Interview conducted on 6/30/07 at the State Theatre in St. Petersburg, FL on the last stop of the Rise Records Tour.

First off can you state your name and what you do in the band?

Roger: I’m Roger and I play drums.
Adam: I’m Adam and I play bass

How has this tour been for you guys?

Roger: Amazing so far. We’ve gotten a lot of exposure. I mean we went out with (The Devil Wears) Prada. We’ve been playing sold out shows. This is our first tour and it’s been amazing.

As the heaviest band on this tour, how have the crowds treated you?

Adam: It’s been really good actually. We’ve been surprised. These last couple of shows have been skeptical because Prada dropped off. I mean, they aren’t metal, but they have a more hardcore element. Before, when they were on we weren’t skeptical. Theses last couple of shows we were worried but kids are still coming up to us and saying we did a great job. It’s been a pretty good response.

You’re heading out on another tour in a week. Can you tell us a bit about that?


Roger: It’s full US. It’s a lot longer. It’s like a month and a half. There’s five bands on the tour (Winds of Plague, Catherine, Beneath the Sky, Born of Osiris). It’s a more metal tour so I think we’ll fit in better.

You recently had a member change. How are things going with James?

Roger: It’s going amazing. He’s a really good guitar player.

Has James had any part in writing any of the new material?

Adam: The cd we just did, was before James was in the band. We haven’t written anything new yet.

Where does the name of the band come from?

Roger: Actually our old guitarist and bassist named the band. Everyone thinks that it’s a Christian name. We don’t claim to be a Christian band, we’re just all Christians in a band. I really don’t know where they got it. To be honest, I have no idea.
Adam: All I know is that they said they thought it sounded cool. It’s kind of a hassle because it’s such a long name and we have to repeat it all the time.

How many people in the band are Christian?

Roger: I think everyone is. It wasn’t the goal of the band to be a Christian band though,

How does that come into effect when playing with bands who aren’t Christian?

Roger: So far it hasn’t been a problem. We can play with Christian bands like Prada. We can play with any band. Bands respect us and we respect them. It’s a mutual thing.

How did you guys hook up with Rise Records?

Roger: We recorded an old demo. We’ve been friends with Prada since before they were a band. Then they got on Rise. They showed us to Rise and Rise liked us. So thanks to Prada.

You have a record coming out soon. Can you tell us about it?

Adam: Not to knock on anyone, Joey is a great guy and knows exactly what he’s doing and does a great job, but it kind of sucks because the environment you’re in is really smoky and no there is no bathroom.
Roger: It was like someone’s garage.
Adam: I mean it turned out great. It was beyond our expectations. The whole process of it was stressful.

What is the significance of the album title?

Roger: We get this one a lot too.
Adam: All I know is that the Arcanum Order means like the secret order. Eric does a lot of research and is into Greek Mythology and Gods and Goddesses. A lot of our lyrics use different Gods and Goddesses and he uses those as metaphors for his own personal struggles. I guess he was trying to come up with something clever. Like the secretiveness of the Gods and Goddesses. If that makes sense.

What is the scene like back in Lebanon, Ohio?

Adam: The actual city of Lebanon where we live is really small. There’s not a scene there. We are about thirty minutes north of Cincinnati and thirty minutes south of Dayton. Both of those cities have good scenes and are supportive of what we do.

Does metal seem to be the majority in that area?

Adam: We’ve all been going to shows in the area since we were like in eight grade and it’s typically been metal and metalcore. A lot of the bands coming out recently have been hardcore. Kids like it. There’s not a lot of the indie stuff coming out of the area.

If you could play a show with any three artist, past or present, who would they be?

Roger: I’ve got one right off the bat. Darkest Hour.
Adam: I want to play with Slayer. I would love to play with them.
Roger: I would like to do some shows with Children of Bodom. I want to see a European band live.
Adam: So Slayer, Bodom, and Darkest Hour.

What are some of the pros and cons of being such a young band (oldest member is 19) ?


Adam: It’s good because we can relate a lot to the crowd. Being on Rise, it’s not the fans that we’re typically used to, but we get a lot of the younger kids coming out. It sucks though because we’re young and trying to do this on our own. We have had a lot of the older guys in the bands helping us out.
Roger: Since we’re so young, we have a lot of time to grow as a band.
Adam: Another con is the whole school thing.

Do you guys look forward to doing the college thing?

Adam: Roger and James were freshman in college and the rest of us were seniors in high school. We didn’t know about the whole doing the band full time thing. Now that we’ve done a tour, we love it and decided that college can wait.

Where do you think the band would be without sites like Myspace?

Roger: I hate to say it, but Myspace makes so many bands. Without Myspace it’s hard to market shows and promote your new music. It’s the main source for promotions.
Adam: Everyone bashes on Myspace but it’s the best thing that could have happened to bands.

What do you think of the new signing over at Rise, Burden of a Day?

Adam: I haven’t had the chance to listen to them yet.
Roger: I got the chance to check them out and I liked them. They’re big from what I’ve heard and from what I saw on their Myspace.

That’s all. Any last words for the fans and readers?

Roger: Check us out on tour.

 

 

                                            

 

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