HM Magazine, Issue 118 (March/April 2006) by Heaven's Metal Magazine

The Myriad The Violet Burning Collective Soul The Lonely Hearts Half-Handed Cloud The Classic Crime Grits Readers’ Poll Winners ®

THE HARD MUSIC MAGAZINE

THRICE

March, April 2006 • Issue #118

$3.50 USA / 4.95 CDN

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TA B L E O F C O N T EN T S

From the editor

REGULAR

Doug Van Pelt

Letters Hard news Live report Heaven’s metal

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FEATURETTE WE’RE MOVING! It plays out like an old narrative: The innocent magazine publisher is ousted by a mean, old landowner. Threats of “We’ll move your house to the side of the road” and “then the city of Pflugerville will fine you for every day it’s there” were cast in our direction on official, legal notices sent by registered mail. We didn’t want to get stuck in a situation like this again, so we looked for some land in the Central Texas rural area to move this office building to. It looks like we’ve finally found that land, in the lovely town of Thrall (even though our mailbox reads Taylor). “Thrall” reads like “thrash” and a guy named Pat Thrall plays a mean guitar (perhaps a Taylor guitar), so we should be in good shape once the dust clears on the move (which just had to come in the middle of deadline for this issue). If you ever visit the offices in the future and no one is answering the door, but you see someone flying around a custom-built moto-x track, that’ll (hopefully) be me, just letting off some editorial steam. This is our annual “GMA issue,” which is present at our industry’s convention in Nashville. It feels like a risk to have a band that’s not part of this scene on the cover, but I think what Thrice is doing is so cool and so vital that they just had to be on the cover, even though it doesn’t score any “political points” for us. It was great finally getting that Collective Soul interview I’ve been chasing for five years, too. Hope you enjoy this issue. It’s not quite our 21st Anniversary yet (that happens in June), so you still have time to grab a copy of our fat, thick 20th Anniversary (Jul/Aug ‘05) issue. Do it. Take care.

Saxon Shore Sullivan The redemption song Cross culture Jonah 33 The myriad The felix culpa

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FEATURE The lonely hearts Readers’ poll results Thrice Half-handed cloud The violet burning Grits The classic crime Anam cara vs. ﬂee the seen Collective soul says

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INTERMISSION Lonnie frisbee Columns

SPINNING AT HM NOW MAD AT THE WORLD BRMC THE ALARM P.O.D. MAYLENE & THE... HOMELESS J 100 YEAR STORM

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Seasons Of Love Howl Standards Testify S/T Three Seconds To Gaze (New Album. Title = ?)

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REVIEW Nostalgic low vocals remind me of H.I.M. They’ve got that thing/vibe/’tude. Sometimes classics make your blood flow. Sounding better with every listen. Shazam! This is good. d wonderful noise. 7 songs of bliss and wonderful noise.

Music DVD, book, & gear Indie pick

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10 L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R ®

EDITOR/PUBLISHER OFFICE MANAGER MKTG & ADS

DEMON HUNTER RIPPED OFF! Dude, excellent Sevendust interview. That’s just great journalism. Fire up the questions unprepared and see how they answer. I love how he responded to the “What makes a good song thing?” Amen. On the other hand... I would hardly call the first two Demon Hunter albums “mediocre”. Egads! –Jonathan Swank, via internet Ed – Ya got that right! Those comments about DH’s previous albums really tested my belief of letting reviewers say what they want... I really like those first two albums.

INTERNS

Kemper Crabb, Greg Tucker, Chris Wighiman

CONTRIBUTORS

Nate Allen, Jamie Buchanon, Chris Callaway, Matt Conner, Chris Estey, Chris Francz, Dan Frazier, Amy E. Hall, Chris Lassiter, Dan MacIntosh, Josh Niemyjski, Austin Powell, Jamie L. Rake, Andre Salles, Bradley Spitzer, David Stagg, Kriss Stress, John J. Thompson, Darren Tindell Jr, Chris Troutman, Shawn Young

COVER PHOTO

DEAR EPHESUS: COME BACK! I just bought your (Jan, Feb) issue, and was looking through it and good stuff like that, and got to the Album Reviews and was reading about Thrice, Vheissu. And, in your opinion, even if Thrice has lyrics that could beat a sermon (or whatever), do you honestly think that they should have a ouiji board on the cover of their CD? I’m not judging their claim to be Christians, but don’t you think a ouiji board is a little harsh? What would you think if you were a non-Christian kid who already thought Christian bands were hypocritical and saw their cover...what would you think? And what’s your opinion of their cover art? –In Your Opinion, Fleetwood, PA Ed – Well, it’s not a ouiji board... I think the artwork is very creative and the words on it ask some very important questions and make some great statements.

SHE JUMPED THE HIGHEST I love your magazine! I just got a copy at Purple Door, they threw it into the crowd, and I can’t put it down. Thanks for putting out this awesome magazine! –Jocelyn, somewhere in the Northeast

AUGUST BURNS I really enjoyed the magazine this month. I appreciated the interview with August Burns Red. I just got to see them in Vegas last night and they are hands-down one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen. I wanted to see if you guys could possibly do an interview with The Hope Of Change (Harvest Earth records) in a future issue. I really love those guys and I think we’ll be hearing good things from them in the future. Thanks for putting out a great magazine each month. –Isaac, via internet Ed – Thanks. HOC is cool. We’re on ‘em.

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This internet exclusive I came across on HM’s website concerning Dear Ephesus... It said that they had possibly reunited, and may or may not be recording an EP? Has any more news developed concerning this? –Aaron Quillen, via internet Ed – The management/friend contact with DE has told me that their reunion has hit a few snags and is not moving forward. Sigh.

IF YOUR CREED’S TOO LONG... God Bless you, congrats for all your GOOD stuff and work... I read your interview with Dave Mustaine, and it helped me a lot to clarify what Dave thinks about Jesus. Well, he seems not to be correct in all his creed... but anyway, I read a review of Collective Soul in your internet exclusives, and you know what? I found a Christian rock station playing Collective Soul... (reignradio. com) I’d love you to try to get an interview with Collective Soul, so we as Christians can clarify what they believe... and be sure about their creed... –Luis Carlos, via internet Ed – Check out the Collective Soul interview this issue. I have a feeling, though, that, even though they’ve toured with Creed, you won’t like their creed.

SAPPY CHURCH THING HM is like a New Testament letter. It lets me know how other parts of the church are doing. That is probably the most valuable thing I get out of the mag. It’s not a giant music selector for me. It’s just good to hear how bands are doing, what they’re up to, hard stories, celebration stories, weird stories. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a music freak, too, and I love to find good art. My favorite part is the sappy church thing, though. –Nolan Archer, via internet Ed – Wow. Thanks! I like that, too.

Sam Farries, Doug Giesbrecht

CONTR EDITORS

PROOFREADERS

OUIJI, NOT

Doug Van Pelt Charlotta Van Pelt Heather Reynolds

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Dan Monick Vicki Bobick, Bethany Johnson, Valerie Maier, Heather Reynolds, Carolyn Van Pelt “For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God Who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He enables me to stand on the heights.” (2 Samuel 22:32-34)

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Letters 2 Ed, POB 367, Hutto, TX 78634 letters@hmmag.com HM Magazine is dependently owned and operated (Psalm 62) Printed in the U.S.

HM Magazine (ISSN 1066-6923) is published bi-monthly for $15 per year by HM, 1660 CR 424, Taylor, TX 76574. Periodicals Postage Paid at Taylor, Texas and at additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: HM, PO Box 367, Hutto TX 78634-0367 All contents copyright © 2006. HM contents may not be reproduced in any manner, either whole or in part, without prior written permission. For retail distribution, please call Ingram Distributors (800) 627-6247

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HARDNEWS Quick & concise HM SPONSORS EXTREME SPORTS

FURTHER SEEMS FOREVER

ASPHALT ASSAULT TOUR

CALLING IT A DAY

The ultimate goal is to reach the so-called ‘unreachable’ with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “We have had numerous churches and organizations tell us that their community is ﬁlled with kids that skate or are into BMX; yet they do not quite know how to reach them,” explains extreme sports manager Ryan Melson. “We feel like conferences and concerts have been overdone. The purpose for the Asphalt Assault tour is to reach these kids that no one else wants or knows how to. From the success of the X Games, Gravity Games, the Dew Action Sports Tour, and the Vans Warped Tour – hard music and extreme sports are intertwined. Imagine playing Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland with no music. [theaatour.com]

Further Seems Forever announced their departure with an official statement on their website: “FSF agree it is time to move on to other things in our lives. We have enjoyed touring the world over these years, and meeting all of our incredible fans. All of the members of FSF remain the best of friends and look forward to the future, whatever it may bring.” The band will be playing its final (full electric) shows early this year. They won’t record a new album, but will put out some previously unreleased material and a DVD with live footage and videos as a farewell.”

News bullets Haste The Day have found a new singer – Denver’s Stephen Keech., who will be joining the band on their current European tour, followed by a big US tour with Bleeding Through, Every Time I Die, and Between The Buried And Me. Their latest album, When Everything Falls, has already sold more than 40,000 copies in the US alone – a number that will surely grow with all this touring. The band’s last show with departed vocalist Jimmy Ryan was documented and is tentatively slated for a DVD release later this year. Spitfire joined has returned after a four-year hiatus with Self-Help (GoodFellow). They’re now a quintet, thanks to the addition of Norma Jean’s Scottie Henry and Scarlet’s Dan Tulloh. Recorded nearby the band’s home in Virginia at Red Planet Studios with Andreas Magnusson (Black Dahlia Murder, Hot Cross, Scarlet) behind the board and mastered by Alan Douches, the band sounds more metal than ever. Zao is out on the road with Devildriver, Trivium, and In Flames. Then they’ll enter the studio with Steve Albini. KEKAL began recording a new album earlier this January. “It will take about 6 to 7 months ahead to complete all the recording,” explains guitarist/vocalist Jeff Arwadi. “I believe this will be our most-focused, explored and ambitious album we have recorded. There are tons of fresh, diverse new elements, and many of the experiments are actually the ones that have never been done before in metal, yet they are unmistakably 100% KEKAL”. It looks like this might be a 70+ minute concept album.

TW Walsh leaves Theto his Lion TW Walsh has decided to leave thePedro band and return career as a software engineer. “Dave and I are still buddies,” says Walsh, “I wish him the best, and I know that he’ll continue to thrive and grow as an artist on his own...I think his best work is still ahead of him. As for me, I’m thankful for all the experiences that my tenure with the band provided, but I am sure that this was the right decision for me and my family.” With TW’s departure, Bazan has decided to drop the Pedro The Lion moniker and forge ahead under his own name. This is not to say that the Pedro The Lion name will never be used again. But for now there will be no new releases or touring using the band name. Bazan plans to work on a new studio album in the spring and summer that will be released by Jade Tree in early 2007. Bazan’s other musical outlet, Headphones, will most likely have a new album prepped for release by Suicide Squeeze sometime after the solo effort.

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As I Lay Dying is part of the huge bill for this Spring’s Taste Of Chaos Tour, along with Deftones, Thrice, Story of the Year, Atreyu, Thursday, Silverstein, Funeral For A Friend, and others. Flee The Seen will be playing a SXSW showcase on March 17th (@ The Beauty Bar) with Flyleaf and others. Circus Dawn has just signed with Youngside Records.

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The Rocket Summer is now touring with Relient K and Maxeen on The Matt Hoopes Birthday Tour. Amber Pacific and Paramore are both on the bill for the travelling Take Action Tour, along with Matchbook Romance, Silverstein, Roses Are Red, and others. Emery and Anberlin will be on tour together along with Hawthorne Heights, June, and Bleed The Dream.

Eleventyseven BY AMY E. HALL A wise man knows the difference between taking himself too seriously and taking his purpose in life seriously. Though barely out of his teens, Matt Langston might be considered such a man. But he likes to joke around just as much as the next guy. Take his band, for example – eleventyseven. “(My bandmates and I) just stayed up really late one night and thought it was funny that band names have numbers in them,” the frontman remembers. “(Our name, eleventyseven, is) kind of making fun of other band names; a reminder to ourselves not to take ourselves too seriously.” The pop-punk trio from Greenville, South Carolina is one of the latest artists to join Flicker Records’ roster. Fans of MxPx and Weezer, the guys also draw from 80s pop, hardcore, jazz and underground punk influences. Produced by Travis Wyrick, eleventyseven’s national debut, And the Land of Fake Believe, hits stores March 21. Langston started playing with Caleb Satterfield (bass) and Jonathan Stephens (drums) in their church praise band in 2001 and shared a lighthearted pact. “[We had this] joke (that) if the praise band fell apart, we would start a threepiece punk band,” laughs Langston. As the praise band fizzled, the trio’s joke “evolved into something we wanted to pursue seriously.” The title And the Land of Fake Believe “spawned from a social commentary,” explains the guitarist/vocalist. “People tend to build their world

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around fake ideas or fake emotions.” eleventyseven wants to “challenge (folks) to be real in what they do and to be resolute in their love for people.” The members of eleventyseven are advocates of accountability, genuine love, community and true fellowship, he says. Those principles became increasingly important to Langston in high school as he struggled with depression and a shaky connection with his mom and dad. He admits, “My parents and I didn’t have that great of a relationship [then].” Langston has found tried and true relationships with Satterfield and Stephens, whom he names his best friends. “I stress out really easily. I need people around me that love me and care about me,” reveals Langston. More than that, the band members want to share authentic fellowship with those with whom they come into contact on the road. “It’s so important to establish a community with the people that listen to our music.” eleventyseven is currently on a 40-date tour with Superchic[k], KJ-52 and Seventh Day Slumber.

Hawk Nelson, whose music was featured in the movie Yours, Mine & Ours, have released an exclusive EP at iTunes, with two versions of “Bring ‘Em Out” (one of which features vocals by Drake Bell) and “Things We Go Through.” The band will have a new album in early April. Hundred Year Storm plan on releasing two albums this year – one in the Spring and one in the Summer – both on nationally distributed labels. They will tour extensively and request regular ongoing prayer support for this busy year. “The music industry is a rough place and the travel required is challenging on us and our families and we really need God’s grace and power to see this vision come to fulfillment.” The Kirby changed its name to Widows. They recently recorded a couple songs at Austin’s Jacketweather Studios with Dave Dreesen. One of ‘em, “We Are All Exiles,” is going to be released on Doll House Recordings’ Houses, Volume 2. Lance Garvin’s new band Heroes Among Thieves is “deﬁnitely not LS#2,” says friend and videographer Philip Blunk, “but anything that has Lance Garvin involved will rock out at least occasionally. The lead vocalist is a young woman named Heather Brown, who also plays guitar,” blending her beautiful voice over Lance’s crunchy music. Sleeping At Last are going back into the studio, again with Bjorn Thorsrud assisting. Susan Voelz (Poi Dog Pondering) will be working with the band on its string arrangements.

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HARDNEWS Page fourteen News bullets South Carolina’s NEEDTOBREATHE has signed a joint deal with Sparrow, Atlantic, and Lava Records. Their major label debut, Daylight, was recorded in the UK and produced by Andy Green, (Keane). Led by vocalist/guitarist Bear Rinehart, a former Furman University football standout at wide receiver, who holds several “all-time” school records and was awarded the Banks McFadden trophy in 2002 (SC’s best collegiate football player); and joined by brother Bryant “Bo” Rinehart (backing vocals, guitar), who co-writes with his brother and was featured in the hit movie Radio with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ed Harris. Both Rinehart’s are named after Alabama’s legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant, and they both gave up potential careers in football and acting respectively, to pursue their dream of and passion for music.

Counting The Days BY DARREN TINDELL JR. “Counting The Days has always been based on honesty and friendship.” The Maryland-based hardcore outfit has a raw, aggressive sound comparable to the likes of American Nightmare, Gorilla Biscuits and Count Me Out; nevertheless, the band strives to bring about a positive, truthful message dealing with such everyday issues as relationships, depression, beliefs and even skateboarding! Not out to re-define any genres or break any molds, each song is chock-full of fast, energetic guitar and punk-influenced drumming. If anything, the band is getting back to the basics of hardcore. After releasing a 7” (Losing My Grip) on Burn Bridges Records and consistently handing out demos to record labels, Counting The Days landed a deal with Strike First Records in September. The band has since recorded their debut release, Finding A Balance, due out March 14th. “It’s definitely a lot more melodic. It’s definitely aggressive.” explains Drummer Joey Red. “It’s just a real honest album – a real mature album. The lyrics are more mature, the music is more mature. We recorded it at More Sound Studios

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(Ed Gein, Bad Business). Being at More Sounds is great. It’s just like a second home to all of us. I don’t think I’ve actually felt more comfortable at any other studio I’ve ever been too.” To kick off the new year, Counting The Days will be heading out with xLooking Forwardx on their first national tour. “All the other tours we ever went on were a bust,“ confesses Red. “So, this will be our first actual tour.” The tour will be heading down South and through the Midwest for 10 days, then head back East. “The place I’m looking forward to playing at most is Illinois. It’s just a rad place and all the kids have always been really nice.” Since recently losing their bass player, the band has been searching for a replacement or a fill-in for the tour. “We haven’t found a bass player yet, but we’re still looking. We’ve had a couple of tryouts. We’ve had a couple people come listen, but we don’t have a bass player yet and we are still looking. So, if anyone wants to play, just hit us up.” With a promising debut album and a tour in the works, things are looking up for Counting The Days. Be on the lookout for them on the road.

After his departure from Pedro The Lion, TW Walsh will continue work on his new project, the Soft Drugs, and will release a debut sometime in 2006. In related news: David Bazan, Vic Chesnutt, Mark Eitzel (American Music Club), and Will Johnson (Centro-matic, South San Gabriel) will be touring together as the Undertow Orchestra. They’ll all be on stage together, taking turns performing songs while the others back them up on various instruments. Hopesfall recorded the song “Eye” for a Smashing Pumpkins tribute album, The Killer In You. P.O.D. was tapped to play a special New Year’s Eve performance in Times Square for the Jimmy Kimmel Show, which had the band performing on top of a building in Times Square, with giant video screens all over the city beaming their performance. Underoath, mewithoutYou, The Chariot, and As Cities Burn joined together before the Christmas holiday for the inaugural Come & Live mini-tour to beneﬁt ﬁve charities hand-picked by each artist. The sold-out four-city tour raised over $80,000, which will be donated to: Habitat For Humanity,

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Invisible Children, Teen Challenge, Samaritans Purse and New Jerusalem Ministries. In addition, the bands came together on 12/14 in Birmingham, AL to help build two homes for local families in need through Habitat For Humanity. Shortly before the tour, all four artists participated in a twoday T&N label retreat in Delta, AL, where they challenged each other in their faith and focused on both deepening friendships and revitalizing their outlook on life.

Kingston Falls BY BRADLEY SPITZER Kingston Falls, Strike First Records’ latest signing, is ready to unleash their power-pop/metal fury across the United States. This brief Q&A with the band should serve as a brief introduction to these tourhungry young ones. Who is Kingston Falls and how’d you get started? Kingston Falls is the result of a pop/punk band called “Gunk.” Three out of the five members of Kingston Falls were in this band and Kingston Falls was actually started as a goof-off side project. After playing local shows for about two months we decided to make Kingston Falls a full-time project because of the response we got locally. After about 7 months we purchased a trailer and started doing some Midwest touring on the weekends and during the summer which included playing the Cornerstone Music Festival in 2004. How would you describe the music you create? We would have to say it’s power-pop metal with breakdowns and stuff. We feel that it has a very orchestrated writing style, with technical attributes that are a result of the influence we’ve received from other bands, and our musical training that we each received in high school. How’d you get hooked up with Strike First Records? We hooked up with the right people in the beginning of 2005 and they took us under their wing and gave us pointers and suggestions on how to get our name out. At Cornerstone 2005 we met Jason Dunn and

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3 months later we received a phone call from him stating he wanted us to sign a deal with Strike First Records. Has living in Indiana influenced your music at all? If so, how? Playing local shows in the Midwest were always a lot of fun because of the turn out we would have at shows, so it kind of motivated us to start playing in other states so we could see what other scenes in bigger cities were like. The Midwest hasn’t had a huge influence musically, but it motivated us to write music that was different and that would stand out from what other bands were doing. Basically, things were going so well in our home state, that we really wanted to see how people would respond to us elsewhere, thus, the constant touring we have set up for next year. Which leads me to my next question, what’s in store for Kingston Falls in 2006? We have our debut full length coming out on Strike First Records on April 11th, 2006. The CD will be called The Crescendo Of Sirens. But before the release, we have a U.S. tour that starts in January and ends around mid April with such bands as The Dog and Pony Show and Hope Of Change.

A documentary on Danielson is making its ﬁlm festival debut at the San Francisco Independent Film Fest and SXSW. Titled, Danielson: a Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise HERE) is sure to be amazing. Some interesting questions brought up are: “Is it still Christian rock if most Christians can’t stand it? What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding? Is the world magical or isn’t it? (and) Will Sufjan Stevens ever get a break?” [danielsonmovie.com] The Showdown recorded a new song, “Give Us This Day,” produced by Paul Ebersold (3 Doors Down, Saliva) and will only be available on the international re-mastered release of A Chorus Of Obliteration through Abacus. Delirious? traveled to South Africa late last year to celebrate band mate Tim Jupp’s birthday, raise AIDS awareness and spread hope among Durban street children. The band also played for more than 20,000 fans in ﬁve concerts in Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Pretoria. Mike Peters from The Alarm was just diagnosed with cancer in his throat/ lymph (again, like 10 years ago). Mike and the band are bringing out the aptly titled new album, Under Attack, on EMI Records on Feb 20th and the single, “Superchannel,” before that. Johnny Phillippidis (Burlap to Cashmere) was beaten within an inch of his life in a road rage incident and is now in a coma.

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HARDNEWS Page sixteen News bullets

Pit Moves: #4,“The Roundhouse” YOUR GUIDE TO THE SWEETEST PIT MOVES Description: A “karate” kick that makes a wide arc above shoulder level. Kind of like a wide-swinging punch, only with the foot. Like Billy Jack told one of his soon-to-be victims, “I’m about to put the right part of my foot across your right cheek.” A solitary move that’s often coupled or transitioned into another. Bonus points are scored if the kicker catches some air with his/her plant foot while the kicking foot is sailing through the air. Extra bonus points are earned if this move is quickly followed by another roundhouse kick with the opposite foot.

