My site view numbers had been soaring for a while, but then just like dropped off the face of the earth. I finally hit it:

Hooray!!!!!! Thanks everyone!! Hopefully I can keep up on my end and get these numbers where they really should be!

I decided to join into Meet and Greet this week since A) I haven’t done it in FOREVER, and B) I haven’t blogged in a  while. I was going to title this “Meet and Greet Caylee Grace”, but I thought that would be rude being that you might think that she’s here..she’s not yet..but she will be soon. Instead I’d like you to meet her in a different way:

This is Caylee Grace inside my wife’s belly (before and after photoshop) This pic is from 34 weeks and 5 days. Which officially means that this is the longest that my wife has been pregnant.

Our beautiful daughter Lexi:

came at 34.5 weeks. Which gave us quite a scare, but obviously she’s doin fine. This is her with her new shoes on..purchased thanks to her Nana. Oh and a congrats to Lexi’s nana(My mom that is)..she is engaged! Just found out today..and yes..I’m happy.  Anyways, back to Caylee. She’s been growing quite a bit and the doctor says she may even be a bit big. I won’t hold my breath on anything yet, cause they also said Lexi was big..and she wasn’t. I can’t wait to see what Caylee looks like. It’s just crazy to think that 8 months have FLOWN by and that she could be here at any time. Don’t get me wrong I’m not thrilled with having a lot less sleep..but getting to hold my next child will be completely worth it. Well I hope you enjoyed my brief meet and greet of my daughter to come and my “so-smart-it-scares-me” 2 year old daughter. It’s fun and great.

Thanks for reading!! Oh, and don’t forget to go visit The Natural Mommy for all your “meet and greet” adventures!!

I have to admit that lately I’ve just had a blank when it comes to what to write about..but God has stepped in to remind me of a story that happened just yesterday. I’ve had some mishaps lately with my truck and it’s be completely frustrating. The clutch has been acting up lately and I put it off until I was starting to really have problems shifting. Well I decided to take it in to a local shop to see what was going on. They said they’d charge me 1/2 hour of labor to look at it. The called the next day and told me that I had been putting the fluid in wrong for the hydraulic clutch, so they got it in there and bled the clutch and it was shifting fine.

So I take it home, and it’s shifting great with ease..but there was still a really funky sound when i’d engage the clutch..so I thought..ok, I need to save up the money to get the clutch changed..no worries. Then Friday came. I was leaving early from work cause we had a bunch of stuff to get done that night, and I’m heading home, and I just crossed through a major intersection and right after, someone was turning or something, so traffic was stopped, so of course I stop.. When I do I hear *CRUNCH*BANG* but unfortunately it was coming from the area of the transmission. I try to push in the clutch pedal..nothing..truck stalls..won’t start. So I think quick..pull it into neutral, try starting..it starts..SWEET..ok..push in clutch..like trying to kick a brick wall..nothing.. So I shut er’ down and push it off the road. Lo and behold I’m about 1/4 mile from the same mechanic’s place that I had picked it up from just 4 days before. So I walk down there, they helped me get it to the shop by driving it in first gear (they did..i did NOT) I decide to just leave it there, let them take a look at it. They call me the next day and say that the clutch will need replaced..and worse case scenario they would need to replace the slave cylinder and the flywheel..all for the low price of $880. Oh joy.

So my wife and I start discussing what we’re going to do. Do we junk it? Do we sell it to someone as is? Do we put that kind of money into a truck that is a 1994 with about 230,000 miles on it? So we talk and talk and talk…we decide that we’re going to try to tell the mechanic that it’s their fault cause they didn’t forsee that and that they should have told us not to drive it..and they are going to fix it and they should cover it..well at least that’s what I had in MY mind.

I wake up Monday morning still with this plan in my head. I sit down to eat breakfast and read my bible. I pray and say “God I’m not sure what to do about the truck..and I know that there’s no trucks in the bible, but I’m still not completely sure what to do” So then I open up my bible and I’m in Jeremiah 22. This is what vs. 13 says “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness And his chambers by injustice, Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages And gives him nothing for his work.” Of course..my first reaction is..ah..that’s crazy..just happened to stumble across that..that can’t be talking to me..hahaha..anyway.

