Closing in on Anberlin’s fifth release Dark is the Way, Light is a Place pegging Anberlin is a bit of a challenge.  On the one hand they are the embodiment of what hard work and dedication can do for a band that humbly began their career on Tooth & Nail.  After all, Tooth & Nail is just a small independent label known more for signing talented bands but not necessarily for fostering these bands to the next level.   And while they garnered a fair amount of acclaim and fans through grass roots marketing, Anberlin’s popularity continues to grow. Now with Universal Republic, they face new challenges and higher expectations that naturally follow them after the big success of New Surrender that also included the number one single, “Feel Good Drag.”  On the other hand speaking with their lead singer, Stephen Christian, you get the idea that they have higher expectations of themselves. In other words, they are acutely aware of their place in this world and aren’t just focusing their attention on the chart topping songs that they’ve had or relentless touring that they do.  Already a philanthropist, Stephen Christian is also attempting to spread the word on the human slave trade too with an organization that he co-founded called Faceless International.  In any case, if you thought that rock stars are all complete egomaniacs, listening to Stephen is a nice surprise as to the intelligence and depth that some of them can express themselves – not just through the art of conversation, but what they’re willing to do to change the world.

C6M: Hi Stephen.

Stephen Christian: Hey, how are you?

C6M: Good. Thanks for taking my call.

Stephen Christian: Not a problem, Paul.

C6M: So, how is Europe? You’re currently out in Europe and touring, how is that going?

Stephen Christian: Yeah. It’s going unbelievable, like this is our first time to Central Europe, like we’ve been in the UK and those parts, but never have we gone kind of into this central part. So, we’ve been to Sweden, and right now we are in Germany, and then we’re heading off to the Netherlands, and Amsterdam, so it’s been incredible, just the different culture, it’s a different world, and I love it. It’s unbelievable.

C6M: How are you guys being received out there? I mean is it like you’re trying to find a whole new audience out there or are they already familiar with Anberlin?

Stephen Christian: Well, that’s the thing. It’s like we thought we were going to come here and basically start from square one, just come here and introduce ourselves. The positive side of illegal downloading is that it opens up a world of new fans, regardless of how much you’ve toured there or how much you’ve tried to expose your music to the country.

So, like our first day in Sweden, we played a festival and about 2500 people showed up for us for our performance that first night, and actually headlined a festival which is strange in the fact that we’ve never even seen Sweden before, and so the fact that like we just flew in and headlined our first time there, it was pretty amazing.

So, like even in Germany, like last time we played in Cologne, and we sold out the show and people were singing along, and it was just unbelievable. So, the reception has been absolutely like just flooring. I would have been stoked for like 15 people to show up, I honestly would have. And just the fact that more than 15 people are coming, it’s pretty incredible.

C6M: That’s great. So, when do you guys get back to the States?

Stephen Christian: We get back — I get back September 1st, I’ll get back September 1st.

C6M: And then you’ll be touring out here?

Stephen Christian: Yeah. Basically like we just pick up right from there, do a lot of in-stores and festival in New Jersey and just start the machine right back up.

C6M: Right. So, let’s talk about the new album, Dark is the Way, Light is a Place, starting with the title. I had heard that you got it from a poem, was that…?

Stephen Christian: Yes. I felt like this was almost a contradiction in music in the fact that like even though some of the lyrics presented some type of like hope or meaning or just kind of encouragement to persevere, I mean still the music remains kind of dark and ominous.

So, for me, it was just kind of like — after our keyboardist Kyle Flynn kind of exposed me to the poetry of Dylan Thomas, I realized like that in the same light I felt like this record was going, its poetry was in the same way.

So, that I felt like the contradiction and the Dark is the Way, Light is a Place kind of float perfectly with what we were trying to achieve on the record. So, it just seemed perfect, it just seemed kind of destined.

C6M: Right. So, what would you say is different and what’s the same about the music on this album? I mean production wise you worked with Brendan O’Brien, I mean so you’re definitely getting a lot more expertise this time around in terms of technically speaking, but how about thematically?

Stephen Christian: Right, yeah. I think that is kind of like the major change in the way that this record is going to — it was not only just presented, but actually just — I think that’s the biggest change. Brendan just completely revolutionized our band, I mean just completely changed around our [inaudible]. I’m sorry, these doors are not new.

In a way that like he absolutely challenged us to take what we have already had in place for seven years now, and make it the absolute best that we can possibly be. I mean here’s a guy who’s worked with like Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots, Rage against the Machine.

I mean when you’re working with that kind of caliber producer, you kind of like step up your game, and I think that’s what happened on this record, is that we feel like we were absolutely challenged.

I think that Brendan saw that we had a lot of potential, and we just needed a little guiding, and with his help I think that we’ve just made the best record that we’ve made in our career.

C6M: Right. Well, let’s talk a little bit also about some other people that have helped you out. I heard also through one of the other interviews, that you talked a lit about Butch Walker helping you with some lyrics along the way.

Stephen Christian: Yeah, yeah.

C6M: Yeah. What was that like? Because he’s one of those guys that I always felt was like the best kept secret in the music business, that shouldn’t be a secret.

Stephen Christian: Yeah, yeah, and if anybody has ever seen his live show, oh my gosh, just mind boggling. That guy is a genius, not only a great writer, but just a great performer.

Yeah, well, I got a chance — last record went — New Surrender that we put out in 2008, I kind of went through a mental trauma in the fact that like the weight of that record, putting out that record just got to me, like I just felt like here we are just newly on a major label, and I just felt kind of like crushed by the weight of the pressure from like expectations from fans and the label.