Veda has changed their name to Vedera so as not to be confused with another group with a similar monicker. They had just released The Weight of an Empty Room (Second Nature). Vedera will next be going out on the road with Mute Math. Kids In The Way won the fuse On Demand / MySpace contest.

(on a scale of 1-10)

Degree of difficulty: 3 Likelihood of injury: 5 Cardiovascular intensity: 9

[Illustration by Ivan Minsloff]

Same Question Different Artists CONCERNS GOING INTO MAINSTREAM? “If you are a Christian, I think that there are always going to be concerns wherever you are, whether you’re in a band or not. Concerns with, ‘Am I living my life in a way that is consistent with these things that I say I believe in?’ Concerns with the people who you are in contact with, whether for a few minutes or on a regular basis. I think the Lord has us exactly where we are for a purpose. And His purposes are going forth, and it’s actually getting a lot stronger. On this tour in particularly, we have been spending more time than ever reading, talking, and praying together. It really is showing in the tour, too. I am so stoked about it.” –Daniel Davison (Norma Jean) “Given the fact that most of the kids that are into our type of music hate God or some form of organized religion, playing in the mainstream isn’t too much of a concern for us, because that is where the harvest is.” –Adam Wright (Mortal Treason)

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Speakers for the Dead guitarist Jason Garcia (formerly of GRYP) has been diagnosed with brain and lung cancer. He still plans to ﬁnish his guitar parts for the new album set to be released in March on Magna Carta Records.

“If God wants to use us in that market, He will, so I can’t really be concerned too much with Him leading our band. Other than that, though, I think it’s always a little freaky playing to a totally new market. I mean, you always want them to accept and appreciate the music for what it is, not label you as some ‘copycat Christian band.’” –David Paul Pelsue (Kids In The Way) “It was definitely our agenda from the beginning to break into the general market. We wanted to appeal to Christians and non-Christians alike. We felt like there was a certain sub-genre of metal that was not being fulfilled by any Christian bands. This sub-genre is the kind of metal that’s heavy through ‘n’ through, but breaks into melody – and not in a screamo or indirect manner. A genre of bands like Slipknot, Machine Head, Deftones, Fear Factory and In Flames. These were the bands that we’ve always enjoyed the most, so, we wanted to give fans of that kind of music something that fit into that category, but with a Christian message.” –Ryan Clark (Demon Hunter)

This year’s Facedown Fest (3/31 - 4/1) is set to be a killer, with bands like Nodes Of Ranvier; NIV; Bloodlined Calligraphy; Seventh Star; xLooking Forwardx; Inked In Blood; and several more. Asterik Studio got a Grammy nomination for its packaging for Norma Jean’s O’ God The Aftermath. Dan Patrick’s radio show on ESPN has recently been spinning Anberlin and Number One Gun. South Africa’s The Awakening are soon releasing a new album, Razor Burn. The band have just signed a management deal with MCM Music (Saviour Machine, Virgin Black, Eva O). The next album from controversial nitwits Knights Of The New Crusade will be available at Alternative Tentacles. The Evan Anthem recorded a Christmas iTunes exclusive, “In The Snow.” Mike Herrera, will be producing the Transition debut album at the Clubhouse in Bremerton, WA. Headbanger’s Ball aired its Top 15 videos of 2005, of which Norma Jean’s “Absentimental” was 13th; Underoath’s “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door” was 9th; and As I Lay Dying’s “Conﬁned” was 6th. Not a bad year for this scene we cover, eh?

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18 HARD NEWS

HARDNEWS Page eighteen Causes Some causes are really big. They’re international in scope. Sometimes getting involved with that kind of cause can seem daunting. So can a “local” cause. Sometimes it’s easier to talk about problems abroad than it is those at home; but this is the cause we are pushing this issue. We’re talking about rolling your sleeves up and helping serve at your local soup kitchen. If you live anywhere near any urban area, there is likely to be a Salvation Army or even a local church soup kitchen. You can be as “personal” as talking with homeless people (who are often ignored and not even offered eye contact, much less conversation), or as “mechanical” as sweeping up or dishing out the food as hungry people holding bowls and plates pass by.

Decyfer Down BY KRISS STRESS Commonly, you wouldn’t find up and coming major label prospects lifting mattresses and spraying bugs to pay the rent, but melodic hard rockers Decyfer Down, the newest addition to the S/R/E stable, does just that by day. By the sound of their newest record, End of Grey, it would appear they won’t be doing that for much longer. Formed in 2002, the North Carolina band has shared the stage with mainstream heavyweights like Cold, Adema, Puddle of Mudd and Breaking Benjamin. In the beginning, Decyfer Down’s roots were more along the lines of a soft acoustic band as opposed to the hard rocking goodness that we now identify with their name today. As they rededicated their lives to Christ, guitarist Brandon Mills and drummer Josh Oliver began the band. With feelings of being burned out by Americanized religion as well as having just stepped out of the drug and partying scenes and returning to faith, the band had a lot of inspiration to draw from. “We were just trying to crawl our way back into a deeper understanding of God – for Him to heal the wounds we had in our own personal lives,” says Oliver. “The music began to change and evolve as our walk with God did.” With the addition of metal-driven guitarist Chris Clontz and bassist/vocalist Caleb Oliver, the band began to take off and make a name for themselves on the show circuit. The origins of the band’s name were certainly inspired. Decipher means

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ENDING HUNGER “to interpret” and fit perfectly as the band aimed to interpret truth based on God’s Word while stripping it down from religious traditions and terms. States Josh, “We’re simply out to give a positive message of hope that has truth streaming all the way down the middle of it.” When asked about touring with the likes of Crossfade, Breaking Benjamin and Adema, the band expressed how they felt each band was filled with down-to-earth people as opposed to snobbish rock stars. Says Josh, “Having been able to share stages with these bands (and hang with them) shows them that there’s nothing wimpy and boring about being a Christian and that there IS hope. I have seen people in this market change. I met Scooter (lead singer of Cold) about 5 years ago and he was extremely dark and lost. Since then he has seen his sister almost die from cancer and then be completely healed. We played with them about one month ago and met him again and he has changed his life and given it over to God. He had a ray a hope and light in his eyes that I had not seen before. This gives us fuel as a band and is why we play that market as well as the Christian, to show people that Christ is real and brings hope.” With nothing but good things to say about their new label and End of Grey releasing on April 2nd, it looks like the boys of Decyfer Down are about to embark on a whole new trail that will allow them to show their God given hope and grace to those who need it the most.

secondharvest.org The Nation’s Food Bank Network is the country’s largest charitable hunger-relief organization with a Network of more than 200 Member food banks and food-rescue organizations serving all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. MISSION STATEMENT:

To create a hunger-free America. We distribute food and grocery products through a Nationwide Network of certified Members, increase public awareness of domestic hunger and advocate for policies that benefit America’s hungry. ACTION POINTS:

Donating money is easy, and somewhat detached. Instead, donate your time. A few suggestions are: tutoring kids at your local Kids Cafe; repackaging donated food for use at food pantries; transporting food to charitable agencies; and serving at your local food bank. Go to the “How to Help” link at the top of the secondharvest. org page or click on the link that says: “Find your local food bank or food rescue organization.” You can enter your zipcode and it will show you a place where you can serve. CONFLICTS:

Matthew 25:34-40 Ephesians 6:7-8 Acts 6:1-7

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LIVE 19

LIVE REPORT Fall Brawl Tour November 27 BY DOUG VAN PELT HOUSTON, TX – Flyleaf, Taproot, P.O.D. and Staind hit the road for a month-long 17-date tour last Fall, hitting Texas midway through. The four bands on the bill made for a fairly cohesive package, with some musical similarities as well as distinct differences. Flyleaf kicked things off in the mid-sized Verizon Wireless hall with a good blend of heavy low end and Lacey Mosley’s haunting vocals. Songs like “I’m So Sick” sounded so good live, adding a real heaviness to the melody. “Fully Alive” benefited from the booming sound system, too, as her stair-stepping vocals climb syllable by syllable through the verses. The crowd responded pretty well to the band’s first single, “Breathe Today,” which had some limited airplay and an “instant hook” chorus. I’m always a little skeptical about a new band latching on to a big rock tour like this, sometimes seeing it through the eyes of a jaded industry person that knows often the support acts are paying big bucks to play in front of these crowds. Flyleaf quickly proved that such an investment is going to pay dividends. Taproot came out and quickly launched into what I refer to as “territorial tagging,” almost as if they want the audience to know that this ain’t no Christian rock band bill. Between “f-this” and “f-that” (which is pretty common with mainstream metal shows), frontman Stephen Richards seemed to draw a line in the sand with “G-D” adjectives left and right, and expecting the audience to repeat after him. It could just be me, but non-essential words like that just seem more like identifying marks than simple cusswords. They rocked it. A lot of people must’ve been there to see P.O.D., because when they hit the stage they seemed to ratchet up the high quality music another level. Playing a new song like “Mark My Words” early on was a treat, which sounded sharp, aggressive, and heavy. By the time they hit the first chorus of “Boom,” it was very apparent that this band was very much a metal band and still in its prime, rocking with a huge, thundering sound. Sonny’s moves across the stage aren’t performance tricks, he’s being moved by the powerful riffs, man. The addition of ODZ on guitars and Raz T on percussion and added vocals really gave the band a full and thick sound that simply killed. Raz T’s screams of “rise” during “Set It Off”

were as chilling as ever. This was a smart move by the band that has helped them gain ground back after the loss of Marcos. “Wildfire,” one of the more wicked tunes from the self-titled album always sounds good in a live setting, as does the haunting “Satellite.” The heavy reggae vibe of “Roots In Stereo” came off well to an audience that was clearly in the band’s pocket. “Youth Of A Nation” found a willing choir to oblige with the singing. “Southtown” and “Alive” rang out and then it was clear that the last hour had flown by and the band had to make room for the closing set by Staind. While clearly spent after P.O.D.’s high energy set, the crowd came alive again for Staind, whose clean melodies soared over 120+ db’s. And a good night was certainly had by all.

Photos from top: Sonny x2, Wuv, Traa, and Lacey Mosley (by Heather Reynolds)

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20 H E AV EN ’ S M E TA L

Metal tracks Metal is so booming right now that it’s really coming in handy that we’re publishing Heaven’s Metal Fanzine. If you want to experience the breadth of coverage that a metalhead craves, check it out. For a limited time, you can get the Dec/Jan issue (#61) for an introductory (cost) price of $1 (USA only). See the store at hmmag.com for details (under “Back Issues”). • Tourniquet is releasing a DVD of their live performance at Bobfest 2005 (Sweden). “This is by far the best quality live footage we’ve ever had,” states the band, “both in terms of video (4 cameras) and audio. It should be available soon. • Bombworks Records has signed Seven Angels for USA/ Europe/Australian distro of their new album, Faceless Man. • Bride‘s drummer (son of Dale), Alex Thompson, has announced that he will be joining the Air Force. The band is writing new material and looking locally for a drummer. • Surfer/guitarist Daize Shayne, who has been working with

producer Ken Tamplin, recently filmed a commercial for Net Zero, which will air during the Super Bowl. • Rivera Bomma‘s new album, I Am God, releases this month on Mausoleum Records. • Aletheian has donated its guitarist, Alex Kenis, to become the new axe-slinger for Becoming The Archetype (after longtime member Jon Star’s departure). Alex will remain a full-time member of Aletheian at the same time. The band plans on touring heavily this summer. • Carl Crandell, owner and founder of Psycho AcoustiX Records passed away on Dec. 6. Please remember to pray for Carl’s wife and daughter. [psychoacoustix.com] • Markus Sigfridsson is the composer and guitarist behind 7days, which features vocalist Thomas Vikstrom (exCandlemass). Their debut will feature a cover of Veni Domine’s “Wisdom Calls” from the 1992 Fall Babylon Fall album.

Album reviews DIVINEFIRE – Hero Oh my gosh! Christian Rivel has probably bettered his main band (Narnia) with the intensity of this “side project” band called Divinefire. Orchestral arrangements add a killer progressive flavor to this pounding and rolling gothic power metal. If you could go exactly halfway between the doomy sounds of Virgin Black and the classic metal of Narnia, this is sonically where you’d end up. The musical genius behind this album is Jani Stefanovic. Memorize that name. The guy’s amazing. SARDONYX – Linear Progression This Pennsylvania metal outfit has just recorded probably its most solid release, with a 4-song EP of worship tunes. The low end has a great deal of beefiness to it, and Tom Delinger’s power metal vocals are holding up quite well after all these years. In the vein of Keith Green this album is available for “whatever you can afford” to send. [lightshineministries.com] VISUAL CLIFF – Freedom Within Tight and solid instrumetal music (with about half featuring vocals). Fans of proggers Neal Morse and Dream Theater will find some clean and compelling riffs here.

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SAINT – Live 05 This legendary power metal band’s standards are displayed quite well in this raw (but full-bodied) live recording from the XFest (the old Tomfest location). The only sounds that are weak are, oddly enough, the between-song banter. Band classics like “Too Late For Living,” “Primed And Ready” and “In The Night” hold up about as well as Judas Priest today (if only they had the recording gear of JP). SYNNOVE – Freedom Within This Australian black metal band has crafted multiple vocals, keyboards, and dramatic dynamics that meld well with the tight rhythm section and wall of distortion guitars. The piano adds a cool gothic vibe to the shrill sounds. FLAGSHIP – Maiden Voyage Prog rockers will salivate over this classic Styx-meets-Kansas sounding album, which is performed with the kind of excellence those Swedes are known for. Kerry Livgren guests here on the cover of his song, “Ground Zero.”

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22 F E AT U R E T T E

SAXON SHORE

BY SAM FARRIES It’s been a long tumultuous road for Matt Doty. His brainchild, Saxon Shore, has been through a lot of growing pains in the last year and a half resulting in new members and a new epic record. Matt is happy. Things were going smoothly until founding members Josh and Zach Tillman (drums and bass) decided to leave the band in the summer of 2004 after two records. This left Doty questioning whether or not he wanted to continue with the project or call it quits. In the meantime, he decided to venture out into the corporate world (he has a double major in ceramic engineering and business), dawning a suit and tie to pay the bills. After almost taking a job as a financial planner, Doty realized that Saxon Shore wasn’t even close to being done (interject your hallelujah’s here). With a new passion, he set out to recruit a new line up and in the fall of 04, members started to fall into place. Oliver Chapoy and Matt Stone joined the band after they had met Doty while opening up for Saxon Shore in a previous band. Once they were

on board, it was time to get to work on writing new material. There was just one problem. Each of them lived three hours from each other – Doty in NY, Stone in Philly, and Chapoy in D.C. This presented a problem but with the internet, the songwriting process seemed like an easy few steps. “When I initially write a song, like I just kind of have a handheld cassette recorder and I just record these basic ideas and then occasionally I go back and listen through them and be like, ‘Okay, I like this, I don’t like this.’ And then from that I start building a pro-tools session and then send that basic song structure out to everyone else over the internet. Then they send me back some of the better ideas and then I’ll take those ideas and kind of cut them up and arrange them and stuff like that and that’s kind of how we get to the point of having a demo and then from that, that’s kind of what we take to the actual studio.” With the addition of William Stichter on bass and Steve Roessner on drums, Saxon Shore was ready to hit the studio and in the spring of 05, they released the EP, Luck Will Not Save Us From A Jackpot of Nothing. This would serve as a taste of things to come.

Recording for the new album aptly titled The Exquisite Death Of was originally planned for November 04 with producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Sleater Kinney), but with the departure of the Tillman’s, sessions with the famed producer would be put on hold until Doty secured a line up. Once the pieces were in place, the studio time was squeezed in amidst Fridmann’s exasperated schedule (including mixes for the new Sigur Ros album) as Saxon Shore spent long days fleshing out ten tracks in only a week, while Fridmann spent another week mixing in his own magical touch. “We’ve really been a touring band for the past couple years and this [the album] is more representative of what we are like as a band I feel. He [Fridmann] knows how to make things sound like they’re very live.” With the record done, Matt Doty can relax, knowing that his hard work and perseverance has paid off in seeing his musical intuitions give birth to an array of epic movements indulged in sonic mastery. Hopefully it’s only just the beginning.

saxonshore.com

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24 F E AT U R E T T E

SULLIVAN

BY DAN MACINTOSH Sullivan’s Tooth And Nail debut album is titled Hey, I’m A Ghost. It’s not, however, Casper the Friendly Ghost’s life story, nor does it contain any songs about either The Munsters or The Addams Family. Instead, this CD’s name comes from a song that has a much deeper and far less scary meaning. “The ghost isn’t like a spirit or anything,” explains bassist Zach Harward over the phone. “It has to do with the idea that whatever you do has consequences. You can’t just go through life doing the wrong things and expect everything to be okay. Everything you do, good or bad, has consequences. The ghost that it’s referring to is God, basically. Part of the song says, “The ghost can see you now,” and it’s basically saying that God sees everything.” The day I interviewed Harward, the band had just finished making a music video for “Down Here, We All Float,” and this latest activity was much spookier than anything contained on the new CD. We were sort of like playing in a haunted house, and we got (to film it in) an actual haunted house,” Harward elaborates. The group didn’t spe-

cifically seek out a haunted house for this shoot, though. “We lucked out and got a house that was haunted, apparently” says Harward. But did anything paranormal come up to the band and whisper, Hey, I’m a ghost, during the filming? “We heard some stuff,” Harward answers. “But it was probably birds. I definitely don’t believe in haunted houses. But it was fun to be there.” The group calls itself Sullivan, mainly because it doesn’t want listeners to automatically associate its moniker with any particular musical genre. “We just wanted a name that didn’t lead you to any conclusions,” Harward explains. “We didn’t want to bring anybody on, or turn anybody off, just because they heard our name. I think Sullivan is sort of an unassuming name. We didn’t want a name that sounded metal or a name that sounded emo or a name that sounded whatever genre. We just wanted our music to speak for itself.” “What spurred the name for Sullivan were the Sullivan brothers,” Harward continues. “They died in World War Two on, I believe, the USS Iowa. I think they were the inspiration for the “Saving Private Ryan” story. Apparently, all five of the Sullivan brothers died on the battleship, or one

of the carriers. That led to the regulation that a family had to be split up during the time of war so that no one thing would cause the wipe out of an entire family. There was a song about that family by a band called Caroline’s Spine, which I think reminded us of that story.” The name of band’s web site, www.sullivancares.com, says a lot about this band’s fan-friendly mission. “I was just creating an e-mail address and I thought, “Hey, that sounds like a good email address” because that says something more about us,” recalls Harward. “So basically when it came time to find a web site, I was thinking, “That should be the website, too.” What we’re really saying is that we do care. I am humbled and grateful that anybody comes out to see us or talk to us or buy a t-shirt or something. We all want people to know that we care about them as more than just kids coming to give us money for a t-shirt.” Sullivan cares so much in fact, Harward has even tutored a school-aged fan. “I helped to revise a girl’s paper for her school once,” Harward admits. “We know there’s just so much good we can give back to people.”

sullivancares.com

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YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;LL BE GLAD YOU DID. hmmag.com

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26 F E AT U R E T T E

THE REDEMPTION SONG

BY SAM FARRIES In church history, art and faith have traveled a long road together. There have been good times where churches were committed to the forefront of artistic expression. Many had artists on staff, creating exquisite bodies of work that would define the age. There have also been rough patches, where the church has rejected some expressions as being unholy and in some ways has rejected art altogether, labeling it as unnecessary. This stoic resemblance has often defined the church generation in the previous century, especially with the rejection of rock ‘n’ roll. Since then, rock ‘n’ roll has found its way into the church. But can artistic expression and faith co-exist once again, especially in a hardcore scene that fundamentally rejects religion? Ryan Douglass of The Redemption Song thinks so. “If you can express your lack of faith in hardcore music then there is no reason you can’t express your faith,” says the lead singer. “Besides music I’m in visual arts also, so art has always been a huge part of my life and my faith is a huge part of my life, too, obviously; so sometimes I’m torn between which should take the lead role in

what you’re doing. Because I feel like if I’m doing something artistic it should be about my artistic side, right? And not about my faith side. But really, I’m one person and all those things are wrapped up in each other so I do think they can co-exist.” The Redemption Song have come a long ways since their debut release on Future Destination Records, as they recently became a fixture on Strikefirst, the imprint of Facedown Records, after label chief Jason Dunn distributed the Victims EP. Blending elements of punk, hardcore, and rock, The Redemption Song have a ready-made arsenal of aggressive material, from concentrate. This mixn-match concoction has created a Frankenstein effect of sorts, as the band has a hard time fitting in. “We’re kind of like the odd man out, you know,” explains Ryan. “Sometimes that’s hard, because you get looked at as not being heavy enough, you know? If we play like punk bands, then a lot of times we’re looked at as being too heavy and stuff like that, but I think we like that position overall because it just kind of helps us to stand out and do our thing, regardless of what everybody else is doing.”

