristic synthesized sound- scapes with occasional lyrics interjected into the music; it wasn’t like anything else. I think the fact that they were from Germany added to the mystique for me too. Germany was this far off, abstract place, kind of like the future.

M: Didn’t they play Coachella a few years ago?

R: Yeah, I had the pleasure to see them that year, I think it was 2005. It was one of the most exciting shows I saw that year even though they didn’t move around very much. They just stood there the whole time in their suits, standing behind these podiums with keyboards and samplers. The podiums were identical, as was their attire. There was something pretty powerful about how minimalistic it all was, and that concept coincided with the music well. Then, with the lights out they had these tiny tie clasps with little red blinking lights. Every once and a while they would really get into a keyboard part, and then quickly return back to attention, behind the podium. They also had this screen behind them and speakers in the front, back, and middle of the tent providing this sort of surround sound set up. In particular, I remember it being pretty cool on Trans Europe Express, as visually they had vintage footage of these European cars from the 40’s and 50’s on the Autobahn, that, coupled with the sound of the cars through the speakers, provided for a very cool experience. Also, just the fact that I was able to see them that year was pretty amazing, I think it was one of two or three U.S. shows they played that year.

M: That sounds really cool. How about modern artists?  Who do you like? Who influences you now?

R: There’s a lot of modern music that I appreciate. A few modern artists I appreciate include Yo La Tengo, Sufjan Stevens, Ms. John Soda, Boards of Canada, Beck, Mogwai, The Octopus Project, Passengers, Mum, Explosions in the Sky, The American Analog Set, and I could probably go on and on.

I would have to say that one of the biggest modern influences would have to be Sigur Ros. They are powerful, often very sound-scapey, textured, and always emotionally engaging. I also appreciate the fact that they have been able to be true to their creativity while still achieving a certain amount of commercial success, too. That’s a pretty hard thing to accomplish.  A lot of times it’s sad because the music and art is compromised in order to obtain recognition, self glorification, or money. It’s a tough balance, and easy for people to lose focus, putting other goals above the art and music, but not with Sigur Ros, and I respect that. I also love that I can resonate and relate on an emotional level with their music without even knowing what they are saying. Beyond that, it’s pretty wild that they created their own dialect too.

M: So they’ve been a musical influence, but you haven’t come up with your own language, though.

R: No—not yet, but it’s not out of the question.

M: Yeah, that’s a little tough, and maybe too time consuming.

R: I also don’t have the influence of the frigid Icelandic weather. Maybe that environment could help me create my own language as well.

M: I understand it’s a really beautiful place.

R: It looks like it is from what I’ve seen. I’d like to go there and have a drink in an igloo or something like that.

M: Yeah, I think they have ice hotels there don’t they?

R: If they do I trust there’s no fireplace.

M: So now let’s talk about some of the instrumentation that you are using in order to achieve such a surreal and emotional sound, or presence. What are you using? You don’t have to tell us all the secrets, but how do you create this experience?

R: That’s a hard one to pin down as I often try to be as sensitive to the song or idea as possible. I try to tune into the emotion, or emotions, and in a sense, allow the emotion to guide me as to what sounds they want to be matched up with.  Each one is really an individual.

Like I mentioned earlier many of the songs do start out on guitar as that’s a very relatable instrument for me. So, obviously I use guitars, and I just kind of layer from there. Then, when using effects I tend to gravitate towards softer things like reverb and delay, but again it varies from song to song.

M: Were you starting out with electric or acoustic guitar?

R: A lot of times it was acoustic, and then I would revisit the song on electric. Guitar was the foundation for most of this recording, and typically I would layer and build from there using keyboards, samples, lap steel, etc. Whatever texture or sound that seemed to work with the emotional idea that I was working towards, I put the song above all else and worked to support it to the best of my ability. I tend to approach each idea, each emotion, and each song individually, so it does really depend. I really just try to be as honest and as sensitive to the music as I can be, so I can support it to the best of my ability.

M: Well, let’s talk about some of those songs. I know this is a pretty tough one, but apparently one of the songs you wrote for this record was about a SWAT officer who was killed about a year ago.

R: That’s right, one of the songs was about the first SWAT officer killed in the line of duty in the U.S., actually here in Los Angeles. His name was Officer Randal Simmons, and the second song on the record was inspired by his life.

M: And what is that song called?

R: “41-D,” which I believe was how he was identified when he was on the radio, on duty. I heard about the stand-off on the news, and remember hearing that in the end he was slain. Once I started hearing more about who he was I really wanted to honor his life through the music and try to reflect what an incredible man he was.  It’s sad in that he passed, but it’s ultimately an uplifting reflection of inspiration through his life. He was a real hero who served on the LAPD to protect your average person in the community for nearly 30 years. He was also very active within the community helping to instill confidence in kids and keep them off the streets through ministry for like 11 years. It’s a real shame we had to lose such a great man who genuinely cared for those people around him, but his life is an inspiration to me and many countless others I’m sure.

M: I think that song is wonderful.   It has a sad and melancholy feel, but yet I can hear hope within it as well. The chorus seems almost triumphant to me. What a way to honor his family too.

Alright, let’s talk about another song that I think that’s really great too, it has something to do with space. Isn’t that right?

R: Yes, there is a song on the record called Space.

M: Explain that one.

R: A little while back, I think in the spring of 2007, I was watching the Today show.

M: Shame on you!

R: I know, right?

M: Just kidding.