So at lunch I go driving over there..still ready  to give my speech. I meet with the owner and sit down in the lobby. I start talking, then this random lady had walked in that knew the owner and she somehow spotted my tattoo on my arm. I still don’t know how, but she walks over and turns my arm so that the owner can see it. Oh..here’s what he saw..and here was a quick reminder to me as to who was watching the conversation..

So pretty much right there..I changed my tune and just talked and listened to the guy. He was just so helpful and nice that I just didn’t even know what to say. He talked with me, and we went out and he looked at my truck and gave me his professional opinion as to if I should put the money into the truck, and told me to take my time and to think about it, and he’d even work with me on the money side too. It just kinda put me in my place in lots of ways. I hope that this will help someone else make a decision about something and realize that not only is God watching, but EVERYONE is watching how you react to situations. If you call yourself a Christian..make sure you’re being CHRIST like in EVERYTHING you do. I know it’s hard..but try it..situations that you think are impossible soon change and become amazing. Thanks for reading.

Well I don’t know how many of you look when I add something new..so I thought I’d mention that I’ve added a new page about blog design. I’ve now got a couple under my belt, with help from others (thank you) and now I’m ready to help others. I know that there’s a TON of people out there creating blogs for others, especially wordpress. But if you like my touch of design, and are interested in having one of your own, go check out the “blog design” page I’ve added. Thanks!!

Here’s the other that I’ve been slacking on..again..my sincerest apologies my friends.

DBF: So how’s the tour going so far?

Nick: Man, the tour’s been awesome! We’ve all done different tours with different bands, this is the first tour that I’ve been on that I like every single band. Every single band is awesome, on and off the stage, all the way around. It’s almost like going on a month and a half vacation with all of your friends. Obviously there’s some work done in the middle. We couldn’t have asked for a better band to go out with than Demon Hunter. I really that them for taking us out with them being that this is our first tour and everything. Everyone’s been super cool. We knew a lot of the guys before hand.

DBF: What do you consider to be the best show so far?

Nick: Dallas, Texas man! Home town!! The place was PACKED. There was a lot of DH and LS fans out there. LS has always been very well received in Texas. Oh, Sleeper and us have always been well received in our home town, so there was a lot of people. Packed “to the gills”, probably even past actual capacity. The crowd was into every single band from the start, which doesn’t happen a lot. Part of that ties into the fact that all the bands on this tour are great, and a lot of people don’t expect to go to a show and see an opener like advent who completely blows everyone away, so that’s a really good way to get started with a show. Kids caught on to it immediately. It’s so positive. All the guys got to see their wives and kids..except for me..I have no wife..or kids..Having friends and loved ones around really helped, especially half way through the tour. The show was well attended..everyone was positive..and it was well received..family was around..so it was definitely the best show!

DBF: How long have you been playing bass?

Nick: Well I started playing piano as a kid, then I switched to drums, but that was too expensive, then I was singing in a band and our guitar player quit. So I taught myself how to play guitar. I actually used to play guitar in a band called “Society’s Finest” who were on Solid State records, and playing guitar was kinda my “gig”. I did a little bit of bass recording sessions for some studio work. I would come in and work on records, but this is actually the first band that I’ve ever played bass in. I’ve never actually been a bass player for a band before. I hope that doesn’t cheapen the bass experience for those die hard bass players out there. I love playing bass, but I’ve actually been an official bass player since maybe..December?!?!

DBF: So as far as the album..it just came out recently if I’m not mistaken..

Nick: Yah it came out May 23rd..so yah about a month ago.

DBF: What would  you say is the main focus as far as lyrically?

Nick: The thing is that with heavy metal, a lot of people see it as a negative entity, I think, and it some times deservingly gets that bad rap. We’re not like gorilla biscuits..we’re not like posi-core we understand that there’s badness in this world, but I think that we try to see to it that this record came to a positive conclusion and that it was about things like sticking to your guns, and rising to the situation, no matter what has been handed to you. So I guess it deals with a lot of the dark subject matter. Hopefully we approach it in a little more light so that we can bring hope to people. At least that’s our intentions.

DBF: Can you explain to me the meaning behind “The South Will Rise”?