Being people of faith makes the separation even more distinct and calls into question the everpresent debate over the validity of the church in the artistic community. “I believe that the church should have a role (in) art as long as the art is good,” comments drummer Jeremy Edmondson. “There is a certain amount of integrity that needs to be upheld, and in the church, that integrity means representing and honoring the Lord Jesus Christ, even if your art isn’t always about Him.” With that thought in mind, the band is working to not repeat the same old riffs and predictable breakdowns that have worn out their welcome. They’re calm, cool, and focused on what they’re doing. That doesn’t mean that they’re not paying attention to what’s going on in the music industry and are well aware of the musical trends and the major label circus that is picking up some of their peers. Mainstream success has always held the threat to destroy what the minority hold dear, a concern that the band holds in the back of their mind. However, with a “just do your thing” policy, The Redemption Song won’t let the corporate collars take the scene without a fight. theredemptionsong.com

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28 F E AT U R E T T E

CROSS CULTURE

BY DAN MACINTOSH Cross Culture is not the kind of band you’d expect to find on Selectric Records. John and Dino Elefante, the driving forces behind this emerging record company, are music business veterans much better known for their metal and hard rock affinities. Conversely, Cross Culture is relatively non-metallic and actually has more rhythm & blues and jazz influences running through its sound. Furthermore, its core members were once part of an eight-piece ska band, which is a genre that has very little metal included in its overall chemistry. Uniquely, this group is also an interracial rock band, because its singer (Justin Dill) is white, yet its drummer (Chris Wright) is black. If you look at Christian music in general, there is sometimes a fairly wide chasm between black R&B, and white contemporary sounds – at least when it comes to consumer spending patterns. Cross Culture, however, fits somewhere between these two widely differing support groups. “With our music, we bridge the gap between some of those divides,” Dill explains. “Not necessarily in the church itself, but just in general. I think

we try and mix styles where everybody can walk away with something. You’ve got either one side or the other, either rap or rock. You’ll have some people that kind of fall in between the gaps of that, but it’s definitely a hard left and a hard right. It’s cool with our music and just the way we interact with each other. We’ve grown up around each other, and obviously there aren’t any kinds of (racial) issues that we need to deal with amongst ourselves.” Fortunately, John and Dino Elefante let Cross Culture just be itself when it came time to record its Proof Positive release. “They never ever really steered us too far from kind of what we wanted to do,” says Dill. “If anything, I think that we grew together with them. Their background is more the hard rock and contemporary stuff, and what we wanted to do was definitely a little bit more indie and a little bit more risky. We both kind of wrote and came up with a sound that really defined what Cross Culture is today. We were able to work with John, who’s a great songwriter and vocalist and has melodies just coming out of every orifice that he has, and Dino, who is definitely a lot more of a hard rock guy. Bringing that together, and the abil-

ity to learn and just kind of be a joint venture with them, was definitely a worthwhile opportunity.” When asked if Cross Culture is directing its music at either Christians or non-Christians, Dill answers simply, “Both.” The more the merrier. I don’t want to just try and focus our music on one side of a coin – I want the whole coin. I want the hip-hop kids, the rock kids, the Christian kids, kids that have broken homes – just anybody that you can think of. I want everybody to walk away with something.” Switchfoot recently sang so eloquently about how we were meant to live for so much more. Dill hopes to share a similar positive vision with Cross Culture’s audience. “Most of the lyrics are taken from my personal experiences, and the ambitions and focuses I’ve gotten out of my adolescent life, which is a life that is living more than the status quo. A life with purpose. A life and aspirations bigger than the MTV generation wants to tell us.” Cross Culture doesn’t want MTV or even Empty-V. Instead, it’s striving for nothing less than the abundant life.

crossculturelive.com

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30 F E AT U R E T T E

JONAH 33

BY SAM FARRIES When most people think of prophets, one would more than likely think about the prophets of the Old Testament who carried the Word of God to the wayward nation of Israel; or, while flipping through the channels, one might recall seeing some preacher on TV who has a prophetic ministry. Prophets have always served to be messengers of truth, encouragement for the purpose of edification of the church body. But would we even consider a band to have a prophetic calling? Or is music just entertainment? No matter your view, it’s no new revelation that rock ‘n’ roll has given anyone the chance to be the resounding voice of their generation. Consider the influence of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Bono and Kurt Cobain, not to mention Keith Green, Rich Mullins, and Don Chaffer, who have been an awakening voice specifically to the Church. These songwriters are often hailed as the mouthpieces of cultural conviction and change. With the release of their second album, The Strangest Day, Jonah 33 hope to facilitate spiritual and social change much like that of their predecessors. “So, what

we’re trying to do with this record is get people comfortable with the fact that it’s okay to question God, it’s okay to question your pastor or youth pastor and even have questions in your own mind. It’s okay to do that as long as you’re prepared to have God, the Creator of the universe answer you back personally and intimately. As long as you’re willing to accept the answer that He tells you, even if it means that you’ve got to drop something in your life or you’ve got to change something in your life to get to where He wants to get you. As long as you’re willing to do that, it’s okay to ask questions, that’s how you learn,” says lead singer Vince Lichlyter. It’s been a process, though, to move out of the old way of doing things and into the new approach. “I think God totally moved us out, ‘cause when you listen to our first album, we used be the evangelical band. You know, really interested in giving alter calls at every show. I’m not saying that’s not effective, but I am saying that as times change, God’s truth doesn’t change, but His methods do.” Not only has this new method found its way into the songwriting, it has also come through in their

live shows as well. “We were at a show one time and the senior pastor was at the show and we were saying to the kids, ‘How do you know everything that comes out of your pastor’s mouth is truth?’ says Vince. “I got a dirty look for that one.” There have been other changes as well. Since the band’s debut on Ardent, the band has seen 2 guitarists and a bassist leave to pursue other projects including studio production and a booking agency (one of them is even in upper management at Starbucks). Despite members leaving, the band hasn’t lost momentum and Vince couldn’t be happier with the new line up. “I’m a big Sting fan, and I heard him say that the best way to be the most successful frontman is to surround yourself with musicians that are better than you. And I have officially done it. The guys that are in my band right now are just absolutely extraordinary musicians, so it’s exciting.” Finally the dust is starting to settle and Jonah 33 is emerging stronger than ever. Though the road is sure to get bumpy, it’s nothing Jonah 33 can’t handle. jonah33rock.com

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32 F E AT U R E T T E

THE MYRIAD

Since releasing its debut album, You Can’t Trust A Ladder , The Myriad has seen its credibility stock soar, as more and more audiences come away impressed with their impassioned and very musical show. Like the overdone MasterCard commercials, the indie rock cred they’ve been earning is priceless. This has made it fun to look back and pull some quotes from an interview done with vocalist/guitarist Jeremy Edwardson and guitarist Steven Tracy when they were fresh out of the studio with Copeland’s Aaron Marsh. How was it working with Aaron? JE: It was awesome. He’s got a knack for great melodies. He’s got a good pop sensibility. It was a good time. It was the first time we worked with a producer. That was another one of the challenges, for sure, learning how to work together and see everyone else’s ideas and (smiles) learning new languages and labels. He would call a drum fill ‘a flying brick.’ He said, ‘Why don’t you go and do a flying brick and then end with a tabletop,’ and we all just kind of looked at each other like, ‘What in the world?’ By the end of it we were all kind of talking the same language. It was really cool

getting to know Aaron and learning how he works and kind of putting the two mindsets together.

is certainly the goal. To strip it all down and have something that’s real organic and hopefully timeless, it will last a while.

What do you love about the band Copeland? They’re a really cool band. ST: They just have awesome melodies. Aaron has a really great ear for great pop… things that make it timeless. They kind of steer from things that are too trendy and (to) things that people will look back on in 15 years from now and it’ll still be great songs. Stuff that will transcend production trends that come along. A good song is a good song forever.

What is your take on the whole “Christians in a band” or “Christians making art” topic of discussion? JE: I guess the way we look at it is we’re all Christians by faith and we can’t really separate our music from that, because we write about things that are burning... our passions, and so a lot of our music gravitates toward our passion for Christ. As far as, like, being in a ‘Christian band,’ sometimes it’s almost like Christian music itself is almost considered a genre. I don’t think we really fall into that genre, per se. We definitely love the Lord and it shows in our lives and our music. Maybe ten years ago bands started coming out saying things about being ‘Christians in a band but not really being a Christian band.’ It’s not really one of those statements, but it’s just kind of like, ‘It’s not the genre, but who we are.’

That’s a real challenge – the standard of excellence of songwriting – making stuff that’s going to last. ST: It’s tough. Jeremy and I both work in a studio, so when we’re at the studio and we have our fingers on the technical side of things, it’s easy to get lost in that stuff. But at the end of the day we know that to have a song that you can sit down and play someone on an acoustic guitar and have it impacting to them

themyriad.net

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34 F E AT U R E T T E

THE FELIX CULPA

Mark Hladish knows he’s going about this rock star thing all wrong. At a point in his career when most singers for up-and-coming bands would be itching to devote all their time to the music, living in cardboard-wall hotels and hanging out with new people in new cities every night, Hladish is enjoying domestic tranquility. He and his wife Heather welcomed their third child, Jeremiah, into the world on December 6 (he joins twin two-year-olds Micah and Jonah), and he says he was more than willing to give up the rock ‘n’ roll life for his family. “My wife wouldn’t let me quit,” he laughed. “She said, ‘No, stick with what you’ve been doing.’ Really, my wife is the only reason we’re still a band.” He chuckles at the unorthodox approach his musical path has taken, but of course, his band The Felix Culpa has never been one for doing things the typical way. They’re a trio – Hlladish plays guitar and sings, Joel Coan plays drums, and Tristan Hammond plays bass – but they’re impressively expansive, stretching the limits of just how much noise three people can make. They got together seven years ago, in their hometown of Rockford, Illinois, under the unfortunate name Two Steps Back. Their first album as the Felix Culpa, 2004’s Commitment, was released by Common Cloud Records, and offered not only an hour of impressive, thudding, heavy alt-rock, but also came with a pencil and a

blank space on the cover, so you can create your own design. And now they’re back with another project you wouldn’t expect from a relatively young band – a full-length DVD. Ostensibly the bonus disc with their new four-song EP on Common Cloud, Thought Control, the DVD includes a complete concert, a music video, a documentary and a host of extras. Hladish acknowledges that it was a huge undertaking that just snowballed, but he seems content with the results. “I edited over 12 hours of footage,” he said, laughing. “There were many 24-hour nights. I’m happy we got it done, but I’ve seen it so many times, it’s almost like a carpet now. It’s there, but I don’t care about it anymore.” Indeed, Hladish hopes the focus remains on the music, the glorious noise his band makes. The new EP was recorded in two days, a far cry from the year it took to track Commitment, and the results are powerful. The standout track, oddly enough, shares a title with the first album, and its raw lyrics refuse to sentimentalize its subject, including lines like, “You lose your best friend when you make her your wife.” “‘Commitment’ was written after we’d been married for a year and a half,” he explained. “Our best friends were getting married, and I wanted to write something for them that was truthful, but uplifting and hopeful. Not pandering.

And I thought, I could do that. But it turned out darker than I thought it would, almost too truthful. Lyrically, I’m happy with how it turned out.” The lyrics, Hladish says, are his responsibility – his voice is the one shouting them out, after all – and as a Christian, his faith does shape his words. But he’s never been worried about being pigeonholed into the Christian music scene. “I don’t think we’re part of that industry, because we’re not a big enough band,” he said. “I am a believer, so that will be part of what we do, but if I were a plumber and a believer, it wouldn’t matter either way. I don’t hold anything back,” he added, “so if it happens to be spiritual, then that’s kind of what it is. We have never been pigeonholed as too Christian, or not Christian enough.” Hladish says his band is always writing new music, going new places. The songs on Thought Control are more than a year old now, and the Felix Culpa has surpassed them. They’re gearing up to record their second full-length now, in between their winter touring schedule, and Hladish believes the new songs will push the boundaries of the three-piece rock band even further. “I hope we’re progressing, that the music we record is a document of that time,” he said. “I hope to never write the same music twice.”

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36 FEATURE

BY CHRISTROUTMAN

“AT FIRST IT WAS PROBABLY TOO TWANGY; TOO… TOO…YEAH I THINK TWANGY IS A GOOD WORD. AND WE KIND OF WENT OVERBOARD MAYBE AT FIRST, JUST CAUSE IT WAS SO FUN,” MUSED WILL HOLLAND AS HE DECOMPOSED HIS WORK DEMEANOR AND EASED INTO THIS INFORMAL PHONE INTERVIEW. TWANGY, BUT NOT TOO TWANGY? “We took that and kind of, we were like ‘Ok what kind of a band do we want to be?’ and ‘What kind of songs do we want this to be?’ and we kind of backed off a few notes.” Born under the tall pines of East Texas is a sound that has been nurtured by southern charm, dirty bar stages, school pride, county fairs, dad’s hi-fis, high school sweethearts and lonesome roads as long as the sunset. A sound that tells stories. A sound that eludes time. A sound that tips its hat to a rich heritage yet speaks volumes today. A sound that unites generations under a banner of appreciation for good timeless music. And this sound has found a home woven in the warm melodies and tones of the Lonely Hearts. “I think we just want to write great songs and perform like only The Lonely Hearts do,” said Josiah, the other half of the brothers Holland. “I know we’re not reinventing the wheel, but I think we have our own thing.” Will and Josiah spent the formative years of their youth experimenting in different flavors of rock and roll playing anywhere they could over the vast East Texas geography. In 2001 the pair moved to Nashville and upon meeting drummer Timothy “Yogi” Watts formed the rock group Holland and recorded Photographs & Tidalwaves on Tooth and Nail. The band went out on several tours with Reliant K, Bleach, Five Iron Frenzy and Philmore building a formidable fan base and quite the name for themselves. By most measures the band was doing better than average to say the least. So why the sudden disbandment (pun not necessarily intended)? “Without making this too complicated,” explained Josiah. “I think what it is, is that we did Holland and it was the beginning of something. The more we toured, played, and evolved as a band, I think we saw something different in us and something different in Will as a songwriter. We started the Lonely Hearts for this to be an outlet for that, while never quite closing the door on Holland.” “The Lonely Hearts really extend from us being in a previous band and we started writing songs that we really enjoyed playing. We just wanted a break and we started writing stuff we enjoyed a lot

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more,” said Will. “I kind of was being really selfish and just writing stuff that I just wanted to write and hear and I was really into it and they were really into it. It didn’t fit the format that was expected but we did it all anyway. And we gave it to the label and they said this is really good but it isn’t what we want.” “In the end we decided to not do Holland anymore and just focus on the Lonely Hearts,” said Josiah. “…It just kind of feels right now. The other wasn’t bad, this is just right… the bottom line is that you have to make music you love and do things the way YOU want to do them or its not worth it.” “Its not like an experiment,” declared Will, thus putting a cap on the discussion. Will and Josiah Holland, along with Yogi Watts, Jeremy Brannon and Steven Barlow comprise the Lonely Hearts and since their musical rebirth, have set out to conquer every dance hall, bar stage, and performance venue in the South. “We want to be the best little bar band in the South, that have songs that can be on the radio at the same time,” exclaimed Will. “Well we’re all from the South in some respect. Texas, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina,” said Josiah. “I think more in the past couple of years than when we started, we’ve let the music from the South really influence what we do.” “And we try to accentuate that with the boots and the tight jeans and stuff like that,” added Will. “We are laid back fellas and it comes out some. I think that’s a cool thing like back in the 70s when southern bands were a cool thing.” Aside from their geographic locale, the members of the Lonely Hearts owe the greatest debt for their musical style to their parents. This is one band that defiantly declare they want to sound like their parents’ music. “I don’t think any of the parents are expecting different paths,” said Will. “It kind of came naturally. So they’re kind of to blame too.” “Well, me and Will came from a strong Christian family who had us singing in church ever since we were very young,” Josiah said. “But at the same time we listened to the Band and EmmyLou Harris and Crosby, Stills, and Nash… I’m very thankful for our background because I feel like it was well

balanced and our parents really let us find our own footing with the Lord and still encouraged us musically.” “Dad was really into Bruce Springsteen and the Beatles,” Will added. “When it comes to family stuff we’re a real interesting band cause we’re all really on the same page… Most of us were raised in really musical environments and so it’s more of a natural thing.” With a heavy Southern/Americana influence obviously announced on every song the Lonely Hearts walk the thin line between borrowing and tributing the musicians in whose paths they tread. “I’d love to be a gateway drug into older better things than ourselves,” Will declared. “We want to be Petty, but not too Petty,” he said. “There are like 10 or 20 thousand Americana bands out right now and we love all that, but we don’t want to fall into where you have the exact same songs as everybody else…its like trying to find that cross between old progressive country and just like a good rock band.” “I’d like to show bands that you don’t have to follow trends and you don’t have to sound like anybody else to be successful or to be happy,” said Josiah. “I mean, I’ll be honest, there’s a lot of times I’m like ‘we don’t sound enough like the Beatles… or Neil Young...or Gram Parsons’ but the truth is that we are the Lonely Hearts and that’s that.” The Lonely Hearts release The Paper Tapes in March on Tooth and Nail. The anticipated album plays like a declaration of independence from the expected norm and the clichéd, tired, played out genres plaguing the industry today. “When it comes to this release I think it’s a good representation of what we’re trying to do,” said Will. “But don’t ever expect the same thing out of us.” There might not be any trend buzzing or scene breaking about the Lonely Hearts’ The Paper Tapes; but it is a refreshing breath of fresh air grounded in the solid roots of timeless, classic rock and roll inspiring a smile across Sgt. Pepper’s grand face.

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38 A N N UA L

2005 Readers’ Poll Favorite Guitarist Jason Truby Tim McTague

(tie)

Simon Grenehed

Randy Torres

(tie)

Don Clark

(tie)

Jason Barnes

Favorite Band 1

Demon Hunter

As I Lay Dying

mewithoutYou

(tie)

Underoath

(tie)

Blindside

Norma Jean

Favorite Album

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The Question (Emery)

The Triptych (Demon Hunter)

O’ God, The Aftermath (Norma Jean)

The Great Depression (Blindside)

The Everglow (Mae)

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R E A D E R S ’ P O L L 39

Favorite Song 1

“Sincerely, Ichabod” (Project 86)

(tie)

“In Christ” (Living Sacriﬁce)

(tie)

“I Am Hollywood” (He Is Legend)

(tie)

“It’s A Dangerous Business...” (Underoath)

(tie)

“Undying” (Demon Hunter)

(tie)

“Studying Politics” (Emery)

(tie)

“When Everything Falls Away” (Haste The Day)

“Conﬁned” (As I Lay Dying)

Favorite New Band 1

Becoming The Archetype

As Cities Burn

(tie)

Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster

(tie)

The Showdown

(tie)

Chasing Victory

(tie)

Showbread

Favorite Album Cover

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The Triptych (Demon Hunter)

Terminate Damnation (Becoming The Archetype)

O’ God, The Aftermath (Norma Jean)

(tie)

Reborn (Stryper)

(tie)

Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest (As Cities Burn)

(tie)

The Everglow (Mae)

(tie)

S/T (The Showdown)

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Favorite Lyricist 1

Andrew Schwab (Project 86)

Aaron Weiss (mewithoutYou)

Matthew Thiessen (Relient K)

Ryan Clark (Demon Hunter)

Christian Lindskog (Blindside)

Favorite Drummer 1

Jordan Mancino (As I Lay Dying)

Aaron Gillespie (Underoath)

Ted Kirkpatrick (Tourniquet)

(tie)

Lori Peters (Skillet)

(tie)

Daniel Davison (Norma Jean)

Favorite Singer 1

Ryan Clark (Demon Hunter)

Christian Lindskog (Blindside)

Aaron Weiss (mewithoutYou)

Josh Scogin (The Chariot)

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Favorite Bassist 1

Traa Daniels (P.O.D.)

Steve Dail (Project 86)

Mike Herrera (MxPx)

(tie)

John Cooper (Skillet)

(tie)

Steve Rowe (Mortiﬁcation)

Jason Wisdom (Becoming The Archetype)

Favorite Article

Favorite Indie Band 1

Pedro The Lion

(tie)

Circus Dawn

(tie)

The Tide

(tie)

Veda

Blindside

Norma Jean

As I Lay Dying

(David Stagg)

Demon Hunter

(David Stagg)

(David Huff)

(Doug Van Pelt)

4 (tie) Don Clark 4 (tie) Jason Barnes

Favorite Live Band 1

Blindside

Project 86

Underoath

Emery

Yeah, by “Indie” we meant “unsigned.” Sigh. Photos: Tim McTague/Frances Schoonveld; Jason Truby & Traa/James Minchin; Pedro/Chris Woodcock; Blindside/Tomas.

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44 FEATURE

what thrice says BY DOUG VAN PELT

IT WASN’T UNTIL AFTER THIS CONVERSATION WITH FRONTMAN DUSTIN KENSRUE HAPPENED THAT I KNEW WE HAD THE PERFECT COVER STORY IN HAND. WHEN I FIRST GOT THE PRESS RELEASE THAT THRICE AND UNDEROATH WERE COMING TO AUSTIN FOR A SHOW, I WASN’T EXCITED ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN A CHANCE TO SEE BOTH BANDS PLAY AGAIN. BUT WHEN I STARTED DIGGING INTO THE SONGS ON VHEISSU AND PICKED UP ON THE STRONG, UPLIFTING MESSAGES THEREIN, I KNEW THAT THRICE WASN’T JUST A BAND ON TOP OF THEIR MUSICAL GAME. THEY WERE SUDDENLY BECOMING A BEACON OF HOPE, KIND OF LIKE A YOUNG AND IDEALISTIC U2, THE ALARM, OR THE CALL. THIS ISN’T CHEAP PROPAGANDA OR SIMPLE MESSAGE ROCK, BUT SOMETHING MORE. AND WITH THE BAND’S ACTIVISM, IT EXTENDS BEYOND THE MUSIC. YOU COULD SAY THIS WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE BECAUSE OF THRICE. SO AFTER A CELL PHONE CALL TO THE ROAD MANAGER, I WAS ON THE BUS RECEIVING INTRODUCTIONS ALL AROUND, AND THEN DUSTIN AND I SETTLED IN THE ISOLATED AREA IN THE BACK FOR THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW.

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THRICE 49

Photo: ForeverCaptive.com

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46 FEATURE

Where do you see yourself in ten years Dustin? Umm, myself? Yeah you, the band... That really depends on tomorrow as much as it depends on anything. It’s like everyday. I’ll say I definitely have kids by then, God willing. I hope to still be playing music. A lot can happen in ten years. A lot has happened in seven and a half. No kidding. What have been some highlights in the last seven and a half years? Making this record I think is a highlight. I’m very proud of it. It think it’s definitely the best thing we’ve done and the thing we’ve put the most effort in as well. I don’t know, little stuff along the way... The first time we headlined the House of Blues. The tour has been great, it’s the first time we are doing an actual full U.S. headline tour, it’s been kind of a coheadline or whatever. So how do you pronounce the title of this album? We say (Vee-sue). You can say it however you want to I guess, but that’s what we say. Okay, Vee-sue. So, if you could just dream for a second right now, and you could bring the kingdom of God to earth, you can make this world a better place, you could evoke change just by your will and your imagination now, what would you do? What would it look like? I don’t know. I don’t pretend to know the will of God. I’d say that on a very small level I wish that people could be kind of less antagonistic against people of other political views, cause that’s really damaging to any progress and goodwill to people in general. I think when you demonize people who disagree with you, you lose any way to empathize with them or understand where they are coming from. And I think it’s silly to assume that people from a large group of people don’t have certain political issues in mind. People just want, in the end, to make good things happen. I just feel like there’s way too much... I guess demonizing is probably the best word for it, but that’s what I mean, political factions. If you could take away the demonizing and as a result of that make the people who do the demonizing stop doing it, and see the wrong in their ways, what would the landscape look like? What would be the result? I think at that point I think ideas would be shared a lot better. I think we’d make a lot more progress towards certain things and I think if people understood each other, you’d probably change a lot of people’s opinions as well, you know. I think people would find more of a common ground.