R: I was watching it and they did this story on Hawking, Dr. Steven Hawking. He is a mathematician and physicist who has done a lot of research on cosmology and black holes, and things like that. Unfortunately, he has some sort of neurological disorder that has left him mostly, if not entirely, paralyzed. He even talks by this sensor that is on his voice box, or something like that. He’s a super intelligent fellow with a brilliant mind. Anyway, apparently some millionaire who was a fan of Hawking decided to treat him to this airplane ride so that he could experience zero gravity. That way Hawking would know how it would feel if he could actually experience going to space. So they took him up in this plane, and there was this footage of them spinning him in zero gravity. He can’t express a lot of emotion because of his disorder, but you could see the joy just gleaming from his eyes in that moment. It completely overwhelmed me to see this, in fact, I’m getting goose bumps talking about it right now! Here you have this guy with this amazing mind who has been physically afflicted by this awful disease, bound to a wheel chair for life and regardless, he’s able to experience extreme joy. I mean how can I complain about not having the latest iPod, or sitting in traffic, or anything? Really, where do I get off complaining? If he can experience joy like that, why can’t I experience such joy in the simply daily things in my own life? I can. I mean I don’t have the challenges that he does, but it’s a tremendous example of perspective, and that guy is right on.

M: One of the parts of the song just exclaims “pure joy”, isn’t that right? I think that’s a pretty powerful part of the song.

R: Yeah, and that’s what I saw on his face, and there’s no reason why I can’t have joy like that.

M: So, how is it working with Michael Knott?

R: No comment.

M: Ok Rick, there’s one other song I wanted to ask you about. It’s a really uplifting number, the first one on the record, called “As Noon.” Could you give us a little information on that one?

R: Sure. The inspiration for that song really came from watching a good friend find his bride. It was awesome to witness him experience such happiness and comfort in discovering her. At the time I was reading Ernest Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises, and at the beginning of one of the chapters he is describing this fiesta with these explosions and this magnificent visual display. When I was reading that it made me think of the emotional explosions my friend was experiencing in his life, and how wonderful it was for me to watch all this unfold. What a celebratory time for him, and certainly worthy of such fireworks. He found his soul mate, he found true love, and how brilliant is that! In essence, that’s what I was trying to capture emotionally.

M: That’s great! I heard that you may be doing a video for that song as well.  If you do will you share it on YouTube or something like that?

R: I do have a vision for a video for that song that I hope to put out, and it will be available. Hopefully we can get started on it in the next couple of weeks, so we’ll see.

M: I look forward to seeing it.

So let me toss out a few words in an to attempt to describe your music and see if you agree with them: emotional, dissident, melancholy. Is melancholish a word?

R: If it isn’t we are at liberty to make it one.

M: Well, you got a degree in English Literature didn’t you? You should know.

R: Are you not comfortable with my melancholyism? Is that a clinical disorder? If so, I doubt that it’s curable.

M: In your case you’re probably right. Moving on, another descriptive word for your music could be reflective, right?

R: Absolutely, I would agree with all of those descriptions.

M: While your music seems to be all of these things, there are parts that are quite joyful. Part of it seems to flow wherever the emotion wants to flow. I really do enjoy this record, and I was excited to have had a part in it so that it can get out and connect with others. I’m happy to be interviewing you as well to promote it as I feel it is an important record, and that people need to hear and experience it.

I have a question that I like to ask every artist that I interview. Now you being the first artist that I’ve ever interviewed I will ask you the question, I will ask you the question I’ve never asked anyone because I’ve never interviewed anyone else. Do you have a good story from or about the music industry, maybe something that you experienced or witnessed? It could be good, bad, funny, or indifferent. Do you have something to share? I think everyone has something to share about the industry, or a specific experience. Do you have anything like that?

R: I think I might have one. Well, it involves this guy by the name of Michael Knott…

M: No, no, no. Not including me. That’s why I’m doing this interview.

R: If that’s the case then I don’t know if I’ve got anything for you.

(This image by Brenda Clark, Rick’s wife.)

M: Come on, I know you’ve got something.

R: I tend to try to go to SXSW each year if I can as I love SXSW. This one year I went to go see Goldfrapp, Ray Davies, and Morrissey all at the same venue on the same night. It was a pretty cool line up. After watching Goldfrapp, who put on a good show by the way, I had the chance to get back stage. As I recall, Morrissey was supposed to go on next and Ray Davies was to follow, but Davies was a secret show or something. Someone back stage, I think it was Allison Goldfrapp, had ordered and brought barbecue wings or something like that. Morrissey had a slight problem with that. Apparently he doesn’t like meat, who knew? I guess meat is murder. Anyway, he started verbally going at Goldfrapp, and Ray Davies got into the middle of it. After debriefing with a friend who books shows, apparently Morrissey doesn’t ever want any meat present at the venue that he is playing, and he strictly forbids it.

M: Wow! So what happened?

R: I thought it was going to come down to blows or something.

M: You thought they were going to start punching each other?

R: Yeah, and Davies totally stood up for Goldfrapp as he thought she should have whatever she wanted. Then Davies got so upset that he didn’t want to go on after Morrissey.

M: So Davies didn’t play?

R: Nope, he did not play.

M: You didn’t get to hear Lola?

R: No, it was a bummer as I am a fan of the Kinks. I did get to see Morrissey though, and he put on a good show. I was excited to see him do Girlfriend in a Coma in particular. I suppose it’s as close to the Smiths as I’m ever going to get live.

M: Wow, now that’s a good story!

R: It does make for a good story, doesn’t it?

M: Well Rick, I’m really impressed by your record, the first solo project released by Rick McDonough with one of the coolest titles I’ve heard on a record lately, Breakups and Fur Coats. Can you just tell us briefly any other projects that you may be involved with since you seem as busy as me?

R: Well, obviously I’m working on finalizing your L.S. Underground project.

M: Thank you.

R: It’s an amazing record and I’m really thankful to be part of it. It’s really going to impact a lot of people in a positive way. Then, we’re also working on your next solo project Even Star, which is equally amazing in a very different way. We still have the sophomore release of Struck Last May as well which should be a little bit easier for some to digest.

M: I think you’re right as it’s not quite as experimental as 16 Flowers.