So, I sought out to work with some different writers, and so I got a chance to work with Dan Wilson, who was the singer of Semisonic, and Butch Walker. I learned a lot through them, through the both of them just about how mentally they go about the writing process.

So, yes, those songs appeared on New Surrender, and I feel like I still took like some of their suggestions and kind of applied it onto how I write and how I did write this last record.

C6M: Well, let’s talk a little bit about the transition from leaving Tooth and Nail and going to any new label. I mean now that you’ve had a couple of years to process some of the differences, what opportunities you think you’ve gained with Universal Republic that you didn’t have with Tooth and Nail?

Stephen Christian: Well, I think that Universal Republic speak softly but carries a big stick in the fact that they are the biggest record label in the world and they do have artists that — I mean they’re multi-million selling artists, so I think things like Brendan O’Brien would never, ever, ever have been possible if we were still on Tooth and Nail.

I mean that’s kind of out of their thinking, that’s out of the logic, and so I feel like with the financial backing of Universal Republic, we were allowed to have gigantic opportunities, even working with Neal Avron, who did our last record, New Surrender there in California, I don’t think could have been a possibility if we were still on Tooth and Nail.

Some of the major differences are the fact that like Tooth and Nail are so small that everyone at the label was like friends of ours. Like we love those guys, they’re still some of my great friends. And Universal is a little more impersonal, it’s a little more of a company; it’s a business, which is great.

There are positive aspects to both. Because when you work with like a company, when you work with a business, you don’t feel bad when you have to ask for things like “Hey, I need these tours,” or “I have to go on tour,” whereas on Tooth and Nails, it’s kind of just like, well, fighting tooth and nail for what you had to have to survive as a band.

So, that’s some of the biggest differences, but I would not have traded the way that things have turned out for anything. I think Tooth and Nail was an amazing, amazing record label to start my career at, and Universal Republic is going to be the best possible end result to end my career with.

C6M: Well, I mean going along with that, I mean talking about your band in the past versus today; I mean you’ve come to Universal with sort of a built-in fan base in some respects, thanks to that label in some respects, whether you’re working on a smaller dime and now working on a bigger dime.

But how other things have changed? Before you had to — it seemed like you guys had to work a lot harder at the grassroots level, whether it was being accessible online, having blogs, where you got out there and actually blogged online. Has that changed much?

Do you guys change your approach on Twitter, Facebook or has that pretty much stayed the same? Because if I’m not mistaken, at one point, you posted out there that you wanted people to text their numbers so you could call them personally.

Stephen Christian: Yeah, yeah. I mean the thing about any band out there, my biggest suggestion is, treat it like it’s a DIY label, a do-it-yourself Punk Rock small label, and the fact that like go out there and be your best marketer, and it’s not all about marketing.

For me, it’s about that the bigger a band gets, the bigger and the greater the chasm between me and like the fans become, and I don’t want that. I started to see that with the growth and the expansion of the band. It just felt like we were alienating and leaving people behind, and I didn’t want it like that.

So, that’s why we started the YouTube channel, and the Facebook and the Twitter, and we still have MySpace, and iLike and all these different avenues of trying to reach out to the fans. So, none of that has changed.

I feel like we’ve kept Anberlin in shape, in a new place, in the same place where it was like five years ago. We just added a record label that had the capacity to push something like Feel Good Drag on the radio and make it a number one song in the country, like that’s something that we couldn’t have done on our own and that’s something that Tooth and Nail couldn’t have done.

So, for us, we wanted to stay true to what got us where we are. We didn’t want to like put our feet on the table and be like, “We’re on a major label now, so sit back and enjoy the ride.” For us, it was like we have not changed up our touring schedule. We still tour nine to 10 months a year.

That’s something that we did during the Tooth and Nail years, and that’s something that we continue to do. I don’t know when our next actual long break is, till — I think our next actual like more-than-a-month break is next summer.

C6M: Right, wow.

Stephen Christian: That’s like I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I want to keep going in the way and the direction that we’re heading.

C6M: Alright. Well, let’s talk a little bit about your band then in the context of the current music scene, social climate, whatever you want to label it. Do you guys feel like at times you’re under a different kind of scrutiny than the average band given your past?

I was listening to one of your interviews and you were saying how important it was to come from a place with honesty. Do you feel like that honesty is a high price?

Essentially what people discover, that you might have been labeled a Christian band at some point and that you guys are all — at least people who have faced and have a certain point of view? Do you feel like that you’re under a different lens or so to speak, a different magnifying glass?

Stephen Christian: Absolutely. I mean think that like sadly the stigma of like “Christian music” is that one of like preaching sterile adult contemporary music that has no substance or originality, and for good reason, because that’s just the summation of the majority of Christian music out there, and so that’s fair enough.

What hurts is the repercussions for us is the fact that when somebody goes — when people start out the interview with — or like the journalists start out with, “Florida Christian rockers Anberlin are going to set to take stage,” it’s just kind of like you just shutdown like 90% of that audience, because they don’t — the first thing that goes through their heads is like Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith or something of that sort.

That just sucks. It just feels like you’ve just really tried to — you’ve just pegged us in this very small genre, not allowing the average person to even give us a chance. I think that I’ve never like sat down with a band and gone, “Oh, I would like The Killers, but they’re Mormons, so I’m not even going to give their music a chance.”

For me, it’s just like if I like it, I’m going to listen to it. If I don’t like it, I don’t listen to it. I guess that’s the chance I want to be given. I just want everybody to listen to Anberlin.

If you hate us, then that’s fine as long as you gave us a chance not because of our genre, and not because of the labels that journalists put on us, but because of like whether the music is good or bad, and that’s what I want to be judged on.