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Um, the new Guitar World came in the mail today and next to Thrice it had albums that had “changed my world.” It had Refused, I think that was another guy in the band’s choice. What are one or two choices of albums that changed your life? That was Teppei (Teranishi, guitarist). He chose The Shape Of Punk To Come. I would go so far as to say it’s the best heavy music record ever... or at least from the last 20 years. That was an amazing album. Other albums that have changed my life, Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs; Radiohead, Ok Computer. The entire Beatles catalog when I was growing up. Any Talk Talk, their two records Laughing Stock and Spirit Of Eden; Screeching Weasels’ Anthem For A New Tomorrow is very high up there, cause it got me into punk rock. “Image of the Invisible” is a song that I really enjoy, it kinda of resonates with me. One of the things that kind of peaks interest in it is that it seems you have a value for human dignity and a value of human beings. So tell me, why are humans valuable? Why does that mean anything? I would say that it has to be intrinsic. It has to be something that we have without earning. Because I believe in a spiritual reality, too. There’s a connection with people being equal and, like, their relationship with their soul or spirit. I think it applies to a lot of famous quotes I have. One of my favorite authors is G.K. Chesterton. In his book, What I Saw In America, he said... This is from about 100 years ago. He said, “The Declaration of Independance dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal. And it is right, that, if they were not created equal, they would certainly evolve unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origins of man.” So there is a lot of imagery on this new album, Vheissu. What brought out the biblical imagery out of you guys? You know, Artist in the Ambulance, and even your behavior and the things you did on the side, um, spoke of something of a quality of you guys, spoke of an integrity... but this album it seems like something is welling up in and spilling out... Well, I think for me, there’s always has been some of that, maybe more on the surface before. I grew up just kind of knowing the Bible and having those be very important – images and stories – to me. I think that what you write is definitely an outpouring of, like, the things that you’ve been exposed to in your whole life, and I think for me the reason a lot of... And not just the imagery. I think the imagery is kinda secondary to some of the, I guess, (long pause)... kind of the positive and the uplifting messages there. I think they’re less cloudy on this record, cause I am less cloudy in my hope and faith. I kind of went through a year and a half or two years, whatever, before I had a realization that I was never going to know everything. And that was, like, ‘Okay.’ I’m very analytical and I need to, like, have all the answers and I realized that wasn’t faith at all. Faith is having all

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THRICE 47

“I had a realization that I was never going to know everything. And that was, like, ‘Okay.’ I’m very analytical and I need to have all the answers and I realized that wasn’t faith at all. Faith is having all these answers to a certain point and then taking a step beyond that...” these answers to a certain point and then taking a step beyond that. To sit in that chair (pointing at me with a nod) you have to have faith in that chair to hold you up. You can’t prove it until you do it. You know, it looks pretty sturdy. Nobody else will make that happen. You don’t know. Now I learned to actually have that kind of faith – that real kind of faith in my relationship with God and things of that. It just made me a more solid Christian. I think I just have a better foundation. So I think it allows me to hand out that kind of hope and encouragement more freely, because I’m not as starving for it myself. Cool. I want to share a little bit about myself. I’m a pilgrim and a beggar and I found some bread and although I think propaganda can be cheap, I can’t tell you how exciting it is to see an artist who reflects something of the hope that is inside me. I think of U2 or The Call or The Alarm and your new album Vheissu is doing that for me and it means a lot. And you may know what I am talking about. It’s really an exciting and encouraging thing. Yeah, I definitely... I meant them to be very uplifting and affirming. I hope for a lot of people... I think that even if there’s things that people maybe don’t intellectually agree with or what not... I think that there’s a lot of things common to all people, things that they feel. And I think I try to speak to that more than anything, so that it can be a universally uplifting thing and not be too specific. But I think it hits people at different levels. Cool, what do you think about Jesus Christ? I believe that He’s the Son of God and that He has extended His grace to me. I guess I love Him for loving me. Cool. Me too. Thinking back to the current situation or back in your band’s history, if this has ever happened and, if so, when, when did you first start to hear, when you’re composing music or creating music, when did you start hearing your own band in your head? Like when you’re thinking of a melody, you’re not just hearing a melody by itself if you’re hearing your band play that melody, when did you start hearing that in your head? I don’t think I do hear that. I mean, to me, it’s kinda like music is music and once we are all playing together it becomes us, you know? Everyone’s giving their input. I mean, if I hear a melody I can just as easily, you know, hear it being played by myself or by a friend of mine. Especially on this record. We really didn’t write in terms of what would be a Thrice song. We just wrote pieces of music that could have been any number of random things. And most of them you would think would never turn into Thrice songs later. Cool. How does it feel? What? Just writing songs, writing this new album? It wasn’t fun, it was really hard. It was a hard process, cause it was long a lot of times; but it was really fun and rewarding. Last time it was kind of

quick and hard and really stressful. This time, really, I think it was a huge step. We took the time to do what we wanted to do and make sure everything was right. I think that was really rewarding to know at the end of the day we did everything the right way and we weren’t going to regret something later on. Well, growing up as a band in Orange County, you’re surrounded by a lot of activity, you know? Kind of a punk scene and one of the significant – it may be small, but definitely there – niches of Christian rock, Christian punk, Christian metal... But Thrice didn’t grow up in that scene.They didn’t become part of that scene. Why or why not? What are your views on that scene that you surely must have seen around you? One, not all of us are Christians anyway. We’re definitely not a Christian band or anything; and two, I don’t really like the idea of Christian music or Christian bands. I feel like it’s really exclusive. I don’t know. I think at times it can be kind of like a crutch, you know? Like, you have this song or sign to this label, all the kids at all the churches are gonna buy your record. I’m not saying that there’s not a place for music that’s uplifting to different kinds of people, but I don’t think it needs to be so cut and dry. I feel like people who are Christians and artists or musicians or whatever don’t need to label themselves that. You need to be just presenting good things, you know, like making good art. I don’t know. I have a really good book that I would recommend to anybody who has questions about that kind of stuff, it’s called Modern Art and the Death of a Culture. Rookmaaker. Yeah, you read the book? Yeah. Good book. The book is dealing with, I don’t know. I can’t begin to say what good things I got out of that book, but the way that, for a long time the Church withdrew from art completely and then when it came back it was kind of really half-(bleep)ed, like, pansy art, for lack of a better word. It wasn’t vibrant, and it was in this sheltered thing... I don’t know, I feel like, it’s almost like the difference between, like, capitalism and communism. There’s no competition in it, so nothing flourished and there’s no level of anything for me to arise to and I think, when you can make something that stands up with anything else, it make a statement to people who might not already agree with you. I think that’s a much more useful and powerful thing to do. I don’t know. What would life be like if you had a...This is a crazy question, a little off the wall, but you had a member of your band who was a KKK member or part of a strange religion from Haiti that practiced voodoo and let’s say they wanted to start pushing, or just expressing themselves and some of their views in their songs. How would it make you feel to be in a situation like that if you were you and I was this other member, how would you respond to that? And the second question is what kind of perspective does that put

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48 FEATURE

As Hendrix brought the squealing, snarling electric guitar into a new meta-reality for rock, so John Ringhofer uses the chiming, trembling Omnichord to create a spiritual setting for his mystical music. On ‘Halos & Lassos,’ the new album, the fourth full-length, along with a smattering of extended play discs, his ‘band’ Half-handed Cloud creates dizzying Dervishes of sound shooting straight to heaven, with desperate glee and joy in ode to a lovingly creative and creatively loving God. If you love his comrades and collaborators, fellow ’outsider artists’ Danielson and Sufjan Stevens, the nineteen dazzling tracks Ringhofer might spark your soul.

“Halos & Lassos has turned out to be more focused and integrated,” the handsome, wholesome looking, bearded Ringhofer says. “Some of that might be because most of the music/ arrangements revolve around my relationship with a single instrument, the Omnichord,” a vintage synthesizer/drum-machine/autoharp created in the Reagan era. His debut, 1999’s Learning About Your Scale “was more about beginnings, discoveries, and possibilities. Since that first album, in the three albums that have followed it, the lyrical themes have gotten a little more complicated I think, and sometimes that’s been a good thing.“ My wife says Halos & Lassos is simply the first album she’s heard in a long time that makes her love God. Appropriately, Ringhofer works for the ministry -- though as a custodian. “I’ve been the caretaker of this church in Berkeley since June of 2003, a year after moving to California,” he explains. “First got to know the pastor several years ago when I was his boys’ counselor at a summer camp in Northern Georgia a couple times, then later worked under him at a campus ministry in Knoxville TN. Some of my duties there were pretty similar to what I do now. Things like vacuuming, scrubbing, dusting, mopping, checking supplies, temperature control, and making sure everything is locked-up. It can be very peaceful in a House of God, yes.” Though Ringhofer admits, “Right now, though, things are a little goofy—the shower has been out for three weeks. I’ve been filling-up pots and pans with hot water from the kitchen sink, and taking awkward stand-up splash baths. That part hasn’t been very fun.” This is a pretty strange lifestyle for someone whose work so many people find luxuriously transcendent. “It’s hard to speculate on why critics might sometimes give Half-handed Cloud

a break,” he muses. “Why does anybody get away with anything? As the songs and arrangements are being created, I don’t initially give much thought as to how other ears will process what’s coming out of the speakers. It seems like I tend to wonder more about things like that after the discs are manufactured, when I realize that other people will actually hear what’s on them.” Though his original-sounding work has found favor, Ringhofer is not complacent. “I guess that I haven’t stopped thinking of all of this as a privilege—it’s a huge gift to be doing this, and I try not to take any of it for granted,” he humbly responds. “There’s no telling how long it will last. I certainly never expected to support myself by making songs in the first place—my goals were much more modest. To be honest, I feel a little embarrassed and never say that I’m a musician. It’s hard for me to accept that title because I don’t feel that I know how to play any instrument especially well. If someone asks about my occupation, I’m much more likely to say that I’m a church custodian.” Ringhofer is assisted by friends Brendan and Wendy Buckner on percussion and bass clarinet throughout an absorbing album that lasts less than a half hour. “Song-length might be an issue for some people, but I kind of doubt it,” he claims. “Ideally, Halos & Lassos (and the other albums) are experienced best as a single extended song—I’ve tried to set them up to be enjoyed that way.” As for his affiliation with the now extremely successful Stevens (just voted #1 of the year by the Pitchfork website), Ringhofer explains, “I first discovered his music through a compilation released in 2000 called 8.21. It was on Jai Agnish’s Blue Bunny label. Sufjan’s songs were great on there, so I wrote him and he wrote

back—then we exchanged first albums and were pen-pals for several months before we got to hang-out. “Yeah, I loved getting to play in his band on the Michigan Militia and Illinoisemaker tours,” he admits. “Really, it’s been encouraging, but kind of crazy to see the crowds grow. I find it a little difficult to figure out why anyone responds to certain kinds of music, while other artists do nothing for the same people. I wonder if people who appreciate these songs place value in at least some of the same things that I do?” I ask if that might include his passion for seeking the Lord. “You know what? I have a strong feeling that He found me first—probably before it even entered my heart to seek after Him. It seems like Scripture supports this. What a humbling thought; the God of the Universe actually comes and searches for us.“ I compare Half-handed Cloud’s focus to a joyful-sounding John Michael Talbot, and Ringhofer responds, “There’s a lot to rejoice about, but I wouldn’t necessarily consider Half-handed Cloud ‘happy music.’ I hope it’s a bit more realistic than just that. Of course, joy is in there quite a bit, but any kind of seeking after the Creator (or an opening of ourselves to be found by Him) is obviously going to be filled with a lot of mystery. It’s been unbelievably rewarding though. Goodness!” Lyrically, it would be tempting to label Ringhofer’s words as simple praise. Additional listening starts to provoke deeper thoughts, though. He sings, ‘I can’t sing if I’m six feet under?’ I told him I wondered what his feelings about death were, if they ever inspired doubt in him. “This lyric comes from Scripture,” he says. “Seems like the Psalmist is saying that he doesn’t feel that he’s any use to God if he’s dead. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that we were prob-

continued on page 79

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2/2/2006 11:08:27 AM

❂ t i -color

HALF-HANDED CLOUD 49

e d

BY CHRIS ESTEY

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Half-handed v e cloud ’ il r e t s i n the mi

1/27/2006 4:00:45 PM

50 FEATURE

BY ANDRE SALLES

THE SCENE IS CORNERSTONE 2005, IN BUSHNELL, ILLINOIS, ON A SURPRISINGLY COOL JULY DAY. SPECIFICALLY, THE GALLERY STAGE, REFERRED TO THROUGHOUT THE FEST AS THE “OLD FOLKS’ TENT.” THE LOST DOGS HAVE JUST FINISHED A RAMSHACKLE SET OF DELIGHTFUL COUNTRYROCK. IN JUST AN HOUR AND A HALF, THE CHOIR IS SET TO TAKE THE STAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS, PLAYING THEIR DREAMY, WORSHIPFUL POP.

In between them is a band called The Violet Burning, and one can forgive the mainly middleaged fans of Terry Taylor, Derri Daugherty and Mike Roe for not quite knowing who they’re about to see. TVB has been going strong for more than 15 years, developing a loyal fanbase, but one that traditionally skews a bit younger. To add to the uncertainty, out steps Michael Pritzl, leader and guiding light of the Violets, and he’s deathly ill, battling a week-long cold. He’s shaky, he looks like death, and no one would blame him for phoning this one in. But he doesn’t. As the assembled fans watch in astonishment, Pritzl throws himself into the gig, singing with incredible passion. His band is in lock-step, creating glorious waves of color and sound. And when the hour is over, he’s made himself a couple hundred new fans, and he’s the talk of the Gallery Stage – the people can’t stop buzzing about the dramatic, powerful show they’ve just witnessed. For those who had been following Pritzl for a while, it was a classic moment, another reminder of just why his fans are so devoted. And it was just one highlight in what turned out to be a banner year for Pritzl, both on his own and with the Violet Burning. First came the self-released DVD, The Loudest Sound in My Heart, which documents the emotional high-wire act that Pritzl and his band perform on stage each night. Then came the summer festivals, and, in the latter part of the year, a well-reviewed acoustic duets tour with Michael Roe, billed as Roe Vs. Pritzl. And as if that weren’t enough, he’s just wrapped up the new Violet Burning album. It’s called Drop-Dead, with a hyphen, and Pritzl emphasizes the importance of that punctuation. There is no anger on this record, no recrimination to be read into the title. It’s Drop-Dead, as in drop-dead beautiful, as in this record will knock

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you out. “There are a number of moments, at least one in every song on this recording that I’m proud of,” Pritzl said, speaking from a coffee shop near his home in Long Beach, California. “The beauty of ‘Humm,’ ‘The Ends Begin’ and ‘One Thousand Years.’ The rock of ‘Do You Love Me’ and ‘Blown Away.’ The melancholy of ‘All I Want’ and ‘More.’” Pritzl said that he considers this perhaps his best batch of songs, and he may be right. Fans who thought 2004’s This Is the Moment a little too mainstream CCM will be glad to know that Drop-Dead features the classic Violet Burning sound, expansive and dark. It most closely resembles the self-titled album, or Demonstrates Plastic and Elastic – it often rocks like ‘70s glam (“Do You Love Me”), but just as often caresses like the Cure (“More”). Pritzl is proud of this one, and you can tell just talking to him about it. He knows it’s a different sound from Moment, and he can tell you why. “When you have a recording contract, you want to work with the label to achieve what they’re looking for,” he said. “With This Is the Moment, the label said, ‘This is where we want to market. Can we get this kind of record?’ And of course, it’s, ‘Yeah, you can.’ But this time the label said, ‘Just do what you want to do.’” Part of what Pritzl wanted to do was to craft a wider, more impressive tonal palette. He worked with Chris Greeley and Gabriel Wilson at Supernatural Studios in Oregon City, basically, as he says, locking himself and his bandmates (drummer Jason Lord Mize and keyboardist Josiah Sherman) in a room for two and a half weeks, sculpting the sound. “So much of what you hear on radio these days sounds like digital mid range,” Pritzl said. “We wanted Drop-Dead to sound deeper and darker, more like Kid A or Dark Side of the Moon.”

Lyrically, Drop-Dead focuses on, in Pritzl’s words, “romance and tragedy.” Pritzl spends much of the album pleading with unseen others to love him, to hold him, to kiss him. At times, he’s talking about God, but at others, he’s crying out for real human contact. The closing song, “One Thousand Years,” builds up to a moving crescendo, Pritzl repeating the line, “You’re my heart, you’re my home.” It’s a moment he’s particularly proud of. “‘One Thousand Years’ is pretty epic,” he said. “As soon as I wrote it, I thought, maybe track four? But then I was sitting alone with the song, listening to that ending chorus, and I said, ‘This has to be the last song.’ What can you do after that?” Elsewhere, Pritzl breaks out the ‘80s synthpop influences, but he infuses them with his own brand of energy. “Take ‘Blown Away,’ a song that has almost this ‘80s dance feel,” he said. “It feels new wave. But it’s dark enough and tragic enough that it’s like this guy who has blood all over his face, but he just keeps dancing. It’s like new wave gets a kick in the teeth. I like that we went for that.” Fittingly, Northern Records will release the album on Valentine’s Day – February 14, 2006. The week after that, Pritzl will be back on the road, touring through April and gearing up for the summer festival circuit. As much as he likes the studio, he acknowledges that the Violet Burning really shines on stage. “I like to dive into the music and see where it takes me,” he said. “I’m not a showman. I just go out there and play the songs. I want people to think it’s awesome. I don’t want people to pay money and have it not be great.” The Violet Burning live is an immersing experience, even for Pritzl and the band. He says that when it’s on, it’s because the emotions ring true. “Live, Violet Burning music is so moody, pas-

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THE VIOLET BURNING 51

sionate and vibey that it tends to be either supergreat or terrible,” he laughed. “And that’s a good way to be. Either be brilliant or fail wonderfully.” Such intensity is bound to affect those who witness it, and Pritzl is no stranger to emotional impact. He tells stories of fans coming up to him after shows, sharing the effect his songs and his performances have had on them. “I’ve met people who are spiritually and emotionally moved by what we do, and not just at shows,” he said. “I get letters and emails from

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people who are moved in some way. Even people who don’t believe what I believe, they hear a song like ‘Goldmine’ and say, ‘You know, I decided to work my marriage out.’” That kind of emotional connection is central to the Violet Burning, and it’s one of the reasons they’ve been around as long as they have. Pritzl, in his genuinely approachable way, puts everything out there – his faith, his doubt, his longing. He knows that to do anything else would be dishonest.

“Music has to be authentic, real and true to who you are,” he said. “Whether people embrace it or not. Luck, timing and marketing have a lot to do with the success of something. But we’ve survived a lot of things – metal, grunge, ska, electronica, emo, the screaming thing. And we’re still going.”

1/27/2006 3:44:13 PM

52 H I P - H O P F E AT U R E

GRITS BECOMING THAT BIG BROTHER And forming their own label â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5e Entertainment.

BY CHRIS LASSITER

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1/27/2006 5:49:56 PM

BEATS [hip-hop news ‘n’ reviews by SphereofHipHop. com]

UNLIKE THE SOUTHERN DELICACY BEARING THE SAME NAME, GRAMMYNOMINATED HIPHOP DUO GRITS HASN’T ALWAYS ENJOYED SUCH POPULARITY. In high school, rapper Coffee played the background like a computer screensaver. Before he and rap partner Bonafide had videos on MTV, the former 130-pound class prep wrestler was once a low-key personality. Even when Coffee (Stacy Jones) and Bonafide (Teron Carter) formed GRITS in 1993, success wasn’t instantaneous. Fast forward to 2006, however, and it seems like the public just can’t get enough GRITS, an acronym for gramatically moving in the spirit. The Gotee Records rap duo has had music featured on television series like Boston Public and MTV Cribs, as well as BET’s Rap City and MTV’s The Real World. The Tennessee-based hip-hoppers have shared stages with such notable rap artists as Jay-Z, Outkast, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. “It’s been good,” said Coffee, now reaping the benefits of perseverance after a tough beginning in the music industry. “I’m not ‘gonna’ front. The first six years was some serious struggling. Now, we’re in a good place. We’ve created our own niche.” The GRITS’ flavor is distinctly southern, with high-energy lyrics and banging uptempo beats. The catchy hooks and choruses compel anyone with a pulse to sing along. The video to “Hitting Curves,” featured on MTV-U, matches the song’s energy with bright city lights reflecting off the windshield of a red convertible. Bonafide and Coffee bop, nod and dance as they deliver their cleverly devised lyrics to a head-nodding beat. “We go into every video saying, ‘What’s going to look good? What’s ‘gonna’ pop?’” Coffee said. The GRITS’ recipe for music success is catching on. Having music played nationwide on shows such as “America’s Next Top Model” has gone a long way in exposing the tandem. “It broadens your audience, and the whole point of being a musician is having an audience,” said Coffee, the perfectionist in the group who is always tinkering with songs. “We’re doing this to reach people, and I’m not dissing TBN (Trinity Broadcast Network), but the people we’re trying to reach aren’t watching TBN.” The GRITS feel that the presence of Christians in hip-hop is becoming increasingly important as the culture continues its downward spiral on morality. “The state of hip-hop ... I think it’s just going to get worse,” said Coffee, referring to the violence, sexual misconduct and depravity communicated by some rap songs and videos. “The labels keep dictating what’s going to sell. I’ve had cats come up to me like, ‘Dude, this ain’t even me.’ A lot of times, it’s not even quality music.” With over a dozen years in the industry, the rappers see themselves taking on the older, wiser sibling role in the hip-hop family. “GRITS is that big brother,” Coffee said. “We support all the cats doing what they do. We’re going to respect you as a man, and as an artist.