R: Yeah, maybe it’s like turning it back from 10 to something like 7.5 or 8 on the experimental dial.

I’m also trying to wrap up a project with a buddy of mine that I’ve worked with for years who has the most amazing voice. We did a few songs together under the name While Rome is Burning. It’s a two person studio project based on textures, guitars, loops, hooks, and things like that. Then, you have this ethereal sort of hauntingly beautiful vocals that just engulf you. For these songs I presented him with poetry that he would then rework into lyrics.  I don’t want to belabor the point, but he has such an amazing voice.

M: He does, and his name is…

R: Peter Kusek. He’s a crazy talented guy, and I’m grateful to be able to work with him. If I had to pick someone’s voice that I appreciate the most it would probably have to be Peter.

M: He does have an amazing voice, I agree completely.

R: It’s going to be a 5 to 7 song e.p., and it’s a pretty exciting collection of songs. I also just started a keyboard-based project. I’m tossing around a couple of ideas as to what I am going to call it, but haven’t settled on one as of this moment. They are textured sound scapes that you could have playing in the background, or like something that you would hear in an indie film, something along those lines. I hope to have that out later this year as well. Then, I’m also playing with a cool indie rock band called Paravell. A friend of mine that I went to university with is the main song writer and front man.

M: Do you guys play out?

R: Yes, we typically try to play a couple of shows a month here locally in Orange County.  We have a record out, and we are working on several new songs that we are going to start recording here shortly. I’m pretty excited about that too. I think the songs are really relatable and going to impact people in a good way.

M: Now tell me how people can get a hold of your new record and what it costs.

R: I have it for sale online at hiddenfromblackout.com and its $14.00 with shipping in the U.S. or Canada.

M: A lot of people may not know that you also do painting, photography, writing, all sorts of other creative things aside from the music. Do you ever sell your paintings and photography?

R: I do, but right now it’s more word of mouth.

M: How would someone go about trying to purchase one of your pieces? Would they just have to come to your house?

R: They could by appointment, or during happy hour which is 4-6. Right now I just have a photography blog up that briefly goes over the projects I’m working on or have been hired out for. I hope to display my photography and my paintings that I have for sale soon, but I’m working on it right now. People can get to the photo blog from the Hidden From Blackout site.

M: You are a talented photographer. Your paintings are great, too.  I know one of your last series was a Napa Valley series of the vineyards there. How many did you paint in that series?

R: I did something like 14 in that series, but I’d say that less than half of them are officially finished. Isn’t that typical for an artist, nothing is ever finished.

M: Maybe you’ll have it set up for people to see those paintings in the next month or two?

R: I hope I can at least get a link up that connects from the Hidden From Blackout site.

M: Well thanks Rick, in conclusion is there anything else that you would like to say?

R: I can’t think of anything aside from thanks, brother.

Interview by Matt Crosslin   |    Photo courtesy of James Preston

SLIDE (L to R): Mike Baker, James Preston, Sam Mitchell

It’s an all too common story in the music industry: band creates underground buzz, band gets signed, band puts out an album, label folds or drops band, and band disappears (s much as people complain about the dreaded “sophomore album,” most bands should be celebrating the fact that they even made it that far).  Sincerely Paul was one such band.  Fortunately, the story doesn’t end there.  Dormant for over a decade, the buzz for Sincerely Paul recently re-ignited (due mainly to a small number of websites) into a full blown re-issue and even the resurrection of a related band under the name of SLIDE.  How does SLIDE relate to Sincerely Paul?  What can we expect in the future?  Read on as James Preston and Mike Baker answer our questions….

For those that might be unfamiliar with Sincerely Paul, could you give us a brief run down of the history of the band – how it started, what the musical influences were, etc?

Sincerely Paul was formed in 1988 by three high school friends and one acquaintance. These core members began looking for a lead singer. At the time, I (James), was working as a teacher’s aide with the bass player’s mother.  She mentioned to me that her son’s band was looking for a singer. I sent them a demo tape, and was asked to join. Mike Baker came along a little bit later and began playing drums with us. The band began performing at churches, and within our 1^st year, we were asked to play at the 1988 Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. After the festival, a lot of doors began to open for us. We began to play and opened for L.S.U., Undercover, The Choir, The Altar Boys etc…. We played at other Christian festivals including Creation Fest in 1992, Six Flags Atlanta Fest in 1993, Knott’s Berry Farm Jubilation Nights, as well as major Hollywood Clubs including The Troubadour, The Whiskey, and The Roxy. We also opened for new wave faves “A Flock of Seagulls”. Sincerely Paul played lots of shows. We loved playing live, and we played so many places….. honestly, its hard to remember some of the venues. Influences? That’s a hard question because each of us had our own favorites that we drew creative juices from.  It is impossible to be an artist and not carry some of that influence into the creative process of writing, performing and recording.  Although we made an effort to remain unique and original I would say that a good part of instrumental stuff on Grieve was heavily influenced by Pink Floyd, The Cure and Psychedelic Furs.

How did Sincerely Paul get signed to Blonde Vinyl? What was that experience like?

During the first part of 1991 we were engaged in talks with several record companies trying to find a home for our music.  We had found ourselves being booked often with Mike Knott’s Band “Lifesavers Underground,” and got to know Mike through these live shows. I believe Mike approached us personally and asked us to be a part of Blonde Vinyl and we accepted.  So, Sincerely Paul was signed to Blonde Vinyl Records in 1991.

We felt Blonde Vinyl allowed the band to express itself artistically with minimal restrictions. In short, Blonde Vinyl allowed us to maintain our sound and message without any drastic changes. The experience working with Mike Knott and Blonde Vinyl was great. Mike was very supportive of our direction and goals. We were excited to have Gene Eugene work with us on the project as well (Gene mixed some tracks on Grieve). We actually signed the recording contract with Mike Knott over dinner at a restaurant (near the Blonde Vinyl Office) in Orange County, CA. Since both of us (Mike and James) live in O.C., we pass that restaurant from time to time, and often reflect back at that time with gratitude.

