Where do you draw inspiration for your music?
From a combination of sources both musical and spiritual. Spiritual in the sense of the interconnectiveness of art w/ the Universe, not spiritual in the sense of dogmatism. I think there is a higher purpose in being an artist that is connected to the evolution of humanity, and I draw inspiration in trying to create art that works in that way- towards a higher state of consciousness…..as far as musical inspiration- i’m an avid collector and I have thousands of CD’s and records…….some definite “on the sleeve” ones would be the Creation label bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Swervedriver, etc. and their american counterparts, The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Dinosaur Jr., The Swirlies, The Lilys…..but I’d have to say my favorite band of all time is MAIN…and of course all the classic acts like the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Stones
Does Seattle weather influence your music?
I’d definitely same that our environment influences us, but I’d say that the weather is less of a factor than personal relationships…..
How have you prepared for the release of The Paradox?
Not sure if I understand this one…if yer asking about the record release at the all ages venue, the Paradox, then we’ve just been trying to get our live sound as close to the recording as possible…..if yer asking about the release “….And We Shall Call Him Joseph”- how we’ve been preparing for it, then it’s still pretty much the same answer….we’ve been trying to get the sound right….it’s quite a difficult task because we were in the studio for a year and a half on this record!…there are so many layers, I mean some songs have, like 53 tracks going on at the same time, so it’s just insane….so it’s trying to find that balance between how many backing tracks to use and what’s gonna be played live, so that it’s not a karaoke act…
What have you learned in your tenure as musicians, and how have you applied that knowledge to your music now?
When I started off playing music, I was all about only recording what could be pulled off live…..my understanding has changed to incorporate the studio as an instrument in it’s own right and this new album is a testament to that realization…..another thing is that you have to ultimately be in this for you…and i don’t mean that in a selfish way…i mean you have to play by what comes from within you and not by what you think should be coming from within you…..it’s not hard to play what happened 20 years ago and get a record deal…but to create something unique, even if you don’t get a Lexus out of it, does more for humanity than a simple rehash…
Do you have any sort of overall goal for the music, or do you take a more relaxed approach?
Yes. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s to push humanity forward through artistic evolution, to help them achieve a catharsis through my emotional medium….
When did you realize that you wanted to create music?
When I was 4 years old in 1979 after seeing KISS play on their Dynasty tour….