And we’re also going to show you there’s a better way.” While Coffee and Bonafide openly confess their faith, the GRITS want to shed the label of the stereotypical Christian rapper. They consider themselves rap artists. When they find themselves in the midst of unbelievers – whether that be other rap artists or admiring fans – the group’s strategy is to live out their faith so that people can examine the group’s Christianity. It’s led to some interesting encounters over the years. “I’ve talked to soccer moms ... I’m sitting here looking like a thug, and I’m talking to an older white lady telling me that my music helped face her situation,” Coffee said. “It’s weird, dude. I’ve been at the movies and someone will say, ‘Yo, I seen your video. Y’all Christians? What’s up with that?’ To me, that’s mission accomplished.” Other artists in the industry have questions, too. “The number one question is, ‘Are y’all really content?’ And our answer is, ‘Yes,’” said Coffee, who has songs by Common, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Gwen Stefani, and, of course, GRITS, in his iPod. “I’ve heard cats that have sold 3 million records complaining about their record labels. The key is that we’re content.” Over the past 13 years, the relationship between Bonafide and Coffee has transformed from a close friendship to a certified brotherhood. Together, they are ready to embark on a new journey. GRITS is starting its own record label, 5e Entertainment. The venture figures to give the artists creative control of their own future projects as well as bring out new artists. Their hope is to start a movement of mainstream-minded Christian artists. Jacksonville-based street rapper Iz is one of the label’s first recruits, but the GRITS won’t limit the 5e Entertainment to hip-hop. Coffee said the group is also in talks with a female singer and guitarist from Wyoming. “I want to hit all genres. All genres need to be represented,” said Coffee, an avid magazine reader. “We’re just at that place in life. We’re tired of answering to the so-called gatekeepers. We’ve watched people like (rap mogul) Damon Dash create his own machine. We’re trying to build a major label.” While Bonafide and Coffee create ventures behind the microphone, die-hard fans need not worry. GRITS has no intentions of stopping performances in front of the microphone. The group’s immediate future includes new albums and a summer tour. “We’ll keep doing GRITS albums,” Coffee said, “as long as people want to hear them.”

News shorts… 2006 looks to start off with a boom of great hip-hop releases from numerous record labels. Syntax Records is currently working on the next album from indigenous lyrical monster, RedCloud. The album features the usual diverse production work with a healthy contribution from Pigeon John on the MPC. (Syntaxrecords.com) Beatmart Recordings has a full slate of new record drops in March/April. First up is the national debut from Fresh Digress (out March 7), a self described ‘fun hiphop crew.’ Next are three records full of street smart lyrics and hard hitting production with: Japhia Life The Fountain of Life (March 21), Pettidee Thug Love (April 4) and Rob Hodge Born King (April 18). (Beatmart.com) ILLECT Recordings has a busy 2006 planned as well with numerous projects. Cookbook & Uno Mas (LA Symphony) are set to release a spring EP (Robertson Bullies) and LP (While They Slept) to start off the ILLECT schedule. We’ll also see new album releases including: JustMe One Man’s Trash, two remix versions of Lojique’s Process of Illumination, Beat Rabbi’s production with Deepspace5’s rhymes on Deepspace5oul, Sintax.the. terriﬁc Curb Appeal, Finnish emcee Matti P and Save The King and Sivion’s Mood Enhancement remixed. They will also have their ﬁrst two hip-hop/electronic releases on the Illectronica imprint with albums from Tunnel Rats producer Dert and a project from DJ Allstar. (illect.com / illectronica.com) HipHopIsMusic is another label ready to have a strong showing this year as well. Look for the Lightheaded sophomore release Wrong Way out now. Look for albums also on the way from Othello, Braille, Sivion, Sojourn, Reconcile and also lyrical sensation Surreal. The Procussions are now working on the last pieces of their major label debut for Rawkus Records. Look for 5 Sparrows for 2 Cents to release soon in 2006. Their debut project As Iron Sharpens Iron and their jazzy EP Up All Night are currently on ILLECT Recordings. (theprocussions.com)

Gotta check these releases out… Soul Plasma The Soul Effect, Grits 7, Malachi Perez Green EP, Ohmega Watts The Find, LA Symphony Disappear Here, Playdough Don’t Drink The Water, Timothy Brindle Killing Sin, Da’ Truth The Faith. Get more hip-hop news and MP3 downloads at sphereofhiphop.com

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1/27/2006 5:50:14 PM

The Classi 54 FEATURE

BY DAVID STAGG

IT’S A MYSPACE WORLD, I THINK. I WOULD ALSO THINK THAT IF YOU’RE READING THIS, YOU MORE THAN LIKELY HAVE YOUR OWN SPOT THERE. LATELY IN OUR DIGITAL AGE, IT HAS MORPHED INTO ONE OF THE EASIEST PLACES TO RELEASE YOUR MUSIC ESPECIALLY AS AN EMERGING BANDAND THE CLASSIC CRIME DIDN’T SEEM TO MISS THAT BEAT. When I get in touch with singer Matt MacDonald, sure enough, he’s Myspacing, responding to some messages from fans. As I’ll find out, MacDonald and The Classic Crime are very in tune with their generation, and if this is how their generation works, they’ll be there. Moreover, for MacDonald, music is the best possible gateway for him and his bandmates—guitarists Justin DuQue and Robbie Negrin, drummer Paul Erickson and bassist Alan Clark—to reach their generation, one he admits is deprived. Sure, playing music for a living is a dream job, MacDonald admits, but there’s more to life than playing music. “I’m thinking more of the band as a huge opportunity to inspire people. Music is an amazing tool. Your whole life can be changed through a song. You can get some serious counseling through a song when you relate to it. I think when you write music you have to keep those things in mind. The ultimate goal here is being a positive band that’s going to help people.” You can hear that optimism in his voice when he talks about certain subjects. Ask him why he feels his generation is slipping, and his speech rolls off his tongue, almost entirely from the heart. He also laughs a lot. He puts in the time to keep in personal touch with the band’s fans. MacDonald doesn’t want to rise above his generation; he wants to remain a part of it, and The Classic Crime is his vehicle. The Classic Crime didn’t start out as such; they used to be a band called Fat Cat Deluxe, enjoying mild success in the Northwest and even appearing in this magazine at one point. That band didn’t include MacDonald. The members of that band eventually parted ways and DuQue and Erickson, friends from high school and the remnants of FCD, continued to write music, eventually changing their name to Orizon. When it came time for a singer, they placed an ad in a free, local Seattle paper called The Stranger, where MacDonald finally noticed it, and was immediately interested. “I had called them up, and apparently it had been in there for a few weeks already,” MacDonald says. “I was living (in downtown Seattle), working retail, and going to school for audio production. I saw the influences they had listed and called them up, looking for some people who could play other instruments than me.” Seeing as it was placed in a free news rag, the still-called Orizon got quite the eclectic response. “The guys were telling me stories,” MacDonald says, “about this dude that was a lot like Scott Stapp, looked like him and everything. Another one was like an opera singer, some guys were just old… You never know what you’re going to get.” When MacDonald finally came in for his audition, he felt a little under the weather, didn’t know he was going to have to sing. They played him four songs they had written without vocals, but then asked him to perform two—just him and a guitar. When all was said and done, they didn’t make a decision on him as a singer immediately. “We hung out a lot after that, got to know each other. I just didn’t go away,” MacDonald says with a laugh.

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Eventually they took him on, but they needed shows. They needed more music to work with. The band was mildly new to Seattle, didn’t really know a whole lot of people, and had a really hard time getting shows to start out. But as they performed and collaborated more on new songs, the shape of the band began to change. As it became more of a meld of MacDonald and DuQue’s writing, they soon realized the band needed a new name, settling on The Classic Crime. After some time performing, the band headed out to Virginia to put together their first full-length under their new name. “We had about 12 ideas that turned into 14 songs,” MacDonald says. “We flew back over to Virginia, stayed in a house on the beach with a full studio. It was more like a completely awesome vacation. It wasn’t even really work.” The result was Albatross—and if you’re wondering what on earth Albatross means, it’s every bit as calculated as MacDonald feels his purpose in a band is. “(The name) mostly stemmed from me,” MacDonald says. “I had a lot of time to spend by myself in Virginia, spent a lot of time watching Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel and walking out in nature. I started to think along those lines. Then I saw this special on Antarctica, with an emphasis on the albatross, this bird that was quite amazing. It hit me like a ton of bricks. What this bird is is what I want this album to be. It has an 80-year life span, it’s giant, it mates for life… All these attributes came together, things like longevity and faithfulness. It’s more about the metaphors and the parallels between what we want from the music, what we want it to be.” And hopefully soon the band and the music will be at that level, where, as MacDonald sees it, there is hope for the drowning generation they’re in the middle of. On nearly all of their publicity information, they refer to the band as “a mission” and one of “hope,” a vehicle he hopes to use to show our digital age that there’s more to life than drifting. “We used to live in a house with four or five guys,” MacDonald starts out, explaining why he’s so passionate about The Classic Crime. The combination of friends that would make their way through his house doors had a profound effect on MacDonald’s thinking: “One hundred to 200 people were coming through there every week,” he says. “It was a huge learning experience, to see how many people are drifting. All they want is company, someone to be their friends. You can establish community that way. Our generation is detached and I think the generation before doesn’t understand who we are.” Which brings MacDonald full circle: The formation of the band as a desire to inspire and help people, the naming of the album as a symbol of what they want their music to be, to make music that has a purpose. “I believe we need to get back to having something honest to relate to,” MacDonald says. “A lot of music on TV is shallow and pointless. It doesn’t help anyone. I think because music has the ability to inspire, it should.”

1/27/2006 3:47:13 PM

sic Crime

THE CLASSIC CRIME 55

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1/27/2006 3:47:22 PM

56 FEATURE

anam cara vs.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FROM FLEE THE SEEN TO ANAM CARA

FTS: Where did you get your name from and does it have any particular meaning? We got the name from our first drummer; he’s kind of a history buff and really into Scottish and Irish culture. The phrase “Anam Cara” means a friend of your soul, so being Christians we thought the name was a good representation of our relationship with Jesus Christ. FTS: Being that you are from Tampa Bay, with such acts as Underoath and Poison the Well (among other countless amazing bands) how has that shaped your outlook on the music that you make? We’re all pretty fortunate to have grown up in such an awesome state around great bands like Poison The Well, Underoath, New Found Glory, etc. The Florida music scene has definitely helped us shape our sound, It’s also difficult at times to stand out amongst so many bands that follow that same melodic sound. I think we’ve come into a sound all our own, though, which really comes from listening to bands that are innovating their scenes all around the country, seeing that challenge, and trying to do something new yourself. FTS: What would you say is your biggest influence in writing together? We all just love to play this music. When we get together to write, the best part is when a song starts to come together and you’re just so stoked to hear it, like if you weren’t in the band you’d be stoked to hear someone else play this stuff. FTS:You guys have a new album scheduled for early Spring 2006 on Strikefirst Records, what is it going to be called and can you give us a snapshot of what it is about? How would you compare it to your previous music/recordings? Well, the album’s name is Ready To Live and it’ll be in stores April 11th, but we’ll have the record on tour with us in March. This band has gone through member changes and rough patches, where our direction wasn’t certain, to being rebuilt with new members writing better material to make this band into something better than what it started as. We’ve only had one other re-

cord, our Self-Titled EP, which was also released on Strike First Records. Comparably, our new album is a lot more emotional and energetic. Our sound hasn’t changed much, you can just tell there’s more to it.

FTS:You have toured pretty extensively – do you have any favorite moments together on the road and maybe a favorite place that you love to play? We’ve had some pretty interesting moments with some of the people we’ve toured with, little “Su Destino” shout out to War of Ages and Twelve Gauge Valentine. Also, we got to go to Tijuana with our good friends in Foreknown before they broke up, and recently we got to hang out in New York City. FTS: We can’t help but notice that the comments on your myspace and other various guestbooks are all about your live show and how you guys set the place on fire. How would you describe your live show or is there one thing you hear most after playing a show? Well we’re no Great White, but it’s flattering to hear some of the responses we get from people after seeing us. Everyone in the band has a lot of energy, so we’ve had some pretty close calls on stage with guitars being thrown all over the place. Our old guitarist has split our singer’s head open a couple times and our other guitarist and bassist have broken some equipment swinging stuff at each other. We just try and have fun with as little regard to safety as humanly possible. FTS: What is the most amazing live show that you have seen or were influenced by? Seeing the energy that bands like Comeback kid and Modern Life Is War have is always amazing. When they play the room never sits still. Same goes with Andrew W.K. When you see those bands perform, you just feel lazy. When it comes to a musical performance, Misery Signals is a band that will make you want to just quit playing, because they’re so good there’s just no point in trying to co-exist with a band like that.

To read both interviews in their entirety, go to hmmag.com

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1/27/2006 5:54:06 PM

ANAM CARA VS. FLEE THE SEEN 57

s. flee the seen INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FROM ANAM CARA TO FLEE THE SEEN

AC: Are there any bands specifically that have influenced your music? We all like really different music from one another, which is great because we always have something new to listen to. It comes out in our writing process too, because for the most part we leave each alone to do whatever we want and in the end it always turns out being something unique from all of us, but still a part of each of us. We are inspired by anything from Beloved to Bright Eyes and Refused to Reggie. We’re also really motivated by a lot of the local bands that we are so lucky to play with. Kansas City and St. Louis have some amazingly talented bands that work so hard and have an incredibly supportive scene. AC:You guys have 2 self released albums, what is the difference between those and your new record Doubt Becomes the New Addiction? The two EP’s that we self released were really just mile markers for where we have been trying to get. Aaron and Manuel had not yet joined for the first EP, and only had a short time to contribute to new songs for the second release. This record is really the first time we’ve all collectively written. We had been dying to write it and can’t wait to get it out there. AC: Before getting signed you guys played with major national acts like Cake and Weezer, you also won some Pitch Magazine awards. How did this all happen and what is your advice to young bands starting out? Kansas City and surrounding areas like Lawrence, St. Joe, Leavenworth, Topeka, Warrensburg, and St. Louis have been so super supportive of us. We just play as many shows as possible and keep trying to write music that inspires and moves us, because then it’s really fun and easy to share it with other people. Jeriney at 96.5 the Buzz has been incredible to us over the past year. We’ve never seen a radio station that not only supports local music, but actually pushes it on stage with national acts. 96.5 the Buzz asked us to open for the Weezer/Cake show last Summer alongside two other awesomely talented local bands (Veda and Elevator Division). They also just invited us to open for Coheed and Cambria. We’re seriously so lucky to be a part of this area’s music scene. Our best advice is to just work your hardest to get out

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there and let as many people hear your music as possible. Something great comes out of even the worst situations sometimes, and approaching them in a positive manner can make all the difference. This has deﬁnitely been the case with us.

AC: Who writes your lyrics and is there a main message you try to get across through them. Kim and RL switch back and forth a lot, so we all work together on this. Typically speaking, Kim writes all the parts for her songs, and RL writes all the parts for his. When writing the songs for the new record we didn’t start with a theme or one specific message, we always write about the real things we are going through individually and collectively. Out of that came “Doubt Becomes the New Addiction,” which is about turning doubt into hope. Every song can be traced back to a specific instance where one of us had to choose between being consumed by doubt or pursing hope towards perseverance. We realized this after the record was written and we went back to outline what each individual song is about. They are completely different from each other as far as the main subject matter, but in the end hope emerged as the defining message on every track. AC: 2 trains are on a single track going in opposite directions. train a is going 30mph, train b is going 60kph the track has an average 30degree incline to the west. they leave at 3:09pm and are connected by a rubber band 39 chains long. how old does that make everyone in your band and how long have you been playing your instruments? Does anyone have a TI85? AC: How sweet was it playing with cake? The sweetest part of the Summer Buzz Weezer/Cake show had to have been when RL turned on his wireless right before sound check and then walked inconspicuously into the bathroom with his guitar. He then proceeded to play Weezer’s “Say it Ain’t So” while the rest of us stared dumbfounded at his amp, in a quiet panic pleading to make it stop. No more wireless for our RL.

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FEATURE 59

What Collective Soul Says COLLECTIVE SOUL IS ONE OF THOSE “CAREER ARTISTS.” THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN TOO OFTEN IN TODAY’S MUSIC BUSINESS, AND THIS ARTISTIC GROWTH MAY BE MORE OF A RESULT OF A TRULY GIFTED AND HARD WORKING ARTIST THAN THE CAREFUL WORK OF AN A&R TEAM. AFTER SAYING GOODBYE TO THEIR MAJOR LABEL AND TWO SUCCESSFUL INDIE RELEASES (YOUTH AND FROM THE GROUND UP), THEY’VE SHOWED NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN, HAVING RECENTLY RECORDED A LIVE SHOW WITH THE ATLANTA SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA FOR DVD/CD RELEASE, HOME. AT ONE POINT IN HM’S HISTORY (2000) WE HAD PREPARED FOR A COVER STORY ON THE BAND THAT WAS NIXED DUE TO NO INTERVIEW. THUS, IT WAS AN HONOR TO FINALLY GET ON THE PHONE WITH ED ROLAND FOR THIS ONE.

Well, looking back on your career – which has been a long one, which I want to say, ‘Congratulations’ for… Thank you!

Take us through the highlights, favorite songs, events and/or any “lowlights.” A highlight probably would’ve been last April. We just did a live DVD/CD with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra… Playing with those kids was just so inspiring and, you know, we’ve always had orchestration in some of our music most of the time on our CDs and to have it on every song was just… I don’t even know what kind of word to use for that (laughs). It was really inspiring. It’s given another dimension – it wasn’t the same old song anymore, which is cool.

Cool. Anything else looking back that stands out? You know, I don’t really think about the low points. I mean, we’ve been so blessed in our career, I don’t think there’s really been a low point, per se. I think that would be pretty selﬁsh to say, because we’ve been very successful with each CD.

Cool. Well, tell me what it was like working with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and what were some of its challenges and rewards – besides what you’ve already mentioned. Well, the challenge was just having two rehearsals for three hours and us actually… Because when we play live, you know, the arrangements are just what we make up as we go sometimes. I mean, some of ‘em are pretty standard every night, but some of ‘em, we look at each other and go, ‘Hey, you wanna keep going here? You wanna add this?’ So then the challenge is actually learning to play

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the song the same way (chuckles) for two nights in a row and not have that freedom to move around or change it up or expand it or shorten it or whatever we do on stage. So, that was a little stressful, to be honest with you. But the enjoyment was just watching the kids’ faces. I mean, that was the reward – actually seeing young kids just enjoying music. It was something they weren’t used to doing and the response wasn’t something they were used to in a symphony hall, so that part of it was just something that sticks with me forever.

Cool. Describe your feelings when the audience is singing, “World starts shaking me down.” Well, when we ﬁrst went on the road and the record had just come out, it scared us, cause we were like… Usually it takes a while for ‘em to get used to the songs, but when they sing it now, hopefully they feel what I wrote it for, you know? You have good times and you have bad times – you have the ying and yang of life, but just wake up the next morning, and let’s go again. And hopefully they take that home. Hopefully, they’re singing it and understanding what they’re singing.

Cool. Well, you’ve produced just about every Collective Soul album and you’ve done a heck of a job as a frontman. Uh, I think it takes a certain amount of conﬁ dence to grab the reigns of a producer and as a frontman. How have you developed this conﬁ dence? Well, the frontman part came out of no one else would do it. (laughs) I always knew I wanted to be the songwriter and I grew up working in a studio, so I understood I wanted to be, per se, a producer – at least have my hands in there. That part came easy, because it was a lot of years doing that; but out of default I actually became the singer. As a frontman, it just takes years. And with each release and, like I said before, we’ve been successful. And with each time you’re successful

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60 FEATURE with your release, there’s also another level of conﬁdence you get. I think that truly helps.

The Ed E. Roland solo album: how do you view that release now? Will there be another solo album at any time? And how fulﬁlling was it to record and release this album? The solo record is not a solo record. It was a batch of demos I made in the 80s. In fact, when there was really no band, it was me just learning to do production and just doing songs. One of my managers at the time – old manager after we got signed – decided, ‘Oh, I’ve got these. I’m going to put these out.’ I mean, you know, it’s embarrassing, but at the same time you have to start somewhere. So I look back on it and go, ‘Ah, well at least I’ve grown as a producer, a songwriter, and a singer, I think.’ But it was not intentionally put out. Actually, I bought it from him, so it would kind of stop. I don’t listen to it anymore, but I look back on it and, like I said, I can at least see where I’ve grown as an artist. And then: ‘Are there plans for a solo record?’ Yeah, at some point. That’s something I’ve always dreamed of doing. I’ve always said, ‘Collective Soul’s a full-time job right now.’ If time allows, it is something I would like to pursue.

Has it been harder to write albums four, five, and six than it was, say, albums one, two, and three? Why or why not? No, actually, they’ve all come pretty easy, to be honest with you. I think… With four, five, and six I think you get in such a groove – if that makes sense – it becomes part of your lifestyle. You’re on the road, you’re writing. You have opportunities to write more, than an artist who doesn’t have money and they’re having to do day jobs and night jobs and three jobs just to get by. When your life becomes somewhat comfortable – and I use that loosely – but at least you can pay the bills and stuff like that; and that doesn’t become a distraction. It really opens up the rest of the day to write, create, and experiment and learn. So, it’s really been easier, to be honest with you.

What’s been the process for you to pull a riff out of thin air – out of nothing? I don’t know. If I knew that, I would have been doing it a long time ago and make sure I keep doing it. I’ve never considered myself a riff writer. People always brought that to my attention. I’m like, ‘I don’t get it. It’s just a guitar.’ I think, if I were to really analyze it, it probably comes to just listening to so much of The Cars. Because they had keyboard riffs and they were like my favorite band of all time in the 80s and I just remember thinking, ‘Maybe it came from actually wanting to play keyboards!’ Because I couldn’t play it as well as the guitar.

it was The Cars, but they allowed themselves to expand a little bit – to me, anyway. But, I mean, what a great debut record. It doesn’t get much better than that.

I know. Well, I’m not sure who all’s playing in the band right now, but I have a feeling that you’ve kept many of the same band members together for a long time. How have you done that? Well, we all grew up together in the same small town. The rest of the guys are about 8, 10 years younger than me. One of them is my brother. And I remember when I was about 26. I called him one day, because everyone in my band at the time had quit and gone on to get real jobs. I remember calling him up, saying, ‘Hey, do you got any buddies that wanna be in a band?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I know some. Let me round some people up.’ It was literally that simple. But we all came up in the same environment, the same social background, so, you know, it’s kind of one of those weird things. We feel like we’re all brothers anyway. I mean, I knew ‘em. I watched ‘em grow up from babies. They spent the night over at my house with my brother. So, it’s just… You know, you get to know someone really well. You know when to be there for them and you know when to pop ‘em upside the head – as well they do me. It works both ways.

Well, man. You were able to collaborate with Elton John! What was that like? How did that come about? Well, Elton was my introduction into rock and roll. I remember, actually, my father – the ﬁrst show he ever took me to was Johnny Cash. Then he took me to see Liberace. And then he took me to see Elton John. By the time he took me to see Elton John, I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ Then I got his record and then I wanted to become a songwriter. I wanted to be a writer like Elton and Bernie. So, that’s my hero. We’re from Atlanta. We’re still based out of Atlanta, and Elton lives here part-time. So we met him through mutual friends. We were at dinner one night and I just said, ‘Hey, do you wanna play on a song with us on the next record?’ He said, ‘If you let me sing?’ I’m like, ‘That’s the easiest deal I’ve ever done.’ And to describe what it’s like having your hero, man... That’s my reward for being in music, you know. How many artists get to say, ‘My hero collaborated with me?’