Nick: Yah..actually that’s a song that’s really about people who are stuck in their ways. Basically about people who rely on drugs and alcohol to maintain stability and their existence. People who use those things as a crutch and are unable to, like I was talking about, rise above those situations. It’s in address to the people who fail, or unable to do that. Maybe a little bit of a wake up call. Maybe it’s a misnomer..ya know like if we were playing in Maryland or something..and I come up and say.. “Ok, this song is called The South Will Rise” and I will literally will see people turn their heads and say “What did he just say??” It’s definitely not like a southern pride in me or anything like that.

DBF: 3 things you HAVE to have on tour and one thing that you could COMPLETELY do without.

Nick:Ooooh..let me think about this.. As a band.. definitely GPS. Without a doubt. We’re on our second one now. Our van was broken into in Oklahoma City. They busted out the driver side window and stole our GPS. So we’re on our second one. Our first one was named Lucielle. After a character from the TV show Arrested Development. Now the new one is named Lucielle 2 [or too..not sure] after a different character from the same TV show. It was good for me because I got to make another arrested development joke, but ya GPS for sure. Lucielle..yah..we scream at her a lot. Next would be an IPod. A sleeping bag..cause you know what..4 or 5 guys on tour. You get a hotel room with 2 beds..somebody’s getting the floor. At least one person. Those are the things as far as a band. Personally, reading materials are a necessity.

DBF: Such as?? If I may ask..

Nick: Actually I’m a little bit quirky. I taught 7th grade english. I have an english degree, and I’m certified in Texas to teach, so I have really weird kind of..yah..uh..so on this tour I started reading the book of mormon..just out of curiosity..I got about 20 pages into it and realized that was NOT my bag. I just finished today actually..i just finished today every wikipedia entry for every american serial killer ever.

DBF: Ok?!? Wow..

Nick: I told you a little eclectic. I know..Put down the book of mormon..picked up the wikipedia of serial killers. I have a lot of love in my heart for wikipedia.

DBF: Ok..now the one thing you could do without.

Nick: I could completely do without…

DBF: Could be anything..or anyone.

Nick: Noooo..I am completely incapable of hating anyone. Aw..man..what could I do without. I guess it’s not so much an entity..let me preface this with saying that I’m so fortunate. So many kids don’t get this opportunity. I have the best job in the world. When you’re a kid, you don’t understand all the things that go on with being in a band, or being on tour and things like that. The thing that’s probably most frustrating is the “hurry up and wait”. On a tour like this, the load in is really early, and a lot of people don’t understand that we’re not done till say 1,2,3 o’clock in the morning and you need to drive to wherever your going to stay..sleep on the floor for a few hours, and then we have to get up and drive. Like I think our drive tomorrow [to nashville] is like 10 hours.

DBF: I think it’s about 8..

Nick: In a van, full of idiots..everything takes longer. I’m including myself in that of course..So yah, you load in at 3, you go thru your routine, you load in, then you don’t do anything till 7. There’s usually no place to get comfortable or anything like that. I guess that is my one complaint. If I could get there at like 6 or 6:30 and then play at 7..that would be great. I understand why that can’t work that way. I understand the inner-mechanics of the machine.

DBF: As far as support back home, do you get a lot of family and church support?

Nick: Ya know, it’s the 2nd or 3rd go around for everyone in this band, so we’ve been really blessed. A lot of people don’t even get a first chance to do what we’re doing. For some of us, this is our 2nd or 3rd band to be able to tour on a national level. So I think the understanding on this one, me being the newest member of the band, Mark, Andy and Chris started this and then brought me into the fold, but they always understood that we want to do this the right way. We want to make sure that this is something that our families and spiritual advisers can get behind, all of our friends and loved ones can get behind. The response has been a unanimous “listen, this is such a special opportunity and this is something that you guys believe in clearly, so pursue it”. So we’ve been super fortunate in this. Yah, as far as support back home, it’s been great. Support from the other bands and everything. The other dudes in the band used to be in Embodyment, so there’s been a lot of build up because of that, so there’s been a big spill over from their crowd who’s been so excited since the 5 years since Embodyment has been gone. We’ve been afforded so many opportunities that so many bands don’t get because of that and we’re super thankful. I get to answer the question every night “So what did you play in Embodyment”..

DBF:Age wise..how old are you guys..