Many Blonde Vinyl bands were considered “controversial” for pushing the boundaries.  Was there any controversy surrounding Sincerely Paul?

Sincerely Paul was no stranger to controversy. There is a story James shares inside the bio of the upcoming re-issue of the Grieve CD where one church literally stopped one of our shows and escorted us out of their building. The biggest controversy we had at the time was our lyrical message and dark appearance.  Industry folks and many magazine reviewers thought since we came from Orange County, CA that we should all be rich, happy and shallow.  Some even labeled us as ‘posers.’ We were really misunderstood.  The sad thing is that none of those who judged us this way knew anything about our collective pasts or that James was training to be a licensed psychotherapist.  Maybe we were drawing from a well deeper than a collective admiration for our favorite bands.  Maybe we had real life experiences that allowed us to express a way for people to move from a painful past to a future of hope? Most of our listeners loved what we did, but the majority of the Christian Music Machine didn’t “get it,” didn’t want to “get it,” and hence steered clear of us out of their own fears of something different. The lyrics and the message of Grieve challenges the listener to remove masks, confront falsities about themselves, and makes them deal with difficult, taboo issues head on. We knew that concept frightened a lot of decision makers in the Christian industry who were used to signing bands who perpetuated the “shiny happy perfect Christian” mold. Even though we were considered a ‘dark’ and ‘brooding’ band by many our message was never one of despair – it is about real people, living real life in real time. Our message was always filled with hope, renewal and recovery – one just had to dig deep to mine the diamond buried in black coal.

What happened to the band after releasing Grieve?

Once Grieve was released, Sincerely Paul began to play more live shows within the Club Circuit in Hollywood, CA. As a band, we found we were more accepted playing bars and clubs in Hollywood, than we were at churches and youth group rallies. In a lot of ways, the secular audience we attracted were more responsive to us…. maybe they could better relate to our message and style of music? In addition, other big venues like Creation Fest and Atlanta Fest welcomed us to play in front of larger audiences. Our listener and fan base grew once Grieve was released because people outside of California were now able to commercially have access to our CD in stores. We also began to play live outside California as well, hitting some southern and east coast locations.

How did SLIDE come about?  What is the story of SLIDE? Is there any difference between SLIDE in the 90’s and SLIDE in 2009 (as far as musical direction, goals, etc)? How would you compare and contrast Sincerely Paul with SLIDE?

SLIDE came about immediately after Sincerely Paul broke up in 1993. Mike Baker and I along with our new member, Sam Mitchell, began writing music together. SLIDE was approached by R.E.X. records to provide a single for their compilation CD. The single, “The Black and the Blue” was released commercially and received a lot of positive feedback, and from that, we were offered a recording deal with R.E.X.. There really is no deep back story to SLIDE. Mike, Sam, and I wanted to make music, because we love writing music. We love the experience of being in a band and working as a team collaborative effort. We wanted the music to be different from what we did in Sincerely Paul. More upbeat, not as dark… more danceable, but still maintaining a band atmosphere where live instrumentation meets electronic technology. The only difference between the SLIDE of the 90’s and the SLIDE of today is the way we write music. As you probably know, the internet has changed how bands write music. We no longer are confined to a sound proof garage (where all band members squeeze in together) to write music. The only thing Slide will have in common with Sincerely Paul is band members James and Mike. The sound we are going for will not resemble Sincerely Paul, and thus, this is not a sequel to Sincerely Paul. After all these years, we are fortunate to have all 3 original members of SLIDE (from the 90’s) working together again.  We are also fortunate to have sound engineer Brian Webster on board with us again.  He recorded, produced and engineered many of Sincerely Paul’s tracks and live show.  He even recorded and engineered the 1993 version of “The Black and the Blue.”  Even still, we don’t consider this a reunion, because SLIDE never commercially released a full length LP, and SLIDE was so short-lived. So it’s kind of a unique situation we are in, presenting ourselves at this time in our lives. Our goals for SLIDE are to write some really good music, have fun with the writing process, and hopefully grow our listener base through the World Wide Web. In comparison to Sincerely Paul, we would probably say we hope our lyrical content will continue to stir emotions and cause our listeners to think.

A little over a decade and half later, and Grieve is getting re-issued.  How did that come about?

The re-issue of Grieve came about because of the internet and fans of Sincerely Paul who have been in contact with us for the past couple of years thru email.  The re-issue would have never happened without the help of blogs that were set up by listeners who remembered our music and emails that we continually receive from listeners who remember us. Also, the re-issue would never have occurred without the help of Mike Knott. I (James) contacted Mike Knott and asked him to sell me the publishing rights to Grieve. Mike Knott agreed, and I met with him to finalize a deal for me to obtain the rights to own Grieve. We are thankful Mike did this for us. We are hoping the re-issue of Grieve will help bridge past Sincerely Paul listeners to SLIDE so they can experience some new music from us.

What can you tell us about the re-issue of Grieve?

The Sincerely Paul re-release of Grieve will be issued as a 2-Disc Definitive Edition. The official release date is Tuesday, May 5, 2009. The first 300 copies sold will be considered limited editions and will include a special numbered insert signed by original Sincerely Paul band members James Preston and Mike Baker. Digitally enhanced for 2009, Grieve has been given a complete makeover. The 2-Disc edition will include new art work, an insightful bio/essay, new pics, and 11 unreleased tracks. The CD can be purchased at www.slidemusicgroup.com.

What future plans do you have with SLIDE?

For the immediate future, SLIDE plans on releasing a full length CD and digital downloads by 2010. We love to play live and interact with our listeners, so we hope we get the opportunity to play live again soon. Keep checking our website www.SlideMusicGroup.com and www.myspace.com/slide for details.

