What kind of music do you listen to when you're just hanging out?
All kinds of music. I listen to old jazz, like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and John Coltrane. I just started to get into POD. I love their new record Testify. It's one of my favorite records. I love U2 and Coldplay. I love old Living Sacrifice, which is an old, really heavy, Christian hardcore band.
There are also some really great upcoming bands. Indigenous (we're also touring with them) is an awesome live band. Resident Hero is a local band that's not signed from Los Angeles. We grew up with them. They lived in Texas and moved to Los Angeles and they were my favorite band growing up.
What were you like as a teenager? What was high school like?
Well, there was a part of my high school years when I was a big jerk, a bully and drug addict. Then, when I was 18, I had a supernatural experience and Jesus just showed up and proved himself to me--that he was real--and then my whole life changed. I learned how to love people. I quit doing drugs, and I would probably be dead if it wasn't for my faith.
How important is your faith to your music? How do the two work together?
Well, whatever you do in your life shouldn't be untouched by your faith. You know, whatever you are, it's going to have to be with your faith, if it really is your faith. God is the reason why I'm breathing. Everywhere in the whole earth is God telling us, "I love you," like with the sensei and with the miracles...that is his work all around you. So of course it's going to have to do with the music. It's the reason why we do what we do.
Like I said before, I would have died at 16--I was considering suicide. Then all of a sudden the world came alive, and hopefully, that's what happens in our music. You know, we bring hope and we bring a story that might change someone's outlook or approach to life. We're just who we are and hopefully that helps people.
If someone is meant to be a musician and they form a band, what's the next step to getting a record deal or booking a show?
You need to make a demo and you need to play as many shows as possible. I mean, for us, we just played every show. I guess that we just kept at it, whether it happened or didn't, because, you know, if it didn't happen it wasn't the end of the world. It's just like, okay this isn't what we're meant to do, so...that's cool.
What inspires you and the band when writing songs?
Often people we meet and our own experiences. Taking something bad and showing that there's good in it ... any extreme emotion or experience.
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