But I don’t feel alone in this, like Bob Dylan was labeled Folk Rock and other bands — everybody has this — Pearl Jam is forever Grunge Rock. These are labels that obviously the bands themselves did not give. I mean Sunny Day Real Estate is not emo.

I mean it’s absolutely original, amazing, mind numbing rock, but people need — we need boxes as humans. We need these little compartments to place objects in, and much to the bands’ dismay. I mean Bob Dylan hates being called Folk Rock, folk music. So, I don’t feel alone. I don’t feel like I’m a pioneer on generic subtitles that journalists interject.

C6M: Right, right. Well, you know, they say it was some — there is foundation obviously, because you’re not shying away from it at the same time.

Stephen Christian: Absolutely. I definitely don’t go out there and — number one, I don’t go out on stage and start preaching, and then also we don’t play churches or Christian gatherings. We go out with anybody. We’ve been out with My Chemical Romance and All American Rejects.

I mean we’ve been out with Nine Inch Nails and Alice in Chains, it’s just we don’t limit ourselves to like, “Oh, but you’re not in this particular phase, in this particular genre, then we refuse to have our name coincide with yours on a poster.”

C6M: Sure, sure. Well, I was talking to Mike Hranica from The Devil Wears Prada, and he was talking about something similar, being a person who in facing the music industry, and he was surprisingly positive.

He’s another one of those bands that charts highly, has done big festivals, and I asked him about how they fit in, and if they felt that there was that negative stigma. He said at times, but he was surprised actually at how much they did fit in to the entire scene. Do you find that you’re surprised more often than you’re not?

Stephen Christian: Absolutely, I mean definitely. I think that even traveling internationally, it seems like — especially Europe and Australia, they don’t hear — I mean there’s a festival in New Zealand called Parachute, which is “Christian festival” but any band and every band plays. They don’t care.

It’s more of an American — I don’t want to say dilemma, but it’s more of an American ideal, like the negativity around Christian music, but I’m absolutely surprised, because I mean artists are known to be open minded.

Painters, artists, like that culture just spawns like a liberal free thinking, like all encompassing, and so we don’t get it in the art community. We don’t get it in the — it’s more of the outside, outside the art community.

Yeah, but I definitely feel that more times than not, no one cares. They just want to know if it’s good music or not, and they don’t like check out our Wikipedia page before they check out our iTunes.

C6M: Right, right. Well, looking back, now that you have the benefit of a little bit of success, what do you think the biggest misconception you’ve had about where you are now versus who you were then and what you thought it’d be like to be where you are now, and having traveled and seen the world a bit. I mean what’s the difference between I guess dreaming about it and the reality?

Stephen Christian: Nothing. I mean I could never have dreamt this life. I can’t. It’s hard to imagine that if I went back to my high school years, and my guidance counselor just told me that I probably am not smart enough to make it into college and like, “Okay, you might as well just go get a job basically.”

And then I sat myself down, I was like, “Listen, one day someone is going to ask you a question, an interview or he’s going to ask you what are the misconceptions of a — would you ever dream of this life?”

“Let me tell you about the life, you are going to be on the phone with him in the middle of Germany after just playing a Sweden festival, like headlining a tour with your second radio single going big.”

All these things, I would never have believed in a million years. Like what I dreamt as a child, I wasn’t even capable of dreaming this big. So, honestly, nothing, it was nothing. There was no misconception. This is much greater than I ever thought, that life could ever be.

C6M: Well, that’s great actually. That was not the answer I was expecting, but that’s awesome. Let’s talk about some of your musical influence in the context of your upbringing. You had mentioned at one point that you were a little sheltered in terms of what you were allowed to listen to and things like that.

So, what have you gone back to and rediscovered or discovered for the first time that sort of changed your world view, that you might have been afraid to listen to when you were younger?

Stephen Christian: Well, I think that yeah, that’s — I guess if there is a bright spot in being sheltered, it’s the fact that like every genre is a whole new genre. It’s funny how that’s like right out of high school when it was kind of my turn to explore my world and get my world view, the first thing I did was just like started with the 80s.

That, I think that’s where my mind gravitates, when you said the word influence, it was just like the 80s, like I love it, and maybe it’s a naïve innocence of that era, of my life, but things like The Smiths and Morrissey and Depeche Mode and Cure, kind of like — or Death were massive influences early on.

The melody lines, the lyrics, I think it all — and then from there, I went on exploring, and it just kept going back and back until I ended with blues, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters and jazz, and just Dave Brubeck and John Coltrane, Nina Simone, I mean all these people just — it’s like someone putting on glasses for the first time that’s never really been able to see. I think that’s what it felt like for me. But as far as influences go, I think the 80s is the biggest influence to date.

C6M: Right. So, Bono was talking about faith inspired lyrics, and he was quoted in U2 at the End of the World as saying that they’ve found different ways of expressing it and recognized the power of media to manipulate such signs and maybe we have to draw our fish in the sand. It’s there for people who are interested, and it shouldn’t be there for people who aren’t.

What do you think of that quote? And is that a model that you sort of feel is for you guys as well, when it comes to what you write about and then how you present your music?

Stephen Christian: First of all, that dude is amazing, like how he comes up with some of the quotes that he came up with. If you ever get a chance, you should YouTube his entire speech at the end of NAACP Awards. It sent shivers down my spine.

And that is an incredible quote, like to put the fish in the sand and for those — absolutely, as far as like faith and lyrics, I don’t sit down to write any one song. I don’t sit down to write a song, “Okay, this is going to be about God, and this song is going to be about a girl.”