Some people say the music industry is in bad shape.  Do you agree?  Why, or why not?

It would appear the music industry is in bad shape monetarily speaking (and in some ways creatively speaking as well). It’s definitely not the mega money maker it used to be. We don’t think there is one single reason for this….maybe it’s because of the way people are obtaining and listening music these days (i.e.: internet/digital downloads, iPods, etc.)? Maybe it’s the way music and bands have been marketed?  Things really had become formulaic and commercialized. Thank God new venues like XM/Sirius satellite radio and websites to download new music are available as an alternative to commercial channels! We will say this – sometimes something old has to die before something new can be conceived and born. The death of the “formula” has given rise to a new breed of creativity which would have never been heard or even given a chance to blossom through traditional channels.

What advice would you have for bands such as Sincerely Paul that want to come back and re-release old material, or maybe even record new material? What advice would you have for new bands that are just now getting started?

We would say make sure you go thru the proper legal channels to make sure you have the rights to release your work. Use the internet, sharpen your internet skills, make the internet your best friend.  Write and perform live anywhere and everywhere (no matter how many people show up to your show), and be accessible to your listener base. It is also important to remember that not all bands were made for re-uniting to make new material. Sometimes you need to move forward with new ideas. Make sure your doing it because your first love is music, and because you love the art of creating music.  If you’re main goal is making a living or making big money than you might be better off getting a degree in accounting!

Many bands are now re-recording old albums for all kinds of reasons.  If you weren’t able to get the rights to re-issue Grieve, would that have been a consideration? What is your opinion on re-recording old albums?

No, we would not even have considered it. If another entity (i.e.: record company) bought Grieve, there is little we could have done about it. I don’t believe we would have had a whole lot of say with the re-issue if someone else owned it.  Which is why we are glad to have the rights, because James and I really felt like we did justice to the re-release. We wanted to make sure it was done correctly. The new art work design and the sound re-mastering were very important pieces to both of us. After the discs were re-mastered, we would meet, go to Star Bucks, sip coffee, and listen to it from a listener’s perspective in our cars. We really wanted to make sure people could hear the difference. And I think our listeners will be quite pleased with Brian Webster’s re-mastering work. He did an excellent job. We were blown away on how he treated the project because musically, one can hear sounds and separations of the music you could not hear before.

Our opinion on re-recording old albums is we think its fine to do it once, but get it right the first time. Multiple re-issues of the same album seems a little greedy to us. We really don’t agree with the current sales tactic trend that seems to triple dip into consumers’ pockets every few years to get them to buy the pretty much the same album with an occasional tweak here and there.

What are some of your favorite memories from being in Sincerely Paul?  You wanted your lyrics to get people to think, to remove masks, etc. Do you have any stories about how they did just that?

Some of our favorite memories of Sincerely Paul were doing live shows… especially the big festivals (Creation Fest and Cornerstone) and playing the major Hollywood Clubs (the Whiskey, the Roxy, the Troubadour). We have always been a “people person” band, and loved meeting fans and listeners after the shows. We had a rigorous rehearsal schedule, practicing at least 3 nights a week, staying up past midnight, and having to get up the next morning to go to our regular jobs. We have a joke about the correlation between weekly rehearsals and live shows.  “For every 50 hours of practice and rehearsals, you may get one really good live show that stands apart from the others”. The point being that it’s a lot of hard work to practice on a regular basis, and you may have some live shows that don’t live up to expectations.

The lyrics…..they still are a big topic for discussion to this day. Moreover, some of the emails we received from listeners who tracked us down thru the internet were people who wanted to share their personal stories with us. This occurred frequently when the band was together – as people used to snail mail us their stories to our P.O. Box.  One story recently came from a married couple who told us Grieve saved their marriage from crumbling into divorce. Another story came from an individual stating she literally broke down after hearing Grieve saying the lyrics helped her deal with repressed child hood abuse issues. Still, another came from an out of state D.J. that use to play our songs on his radio station. He wrote to tell us that the lyrics finally got him to seek out help for severe depression and problems with addictions. Those are just a few of many stories we have received. We must admit, it still amazes us to this day to hear stories like this from our listeners. It does appear, in some ways, Grieve was a source of healing, or rather, the beginning of healing, for some of our listeners.

How do you feel about the music industry’s (CCM or mainstream) attitudes towards expressing faith in music?  What are your personal feelings about that?

Wow, that’s a powerful question. And let me preface first that between 1994 to roughly 2008, we really have not followed what has happened in the CCM circles. And we say that with all honesty. Revisiting Sincerely Paul after all these years reminds us of that 1960’s Twilight Zone episode with Burgess Meredith — you know, his character played a book worm that loved to read, and suddenly, there was this explosion that took place, and he walked up from the basement to the outside dwellings only to find a nuclear bomb had gone off and destroyed nearly everything in sight. It kind of feels that way, because here we are returning to some of our musical roots, and we have found that a lot of stuff in the Christian market has changed…. mostly due to technology, how people obtain music, the fall of many record companies, and with time comes the normal aging process…. bands get older, new younger bands come into fruition…. so yeah, things appear to have really changed or are just non-existent anymore. In our opinion, expressing faith in music is a personal decision. If that’s what you want to sing about great, if not, that’s fine also. But we have never been big fans on how the Christian market tries to separate itself from the secular market. Believe us when we say, from a business perspective, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. Sorry if that sounds harsh, and people may not want to hear it, but that was what our experience was like…in fact, we found people in the secular industry to be more honest and forthcoming in their approach… In the beginning stages of the band, Sincerely Paul’s biggest mistake was trying to fit into the Christian mold. We were rejected by the Christian Music Machine when we did not submit to a lot of the rules and regulations. That is, until Blonde Vinyl Records came along. Bottom line, be a musician first, and if faith is part of your message, great. But don’t let your faith pigeon hole you into musically expressing yourself to just one specific audience.