Nick: As far as age. I am by far, the junior of this band. I turned 23 on tour, a couple of weeks ago. Andy is 29, Chris is 31, and Mark is 32..so they have almost a decade on me. I think with that age..and of course I can’t speak for myself. I don’t have the wisdom that comes with being 23. I have a lot of experiences up to this age, but its awesome being in a band with people who are 29, 30 years old cause they have their lives together and everything is in order. I’ve been in bands with younger people who were immature and made a lot of mistakes, but these guys don’t do that. They’re family men, who are convicted and wise. They really have their acts together. It makes a huge difference. The fact that Chris lives in NYC and the rest of us live in north Texas, and we’re still able to do this, says a lot in that he can leave his wife and his home, and he can do this with us. That Andy can leave his wife..his PREGNANT wife and his baby and Mark can leave his wife and his 2 babies, and they can support that. It’s the most amazing thing. Everyone in my family has been super supportive too. Obviously I’m not leaving a wife and kids at home, but I turned down a career in teaching to come do this. So we’ve all made our sacrifices, but it’s been worth it 10 fold so far. It’s been great.

Gosh..I really really feel like a slacker. It’s been over a month since I got these interviews and I’m just now getting them typed out. I don’t have a true reason for this other than bad timing, or not enough time in a day..not sure which it is. My greatest apologies go to both you the reader..and Advent (and The Famine, which I will also be doing today) Here we go!

DBF: So how’s the tour been going so far?

Chris: A few shows have sold out, but so far we’ve had a lot of awesome shows a lot of kids coming out. It’s been a really diverse crowd, older people, younger people. There have been a lot of youth groups which has been awesome. Everyone that we have dealt with so far on this tour has been really cool. Most have the crowds have been pretty generous as far as supporting all the bands. We’ve got like a week left and I’ve been really happy how it’s been going.

DBF:So you said you’re happy with how’s it’s going, you haven’t had any problems with other bands or anything like that?

Chris:All the other bands are awesome. We’ve become good friends with everyone. There’s no jerks or stuck up guys on this tour. Everyone’s like really cool. Hanging out all the time. Good attitudes.

DBF: So what would consider to be the best stop on the tour so far for you?

Chris: My favorite show so far was the House of Blues in Cleveland [Ohio] Just cause I love playing at the House of Blues cause they’re really nice and the crowds are really into it. Good sound. My second favorite show was in Dallas. The crowd was really crazy. My third favorite was Seattle. That was actually the first date of this tour. It was awesome.

DBF: So is it good to be home? [speaking of NC]

Chris: I’ve actually never played here at Cat’s Cradle. So it’s going to be home, but it’s also going to be a new experience at the same time.

DBF:So do you guys normally play down in Charlotte at Tremont, or where do you play around here.

Chris: We’ve played at Tremont a few times, but normally we play around Raleigh at the Brewery or at Greensboro.

DBF:So how many people that you know are coming out tonight?

Chris: Actually I don’t know that many..I’d say for sure about 10-15 that I’ll be really happy to hang out with, but I’ll know people. There’s a small heavy music scene in North Carolina..so I know people that someone else knows..

DBF:Ok..so how long have you been playing [drums..hence the drum key on his key ring..NOTE TO SELF..OBSERVE THE OBVIOUS]

Chris: I’ve been playing almost 13 years.

DBF: Lessons or self-taught?

Chris: I started out in middle school playing drums in 6th grade, then I started playing the drum set on my own. I basically taught myself how to play on a drum set, but it was based on what I learned playing in school with percussion and the snare drum. The way I learned was just playing along with CD’s. I would pick up a country CD and put on headphones and play along, just playing really straight forward stuff. I knew a lot of drummers so we shared a lot of stuff. I never really took formal drum set lessons. I took a lot of concert percussion lessons, but I never took drum set lessons.

DBF: Moving on to album stuff. What would you consider to be the main focus of the album?

Chris: I’d say the main focus is that we’re just getting out there. We’re just presenting our material for the first time. We just want to show everyone what we’re all about. A lot of the lyrics are not straight forward, but they’re not ambiguous at the same time. Being a Christian, you can take things from the lyrics, but at the same time someone who’s not a Christian I think can find things in the lyrics as well. There’s not one main focus, each song relates to a different topic, that Joe is thinking about at the time. He’s always reading the Bible and getting inspiration for lyrics from that, so each song has it’s own topic, but the albumas a whole is just showing what we stand up for and what we believe in.