I just sit down and write, and kind of like the overflow of the heart, like so I write lyrics. But I think that’s a great quote. Like for me, it’s just like this is — my faith is more important than my music, so if it came down to like choosing one, there is no choice. It’s that integrated into my life, that faith is the most important thing, like the music world is going to be here, I know for me, my band. It may not even see another decade, but my faith hopefully will cure me through the rest of my life.

So, I’m not about to compromise my beliefs so that I can look better to the journalists or the public or a promoter or a publicist. That’s not my intention, but yes, if anybody like had questions at a show, and they want to talk.

On more than one occasion — like I had this blog called modesty.blogspot.com and it has my email address and more than five dozen times like people will write about my faith and ask me questions about it.

And I’m very — hey, here is exactly what I believe, take it or leave it. I’ve had some just great intellectual conversations through it, but again, I think I’m pretty close to that. I’ll have to analyze that a little more but drawing a fish in the sand for those who want to see and for those who do not, that’s fine too.

At the end of the day, if they don’t choose my faith or if they don’t ever have questions, maybe in some small way I can inspire them in a positive manner, so to not only live their life better, but maybe live their life to the fullest through positive lyrics, through manipulation of media and the lyrics.

C6M: Right, right. Well, Bono has “One”, let’s talk about some of the causes of Anberlin and close with that, such as Faceless International.

Stephen Christian: Yes, yes, I mean that’s a direct offshoot of my faith, and the fact that like again, it’s not like a Christian organization, because for us like human trafficking affects Buddhists and Muslims and atheists and agnostics all alike. So, it’s not — it’s the reason I do it.

But for us, Faceless International is just plain and simple, like we just want to end and prevent slavery, and we’ll try anything we possibly can, whether it’s working with other organizations, whether it’s taking teams over to places like India, Ukraine, Guatemala to Ecuador, Haiti and working on the ground with people that are in the trenches fighting human trafficking.

It’s an incredible organization. I mean everybody that works there are volunteers and people have given up full time jobs to work in Nashville for Faceless International. So, it’s incredible. I can’t believe how much this cause kind of rallies people to motion.

I mean children deserve the best life possible, and the fact that right now even in the States — there are more slaves in the United States right now than at the pinnacle of the Civil War, and yet we’ve turned such a blind eye or we just don’t want to hear about it or we just don’t believe that it happened.

But Hillary Clinton, in the last report she did, said they guesstimate 600,000 slaves in the United States. Even if that’s inaccurate, like even half of that, 300,000 is just atrocious, just atrocious.

C6M: Absolutely. Okay, let’s close with this then. What’s your current guilty pleasure, musically speaking?

Stephen Christian: Guilty, current — I don’t know if it’s guilty, because I haven’t heard much about him like as far as whether he’s like — or whatever the case is, but I really like Drake. I mean I’ve really just — way into his stuff, just bought his record and I just think it’s pretty unique, it’s clever. I think he’s got pretty great lyrics, and all around I’m just a fan. So, I don’t know if that’s guilty though. Maybe he’s like — maybe he’s cool, so I don’t know.

C6M: Maybe a little bit, since he’s a Degrassi kid, but you know, it’s a whole other story.

Stephen Christian: Yeah.

C6M: Alright, thank you Stephen so much for talking to us, and we wish you a lot of luck on the album and in the coming months on the rest of your tour.

Stephen Christian: Good deal. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

C6M: Okay, bye.

Stephen Christian: Bye.

The thing about talking to Stephen Christian, after having a few weeks to take it all in, was that it made me supremely aware of the needs that exist in this world that go beyond my own.  After our conversation, I immediately got in contact with Faceless International to speak with another member of his organization to learn more about the slave trade and the role that other organization had in educating people about the world wide slave trade that still exists on planet earth, but also the organizations that were contributing to perpetuating the slave/sex trade such as Craigslist (who only just recently censored their adults services section – and only after much protest).  It made me realize that there’s more to life than music, but was also nothing like music that helped to create a dialogue that I can truly say changed the way that I thought about this life.  If you have questions on whether or not music actually could change the world – it does.  One listener and one reader at a time.  It was the realization of that one thing that helped me to believe that maybe that’s why I do what I do too.

Anberlin’s new album is out on September 7th, 2010.  I got to listen to it and it’s really an excellent album from top to bottom.  So don’t forget to check out Dark is the Way, Light is a Place.  And be sure you also visit Faceless International and organizations like it to see what you can do to end world wide slavery.  And as usual, if you do, let ‘em know that Paul sent ya.

By Paul Stamat

Imagine with me three present-day nightmares that actually take place around the world (and perhaps even right next door):

Nightmare #1: You are a 21 year old woman named Yuliana. You are originally from the Eastern European country of Moldava, but you now reside in a large city in the adjoining country of Ukraine. You are a prostitute. When you were 19, a distant relative persuaded your parents to let you go with him to a neighboring Moldavan town because there was work there. He did not take you there. He instead took you across the border to Ukraine and sold you to another man who along with two other men beat and raped you repeatedly for three days. He then sold you to a brothel, which is where you now spend your life. You do not know the language and you do not know anyone besides the brothel owner and the other prostitutes – who are from other countries and provinces, so that you cannot communicate with each other.

Nightmare #2: You are a ten year old girl named Anjali. You live in a small village in India, and because of a land debt that your family owes to the land owner, you are forced to roll cigarettes 17 hours a day for him. You are allowed no breaks, you are given one meager meal a day, and you do not get any time to play or spend time with your family. You have a quota of rolled cigarettes for each day, and when you do not meet your quota due to aching fingers, you are beaten and verbally threatened. You are losing your eyesight because of staring in the dimly lit shed where the landowner keeps you. Your family’s land debt grows every year, even though your father has been working in the quarry for the landowner for the last fifteen years.