Photos courtesy of Mike Stand

The Altar Billies (L to R): Johhny X, Mike Stand,  and Chris “Cowbell” Cummings.

Mike Stand really needs no introduction here. The lead singer / front man for The Altar Boys is steeped in history within this music scene, and will still be around for a long time to come. I was excited about getting an interview with Mike for a couple of reasons. I love The Altar Boys and I still spin their records (yes, vinyl) routinely at my house. I also appreciate Mike’s solo output. His first solo record Do I Stand Alone was a musical milestone in my life. It was one of those albums that – when I first heard it as a teenager – made me feel okay to be me… or it made me feel a little more okay to be me. I felt that it was okay to question, to be honest and to speak up. It’s a great record. The Altar Boys were revolutionary in the Christian music scene. When they started there were very few bands making this kind of music. There was The Lifesavers, Undercover, Martus and maybe a couple of others. They were one of the first to be sure, and they left a mark upon this music scene that still holds up well.

Mike was kind of like a ghost for a long time. I tried adding The Altar Boys to my MySpace friends list but that didn’t work, I tried FaceBooking him but that didn’t work either. Obviously Stand isn’t really his last name and I had no clue what it was. I had just about given up on finding him when Beth Jahnsen from Take Two Productions came through and hooked me up. I want to say thanks to Beth and to Mike for this interview, it was a joy to do. Mike first contributed to our last issue dedicated to Gene Eugene, and that is up at our website so check that out if you haven’t already. Mike had some great answers to the questions – there’s history here and what he’s up to now which is very cool. This is just straight question/answer stuff to make it an easier read – enjoy!!!

When / how did you first get into the industry?

The Altar Boys first recording was in 1983 with Dan Willard on the MRC label. We recorded “Where’s It Gonna Lead You” for a compilation with Undercover and other bands, it was called What’s Shak’n. We put out the first Altar Boys recording in March of 1984 followed by 4 more recordings.

Can you give a little back story on the Altar Boys and how that came to fruition?

In 1980 I committed my life to Jesus Christ and began working on my salvation with “fear and trembling”. I began playing in a Christian rock group called “Image” with my cousins Jeff and Bill Crandall and a guy named Armand Barocio. We were not really that good, but it was a start. The band lasted for about two years.

Anyway, Bill and Armand kind of dropped out of Image after about a year and we got a different bass player along with Ken Tamplin from Shout but that really didn’t work either. Jeff and I decided to form a different band – the Altar Boys name came later. Ironically, we auditioned lead singers, and someone who could be a front man. I had no intention of being the main songwriter, singer or front man – it wasn’t even on my radar. As you might guess we couldn’t find anyone who fit the bill, so at some point I decided just to do it – I suppose it worked out in the end and was meant to be.

I remember in 1981 I went to see my brother’s band “The Lifesavors” play and became inspired. I became good friends with the guys in Undercover and began writing songs with a more punk feel to them. I kind of felt that I was just writing Beatles music that was sped up. We did experiment with ska and light pop, but I think we did the “power punk” (or whatever you want to call it) the best. Hence, you see the results of what I was really going for on Gut Level Music, When You’re a Rebel had hints of it as did Against the Grain. By the time we recorded Forever Mercy we had kind of strayed from our original sound – bad move.

Our first bass player came as a recommendation from Undercover, he stayed with us for about 2 years until Ric joined the band – that change improved the band greatly. Steve auditioned for the group in May of 1982 – he was a real good fit.

We played our first gig at First Baptist church in Fullerton in July of 1983. I have some great photos from that gig. We were well received. After that first performance the band sort of took off and we played anywhere and everywhere, about 10 times a month… I suppose the rest is history (With a small h).

Out of curiosity, how did you become a believer?

In 1980 I decided that I needed a Savior. I was never a drug addict or alcoholic or into stuff like that. I definitely had my issues, and still do, but I just came to a point where I knew there was a God and that it would be better if I started working out my faith “in fear and trembling.” I know, not as exciting as some people’s testimony but I bet mine is more the norm. I think we often give more credence to those that came from the gutter, rather than rejoicing in the fact that any conversion really is a miracle.

Why was straying from the ‘original sound’ a bad move in your opinion? Do you think that you lost fans, etc.?

Growing up I always enjoyed those bands that tried new things or altered their sound a bit – the best example is the Beatles. But the Altar Boys are not even close to the Beatles, but we sought to be a little more melodic on Mercy. But our fan base loved the hard driving stuff. With that said, the Mercy project was just so different, it had its good moments but everyone wanted to hear Gut Level Music. In the end, the music did not “work” very well in the live setting. Hence we pulled mostly from our older material – even at our reunion concerts the only song we did from Mercy was “Forever Mercy.” Ric and I have often talked about Mercy and what were trying to do, and kind of where we went wrong. Yet, some people love Mercy and it is their favorite recording – so what do I know? We were hoping to do a 6th record called No Substitute that really was basically more in line with Gut Level Music, but we just could not seem to get back into the studio. Some of those songs were used on the Clash of Symbol’s first recording while others are not going anywhere.

Being one of the forerunners in the scene, what type of obstacles did you encounter and have to overcome as a band?

We really did not have a huge amount of obstacles. Most people were very gracious to us. I think one thing that did bother us a bit was the fact that some churches would host our band and used our popularity to bring in kids to their church – not a bad thing – but we would play for 20 minutes while they gave a 30 minute sermon. That wasn’t every church mind you, but I kind of felt like that was a little deceitful. In essence the kids didn’t get a concert by The Altar Boys, but were duped into coming to hear a Bible study that we happened to played at – and it was not advertised that way. Bible Studies are great, but I always felt that if a person took their time out – and maybe paid money – to hear us, then we should make it worth their effort. All in all, that really irritated me and the guys, and try as we may, it was difficult to communicate that to our hosts. Again, I am all for communicating the Good News of Christ, but let’s not do it in such a way that the message is hindered by our actions, and let’s do it in a way that it shows respect and love to others. Some of these churches even admitted that we were simply bait, at first I was okay with that, but gradually I realized that this type of attitude really wasn’t an accurate or a fair assessment of our ministry. Again, this did not occur at every church we played at and some bands have no problem with this type of arrangement, but it did happen from time to time and I just am of the opinion that we can all do a bit better when it comes to the way we evangelize.