DBF: So what’s your favorite song(s) off the album?

Chris: My favorite song to play live is Black Out, which is the first song on the CD. My favorite song on the album is 3 seasons which is track number 8. It’s a slower one that has violin. It has a lot of dynamics and powerful lyrics. Right now we don’t have enough time in our set to play it, cause it’s an 8 minute song, but I think one day if we do a headlining tour we’ll be able to do it.

DBF: Some of you guys are from Beloved..which ones?

Chris: Our singer Joe was the drummer and screamer. Johnny the base player was in the band, and Matt, one of our guitar players was. Mike and I are kinda new to the band. They actually started Advent right after Beloved broke up. Then I joined the band maybe a year and a half later.

DBF: Do you have a lot of fans that have “transfered” from Beloved?

Chris: There are at least 2 or 3 at each show that will come up and say that they love Advent, but they also loved beloved, but they are two different styles. I think people realize that we are a totally different band, plus it’s been a few years since then. It doesn’t happen as much as I thought it would, but it does happen.]

DBF: More personal..so how old are you?

Chris: Im 25

DBF: Is that average age of the band?

Chris: Pretty much, we’re all 25 or 26, except for Mike, he’s 21.

DBF: What about family?

Chris: I have a girlfriend, Joe and Johnny are married, Matt’s engaged, and Mike’s single…right now..

DBF: What are some bands that inspire you musically?

Chris:There’s a lot, but right now. Meshuggah really enspires me, the drumming that is. As far as hardcore type music..Terror, I really like his drumming, and Turmoil. Those 3 are my main drumming inspirations as far as Advent goes.

DBF: What would be one truth, besides salvation, that you would want to get out there to the crowd?

Chris: One thing that I would like to get across is that one thing that people think that they have to do in order to be a Christian is that you have to be perfect all the time. I just want people to know that everyone sins. Christians aren’t perfect. Us in the band, we’re not perfect. I think that’s one thing that really pushes people away from becoming Christians, that pressure. Everyone makes mistakes.

DBF: Is there anyone spiritually that influences you.

Chris: Our singer Joe is someone that really inspires me spiritually. He’s really open with his spirituality. He’ll talk to a perfect stranger about it. So I guess that inspires me.

DBF: One last question. What’s one thing that you would tell Christian parents about their kids listening to your style music.

Chris: With the screaming, it’s that we’re just passionate about our music, and we’re trying to get it across. We play really hard so that people will see that we’re really passionate. We don’t do it to look cool or to sell t-shirts or anything. We do it cause we’re passionate about our message and about our music. I think parents get scared by it is cause most bands that play hard music aren’t Christians, at the same time you have to consider a band’s lyrics. We hope that kids start really paying attention to the lyrics [Christian or not]. That’s the most important thing about it. I hope parents would read the lyrics of all the music their kids are listening to..especially ours.

Again..thank you Chris for you time in this. You helped me out tons!! Hopefully I’ll run into ya again at another show sometime soon!!

I was reading my bible, which I try my best to do every day, but unfortunately at times, I don’t take the time to actually STUDY and ponder upon what I have read. I usually read in the mornings, which can sometimes get interrupted by things like..breakfast, or Lexi (my daughter) waking up.

This morning was good. I made myself just really think about what I was reading. It was a passage that I, and I’m sure many other people have read over and over. It was talking about when Jesus was lead by the Holy Spirit to the desert to be tempted.

Here’s the scripture:

MATTHEW 4:1-11 (NASB)

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, `MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ” 5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, `HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and `ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, `YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, `YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels  came and began to minister to Him.