Nightmare #3: You are an eleven year old boy named Luzige. You grew up in southern Sudan, but when you were nine, soldiers from the Lord’s Resistance Army came and abducted you and your brother Munyiga and forced you to walk day and night to their camp in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once you arrived at the camp, the soldiers brutalized you and forced you to become a soldier. Your brother was killed last year fighting for the LRA.

Even though all three of these scenarios take place on three different continents, and describe three different situations, these stories have one thing in common: human trafficking. The disaster of human trafficking affects millions of people. For most of us, slavery is associated with the past, but human trafficking, including bonded labor, sex trafficking, and child army recruitment, is alive and well in the world.

Stories and news about human trafficking were few and far between for most of its sordid history, but in the last few years, there has been an effort to make people more aware of this present-day tragedy. The Hollywood movie Taken, which starred Liam Neeson and was about human trafficking, came out in 2008 and made 145 million dollars at the box office. Craigslist has been in the news recently as attorneys general from seventeen states have pressured the company to eliminate the adult services area of their site, as traffickers have used the ads to peddle prostitution (as of writing this article, the news came out that Craigslist has at least temporarily removed the adult services area). Several news agencies have reported on one of the consequences of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti and left thousands of children as orphans – Haiti has now become a trafficker’s haven, as they have taken advantage of the situation by abducting children and selling them to the highest bidder. However, many people still don’t know how big of a problem it is in the world today.

Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. It is a form of present day slavery and it affects more than 27 million people around the world, according to Kevin Bales, author of the books Ending Slavery and Disposable People. It’s hard to see a staggering number like that and fathom how many people that really is, so if you take the population of the entire state of Texas, and then add the population of the entire state of Nevada, you would have about 27 million people. It is estimated that human trafficking generates 32 billion dollars annually, which makes it the second largest criminal venture in the world – behind the illegal drug trade – and the fastest growing global problem. Of the 800,000 people trafficked across international borders every year, 80 percent are female and 70 percent are trafficked for sexual exploitation.

And it’s not just a problem in far-away places like India, Cambodia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. All across the United States, traffickers take victims from city to city, major thoroughfare to major thoroughfare, truck stop to truck stop. Over 100,000 children are forcefully engaged in prostitution and pornography every year. 1 out of 4 teen runaways will have contact with a trafficker within the first 48 hours of their leaving home.

Human trafficking is a modern-day tragedy. Sometimes when we are confronted with staggering statistics – after we get over the shock and realization that something like this exists – we are often left with a paralyzing fear of helplessness and lack of motivation to do anything about it; after all, what can one person do to stem the tide of such harrowing crime?

The solution to trafficking lies in a concerted, determined effort to bring relief to victims and accountability to perpetrators. And there is an ever-growing group of “abolitionists” (as some anti-human trafficking crusaders call themselves) who are resolved to bring change and shine light in the dark world of human trafficking.

More and more musical artists (Switchfoot, Paramore, Cold War Kids) and actors (Ashley Judd, Juliette Binoche, Demi Moore/Ashton Kutcher) are using their star power to tell the world about the plight of human trafficking victims.

The US State Department, led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Luis CdeBaca (the ambassador of the Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons), have been increasing diplomatic pressure on countries where human trafficking is rampant. The State Department puts out an annual Trafficking In Persons Report, where countries are grouped into “tiers” based on their willingness to deal with human trafficking in their country. A level 1 tier country is doing something about it; a level 3 tier country is not and faces stiff penalties through sanctions and the withholding of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance. (The United States, Germany and Nigeria are examples of Tier 1 countries; Burma, Iran and Zimbabwe are examples of Tier 3 countries.)

States within the US are beginning to realize that although the U.S. does have an anti-trafficking law, tougher laws are needed on the state level in order to deal directly with the criminals as well as to lower the demand for human trafficking within the US by creating stiffer penalties for those who use these services both locally and abroad.

There are many great anti-human trafficking organizations that are on the front line of the fight, and it is exciting to see some of them begin to partner together in order to make a stand against what is happening.

So what can you do? Here are some ways to get started:

• Educate yourself. There are some great movies and documentaries that have come out in the past few years that will not only supply you with information about human trafficking, they will also touch your heart as you connect with the victims. There are also many books that will help you understand what is happening in the world today – I highly recommend Disposable People and Ending Slavery by Kevin Bales, and A Crime So Monstrous by Benjamin Skinner. If you want to keep up with what’s happening in the news, bookmark http://humantrafficking.change.org.

• Find others in your area who are passionate for this cause. Facebook, Twitter, Meetup.org are all great ways to find a group near you of like-minded people who are helping to raise awareness and funds to combat human trafficking. If you can’t find a group, start one yourself!

• Join the cause by supporting an anti-human trafficking organization. As mentioned above, there are many great organizations that are attacking human trafficking in many different ways: whether it is working with public justice systems globally to protect victims and prevent crime, (International Justice Mission) or helping to rescue and restore girls who have been trafficked (Love146), or advocating for stronger state and Federal anti-trafficking legislation (Polaris Project), you will find an organization with a mission that will connect with you.

• Buy fair trade products. I know that it seems kind of trendy these days to label a product as fair trade, but it works. Fair trade companies must agree to ban child and slave labor, and guarantee a safe workplace. By buying products not made by slaves, you are helping to eliminate the profits of those who exploit people for their own use and who treat people as commodities, not as humans.