When you look back on the years of The Altar Boys, what is it that comes to mind? How do you think that your band marked/impacted the scene?

When I look back, I always tell people that I wished I would have done two things differently: Enjoyed it more and trusted God during the difficult times. Without going into detail, I think I let some things really “get to me.” Sometimes the pressure on us really was overwhelming. We put ourselves into a position that required so much effort, planning and energy. We had very little tour support and most of the details were really left to us to figure out – most of the time the responsibility was on me to workout the details… to the point that it often distracted me from focusing on what I was really supposed to do (play music and do ministry). At one point the guys even came to me and said “Man, you just seem to be so scatter brained.” They were just concerned, but I already I knew that I wasn’t on top of things. I was just so distracted by all that I had to do to keep this “machine” going. That isn’t to say that Ric, and particularly Jeff, didn’t do “their” part, it just kind of wound up that a lot of things were on my shoulders. We did go through a number of managers, and we sought help, but there was still a lot gaps that had to be filled in and I had to do it. Be that as it may, God was faithful even when I wasn’t, and His hand was always on us… always! I am not sure what impact we had, I suppose we were pioneers in some ways, but in all fairness I think guys like Undercover and The Lifesavors really were the catalyst that got us going. Without them I do not Think Altar Boys would have happened like it did.

How did the decision come about to do your solo albums?

In 1987 and 1988 I had written a number of songs that I knew would not fit on an Altar Boys record. I approached Frontline about doing a solo project, and they agreed to sign me up – it was a nice outlet, and it also put more coins into their pocket. Nevertheless, I put together a great band – Tim Chandler / bass, Dave Raven / Drums, and Rob Watson produced it – everything really fell into place, it was really an enjoyable record and I think it came out well. In 1990 I decided to do another recording – again, I did not consider these songs to be in the vein of the Altar Boys. We were going to hire Rob again but Rick Elias kind of worked his way in and won me over. Not as enjoyable of a record. Rick did a good job on many things, so I am not dissing his production ability, but there was some tension during the project that was non existent on the Stand Alone record. We used “his” band for the project and while they were very good, and rose to the occasion, it was obvious that they were “Rick’s band.” In the end I do believe Simple Expression came out equally as well as Do I Stand Alone and it was the last project I did with Frontline. Both solo projects were very different, but I look back at them fondly…. I think in many ways maybe Simple Expression might be just a little better…. but Stand Alone has some stronger moments if that makes any sense.

Are there any future plans for the Altar Boys?

Funny you should ask that question. I’ve just started up a rockabilly version of the Altar Boys called The Altar Billies. It really wasn’t my idea, for the past 7 years I have been hanging with this guy named Johnny X. Johnny plays drums, guitar, and upright. At one point he mentioned to me that he thought a lot of my music could be done in the rockabilly style and format. He even did a demo of Against The Grain and won me over. However, for the past few years I have been working on a master’s degree and second teaching credentials so I have been basically been “dead in the water.” To make a long story short, the Altar Billies is up and going and it is wonderful…. the guys are great and more importantly I get to play the songs again and my “ole Tele.” Since we are all dads, have families and careers, I am not sure about touring and the like, we’ll just take it as it comes. In the mean time, it is great to do ministry in this format

What do you think about the digital revolution when it comes to music in this day and age?

I think the digital revolution is great. I mean now bands do not have to go though record companies to get their songs out there. With MySpace and you tube one can get access to the entire world. Also, it is now possible to record a great demo or entire project right at home on your computer. The Altar Billies did an incredible demo on Garage Band. That program is kind of considered low budget by most people, but our demo sounds great. So no longer do you have to go into a studio to get a good product. If one takes their time they can do something really great that is close to, or equally as good in quality as, almost any studio.

Any plans to record with the Altar Billies, or any music that will be released for sale?

Anything really is possible and I think we will do some recording. I plan to get a Pro Tools set up (just LE). That first demo I did on Garage Band and I think it sounds pretty good actually! Tonebox Records distributes most of the Altar Boys music on the net (iTunes etc…..). So, any Altar Billies project will most likely be made available for download through them. It could possible include the three songs that one can hear on The Altar Billies MySpace page (“Against the Grain,” “Listen Up,” and “Live”). I have several unreleased Altar Boys recordings and other material that may finally see the light of day including a favorite instrumental I wrote in 1989 called “Altar Boys Go Skating.” We have renamed it “Hayride Billies”, sped it up to a fast bluegrass pace and put a twang to it, and it’s a good’n! There are many other songs as well, the sky really is the limit with these guys. Johnny X and Chris “Cowbell” are excited about the “Billies” and are looking forward to putting as much time as they can into this project (balanced with family, job, and church commitments).

What would you say to any new bands starting out?

Funny you should ask that, I have made mention of this very thing in several of my blogs and in my dealing with different Christian artists I have met – including one that just came though our church today. But in short I would encourage them to protect their hearts, and to “enjoy” it. The evil one will do everything he can to bring you down, I think he especially targets Christians who are musicians because he was once “in charge” of leading the angels in worship before the Lord God. So I suppose he really has it out for those of us that are engaged in this act of worship, because he cannot stand to see all of the praise, honor and glory go to the Lord.

Do you still merchandise for sale?