Ok, so here is what I just feel on my heart that this is saying to me. I am sure that there may be other opinions..but to me this is just simple black and white (and red)

First..can I just give all props to Jesus for going 40 DAYS in the wilderness with nothing to eat or drink..I can barely go a few hours! Ok, so Satan comes to Christ and says that He should command the stones to become bread. Christ responds by saying (in my paraphrasing) “We are to only live by the Word that we have been given by God.” Simply put, we are to feed off of what God gives us. How many times will we sit and listen to SOOO many other ungodly sources for help. We’ll read magazines, books (unchristian ones), and even listen to big bald people like Dr. Phil, but we simply won’t take the time to see what God wants in our lives. We wonder why as a church body, and a country, which was FOUNDED on God’s Word, is starving, struggling, and dying. We have other countries in the world that are sending missionaries here to help us to find God’s Word?!? Living in the south, it amazes me at times to see people who claim to “be a Christian” because they used to go to church, or their mama does..or they say “I know who Jesus is”. My question is..does HE KNOW YOU? Have you helped the homeless, the sick, the widowed, the orphans?? That’s what His Word commands us to do. I can say I’ve done a small part..but I know I’m not where I should be. I’ll stop there..with that part anyway

Second, satan tells Christ to jump from the pinnacle of the temple, and that angels will protect him from even hurting His feet on the stones.Christ tells him that we are not to tempt God. Tell me, how many times do we use the phrase “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is permission”?? What a crock of poo. I believe I’ve already posted about this, but it got deleted by yours truly, so why not mention it again. Why do we push and prod God and expect Him to just be the “Happy-Go-Lucky” God that just says..”Oh you silly boy/girl why did you do that again?”. It tares God up..It pushes that Nail back into the wound..Think about it. Why tempt God? Do you think He’ll let you keep getting away with foolishness? Hebrews 12:6 says “For whom the Lord loves, He chastens..” Do you really think there will be no recourse for the things that you have done? Ok..point given..moving on.

Third, satan offered everything in the world to Christ, just as long as Christ would worship him. As you can see Christ says “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” So tell me what other “gods” do you serve. Money? Lifestyle? Girls? Guys? satan himself? Let me tell you, satan does NOT care about you, or what you do, or who you serve, just as long as it’s NOT Jesus. satan sees us as a copy of God. He sees the image of  God in us, which is how we are all created.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. That’s a quote from “The Usual Suspects” I’ve never seen the movie..but the line is just amazing. People in this world actually believe the lie that satan does not exist. Let me tell you my friend he is very real..and probably very angry that I’m writing this post, which is ok, cause that’s my job. To reveal the TRUTH.

I beg of you today, tonight, whenever you may be reading this, if you do NOT know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior..accept Him now. Don’t wait. Just admit that you have sinned (done wrong in God’s eyes) and ask Him for true forgiveness. Ask Him to take control and to help you thru the temptations of this world. If you truly mean it..He’ll be there. Waiting. Patiently. Lovingly. Just please let someone that you know, who is a Christian, about the choice that you’ve made. Email me too! I would love to know! We as the “church body” are commanded to help raise you up, to disciple and keep you accountable for the decision you made. Asking Christ into your life is just the FIRST step of many many steps that you will take in your walk toward perfection. We will unfortunately never reach true perfection till we are gone from this world, but it’s worth striving for. Bring others with you, as many as you can!!! Please also do not be fooled by the lie that “Good deeds will get me to Heaven” God appreciates you helping others out, but if you do not have the blood of Christ to cover your sin, you can’t get into Heaven. That is another lie told by satan. Anyway..there’s my thoughts for the day (night..whatever..) I hope that this all will make sense to you as it makes sense in my head.

I guess I’ll start my page over by doing the one of the interviews from unfortunately a week and a half ago. I’ve been so busy and crazy that I’m just now getting to it. I also want to note that  I am posting this interview with Indie Vision Music. I’m working in cooperation with them to help get the interviews posted and out there for people to see.

To start, we (me and a couple of friends) drove up to the show and got there wicked early and so I decided to go ahead and try to get the interviews going. I ended up bumping into Lance and talked to him and he remembered our conversation, so we went in front of the near by pizza shop and sat down and hung out for a while. A friend of LS’s (Clayton, who helped with Merch, etc..) was there also to help the interview go “more smoothly”. I’ll try to add in all that was said. By far it was the most interesting interview yet.

DBF: So how is it to “be back” with Living Sacrifice again?

Lance: Uh..good. (laughs) It’s good. It’s kinda like riding a bike..like “why don’t you just get back on??” You remember how everything works. It feels good man.

DBF: Have you found people like me who know you from “way back” or are you finding more people who are just finding out about you?

Lance:Yah, we’re so old you guys are like coming with your kids and stuff. There’s a lot of new fans who’ve never got to see us live. We broke up before they even heard of us, so there’s a lot of kids that are getting to see us for the first time.