There is hope for victims like Luzige, Anjali and Yuliana. As Benjamin Skinner writes in his book A Crime So Monstrous: “Slavery has been with us for more than 5,000 years, yet with concentrated and coordinated effort, we can eliminate it in a generation.”

by Adam Young

A quick hit on this week’s hottest topics: The Weekly Six. If you missed out on what’s been going on this week, tune in to read about the hottest topics on the net – or at least the hottest topics to us. This is your chance to feel free to agree or disagree. And without further ado, in no particular order, behold the six!

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90210 Day

Yes, I know, this is a ridiculous day to acknowledge. But it flooded Twitter and Facebook as this “thing.”  Like Mafia Wars and Farmville.  Or like celebrating Flag Day.  Or Boxing Day.  And what the hell is Boxing Day anyway?  I don’t know.  But here’s to 90210 in all of it’s incarnations, I guess.   And while we’re at it happy 931 area code day because, that’ makes sense too.  Or how about it’s Friday!  Don’t worry, we’ll revisit this further down the list.

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More Trouble in the Gulf.

Are you kidding me?  As soon as we think that maybe this whole BP oil spill thing is behind us, an oil platform explodes and catches fire.  Thank God nobody died this time.  But holy smoke, just when you thought the waters couldn’t get any blacker…well, it’s blacker.  But what’s another month of pollution between friends, right?  I stopped counting the months anyway.

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Stephen Hawking to God: You Didn’t Create The Universe!

In a soon to be released book, Stephen Hawking argues that God did not create the universe.  Spontaneous creation evidenced by gravity is the reason that the universe exists.  We are waiting for God to respond to Stephen’s hypothesis about the creation of the universe, but he was currently out of the office for the Notre Dame game  and couldn’t be reached for comment.

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Samsung Galaxy (Pad)

Yes, it’s true. Apple has the iPad and Google now has the G-Spot.  I know that’s not the name of the new competitor to the iPad, but it should be.  I mean, frankly, someone in the marketing department at Apple should have seen the jokes coming from a mile away and vetoed the iPad’s name.  And now that Samsung has released a Galaxy line of Android powered devices to compete with the iPad we have no choice but to champion the new devices that also boast front and rear facing cameras, WiFi, bluetooth and 3G.  Tell me you didn’t just make a funny moaning noise as your read this.  You see?  The G-Spot isn’t such an unreasonable name after all.

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T.I. Back In Jail

Frankly, I’m shocked.  And not exactly for the reasons you might be thinking.  Yes, he’s probably not the brightest bulb on the planet especially when you consider that he’s on probation for gun charges.  He should probably  never leave his house – If I were him, I’d stay home.  But I’m not a famous rapper.  Fine.  But what I want to know is how a cop smelled marijuana coming from his car as he was passing it.  Sure he did.  That must have been quite the party…epic…Method Man and Dave Matthews proportions.  I buy that.  Where are Chris Tucker and Ice Cube when you need them?

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Skateboard Fail (Courtesy of Failblog)

You have to see this because sometimes telling God that gravity somehow created something that makes sense really doesn’t make sense.  Not if you’re riding a skateboard.

“Song of the Century” opened the set to an anxious crowd of fans and by the third song, “Know Your Enemy,” the vast majority of concert-goers were overcome by the energy filling the venue. When the band roared through “Holiday,” from the American Idiot album shortly after that, it appeared as if every person in the sold-out show was singing along with Billy Joe Armstrong. As the band continued with some of their ever-popular tracks from their previous album, it was obvious that this concert would be akin to the American Idiot Tour in value alone.

Billy Joe has an amazing way of involving the audience in the show. Most performers leave it at holding the microphone over the crowd as they sing along to the chorus of a radio hit. Green Day takes it above and beyond, involving fans throughout the show, not solely as a hokey, one-minute interaction. If you are lucky enough to be in the pit, there is a high probability you could share the stage with the band. During several instances fans were pulled on the stage to accompany on lead vocals, and young and old were encouraged to enter (and exit) the limelight by stage diving into the crowd.

When it came time to perform “Longview,” lead vocals were handed over to a fan plucked from the pit. When the first person could not get past the first verse, the guy chosen to replace her took the reins and ran with it as though he was the lead singer in his very own dream. And his efforts did not leave him empty-handed – Billy Joe took the guitar he was holding and sent it home with the lucky bastard. The fact that the band is willing to allow someone their fantasy of providing vocals for an entire song speaks volumes of their character. Whether as individuals or masses invited to occupy the stage, the enthusiasm generated by these interactions turned a massive event into an observation of a personal moment often only familiar in smaller venues.

Other than the band’s obvious appreciation of their fans, the major highlights were not the pyrotechnic effects indicative of large rock performances. Rather to many, they would be the deviations from Green Day’s own hits. About halfway through the show, the crowd got a taste of this when “Scattered” blended into a cover of Billy Idol’s “Dancing with Myself.” Just another example of the bands humor within themselves, as they do not take themselves overly seriously, and of their appreciation for music. One of the medleys of cover tunes included Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll,” Guns & Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” and AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”

As an often-played follow up to “King for a Day” from the Nimrod album, a cover of “Shout” was a concert staple to the regular Green Day crowd. However, during this particular show, it led into another medley . The Beach Boys’ “California Girls,” gave way to Tom Petty’s “Freefalling,” The Stones’ “ Satisfaction,” The Doors’ “Break on Through,” and culminated with the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.”
The regular set list finished up strong with “21 Guns” followed by the angst-ridden “Minority.” A 5 -song encore ended the 3 hour, non-stop show.

With US leg of the tour now over, those that missed out should re-think checking out a Green Day performance, if the opportunity presents itself again. No one could be disappointed in seeing a band who can provide humor, dramatic rock and punk performances, and a strong connection to their fan base.

by Brandie Davis

C6M: Hi Dylan, how are you?