No kidding. That’s, you know. There you go. There’s my reward.

So, “Grey Seal” or “Funeral For A Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding?” Which of the two tracks is better? Wow.

You’ve gotta pick one. I do? Speaking of The Cars… Did you think their debut album was way better than everything else? Or do you consistently like the catalog from the band? You know what? I consistently like the catalog. I love the ﬁrst one, but I love Candy-O. Candy-O is still to me one of my favorite records by them. I love that. The cool thing about them is you go through their catalog, like Panorama. I love how they stretched the boundaries for what they were doing. They took it to another level. And then Shake It Up became more pop. I think they really did a great job in their career. They never allowed themselves… Of course,

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Yeah. ‘Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.’ Cause that’s actually, the ﬁrst time I saw him, that’s what he started the show with. That was my true introduction to Elton, with that spooky intro, the old school fog coming up from the stage.

Oh man. It must’ve been great.

Yeah.

I remember when my grandpa on my mom’s side died. She came downstairs and told me the news and I popped that song on and I grieved. In about six minutes for those two songs, I had my grieving process. I’ll never forget that. Oh man. Well, that’s the great thing about music, man. You know, it’s so emotional and allows you to grieve. It allows you to be happy. Allows you to not even think about it. You know?

Yeah. How does it feel to be tagged with the label “Christian rock band,” when you’re not? You know what? I’ve never seen that. People have asked, but, you know, I think it just comes from our dad was a minister until the day he passed and, um, I’m a spiritual person, but, you know, you can’t… When there’s five individual guys in a band, you know, we’re not going to go out saying, ‘We’re this.’ Because we are five individual guys in a band. We believe in different things, as well we should. You know (sighs), there’s a difference. Spirituality is a cool thing to me. Organized religion sometimes can get a little squirrely to me, so I think there’s a big difference. And people tagging me, that’s probably one of the nicer things people have said about us (laughs). So I don’t worry about things like that, you know? If they’re saying that, they’re truly not listening to the band. They’re not paying attention. And they’ve never been to one of our shows, for sure. That’s not to downplay Christian bands. I think that’s great and it’s got its place and things like that; but, you know, for us we believe in the separation of church and rock and roll.

That’s a good quote. What do you think of Jesus Christ? What do I think of Him? Um… Wow. Is this a religious interview?

Well, it’s an interview... (laughs)

I’ve got a couple of religious questions here. Um, wow. You caught me oﬀ-guard on that one. You know, growing up as a Christian, I believe in Him as my Savior. I think He’s… You know, I think it’s more of a heritage thing than… cause you get so caught up. People want so much… if you use the word ‘Christian’ sometimes they think of some crazy man with a gun shooting a doctor performing abortions in South Florida somewhere. You know, to me that’s not Christianity. And if you read what Jesus said… I mean, He’s about love and to me that’s the coolest thing you could be about. He’s about acceptance of all kinds of people, you know: gay, straight, black, white, everything. Not anywhere in His teachings does He discriminate. And not only in His teachings, but when you read, He proved it by His performances and the people He hung around with. So, you know, it’s kind of a cool example. I mean, to me He was a hippie in the old school days, that just kind of believed in love.

That’s cool. I’ve often thought that, uh, you know, if Christianity was a myth, which some people would

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WHAT COLLECTIVE SOUL SAYS 61 say it was, um, it’s the greatest one of… The message of love is just so dog-gone cool. Yeah. I mean, how could you go wrong with that? That’s what gets me when certain… How do I say this? Certain schools of Christianity go outside of what it truly – of what Christianity is truly about, which is love and nondiscrimination. It kinda… It kinda hurts the whole thing. Because every cop’s not a bad cop. Every politician is not a bad politician. And every Christian is not a bad person, but sometimes so much emphasis is put on the... As I’d like to say, there’s extremists in everything, from Muslim, Islam – and to me, those are beautiful religions, also. But for some reason we concentrate so much on the radical side of it. If you really know those religions, they’re truly about love, too.

So many people, I think, they measure spirituality for some reason, by what you’re against. That’s really strange. Yeah, I agree. (ponders quote) That’s pretty cool.

It was just amazing. First and foremost, just the pure love, ya know?

I really like the free-falling doubt I sense in “Ten Years Later.” The uncertainty that many of us won’t admit is there. What inspired the song for you? Actually, my best friend passed away at a young age of a drug overdose. I actually named my son after him. But it’s about ten years after his death and it’s just, you know… As much as we want to read here on this earth and as much as science wants to teach us, there’s still uncertainty. I think it’s okay to be uncertain. Once again, if you wanna go back to Jesus, He was uncertain for forty days. He was uncertain before He was hung up on the cross. So uncertainty is not a sin, and I don’t think it’s unnatural.

How has being a dad changed your outlook on life, your music, and your faith? Uh, it puts everything in perspective. First and foremost, there’s my son. And, boy, when you have a child and you

that was going on.

So, what’s on your iPod right now? You know what? Nothing, because it broke. (laughs) I’m trying to get one of the new Nano’s. I thought I was going to get one for Christmas, but I didn’t get one. I got other good gifts, but I didn’t get that. So now I’ve gotta go pick one up. But what have I been listening to? What was in the car today? Dandy Warhols. I’ve been listening to a lot of that. I always listen to U2. What else do I listen to? Jackson Browne lately, here. Loving that.

Cool. I haven’t listened to him in a long time. Man, it’s amazing to go back to that. What great songs. You can’t… As a songwriter, man, it’s hard to get better than that.

The post-Atlantic years. Walk us through that and what the transition was like for ya.

“...I don’t look at heaven as a country club. If it is, I don’t want to go, because that’s not truly what Jesus taught and that’s not a heaven..” What do you think about the claim of Christ to be “the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me?” Well, on that one, you know what? Here’s my thought: I don’t look at heaven as a country club. If it is, I don’t want to go, because that’s not truly what Jesus taught and that’s not a heaven. Like I said, to me, if it’s a discriminatory kind of place afterlife, it’s a country club of some sort. I don’t know. That one kind of catches me oﬀ guard a little bit, but I think ﬁrst and foremost it comes from the soul. And who’s not to say, if you’re all about love that Jesus or Buddha’s not in there with ya, ya know?

What do you think is the greatest thing an artist can hope to accomplish? Happiness.

What’s the inside joke with bass players? (laughs) No rhythm!

Alright, have you ever read the book, My Name Is Asher Lev, by Pottock? No.

What kind of inﬂ uence has your parents’ upbringing had on you and your life? Oh, my parents were absolutely wonderful. The cool thing about my parents… Like I said, my father was a minister and my mom played piano in the church. It was a very spiritual home, very very family-oriented. And never once did they question what I wanted to do in life. They were supportive ‘til I was able to sustain my own way. And even after that, they were my family. They were my mom and dad. It was always the door open, bringing buddies over.

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watch childbirth, it really makes you, you know… There’s something wiser, deeper, stronger than me out there somewhere … to let humans evolve like this and to allow me to feel emotions that I felt – and still do – having a child.

Cool. You’ve already expressed a real gratitude with where your career’s gone, so I’m not trying to paint you in a box with the next question or anything; but the song “Shine.” Do you ever get tired of playing it? Why or why not? I never get tired of playing it live, because, you know, it’s all about the crowd and their enjoyment. We feed oﬀ their excitement. Now, if it comes on the radio or if I can control it (laughs), it’s not something that I’m going to listen to. I’ve heard it enough. But playing it live? You know, that’s the song that gave us life. Why would I not play it? I truly do enjoy playing it live. But, you know, it’s not like I walk in or have a ring-tone with ‘Shine’ on it. (laughs) And I doubt I ever will.

I’ve got an oﬀ -the-wall question: The songs on Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid, besides the song “Shine,” they sound close to an artist named Terry Taylor, who’s in a band called Daniel Amos, and The Swirling Eddies. Have you ever heard this artist’s music? No, I haven’t. Is he like a British Pop guy?

Kinda. He’s a Southern California guy, but very much a mixture of a lot of diff erent stuff like that. That’s weird. At the time I was listening to a lot of… When I was making those demos – I use the word ‘demos,’ because that’s what they were – I listened to a lot of Lindsay Buckingham and Jackson Browne and Jeff Lynne. It was just really weird. And then, of course, all the Nirvana stuff

You know, I worked in a studio. At night when I had downtime I would sit in there and write songs and learn to produce, learn to try to develop as a songwriter. And then put a band together that was just, you know, struggled, tried to get gigs and get ‘em here and there, very sporadic. Then, over the course of a three-year period finally got the band that was actually on Hints… But by then we hadn’t really recorded anything. I had a batch of demos that I’d recorded and sent ‘em out – really trying to get a songwriter deal. Before we knew it, ‘Shine’ had charted on the charts. I mean, I was calling radio stations in a basement. We were doing this all on our own. And then two month’s later we were opening for Aerosmith and signed to Atlantic. It’s the same batch of demos. We thought, ‘Wow! We’re getting signed. We get to go into a nice studio and actually record as a band,’ and they’re like, ‘Nope! If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. We’re going like this.’ That’s one reason we recorded the second CD so quick, because we were very anxious to prove that we were a band, because we truly were and had been playing for a while. But Hints was just songwriting demos kind of thing. It was really weird. The five guys in the band at the time really … nobody really played on anything. It was just me goofing off in a basement.

Well, is there any question you’ve always wanted to be asked by a journalist? No. I mean, this is one of the best ones ever, dude. You really… You caught me oﬀ guard. I like that. Good job.

I’m in and around Austin, Texas, so if I ever get a chance to see you guys nearby I’ll bring by a copy. Go get some Stubb’s for me while you’re there.

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62 I N T E R M I S S I O N

DAVID DI SABATINO AND THE LONNIE FRISBEE PROJECT BY DAN MACINTOSH

It’s easy to compare evangelist Lonnie Frisbee’s life to that of an unsung rock star. He may not be a household name, yet everybody that came in contact with him was indelibly touched by his intangible charisma. And as hard as it may be to believe, this man that was so pivotal to the beginnings of both the Calvary Chapel and Vineyard Christian movements – primarily due to his powerful, crowd-attracting ministerial skills – has all but been erased from the evangelical history books. So while almost everybody is familiar with leaders like Chuck Smith (Calvary Chapel) and John Wimber (The Vineyard), Lonnie Frisbee’s mysterious name is mentioned only in passing within historical documents for these two movements. Such exclusion is a shame, and a wrong that must be righted.

Many years ago, David Di Sabatino, the driving force behind the documentary Frisbee: The Life And Death Of A Hippie Preacher, found himself obsessed with this curious man named Lonnie Frisbee. Certainly, it was no coincidence that this one name kept coming up again and again. But why hasn’t Frisbee been given more credit for his contributions? Was he just a “Zelig” who blended in far too well with his surroundings? Or is something more sinister going on? Namely, are some of his former colleagues doggedly trying to hide this pioneering ﬁgurehead’s lifework from view for some reason or other?

On the surface, it’s easy to see why Frisbee’s life – and more signiﬁcantly, his death – is a painful source of embarrassment to the church. You see, Frisbee died of AIDS, an ailment most likely brought on by one of his homosexual encounters. But even before his untimely death, he also had rocky relationships with

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both Smith and Wimber, and never seemed to remain in one ministry for very long. Yet on the flipside, many people obviously dearly loved Frisbee – even in spite of his faults. Di Sabatino’s documentary film is filled with testimonials from folks that knew Frisbee, and experienced the powerful way the Spirit worked through him. When Frisbee ministered, it was not uncommon to witness divine healings or watch large crowds stream forward during his altar calls. Yes, he was truly special.

Lonnie Frisbee, for better or worse, was an impact player that ﬁt in well with this ‘almost anything can happen’ Jesus movement. In fact, he was one of the visual symbols for the movement, since his long-haired, Jesus-like looks landed his picture on the cover of Time Magazine at the time.

“I got attracted to this story because of the almost miraculous stories that swirled in the wake of his death,” Di Sabatino explains. “When people talk about him, it’s like a John The Baptist or Elijah walked through Southern California. And those stories just stand out.”

“Is this spiritual gift – or whatever it was that he had – a blessing or a curse? There is this element of Lonnie’s life where people would ooh and ah at the Spirit of God,” Di Sabatino elaborates. “And yet, it was a tremendous burden to have on his life. Now, not a lot of his friends would agree with that, because they see it as good. But people would come up to him and they would hound him. ‘Come to my church. Start this thing. Jump start it.’ So people were pulling on him left and right.”

Di Sabatino happened upon the story of Frisbee’s life story while he was researching the Jesus Movement. In fact, he’s written a book called The Jesus People Movement. And while he may have been too young to have experienced this pivotal, hippie-led evangelical period personally, he’s nevertheless endlessly fascinated by it.

“It was a unique time,” he says. “If you talk to anybody that came out of the Jesus Movement, one of the common themes that they will all say is that it was like walking through the Book of Acts. And I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that. So this was a special time. This was an open time in the culture. These hippies were searching, and when you get that kind of openness, God responds. And at the end at that kind of search for truth, you’re going to ﬁnd God.”

But like with rock stardom, too much public attention can sometimes be a deadly drug.

Frisbee: The Life And Death Of A Hippie Preacher is must-see viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in recent evangelical history. Lonnie Frisbee was a paradoxical figure, and a man we will probably never fully understand. But love him or hate him, Di Sabatino’s film goes a long way in preventing this significant figure’s life from ever being completely forgotten.

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ALBUM REVIEWS

Album reviews

65 ALBUMS 72 ENTERTAINMENT 73 BOOKS & GEAR

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYLE CLUB HOWL

“It’s easy to fall in love,” the band sings. No truer words were spoken when it comes to BRMC (not to be confused with Tipper Gore’s Parent’s Music Resource Center). The hard part is staying in love. But with Howl, their third studio outing, the band dips back into a deep well of blues inspiration and pulls out gems like the album’s opening stomp of “Shuffle Your Feet,” the raw acoustic picking of “Devil’s Waitin,’” and the Beatlesque title-track. “Ain’t No Easy Way” could’ve been on Zeppelin I or III. These are big compliments for a band on its third album. This is heady stuff, but these modern day men in black seem to saunter around, writing great tunes as if they were just born cool. Heck, even their artwork and photographs are cooler than 75% of what’s out there. Who else can conjure applause from fans of 16 Horsepower and Starflyer 59?

Rating system 05 04 03 02 01 *

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CLASSIC FABULOUS SOLID SUSPECT AMISS 1/2

Lyrically, BRMC has always been whispering to us about deeper things. On this album, the volume seems to have grown to conversation level. “Gospel Song” is just that, stating: “I will walk with Jesus ‘til I can’t go anymore, and I will stay with Jesus ‘til I can’t go another mile. And people will see all the good that’s concealed, and people must know not to feel any sorrow, ‘Cause I will not stand by and watch you cry...” While all these elements might breed suspicion, the two albums that it took to get them here make a case that this is authentic, real rock and roll. No wonder it’s called Howl. [RCA] DOUG VAN PELT

1/27/2006 3:03:22 PM

66 A L B U M R E V I E W S

THE WEDDING

ONCE FOR ALL

DION

RUMBLE IN THE SOUTH

DOWN FOR THE GETDOWN

BRONX IN BLUE

This emo-ish rock quartet from the sovereign southern state of Arkansas delivers all the proper pop hooks, epic choruses, and sweeping croons to keep the blood flowing. Inappropriate screams strike confusing yields near the end of the songs, yet thankfully are not frequent enough to scar. Complete with two songs from their debut album as acoustic versions, this EP is reaffirming proof that maybe you shouldn’t be ashamed of your nautical star tattoo ...well, not just yet anyway. [RAMBLER] DAVID STAGG

HALF-HANDED CLOUD HALOS AND LASSOS When not tromboning around as an Illinoisemaker, John Ringhofer spends his time pouring his creative inclinations into his upbeat but off-kilter project, Half-Handed Cloud. While the name might seem outlandish, the moniker serves as a true description of John’s – world through the eyes of a child – songwriting approach as each song gently transports us back to when times were simpler. Most of the nineteen songs here read like a Sunday school lesson with biblical imagery and scriptural language living and breathing alongside modern day laments and worshipful ditties worthy of the Psalms. While these compositions are painted with lighthearted melodies backed by drum machine driven beats and Nintendo-like keyboards (courtesy of an omnichord), they only serve to get the point across as most are shy of the two-minute plateau. It’s a quick album, but if you don’t feel better about life after a listen, you should probably see your psychologist. [ASTHMATIC KITTY] SAM FARRIES

DELIRIOUS? THE MISSION BELL During the past decade or so, while the rest of Christendom was rediscovering the commercial/spiritual benefits of putting “worship” back into contemporary recordings, Delirious? was consistently going about creating solidly rocking praise sounds. Its new The Mission Bell doesn’t differ all too much from its previous output: Martin Smith’s passionate vocals are once again front-andcenter as this group gives glory and honor to the Savior in song. Delirious? has always borrowed -- whether intentionally or not -- from great rock moments of the past, before it puts its own unique spin on these influences. So during “Miracle Worker” here, Stu G takes a guitar solo that feels like it belongs on an extended mix of Elton John’s “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.” This disc also features a few special guests, including Maya Brennan’s beatific vocals and TOBYMAC’s urbanizations. The Mission Bell has quite the familiar ring to it, and yet it’s still a welcome and timely sound.

With an equal mix of traditional hardcore (for this writer, pre-1990) and today’s metal-influenced hardcore, OFA keep the scales balanced with a nicely-paced record. The frantic, yelled vocals get reminiscent of Henry Rollins during his early days with Black Flag and the guitar work is tight, though bland at times; but I must say that this is the kind of music that doesn’t always translate well to a little, shiny disc because it’s meant to be heard live where the drive and fury is unrestrained. So, by all means, check out this hard-working band when they come to your town; you won’t be disappointed. (HARVEST EARTH) CHRIS FRANCZ

SPITFIRE

Dion traded in his cCm notoriety back for rockin’ far back as the late ‘80s. Now the doo-wop maestro goes further back to his roots for an album of acoustic blues. Be it Bo Didley, Robert Johnson or his own sometimes ribald originals, Mr. DiMucci belts them out casually, but passionately. His playing maintains strong grooves with nimble fingering, too. His faith finds expression largely by subtext (e.g., crying for the Lord’s help on “Crossroads”), figuring into the broad pictures of despair and braggadocio the songs convey. Technically assured, fun, and driven by the talents of a fella’ deserving of his place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [DIMENSIONAL MUSIC] JAMIE LEE RAKE

SELF-HELP It’s hard to make an imprint in the metal world today, where picking out a band is as easy as trying to find sand on a beach. Spitfire is dancing into that ballroom: They compare themselves to Every Time I Die and The Melvins, use words like “hybrid of metal and hardcore” in their description, and have emo-swoop hair-dos. Pop-in Self-Help and you get exactly this… kind of. They take every riff too long. They repeat every phrase too much. Their influences are blatant in their music. And I couldn’t be happier. They stood on the shoulders of the giants before them and have produced an unnerving 11-track bludgeon of a record that makes listening to a neo-metal band everything it should be. The second-best thing about this band is that fact that it doesn’t need an image to sell what they’re presenting. A lot of bands try to be eerie and disturbing through their marketing façade: They put dead kids on the cover; use guns, killing, and bleeding-heart-out imagery; and write songs with long titles about death. When I listen to Spitfire, I don’t need any of that. I hear it. They put their money where their metal mouths are. When they launch into the lyrics “…we’ll all float like driftwood in her oceanic eyes” on “Life and Limb,” the paranormal quality of the voice coupled with the musical context of the song reinforces the twisted metal they’re playing and solidifies them as the real deal. The stand-out in this quintet is the singer. As mentioned above, in the middle of a song, the screaming can disperse and a wobbly, thin, ghostly vocal may permeate the track. It takes the songs to a new level, giving them a hook, a distinctive Spitfire flavor that makes me want to watch horror movies and listen masochistically to the songs over and over. Add this to the fact that the metal is fast, takes 180-degree turns in short amounts of time, and is next to impossible to understand, the band has a permanent place in my CD collection. Key tracks: “Life and Limb,” “Dear John.” [GOODFELLOW] DAVID STAGG

ELEVENTY-SEVEN AND THE LAND OF FAKE BELIEVE Following in the all-too-clever footsteps of their pop/punk predecessors comes new Flicker Records recording artists, Eleventyseven. Their major label debut, And The

Ratings DV

Writer

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 04 Howl The Wedding Rumble In The South

03*

Half-Handed Cloud Halos And Lassos

03*

Delirious? The Mission Bell

Once For All

Down For The Getdown

03*

Spitfire Self-Help

Dion

Bronx In Blue

Eleventy-seven

And The Land Of Fake Believe

02*

Dear Whoever Sound The Trumpet

02*

01*

Enlow

The Recovery

02*

Jennifer Knapp Jennifer Knapp Live

Jonah 33

The Strangest Day

03*

Charlie Peacock Love Press X-Curio

Petra Farewell

The 7 Method

Roses Like Razorblades

[SPARROW] DAN MACINTOSH

118_album reviews.indd 2

1/27/2006 3:03:34 PM

ALBUM REVIEWS

Land Of Fake Believe, is rife with the same titles and hooks that are consistent with the genre, including such song titles as “Odds and Even Sos,” “The Unicorn Revolt,” and “Yesterday’s Glues.” However, what will set this South Carolina-based trio apart is their focus on their mission of bringing themes of happiness, fun and redemption to the forefront of their music. Frontman Matthew Langston explains, “You get tired of being yelled at, hearing the same parallels drawn in every song.” And, to that end, they succeed with tracks such as lead single “More Than A Revolution” and “MySpace.” The latter is light-hearted jab at the depth of internet relationships, or lack thereof, and how we all long for something deeper. Nothing new here to speak of, but that’s okay. While they are easily filed between Relient K and Blink 182, Eleventyseven is a band that knows what it is doing and it does it well. [FLICKER] MATT CONNER

DEAR WHOEVER SOUND THE TRUMPET Dear Whoever’s debut EP (six songs with a “bonus” track) was re-released last December and is an attempt at metal, but doesn’t quite get there. The four-piece band has all the ingredients for a metal/emo band (they certainly don’t qualify as solely metal): quasi-fast riffs, some break downs, actual singing with the obligatory screaming. Unfortunately, it doesn’t all fall together right. At some points on the record, it sounds like the drummer just can’t keep up with the rest of the band, or that the band overall isn’t very tight. I’d lean towards the latter; this, however, can be remedied as the band continually performs together. Regrettably, the best track on the record is the last “bonus” track, which you might not even be able to count as a track: It’s essentially a drum loop that doesn’t even shake a stick at the metal genre and might miss the band’s target crowd altogether. However, all this hasn’t stopped them from receiving intense amounts of airplay over the Internet where they’ve built quite the following. When the full-length comes out, there has to be a tighter sound with improved music and direction, otherwise they’re going to be lost among the shuffle of the thousands of bands that have popped-up throughout current music trends. [BROKEN LINE] DAVID STAGG

ENLOW THE RECOVERY You know what really gets me going in the morning? The sound of souls burning in Hell! And that’s exactly what you get if you set your alarm to play the latest disc from Enlow. After a brief hiatus, these boys from Oklahoma are back with a brand new batch of tunes titled The Recovery. This latest project opens up with sounds from Hades and plows right into thirty-two quick minutes of melodic hardcore. Upon first listen, I actually thought that there were two lead singers, but found it to be vocalist John Holmes alternating between meaty hardcore and punked up screams.