DBF: Show’s been packed out pretty good?

Lance:Most of them, yah. Cause of Demon Hunter, ya know. We’re just along for the ride. We’ve got a few fans that have been coming.

DBF: So are you playing either one of the new songs tonight?

Lance: Yah, we’ll probably play “Death Machine”. Well we’ll attempt it tonight. We’ve never played it live. We just recorded it. In the studio we hammered it out, so we haven’t got to play it live, and haven’t got to practice it much.

DBF: Do you guys have a release date for “Death Machine”

Lance: No, not yet. We’re hoping early next year.

DBF: Have you recorded all the tracks yet? Did you have enough time?

Lance: No. We have a good foundation for a few songs.

DBF: As far as lyrics to the new songs,  any chance of those popping up anywhere?

Lance: I dunno, we should probably put those up on Myspace or something, or our regular site. I don’t know..bruce wrote them, so..he says really deep things…I know death machine is about sin and how it eventually takes you over and kills you, basically. Bruce could go more into depth about all that. You can scratch all that if you want.

DBF: Or I could go talk to Bruce about it.

Clayton: I could do a really good impression of Bruce.

Lance: I know there’s no cursing..um….

(everyone starts laughing..of course)

DBF: What type of kit do you play?

Lance: DDrum. I started playing them on this tour. I talked to Yogi and Rocky, and Rocky had used them while playing for Evanescence. I played on his kit. It’s a good sounding kit. I talked to DDrum and they sent out something really quick. I had it within a week. I told them what I needed and it was there.

DBF: So do you have an endorsement with them?

Lance: Yah, they endorse me..and uh,  I endorse them..They’re a good set of drums. I really like them.

DBF: So how long have you been playing? I know you’ve been with LS for a while, but beyond that?

Lance: For-ever. About 20-something years

DBF: Self taught or lessons?

Lance: Self taught. I wanted to play guitar, I wanted to be Ace Frehley. That just didn’t work out.

DBF: Can’t imagine why it didn’t work out

Lance: I know…

DBF: So how do you balance LS and Soul Embraced

Lance: Soul Embraced is not really really active. They are right now, but there’s fill-ins. A drummer and a guitar player. They’re on the “Scream the Prayer” tour right now.

DBF: That’s why I wondered..

Lance: We didn’t tour that much, just a couple of dates here and there. It’s not a “full-time” thing

DBF: Ok. Name 3 things you need on tour, and one thing you could do without.

Lance: 3 things I need? Um..Clayton…um. My phone?!? I NEED to talk to my wife and daughter. That’s one of the things I need. oh gosh..um. underwear.. (laughs) um, vitamins. food. Like I said I need to talk to my wife and kids. I need their prayers. Ok..so I gave you like 16 to choose from.

DBF: Ok, well then what’s one thing you could do without?

Lance: Being away from my family. I could do without that.

DBF: So if they could be with you..that would be better

Lance: Yah, that would be great.

DBF: What’s one truth that you want people/kids know (besides salvation)

Lance: Besides God or Salvation?!? They should go to school maybe, forget being a rock and roll star. I don’t know..um..you could have picked a better guy for this..

DBF: Well you are the drummer..so that’s why I asked you..

Lance: Ok..well then um..go to school

To finish, I just wanted to mention that their performance that night was simply amazing. They did play “Death Machine” and it was freaking awesome. Probably half the audience knew the song from downloading it. They definitely picked up where unfortunately Demon Hunter wasn’t able to be. That night Ryan Clark was having some throat issues that needed help. Anyway, thank you Lance for your time in this. It was definitely a great time hanging out with one of my personal inspirations musically and even more so, with drumming.

The only picture I was able to score for the night was this one of Lance’s kit. Ignore the drool spot Just kidding..as in..there’s isn’t really a spot.

Well..there’s nothing I can do about it now, but I have officially deleted everything from my site..now I get to start from scratch. If you have been here recently, you’ve noticed that the page was very messed up. It’s now midnight and I am just realizing how stupid and crazy I am for trying to do stuff without full knowledge of what I am doing. I will try to see what I have around and hopefully find a way to get back what I had. Pray for me that I can.

thanks..me