Dylan LeBlanc: I’m good, how are you doing?

C6M: I had a chance to listen to Paupers Field, and I was just wondering how you came up with the concept of that.

Dylan LeBlanc: Well, I was sitting on the back porch of Trina Shoemaker’s house and we were talking about a lot of different stuff, but anyway she was telling me about the pauper’s field that she used to go to in New Orleans, kind of like an estate and stuff – and what not.

Then we were talking about this record and all these — and she was like, “It’s like all these characters and all these people and all this music, like it’s all buried in the pauper’s field,” and what not. So, that’s kind of how we came up with it.

C6M: Yeah. Well, it definitely feels like there is a reflection feeling to it, like a story that might have been told like on a hot day, if that makes sense.

Dylan LeBlanc: Yeah.

C6M: Was there then an intentional feeling that you were trying to come up with when you were writing the music then, as far as the lyrics go?

Dylan LeBlanc: Definitely, yeah, an intentional feeling, I think there’s always an intentional feeling when anybody is writing the music to their songs or to an album.  On this album, I was trying to — I wasn’t trying to do anything.

I was feeling a certain way in how I wrote the songs, you know what I mean? That’s basically what this album is all about. I tend to give different answers in different interviews, it’s so funny. I never know how to answer right in interviews.

C6M: Well, that’s okay.

Dylan LeBlanc: But I’m pretty like that, I get nervous. I don’t know what the heck is wrong with me. (Laughing) So, tell me about yourself, no, I’m just kidding. Anyway, this particular — to answer your question, yes; I wanted to make this album, so I wanted to make it as — I wanted to make it beautiful.

I’m not sure if I did that correctly or not, but I just wanted to give people something to listen to, that’s a little bit of stuff that — or something that I would like — things that I like to listen to, as far as musically goes and then lyrically, I think I just wrote stories that have little or nothing to do with my personal life and then everything to do with my personal life.

C6M: Right, right.

Dylan LeBlanc: So, I’m trying to mix it up and not make it too obvious, it’s kind of hard, but…

C6M: Well, what was the reason for then recording live? I mean normally people, they lay down guitar tracks, drum tracks, vocals and I was just reading that you wanted a very live feel to this.

Dylan LeBlanc: Well, I think that — I just love the way that — I think you capture a performance live that you can’t capture. I really believe that, like I really believe that you capture magic live when you do things a certain way. Like if you record live, you get every element — you get all of a person who is playing the instrument.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: Because they’re extremely vulnerable at that period of time to make whatever kind of mistake that they’re going to make.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: It makes it more interesting.

C6M: Yeah, so do you hear those?

Dylan LeBlanc: And the performances are better.

C6M: Do you hear those mistakes when you go back and listen, and does it bug you at all or is it just it is what it is?

Dylan LeBlanc: No, because I think it is what it is. I think that if like sometimes you’ll sing a vocal that’s really good, but the feel part is not good enough, but the vocal was good. For some reason, I’ll listen to it over and over again and it starts to become more and more home, like if you see something over and over again.

At this point in the conversation, Dylan puts the phone down and talks to his mom.  I sit there, feeling like this is one of the more endearing parts of the conversation – a glimpse into the man who genuinely loves his mother. When he returns to the call, I want to say that I admire this, but I don’t.  Would you?

Dylan LeBlanc: Sorry man. I went to eat with my mother, and me and her have been kind of — we’ve been distant for a while but me and her are trying to get back on the right track.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: I don’t know. I’ve been a bad son for the past while…anyway.

C6M: Well, but you’ve been on the road too though, right?

Dylan LeBlanc: Yeah, yeah, I’ve been gone. I don’t live in Shreveport that much. I stay here. I come here when I need to come here and like when I want to get away from Muscle Shoals and then I get to Muscle Shoals when I’m not doing anything. When I got back from LA, I didn’t have anything going on for a while, after that show at the El Rey.

C6M: What did you think of Los Angeles?

Dylan LeBlanc: I thought it was interesting, I thought it was very interesting.

C6M: Yeah.

Dylan LeBlanc: I thought it was kind of — it was really pretty, like the weather I loved mostly about it. It’s perfect weather, like toward the coast, and San Francisco was perfect weather too.

C6M: Yeah. What about that?

Dylan LeBlanc: I liked it because it wasn’t hot and here right now it’s a 103 degrees.

C6M: Right, right. What did you think of the people? That’s usually the thing that — it’s the deal breaker. I’ve noticed when people come out to Los Angeles, they say, “I love the weather, but I want to go home.”

Dylan LeBlanc: Yeah, the people are interesting people. I found it to be very — like people were very nice to me and very open, but I did notice a certain like — there’s a big liberal — it’s very liberal town. I think California is very liberal. I don’t know, but I’m such an idiot, from Shreveport, Louisiana, I don’t really know [laughter].

But no, they were really not kind of — I remember when I left the El Rey, like people were really nice and if somebody is nice to me, then I’m most likely going to be kind to them.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: So, as far as people go, it doesn’t really matter what kind of person they are, I guess.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: Unless, they’re just an axe murderer or a politician.

C6M: Right. Sometimes that’s both the same thing, right?

Dylan LeBlanc: Yeah, exactly.

C6M: Well, let’s get back to the music.

Dylan LeBlanc: Yeah.

C6M: I mean talking about your music, and let’s talk a little bit about your influences. I was recently talking to Zakk Wylde and he was telling me how he talked to Jimmy Page and they were — Jimmy Page had introduced him to an entire catalog of influences, and it felt like he needed to chase that down.

Do you feel like you’ve had similar experiences, where along the way someone said, “Hey, you need to listen to this,” and that sort of contributed to who you are and what you play now?