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And while there may not be two vocalists, there are two lead axe swingers that trade off back and forth, laying down some nice metal influenced dual guitar riffs. And it sounds like someone’s been listening to a lot of Comeback Kid lately, especially evident on the anthemic closing track “The Fight of your Life”…come on, everybody – shout along!! Okay sure, Enlow isn’t breaking any new ground, but the thought-out lyrics that deal with hope as well as loss, coupled together with catchy breakdowns and lots of melody makes this a CD that even a casual hardcore fan could love.

JENNIFER KNAPP

debut to bother any of their established fans. In a nutshell, Jonah 33’s strength is in their clear focus on the testimony of front man Vince Lichlyter and their role as a solid addition to the nu-metal / modern hard rock scene. The Strangest Day sits comfortably and confidently amidst similar nu-metal / modern rock releases by Staind, Seether and Third Eye Blind. Lyrically the flow of autobiographical testifying runs unabated through both discs, and that is definitely not a bad thing. Original? When it comes to this genre, who cares about “original?” Certainly the fans do not. To their credit Jonah 33 seems absolutely bent on delivering a powerful and personal message through their songs. “Search Me, Know Me,” “Burning Clean,” and the title track all stretch towards their strengths.

JENNIFER KNAPP LIVE

[SRE/ARDENT] JOHN J. THOMPSON

[BLOOD & INK] DOUG GIESBRECHT

For those of us who have felt the absence of folk-rocker Jen Knapp, here’s another chance to soothe the pain. Though Knapp has technically been MIA since her third album, The Way I Am, Gotee Records has attempted to pacify JK fans with a greatest hits collection and now a live disc. Never intended for public consumption, guitarist-now-producer Mark Lee Townsend towed around a rack of tape machines on Knapp’s first headlining tour, The Back Forty Tour of 2001, in hopes to assemble a tour memento for Jen and the band. After losing the tapes for several years, they resurfaced in a storage space in the fall of 2005. The takes represent four shows – concerts in California, Oregon, New Mexico and Utah. Truly a “live” album, the recordings on this disc have not been retouched in the studio. This record is rough and raw, and educates those who ever misinterpreted Knapp as a CCM pop puppet. Her rugged, road-warrior rasp more than rivals that of veteran Melissa Etheridge. One spin of JK Live may be bittersweet to fans, reminding us how much we miss the poet rocker in Jennifer Knapp, and a wake up call to those who never gave her a chance. [GOTEE] AMY E. HALL

JONAH 33 THE STRANGEST DAY SRE / Ardent Records It’s been awhile since Jonah 33 debuted with their serviceable though not completely unique self-titled debut. But to hear their sophomore project, The Strangest Day, it sounds like no time has passed at all. Originality is certainly not on the menu when it comes to this Arkansas band. The point is obviously not to invent some new signature sound, but instead to throw a respectable hat into the modern hard rock ring. That they have, and it’s not a shabby effort in any way. Though the overall sound lacks a bit of the dominating crunch and heavy tone of their debut, they have carved out more room for melody, and they’re not afraid to use it. A slight turn towards more textural and layered sounds, combined with more sweeping melodic arcs bodes well for the future of the band, if they are confident enough to explore those edges. In the meanwhile we have a second at-bat that’s not different enough from their

CHARLIE PEACOCK LOVE PRESS X-CURIO Charlie Peacock at last sates his jazz jones with his deepest dive into the genre since the early ‘80s. Peacock surrounds his keyboards and programming with brass, guitar and basses electric and acoustic. The effect projects the slickness of smooth radio fare with the freer improvisational bent jazz took in the early ‘60s. Keeping in mind Peacock’s admiration for John Coltrane should help jazz dabblers navigate this Press. But so would another listen or two to Lie Down In The Grass and Peacock’s early ‘80s work. This, then, comes not so much as a leftward sonic turn as a fulfillment of his germinating jazzbo roots. For those who have followed him this far, it’s worth the less immediately hooky plunge. [RUNWAY NETWORK] JAMIE LEE RAKE

PETRA FAREWELL It’ll be strange not to have Petra around anymore. Granted, it has never been the most edgy act in Christian rock, but it’s sure been a solidly consistent one over the years. As the liner notes astutely state here, Petra was one of Christian music’s first truly rocking bands. This live disc displays what Petra was all about. It includes both an acoustic and a rocking medley of hits. One old friend – former lead vocalist Greg X. Volz – even makes a special appearance during “Grave Robber.” Furthermore, the band’s guitarist and primary architect, Bob Hartman, performs with the band throughout after taking an extended sabbatical from the touring life. And how does the band sound here? Well, after 30+ years of touring and recording, it darn well better sound good. And it does. From the boogie rock of “Dance,” to the gently insistent “Creed,” Petra has bid us a fond farewell with this worthy final release. [INPOP] DAN MACINTOSH

THE 7 METHOD ROSES LIKE RAZORBLADES Total Kutless/Staind clones. Solid, rockin’ and clean. [INFINITY] DOUG VAN PELT

1/27/2006 3:03:46 PM

68 A L B U M R E V I E W S

STRUCKDOWN REVOLUTION With a certain nod to traditional hardcore, Struckdown’s Revolution ascertains a certain fist-pumping sensibility, making the occasional sonic reference to the early days of metal. Greenville College student and digital media major/hardcore aficionado Dustin Damitz identified the album’s message-driven focus. “When listening to the band, my first impression is that they have something to say. A lot of emphasis seems to be given to the vocals and the message they are trying to get across.” I concur. “Education” champions the value of, well...education. “Humanity” makes me grit my teeth. It begins by establishing a moment filled with testosterone. And then... the lyrics. Sweatshops, greed, and consumerism. The song should (and does) incite anger toward a dehumanizing system. I am thrilled when a band focuses on the “practical” aspects of Jesus’ ministry! “Purity” has a triplet feel, reminiscent of Iron Maiden’s “galloping” bass line. The fact that a harmonica suddenly enters the mix is striking. Whether by accident or design, Struckdown manages to reference yet another “old-school” genre. A proto-Punk verbiage is expressed in a single spoken line at the beginning of the song. “Sickmouth” is my favorite. The hookish guitar riff is captivating. And though not completely minimalist, its drone suggests a diabolical urgency. Revolution recalls the past while assaulting the senses. It is certainly not the most technical album. But then I doubt this is the band’s intent. The album’s message is accentuated by a sonic punch in the face, or between the eyes: whichever you prefer. [INDIANOLA] SHAWN DAVID YOUNG

him harmonizing with himself ala’ Phil Keaggy or Robert Fripp (“The End Of All Rivers”) and getting tastefully bluesy (“King Kong Goes To Tallahassee”) among other things. Fellow guitarists will be at a loss to know what axe Cockburn used for each track (the booklet shows five models), while others may miss his open mouth. Still, pretty genius stuff here. [ROUNDER] JAMIE LEE RAKE

UNDEROATH THEY’RE ONLY CHASING SAFETY This re-released version of Underoath’s breakthrough album acts as an accolade for anyone who has ever sang along with the chorus of “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door.” The album expresses sincere gratitude to their fanbase by featuring redesigned cover art by Converge vocalist Jake Bannon, a DVD, three demo tracks, and the unreleased live favorite “I’ve Got Ten Friends And A Crowbar That Says You Ain’t Gonna Do Jack.” The DVD consists of a music video, live concert footage, and a featurette that delves into off stage antics and commentaries which superbly expresses the spastically funny and humble personalities of the band. Filmed highlights include a pre-show group prayer, early-career pictures, a conversation focusing on guitarist Tim McTague’s braces, and drummer Aaron Gillespie’s expression of how his bandmates are his brothers. The success of this album along with their perpetually increasing live audience is fortunate proof that Underoath’s message was indeed embraced and returned. [T&N/SOLID STATE] DAN FRAZIER

DIE TO RISE IN SPRING Swedish band Mammuth took extensive notes from the late ‘90s radiodominate nu-metal. Thumping bass lines, singmorphing screams, and thick guitars saturate the songs and guarantee excessive head movement. The once supreme dreadlocks should be proud of this foreign group’s result and impressed by their apt use of strong soaring choruses. Sometimes the student can become the master, yet if anyone is still left around to listen is another story… [TALKING MUSIC] DAN FRAZIER

BRUCE COCKBURN SPEECHLESS Though no singing-songwriting slouch, Bruce Cockburn’s instrumental handiwork has garnered him at least as many fans as his fervent political expression and serene musings on Christianity. Speechless highlights instrumentals from the breadth of his career culled from album tracks and previously unreleased work. Marketed as a jazz album, Speechless nevertheless represents the wide array of styles he has absorbed and commingled along his way. His latest recordings find

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THE LISTENING THE LISTENING LP Though its name begged a discussion regarding the theology that inspired it, Rock ‘N’ Roll Worship Circus was a band given to engendering smiles. With a shift from the band’s vertical lyricism and glittery glam revisionism, its members have become The Listening. That smiley outlook has metamorphosized, too. Largely replacing it is a sullen solemnity that plumbs the

Ratings DV

Writer

Struckdown Revolution

02*

Mammuth

Die To Rise In Spring

Bruce Cockburn Speechless

With sing/scream vocals and great melodies, this band is sure to live up to its name after any performance. Managing to mix creative sound bytes amidst the metallic chaos is primo, and the breakouts into uber-melodic sing-along choruses easily throw its musical hat into the ring of Warped Tour mainstays. While the infamous “she” rears her ugly head in the lyrical themes, these boy meets/leaves/loves girl stories feel more real than contrived, which will probably elicit more raised fists pumping than eyes rolling over groans. I’d love to hear ADTR have their shot at radio. They could do some damage.

Underoath

They’re Only Chasing Safety

A Day To Remember And Their Name Was Treason

Scott Stapp The Great Divide

The Listening The Listening LP

03*

Building 429

[INDIANOLA] DOUG VAN PELT

A DAY TO REMEMBER AND THEIR NAME WAS TREASON

MAMMUTH

balladry is here. The musicians backing Stapp up certainly hold their own, providing a solid riff ‘em section in both the performance and songwriting and that’s no small feat. For the curious Christian, all the right words are used here, weighing heavy in contrition. No spectacular heights are reached here, but neither is this a step-down from Weathered. While this might keep the Creed fan warm for several nights, he seems to be coasting. If the sole image of his rear (visible through the disc spindle as it sits atop the clear jewel case) is any message or indication, this seems to be an artist that doesn’t care. [WIND-UP] DOUG VAN PELT

SCOTT STAPP THE GREAT DIVIDE The Great Divide begins exactly where Creed left off. Stapp’s disgruntled former bandmates (Alter Bridge) predicted that his next album would sound exactly like Creed, and they were right. This will be music to the ears of the Creed fans that still remain faithful to the leatherclad frontman who seems to stumble from one bad pr disaster to the next. The rest of the music-buying public needn’t give this album a second look. The

Rise

The Pit That Became A Tower 04 Behold! The Unseen Endless Fight Back To The Front

Mainstay

Well Meaning Fiction

The Felix Culpa Thought Control

03*

The Dog & Pony Show

03*

01*

The Entire Pledge Of Allegiance Including...

1/27/2006 3:03:59 PM

ALBUM REVIEWS

ALICE COOPER GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN (DVD) Yeah, this is a full-on movie from Alice Cooper’s “BC days,” but it shows the campy sense of humor and satiric Vaudevillian side of this classic rocker. It’s part Help!, part Monkees, and all the other over-the-top goofy antics done in the name of rock and roll. I mean, it’s really campy. The DVD is set up great, though, as you can cut through the “movie” parts and watch just the concert and (best of all) you can watch the movie with an updated Alice Cooper commentary. While his commentary offers a little insight into the theater that was Alice Cooper, the poor bloke needed saving. This movie, on the other hand, ultimately wasn’t. [SHOUT! FACTORY] DOUG VAN PELT

LIFEHOUSE EVERYTHING (DVD) I wish every band that had professional music videos shot would release a DVD compilation like this. Their big singles are here: “Hanging By A Moment,” “Sick Cycle Carousel,” “Breathing,” “Spin,” “You And Me,” and “Blind,” as well as some live versions of “Come Back Down,” “Days Go By,” “Everything,” and “You And Me.” As the title implies, you get everything; and this band’s always done it right, from sonics to visuals, so this is a nice package. [GEFFEN] DOUG VAN PELT

MORTIFICATION

darkness preceding revelation of the Light. Fittingly, the bands’ influences now emphasize popular progsters like post-Syd Barrett Pink Floyd, the post-punk proto-goth danceability of Joy Division and Love And Rockets, even The Choir’s more somber contemplations. For those of us who miss the fun of RNRWC, “Everything is Nothing” finds the foursome taking an easier going, if bittersweetly so, approach. “If You Don’t Know Where it is You’re Going,” on the bonus EP, harkens back to Marc Bolan’s early acoustic Tyrannosaurus (before being shortened to T.) Rex, proving they’ve not washed all the stardust off their faces just yet. [L-TOWN] JAMIE LEE RAKE

BUILDING 429 RISE Building 429 is like one of those nameless generic constructions lining the city blocks of Anytown, USA: Its sound is bland to the point of annoyance! Granted, singer Jason Roy sometimes veers into gutsy Mac Powell (Third Day) vocal territory now and again here, but such a likeness isn’t nearly enough to prevent this sorry structure from deserving to be red-tagged. The sound on Rise is primarily crystal cathedral rock sheen, with little warmth. These songs are comprised of stock spiritual ruminations, exemplified by the worship expressed through “I Belong To You” and the bravery shown during “Fearless.” Lyrically, there are plenty of clichés and lazy couplets. “I Believe” includes such overused phrases as, “I believe that love is the answer.” We all believe that love is the answer, but such words – when applied without creativity – come off superficial and ultimately unmoving. Until Building 429 discovers its own unique address, it’s just not a place worth visiting. [WORD/CURB/WB] DAN MACINTOSH

GRIND PLANETS (DVD) Back when Mortification were still a hungry young band trying to make a name for itself, they released this video package that was long on self-mockery and Stryper spoofing, as well as nicely shot music videos. The (only) added bonus for this DVD, however, is the 1992 live show at The Arthouse, with the classic lineup of Jayson Sherlock on drums, Michael Carlisle on guitar, and Steve Rowe on bass. It’s not much to look at however, as it’s simply camcorderon-tripod-in-the-back-with-people-in-the-way type footage. The menu is archaic (you can only press play rather than pick and choose what to watch) and the audio is simply stereo, but I’m at least thankful to have this historic document on DVD. [SOUNDMASS] DOUG VAN PELT

THE PIT THAT BECAME A TOWER BEHOLD! THE UNSEEN Fuzzy, raw punk rock with a stripped-down-tobasics foundation that demands words, songs, melodies, and a voice to carry it. While at a different tempo than the frenetic Germany-era of The Blamed, I’m reminded of those good times and a little Lou Reed. Imagine Ronnie Martin fronting Radiohead for an SNL performance and you’re (possibly) headed in this brilliant Israeli band’s direction. [MEN OF ISRAEL] DOUG VAN PELT

ENDLESS FIGHT BACK TO THE FRONT I doubt I’ll ever grow up when it comes to metal music. Something about the power conjured with fast double bass drumming and screaming distorted guitars just do it for me. Endless Fight brings plenty of this strength to its 11 songs in 27 minutes. It flies by in a hurry, but you’d swear you’d been in some sort of fight afterwards. It’s all very simple, but the songs and riffs stand well on their own. Special mention must go to vocalist Nathan Siemenso, whose authoritative growl brings it consistently and tough. If you were

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the microphone, you’d have a real close familiarity with his tonsils. [SPOOK CITY] DOUG VAN PELT

MAINSTAY WELL MEANING FICTION Mainstay has a name that sounds more like a mutual fund than a rock band moniker. Although it’s unquestionably a rock & roll outfit, it is by no means your average bunch of garage-y noise makers. That’s because the first thing you notice about this outfit is just how well it sings. This is not just staying on key. Rather, it’s a case of going well beyond the call of vocal duty. Aaron Sprinkle, who has brought the noise with such rough ‘n ready outfits as Kutless and Emery, brings out the inner Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in Mainstay. Without fine lyrics, however, “Well Meaning Fiction” would be nothing more than pretty wrapping around an empty present box. But intelligent words turn tracks like “These Pages” into melodic stories that become mainstays in the old memory bank. Expect Mainstay to be around for the long haul. [BEC] DAN MACINTOSH

THE FELIX CULPA THOUGHT CONTROL The Felix Culpa got their first big break by winning an opening spot alongside The Used and My Chemical Romance on the Taste of Chaos Tour last year through a competition held on myspace.com. The DVD portion of Thought Control proves The Felix Culpa needs little more than a few electrical outlets to rock a house party. In fact, if their audience had been a little a bit older, the show looked as though it could have turned into a scene from Jimmy Eat World’s video for “The Middle” pretty quick. The four songs included are more of what’s been come to be expected from this young band: energetic, creative, and calculated all-too-honest alternative rock, lodging comfortably between Muse and People in Planes. Don’t worry though, it’s quite normal to enjoy the video more than music, this band is incredible live. [COMMON CLOUD] AUSTIN POWELL

THE DOG & PONY SHOW THE ENTIRE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE INCLUDING UNDER GOD The Dog and Pony Show are from San Diego and play metal-core that falls somewhere between Norma Jean, and Botch on the stylistic charts. Unfortunately, they don’t have the fluidity of either band. There debut EP, The Pledge of Allegiance Including Under God, goes down about as smoothly as sandpaper. When TDAPS are willing to take a melodic approach and soften up a bit, they start to become engaging. Lyrically, TDAPS find some commonality with early Spirit-filled hardcore bands. Sadly, this album’s strong points sound like B-sides from better bands. TDAPS have talent, but are in need of a good producer to help smooth out the ruff edges. [BACK ALLEY REVOLUTION] NATE ALLEN

1/27/2006 3:04:08 PM

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Mortal Treason John Davis Stryper Project 86 Stretch Arm Strong The Locust Says Black Metal Primer The Choir Inked In Blood Dark New Day Discover America

Zao Chasing Victory August Burns Red Sevendust Says Maylene&the sons... Enlow Ester Drang Underoath Poster xLooking Forwardx The Listening Dogthebountyhunter

To order back issues, see special offers, and do domestic and foreign postage calculation, go to our webstore at hmmag.com EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF AVAILABLE BACK ISSUES: #061 Sep/Oct ‘96 Precious Death (cover+poster), Black Eyed Sceva, poor old lu #077 May/Jun ‘99 Pete Stewart, Stavesacre poster, Doug Pinnick, Rackets & Drapes #078 Jul/Aug ‘99 Stavesacre, Godsmack Says, Saviour Machine poster, N.I.V. #087 Jan/Feb ‘01 Project 86, P.O.D., Nickelback Says, Focused, xDisciplex A.D. #091 Sep/Oct ‘01 P.O.D., Dashboard Confessional, DA, One 21, Embodyment #093 Jan/Feb ‘02 Girls That Rock, Meshuggah Says, Soul Embraced, Underoath #094 Mar/Apr ‘02 Alice Cooper, Squad 5-0, Pedro, Craving Theo, Beloved #098 Nov/Dec ‘02 Blindside, Dream Theater Says, Embodyment, Lost Dogs #099 Jan/Feb ‘03 xDisciplex A.D., Hopesfall, Extol, +CD w/PDF version of issue #102 Jul/Aug ‘00 Stretch Arm Strong, Biohazard Says, Figure Four, Duvall #104 Nov/Dec ‘03 The Ugly Truth..., Johnny Cash, BRMC, Skillet, Thursday Says #105 Jan/Feb ‘04 P.O.D., Daniel Martin Diaz Poster, Kutless, Pillar, Hatebreed Says #107 May/Jun ‘04 Underoath, Pedro, Pillar, Eisley, Squad, Cannibal Corpse Says #108 Jul/Aug ‘04 Demon Hunter, Antestor, Zao, Cool Hand Luke, Boys Night Out Says #110 Nov/Dec ‘04 So & So Says special Slipknot, Lamb of God, Scott Stapp, In Flames #111 Jan/Feb ‘05 Comeback Kid,Showbread,Anberlin,Pillar,Taking Back Sunday Says #112 Mar/Apr‘05 Norma Jean, Extol, Starflyer 59, Eisley, Far-Less, Scorpions Says #113 May/Jun ‘05 As I Lay Dying, Still Remains, Mae, Copeland, Fall Out Boy Says

1/27/2006 4:09:57 PM

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1/27/2006 8:06:59 PM

Entertainment reviews DVDS, BOOKS & GEAR 02 MILLIONS

FOX VIDEO

Two brothers come upon a bag full of cash. The younger, more religious one (who has frequent visions of famous saints) , sees it as a gift from God (as it literally fell out of the sky), but the other wants to spend it like mad. When they ﬁnd out it’s stolen money, the plot thickens. Very charming and clean.

03 MR & MRS SMITH

FOX VIDEO

While perhaps sold on the legs and cleavage of Angelina Jolie, this movie still makes for a charming date ﬂick, balancing the romance and shoot ‘em up action. While it was sad to see their marriage unraveling, the glimmer of hope keeps you watching. 3 separate commentaries are wearing, but fair.