We still have a number of When Your a Rebel, Full Circle, Simple Expression, and Sunday Is An All Together Different Proposition CD’s. The thing is that most of the Altar Boys, Clash of Symbols, and my solo material is available for download through iTunes and other sites. However it looks like CD’s will become obsolete very soon, who would have thought? So, what technology will they come up with that will dethrone iTunes and Napster?  It really is an unbelievable time that we are living in, so many great opportunities for musicians, but there was a charm about the old days when the album covers were as important as the music. Then again that was then and I suppose that now it all has charm of its own. As a matter of fact, my son insists on having a “cover flow” for every song on his iPod. He seems to get it… I guess he’s a lot like his old man!

www.altarboys.com
www.myspace.com/altarbillies
www.myspace.com/altarboysmusic
www.mikestand.net

Thanks again to Mike for taking the time to do this interview with me! I’m sure you readers are wondering what the other members of the Altar Boys are up to now, so below is a little update section!

JEFF CRANDALL

“Currently, I am the Worship Pastor at High Desert Church in Victorville, CA.  Jenny and I now have three children, Ben 8 years old, Ryan 4 and Sam 2.  I graduated from the International School of Theology in 1994 with a Masters of Pastoral Studies Certificate.

God has taught me a lot since The Boys stopped playing together.  I’ve learned a great deal about marriage and relationships.  Over the years, my worship and musical experience in Christ has literally been transformed.   I’ve learned so many new things that unfortunately the limited space in this newsletter does not allow me to elaborate. Once again, I want to thank you for all the support you gave us throughout the years.  Many of you have continually prayed for us, and encouraged us in so many ways.  Always remember that ‘You Are Loved.’”

STEVE PANNIER

“Hello everyone!  A lot of changes have happened in my life since I stopped playing with the Altar Boys.  My family and I lived in Nashville and Oregon for a season before settling right back here in sunny Southern California.  Perhaps the biggest change of all has been the addition of my now 8 year old son Sean and 3 year old Hailey.  They are the ‘apple’ of my eye.

Since coming back to California I’ve been blessed with a very successful landscape business.  It’s great to be working outdoors as a landscaper. Love the Lord and remember, there’s no substitute for volume.”

MARK ROBERTSON

“I first saw the Boys in about ’84 or ‘85. I had only been a Christian for a couple years and was excited to find that you could be a believer and still play good music! I remember a friend telling me ‘These guys are great, you should start a band like this.’ I said, ‘No, I should be in this band!’ I became an Altar Boy in August 1990 and stayed ‘til August 1991. It was a year that I will always remember as one of the major highlights of my career.

I felt strongly that God was leading me away from Southern Cal, so I packed up and moved to Chicago. I briefly joined a band called The Stand, then took over bass duties for Rick Elias. I also sing for my own band This Train, which is now signed and taking up most of my time. I also began producing records. I’ve produced about 15 or so by now, which is a whole lot of fun. I also had the great privilege of playing for 4 years with Rich Mullins, who became a close friend and mentor to me. He taught me a lot about music, got me involved in Native American missions, and helped me become a stronger Christian.

Perhaps the greatest happening is my recent marriage to Janel.  The only way to describe her is: what a woman.  She’s all I’ve ever wanted and more.”

RIC ALBA

After recording his Holes in the Floor of Heaven album, Ric has been dedicated to finishing school. He is working on his degree in social work and spends most of his time working with organizations in the fight against AIDS. He also has a side project called ‘Chef’s Hat Boxing’, but because of his current schedule the band only gigs once a month.

It was July of 1997, with Gene’s blessing and personal stamp of approval, Eden Z Films began work on a low-fi indie documentary with no budget and no real time line. Todd & Lorrie Zeller were just a couple of Adam Again fans who happened to be in the right place at the right time, and that was oddly enough, Eugene, Oregon. Zeller and Greg Lawless had become friends, as Lawless had been living in Cottage Grove, Oregon and still resides their today along with fellow artists, Richard Swift and Chris Colbert.

Gene & Greg invited Eden Z to shoot the rehearsals for Cornerstone 97 in Cottage Grove. Gene flew in from Huntington Beach and Jonny Knox flew in from Nashville. With Greg on guitar and a guest appearance from Keith Schieder on bass, the Cottage Grove Community Center had never sounded so alive as it did for a couple of long Oregon summer days as the legendary underground band Adam Again ran through some of their best songs. Many hours of Hi-8 video and B & W Super 8 Movie film was shot, then later that same summer, just after their incredible Cornerstone performance, Eden Z went to the legendary Green Room to document rough songwriting for the new Adam Again record that Gene and the band had been wanting to work on ever since Perfecta….

One more chance to film came in 99 when Gene decided to accompany Mike Knott on a handful of show dates. First stop was Eugene, Oregon with Gene and Greg opening the show performing “Dig” and “Stone,” and Gene backing up his longtime friend Mike Knott on the Rhodes piano. Another show in Portland, Oregon was filmed, that was the last time Gene and Greg performed together as Adam Again before Genes untimely death in 2000.

Of course with Gene’s passing came the need for a different direction for the Worldwide film. Eden Z has collected around fifty interviews with Gene’s friends and comrades. After a few false starts and rough cut edits, the film is still on the shelf due to lack of funding, as well as hurdles in securing licensing for Gene and Adam Again’s music for the film. Since Zeller runs a full time production studio, most hours are spent on projects that pay the bills. That said, Zeller is a huge fan of Adam Again as well as all of Genes music and side bands. This film is a near and dear labor of love. 2009 has opened up new doors of opportunity to complete the film, as well as the involvement of other artists and individuals.

Look for www.adamagain.com to finally launch this season along with updates on the films progress. Thanks for your patience and keeping the music and memory of Gene alive. As you have read from the stories above, I’m sure he would be humbled…

www.myspace.com/edenzfilms
www.myspace.com/adamagain
www.adamagain.com (coming soon)