01 WHY SHOULD THE DEVIL HAVE ALL THE GOOD MUSIC? BLANK STARE Imagine if you were part of a snake-handling sect (no offense intended if you are). Now imagine that you were watching a documentary about your sect that was made by people that are not part of it – with footage from one of your services and interviews with current, happy sect members as well as with disgruntled former members. You pretty much know that you’d be made to look like a freak, right? This is part of the “risk” in having an outsider come in and make a documentary of a movement (which happens to be our movement). I think it’s a wonderful and insightful thing to see ourselves from another’s point of view. Much to their credit, the production/direction team of Vickie Hunter and Heather Whinna (self-professed non-Christians) don’t edit the interview footage in such a way as to make us all look like freaks. Instead they let the interview subjects just talk. It’s amazing how freakish and fraught with problems this movement is; but, just like the church, it is a beautiful scene just the same. One of the most insightful comments comes from famed producer Steve Albini, who asks, “They’ve got a great message to sell (salvation from eternal torment), so why sell all this other (bleep) along with it?” Good point, but not an un-answerable question. The Director’s commentary is as insightful (if not more so) than even the ﬁlm itself. Great footage of tons of bands from Cornerstone Fest (Zao, Pedro).

04 FANTASTIC FOUR

05 24 SEASON FOUR

OBSCENITIES

FOX VIDEO

The folks at Fox made this a gem by loading it with revealing and humorous commentaries on a whopping 12 episodes, as well as numerous deleted scenes and bonus features, like an entire series of cell phone “mobisodes.” This season rocked and twisted every which way before concluding. Bravo!

06 JACKASS

PARAMOUNT

The epitome of foolishness, crossing “that line” numerous times and forcing the viewer to tolerate a ton of “potty humor...” but if you’re not busting a gut laughing at something on here, then you’ve never been a young man. Most profanity is bleeped for tv, but on the commentary tracks they let loose.

07 POLAR EXPRESS

WARNER BROS.

It’s probably been since A Nightmare Before Christmas that someone has created a quality, endearing Christmas movie for the young at heart like this. A loaded bonus disc offers great insight into this animated future classic’s “magic” (like performance capture technology), as well as fun ‘n’ games.

08 TRANSPORTER 2

FOX VIDEO

This movie lives in that zone between action and humor, the outrageous and unbelievable. Frank Martin (Jason Statham), aka “The Transporter” is the MacGyver of fighters, handily using common items like fire hoses to disarm and trap his assailants. Pretty good, albeit superficial, entertainment.

01 SPIRITUAL RELEVANCY %

FOX VIDEO

The sentimentality woven into this story once again lifts the action beyond adrenaline and fantasy for the Marvel crew. The CGI effects almost made the Human Torch and Thing characters believable ... most impressive. The disc is loaded with cool commentaries and a funny home video done by the crew.

100 100 3

10 18

40 4

10 81

10 15 3 2

30 7 2 1

SCENES OF GORE NUDITY / SEXUALITY

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1/27/2006 3:12:48 PM

EN T E R TA I N M EN T

Pop Goes Religion Terry Mattingly – W Publishing Group Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He writes a weekly religious column for the Scripps Howard News Service. This book is a collection of columns that peers with a keen eye toward the frequent convergence of popular culture and faith these days. Split up into easy-to-read essays, he makes some brilliant observations on both the excellence of believers in their various entertainment-centric crafts and the insidious darkness purveyed by non-believers in our cultural landscape. His is a much-needed Christian voice of reason that should be heard over the din of all-too-often hysteria.

i1030 Pelican I actually drove over this monster in my car ... and it didn’t break (Pelican offers a guarantee for these things if they do break). If you’re looking for a tough case to hold your iPod in, this one has a water-tight seal (and pressure release valve that’ll take this thing 30’ deep) and plenty of cushion to keep your mp3 player safe. It took some figuring out on how to close the case with iPod, headphones, charger, and USB/Firewire cables enclosed, but it can be done – even with the larger and older generation iPods. Burdensome by its massive size and weight, but as sturdy as a turtle shell. Holding all that payload is a pretty handy feature. It goes against the sexy, small and sleek vibe of the iPod, but who doesn’t want to keep their charger, headphones, USB cable and iPod all in one place? $39 [pelican.com].

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Your iPod Life Dan Frakes – Peachpit Press This mostly exhaustive iPod accessories book (thorough reviews taken from the pages of Playlist Magazine) is already out-ofdate, but current enough to convey helpful info in this explosive market.

iKey iKey Audio The job description of this compact device is promising: a onestep conversion of audio into mp3 or wav files directly onto your iPod or USB jumpdrive. The user interface is crude and inconvenient (relying on counting LED flashes for important info), but ideal for recording a lecture or single song. In converting audio from vinyl to iPod, however, you’ll need a wav or mp3 audio editor, since it saves each “session” as a single file. Wait ‘til the next model comes out. $229 [ikey-audio.com]

PiCO Disc Makers How DIY are you? Ready to selfduplicate your next CD? For about the price of one outsourced job, this miniature CD/DVD factory can swing its little arm into action for you. In testing, it was easy to install and make single copies, but it failed in several attempts to make multiple ones. For the price, I’d pass. $699 [discmakers.com]

1/27/2006 3:12:59 PM

74 C O LU M N S

WITH KEMPER CRABB

Spoiling Egypt: Taking and Remaking Culture

The Apostle Paul wrote concerning the events of the lives of the Old Testament Church, that “…all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:1-11). He also wrote that the Scriptures (and he was mainly referring to the Old Testament here, since the New Testament was still being written) were inspired by God to teach Christians doctrine, correction, reproof, and instruction in righteousness to complete the believer so that he is “thoroughly equipped for every good work” (1 Tim. 3:16-17). Since these things are true, we should expect that even seemingly obscure aspects of the Histories of the Old Covenant Saints should instruct us in a number of ways, since “every good work” necessarily involves a broad spectrum of possible works, among which not least would be works pertaining to the practice of art, music, and other cultural expressions by Christians called to these areas as vocations. An example of just such an aspect occurs during the history of God’s Deliverance of Israel recorded in Exodus 3:21-22; 11:1-3; 12:33-36, an episode traditionally referred to as “the Spoiling of Egypt,” so-called because the Authorized version of 1611 (e.g., the King James Version) says that the Israelites “…spoiled the Egyptians” (today, we would likely say instead that Israel “plundered” them). How so?

(Gen.15:13-16; Ex. 1:1-16; 12:40-41); the garments and silver and gold were a just repayment to Israel. Realize that the jewelry and gold and silver items (as well as the clothing) that the Israelites plundered were products of the overtly pagan culture of Egypt, and undoubtedly reflected Egypt’s idolatrous perspective, most likely containing representations of the various gods of Egypt, especially on the jewelry and gold and silver items. Nonetheless, God designed to enrich His People with the products of those who worshipped dark gods. Israel had plundered pagan Egypt’s cultural artifacts to their enrichment, at God’s Express Order. What are we, as Christian artists, to learn from this? We live in an increasingly pagan post-Christian society, the cultural artifacts of which (music, fashion, fiction, movies, graphic arts, etc.) generally reflect a world-view that, at best, ignores God, and, at worst, outright rejects Him. As God gives us Grace to excel in our artistic callings, we are, by the quality of our art, to find favor with our culture, plundering the culture’s various artistic forms and artifacts and remaking them into vehicles for the Glory of God, moving those forms toward their fullest created potential as bearers of the Knowledge and Grace of God. This will enrich not only the Church, but also our entire culture. What use did the Israelites of the Exodus make of their spoils? What can we learn from their example? We will, Lord willing, examine these questions next issue. [kempercrabb.net]

Well, God commanded Moses, just before He sent the Final Plague on the Egyptians (which was the death of the first-born as the Death Angel passed through homes which were unprotected by the blood of the Passover Lamb), to instruct the Israelites to ask the Egyptians for clothes, jewelry, and other articles of gold and silver. God said that He would give the Israelites favor with the Egyptians (Gen. 11:1-12:30), and that they would give these things to the Israelites. By commanding Israel to spoil the Egyptians, God greatly enriched His People. (Some have said that this was theft on the part of Israel, but it should be remembered that (1) all wealth is God’s to dispense as He pleases, (2) God moved the hearts of the Egyptians with favor to freely give their wealth to the Israelites, and (3) for the greater part of 430 years, the Israelites had been enslaved and misused by the Egyptians

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1/27/2006 3:14:16 PM

C O LU M N S 75

The way I see it Chris Wighaman

Devotions with Greg Tucker

I love the tacos at “9 Beans and a Burrito.” I love the new jeans I bought last week, so much so that I’ve been wearing them everyday since. I love Battlestar Galactia, it’s well written and the substitute futuristic cuss words make me laugh [Yes, I’m a nerd]. I love the new and strange Pilotdraft CD that was reviewed in HM a few months back. I love my wife … Wait, something doesn’t sound right. Somehow the same word that I use when talking about a bunch of stuff I enjoy is the same word I use to describe my relationship with my wife. Do I ‘love’ my wife like I ‘love’ tacos and TV shows?! “Love is cheap” or maybe we’ve just cheapened what love is. The question “what is love?” is worth exploring beyond the Will Farrell/Chris Kattan SNL skit. In psychology there is something called the Triangle of Love. Every love relationship has three components: intimacy, passion, commitment and how these elements match up and change determines a couple’s closeness and longevity. Funny thing is this isn’t some new idea. The Hebrew language that the Old Testament was written in has three main words for love: raya [passion/friendship], dode [intimacy], and ahava [commitment]. The idea of love as more than just a feeling is a psychological truth as well as a Biblical truth! To find out what it is let’s look again at the Bible and find one of the best descriptions you can find anywhere … Love never gives up, Love cares more for others than for self, Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have, Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. [1 Corinthians 13] Love is described as unselfish. Love is something you lavish on others, with no expectations of receiving anything in return. Love is wanting the best for someone even when it might mean you don’t get what you deserve. You can’t buy it, rent it, borrow it, steal it, or recycle it … love is something you can only give. I can’t love a taco … not like that.

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Do you think you know yourself pretty well? The average person believes he does, but if you’re honest, the answer is no. We tend to be gracious when it comes to assessing the purity of our lives. We’re too close to be objective and in too much of a routine to be accurate. Our creative minds give us a false sense of goodness when we compare ourselves to others, but the only one truly qualified to describe us is God. How does God see you? That’s the question behind King David’s request in Psalm 139. “Search me, Lord, and know my heart. Show me my wicked ways; see if there’s anything offensive in me and shape me to be more of a holy person.” (vv 23-24) That’s a frightening prayer to pray, and you shouldn’t speak it unless you’re ready to see yourself in a harsh, new light. We can hope to learn from others’ mistakes, but God requires us to look at our own lives, and sometimes that’s a painful and messy task. And it tends to be life-long. The great Apostle Paul, near the height of his ministry, threw up his arms and yelled, “Shoot! Why on earth do I keep doing these terrible things?” (Romans 7:15) Sound familiar? That kind of ongoing, deep, personal exposure is necessary if you’re going to do anything great for God. Sometimes He uses pain, failure, or crisis to show us who we are. Sometimes He speaks through a friend, or He whispers it to us Himself, if we’re quiet enough to listen. As disheartening as it can be at first, it’s a good day when you discover the real you – I repeat, IT IS A GOOD DAY – because it’s the beginning of a better place in your spiritual journey. It means you’re becoming more like Christ, and that, my friend, makes it a very… good… day. Rejoice!

1/27/2006 3:14:26 PM

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Tony Harnell (TNT, Starbreaker) Mark Slaughter (Slaughter) Stephen Pearcy (Ratt) Joe Cerisano (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) Ted Poley (Danger Danger) Phil Naro (Talas, Peter Criss Band) Mike Lee (Barren Cross) Pete Loran (Trixter)

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What Thrice Says | cont’d

on you with expressing some of your own thoughts and ideas and how faith gets fused with that and how maybe a non-Christian member in your band might feel about that.? Well, umm, I think it all comes down to kind of, you know... I don’t know. I don’t get super specific with a lot of things in my songs, and they’re able to be taken in a variety of ways and I think if I was being very explicit about certain aspects of my beliefs, I think that would be out of place. I think at times it’s like riding that line, but I’m definitely not like pushing an agenda that... Like any time that I actually am pushing something, it’s something that we all can agree about, some cause or something that we all feel comfortable with. I don’t know. I don’t use it as a platform to do anything, really. I just kinda write good music that comes out of my head, but you know if it’s something that’s a problem that would be unfortunate, but it’s not. I think the problem is that I don’t if I could ever change what I do cause I kind of write what is interesting to me. And what comes out of me. I try do that in a tactful way. I think it’s probably uncomfortable sometimes for people who... I think everyone tries to respect each other. This might be a strong word to use, but do you ever feel beat up or beat down about your faith in this industry, in this world, in what you make a vocation? I work with a lot of people who don’t agree with what I believe. Like a lot of the crew, we’ll have discussions sometimes and everybody loves each other. So in that sense, I don’t feel beat down by people around me. You know, people make kind of comments, like, every once in a while. I don’t know. It’s not something worth getting upset about. Sometimes you’ll be around someone who doesn’t believe and you’ll be embarrassed by, I guess, a lack of love that exists within a lot of the Christian right. It’s not real Christianity and it’s not love. It’s not my goal to bait somebody or let somebody trash talk another band or artist or entity or whatever, and I am not thinking that you are going to, but just in case you are I’m not looking for that; but based upon your viewpoint about Christian art, which I think is a valid criticism, what do you think about Underoath? They’re on tour with you and they are on Tooth & Nail records and they’re kind of vocal about their faith? Umm. I think it’s, uh... They walk on authority. You’ve got a very delicate place to put yourself. I think it’s dangerous in the fact that when your band does

something, it’s like, instead of somebody else, it’s like, it’s not just like, ‘Hey, that guy maybe was kind of a (jerk) or something.’ It’s like, ‘That band, that Christian band did this.’ And that’s the end. It happens. It can happen any time you have a situation like that. No matter how well the band does that thing. But I think they’re trying to do something good and positive. I don’t really agree with that approach, but I think they definitely have good intentions. Really nice dudes. I don’t know. I talked with them about it briefly. Yeah, but I think it’s not the best thing to do. That’s my opinion. I don’t want to speak any bad offense to a general situation. Cool is there anything else you would like to add or comment on? Is this a Christian magazine? We’re a... Yeah, for lack of a better... I would love to recommend a book, Blue Like Jazz... Yeah – Don Miller. I would recommend for the readers. I think it brings up a lot of very interesting issues that I have been trying to figure out ways of communicating to people. A lot in just dealing with loving people for who they are and the fact that a lot of Christians haven’t. They talk about unconditional love, but they live a conditional love. And the fact that a lot of times Christians aren’t as involved in social issues as they should be – like social justice and taking care of the needy and the poor. I think that as an institution the Church does a good job of doing things and is probably the biggest doer of things privately but as individuals I think people feel like they feel justified by God. They don’t feel that spur to have, like, works in a sense. You know the whole works versus faith debate. I think it’s in reality in Scripture that faith without works is dead and that... I mean, I know you have in James it says that, ‘Pure and undefiled religion is this: take care of orphans and widows and keep oneself unstained by the world.’ That’s a pretty bold statement. I think people confuse that with, thinking they need to convert everybody. That’s not the issue. The issue is to love everybody. But that book has a lot of interesting insights into those things. I think it’s kind of a real and refreshing book.

Now Signing Bands! info@Snapdragon-records.com

Now accepting compilation submissions for upcoming compliation cds compilations@snapdragon-records.com

Also accepting new street teamers!

Snapdragon Records P.O. Box 511273 New Berlin, WI 53151

www.snapdragon-records.com

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SIDEBAR:

❂❂❂❂

As for the Mobius-strip fire imagery of “Feed Your Sheep A Burning Lamp,” Ringhofer says, “In this song, the goat is the part of us that hasn’t cast itself upon God’s solution. It’s the part of us that gives in to temptation, and it’s also the very thing that causes us to die in the end. If left alone, we’re this way naturally. It’s the part of us (as Francis Schaeffer would say) that ‘stands in rebellion against God.’” In terms of live performance, Ringhofer enjoys college towns. “Half-handed Cloud got to do a whole tour with Bloomington IN’s Vollmar last March and it seemed to go well. We were pretty happy with the arrangements we’d worked-out between the three of us.

er-tape parade, lie detector tests, an aerobics class that plays the disc, a cross-country sledding race, a couple three-inch lengths of free dental floss, a Darebase tournament, and a blimp that advertises Halos & Lassos. It’s probably time to start dreaming big. How about it, Asthmatic Kitty Records, huh? (Just kidding about Points B through L.)” As for the future of Half-handed Cloud’s sound, “I’m actually thinking about pushing some parts of the ‘minimal’ aspects explored on Halos & Lassos even further,” he reveals. “That might be the next step, but everything can change …” Back to my wife, she asked, ‘Should someone as avant-garde be in a hard rock magazine like HM?’ “It’s possible that there will be something that approaches a “rock and roll” Half-handed Cloud album one day,” Ringhofer says. “Believe it or not, Black Sabbath’s Paranoid has been getting a fair amount of play around here lately.”

“Besides a tour in March and April (hopefully), perhaps we’ll make some promotional Omnichord ‘guitar’ picks, jump ropes, or headbands to sell at shows,” he responds to my query about promo for the album. “Oh also, on the release date, maybe there would be some skywriting, billboards, a tick-

The Kinks: Something Else by the Kinks C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue Kurt Vonnegut: Cat’s Cradle Van Dyke Parks: Song Cycle Wookieback: (all three releases) Dallas Willard: The Divine Conspiracy Phil Keaggy: What a Day Emitt Rhodes: Emitt Rhodes Artwork by Robert Rauschenberg Genesis: Foxtrot Polvo: Exploded Drawing The Prisoner television series The Byrds: The Notorious Byrd Brothers Francis Schaeffer: Art & the Bible essays Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes Artwork by Egon Schiele Simon and Garfunkel: Bookends Gabriel Axel: Babette’s Feast Danielson Famile: Tell Another Joke... Sermons by & discussions w/Ron Pickell Heavy Vegetable: Frisbee Larry Norman: Upon This Rock

A FEW THINGS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED HALF-HANDED CLOUD:

ably originally supposed to live forever, but the fall changed everything. All of creation is groaning about this – death is in our very nature now. It’s scary. I share the same mixed feelings about death that the Apostle Paul does in the second half of Philippians 1. And doubts can tend to creep up more easily when I slip and forget that my orientation has changed from death into life.”

Check www.snapdragon-records.com for updates

A Billion Ernies

The Starrs

Eighty-D

Untill I Bleed Dry

|Copywrite Snapdragon Records 2006|Artwork Robert Gustafson 2006|

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1/27/2006 3:59:40 PM

80 I N D I E R E V I E W S

PICK OF THE LITTER Gates Called Beautiful The dissonance between screams and melodic vocals are certainly being over-explored these days, yet this band from Youngstown, Ohio has a good understanding of these elements and writes songs with pretty big hooks that utilize their strengths (tight playing, pleasant vocals, and those great screams). Imagine the pop sensibilities of The Juliana Theory alongside the screams of Underoath. They’ve just been picked up by Chaos Records and should have something new out soon. A Glimpse Of Innocence has some pretty decent production on its 11 songs. The band formed in September of 2002, mixing members from Vessel (Burning Records) and Nevaeh. If they keep churning out good songs and develop that craft, it’s likely that they’ll be heard by a wide audience. In the meantime, check out their well-designed website and take in one of several video snippets posted. (Doug Van Pelt) gatescalledbeautiful.com

Sinking Steps...Rising Eyes While brandishing a soundscape of melodically pronounced indie rock, SSRE captures poignant tension in a powerful forte of layered sound. Some of this is backed by screams and smooth lullabies that don’t take the lead role. (Sam Farries) myspace.com/sinkingstepsrisingeyes

John Martinborough This R&B Gospel driven collection of classic hymns and originals stands as a bright light in the gospel world. John’s reverent response to the road of salvation comes through his soft sincere tenor. Don’t be surprised if you ﬁnd yourself in the “quiet place.” (SF) johnmartinborough.com

Anaphylaxis Very cool ambient, noisy and dark music. Noise For Lovers was recorded in 2003 with Jason Coffman programming and Teresa Santoski singing in places. It has kind of a soundtrack feel in many songs, grabbing your ears for mini sonic journeys. (DV) geocities.com/anaphylaxis1

Free For All Strong pop punk with solid production, nice separation, killer drum sounds, nice sonics on the bass, too. And most of all, good, good songs. Perfect movie samples are thrown effectively and humorously in. Just try not to sing along! (DV) freeforallmusic.com

Leo Nine Fans of Ester Drang and Sleeping At Last should dig the great pop melodies and fantastic soothing sounds of Leo Nine. Subtle atmospheric guitars create sweeping landscapes with soft vocals lilting

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and layering on top perfectly. When they want to rock, like with “Give A Little,” they rumble like The Cult. (DV) leo-nine.com

Ozark Empire This side project from some Deep Space 5 members is released independently. Mixing organic instrumentation with scratches and loops makes some crazy and cool noise/hop. (DV) forthelistener.com

Thomas Kovacs Smart, mature singer/songwriter folk/country/rock with a splendid voice and varied and well-played instrumentation. A lil’ slick in places, but witty, thought provoking, and creative. (DV) machine-inc.com

All But Screaming With a misleading band name, this band majors in a melodic rock format with big pop hooks. Guitarist/singer David Lunsford has a terriﬁc voice, and his bandmates play solid and tight. (DV) allbutscreaming.com

Fugitive Super melodic pop punk, kinda sorta just like Blink 182. The vocals bottom out just a tad in spots, but mostly pleasant throughout. Check ‘em out on this issue’s Hard Music Sampler CD. (DV) fugitivetheband.com

Post Mortum Hammer on the forehead nu-metal reveling in the glories of the hardcore/raprock days. Simple, yet effective. “My Resentment” shows up on this issue’s Hard Music Sampler CD. (DV) postmortum.com

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. n io t c u r t s e D d e w o S ncethose I love are reaping the pain. I ONow Thick as smoke, black as night...his demise isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a question of might. Rock star Everett Lester returns from Dark Star. Now heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Christian, and the choices of his former life pierce the present like a knife. Meth users. A psychotic. And satanic voices whispering to willing ears. All seek to derail him. His enemies are both human and supernatural. How can Everett survive the battle that threatens to obliterate him?

COMING MARCH 2006 Full Tilt by Creston Mapes AVAILABLE NOW Dark Star, exciting book one in the Rock Star Chronicles.

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“If any one note is dropped from the divine harmony of truth the music may be sadly marred.” —C.H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, pp. 336-37

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