Dylan LeBlanc: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. My friend, my piano player, he’s like an engineer and he’s also a great musician, and he engineered a lot of this album.

But anyway, like throughout my whole period of time, he’s like been there — he’s a little bit older than me, so he’s kind of watched me grow gradually, and along the way he would just hand me like cool records sometimes, like he’s the one who introduced me to Townes Van Zandt like a year ago. I never really — well, I’ve heard of Townes from my grandmother and all of them, but he was really cool.

C6M: Alright.

Dylan LeBlanc: But it’s hard to get into Townes Van Zandt if you’re not — because it’s just — finally something happens along the way you listen to it.

C6M: Yeah, it’s probably like a — I noticed that a lot with music. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place too.

Dylan LeBlanc: Exactly. Like it depends on what mood you’re in, but you can’t force something down anybody’s throat and I’ve often tried to do that. When I’m really into something, I’ll be like, “Man, you have to listen to this,” and “This is why this is good.”

C6M: Yeah.

Dylan LeBlanc: And then sometimes people are just like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah” and it’s when they’re by themselves and they need it, it’s when it really rings a bell with them, you know what I mean?

C6M: Oh yeah, absolutely.

Dylan LeBlanc: The right time and the right place.

C6M: Absolutely.

Dylan LeBlanc: Music is weird. You know?  You can’t do anything that hasn’t already been done and you can only do what you feel in your heart and put it down on a piece of paper and put it down on a piece of tape and record it.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: So, I did that mostly on this album. Not trying to — I wasn’t striving to be — I just strived to do what — I mean I meant everything that I put out on this album, because I can honestly say that it came from where I was. It’s definitely where I’m coming from and it’s definitely who I am as a person. It definitely shines through on this record.

C6M: Right. Well, it does, it does definitely. What I noticed, at least in the little bit of press that I have been able to read on this so far, since it’s relatively new coming out, is that one of the biggest things that people talk about you as a song writer, the praise that they give is the depth of that feeling, and normally they’re surprised how young you are. When they find out how young you are, that’s the second thing that is said…

Dylan LeBlanc: Which really shocked me to tell you the truth; it’s shocking because there are so many other young people that are my age doing the same thing, if not better than me, and that never gets talked about or discussed.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: But I mean it’s not — I’ve spent a lot of time by myself. Most of my life I’ve spent on my own trying to figure out who I am as a person and I think that that time — and now I’m so used to it that I think it’s natural to me and I just feel natural and just everyday trying to figure out why I feel a certain way or what’s wrong with me, things like that and spending so much time alone, too much time alone can be the worst thing for anybody.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: But actually, I like it. I catch myself nowadays embracing that time alone and since I was — basically since I was 16 years old, I think would be the top growing point for me. Something changed, and I’m not sure what happened, but my whole outlook on like this — I just started trying to grow, and I wanted to dig deeper into everything and dig deeper into my thoughts and dig deeper into the way I feel and trying not to — and trying to make use of it.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: Instead of being a bump on a log or a drunk.

C6M: Yeah. Well, do you think that one of the…

Dylan LeBlanc: Where you can’t help anybody.

C6M: Yeah, well do you think that normally the reason why people are so surprised is maybe, just maybe a prejudice of some sort against — I mean it sounds weird to say that but maybe a prejudice that young people usually don’t care or don’t have much depth, don’t think about these things. You think that’s basically the surprise?

Dylan LeBlanc: Maybe. Maybe that’s what it is, but the people that I grew up around, they’re not my age. I never had friends that were — like I never hung out with like the people that I went to school with or outside the school. The people that I cared to hang out with were — I’ve always really — I was really drawn into people like me, people that felt awkward and lost and all those things, that seems as if we’re all just a bunch of assholes feeling sorry for ourselves and that’s what we do.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: That’s the kind of people I guess I hung out with, but when you dig deep in those people, they say things to you that hit home, and I hung out with those people, like my drummer John, I mean he’s such a deep person and his playing came through on this record.

I have my circle of people that I just absolutely love, in my comfort zone and the people that I would — that I know that I could be around for the rest of my life.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: And that I can love for the rest of my life. I chose those people very carefully throughout my life. We really got to know each other on a personal, like a seriously personal level in a very — all of our relationships are very strong, and they’re all exactly — we’re all just the same. That’s what I love about this record too.

I have a story with every single person that I’ve played with on this record and that contributed to this album. We all have our — we’ve all fought really hard, we’ve all been angry at each other, every emotion. Like we’ve all — we’ve been through a shitload together.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: Everybody. We know each other better than anybody. We probably know each other better than our parents know us. It’s really weird. Speaking of parents, my father did play on record as well.

C6M: Alright, I was about to ask that, because I noticed that you’d mentioned spending a lot of time in studio and he was a studio musician. Did you…

Dylan LeBlanc: More so than a studio musician he’s a song writer, like a country songwriter.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: I mean he wrote for a lot — he writes for a lot of commercial country, but he’s such a good songwriter, like that stuff that you hear on the radio is nothing compared to like his catalog of music. And our relationship is so insane and so intense that it’s unbelievable.

He’s such a cool fucking guy, man, like he’s in town right now and his birthday is this Sunday and we’re all going to celebrate, but I don’t know, like every time I get around him, he’s just — he is the most — he is a fuckin’ original dude. I mean he’s fuckin’ amazing man and he’s such a good musician and he’s so damn smart.

C6M: So, do you find yourself picking his brain a lot, when you’re coming up with your own stuff?

Dylan LeBlanc: Well, growing up, me and him we were like friends or something, you know what I’m saying? It wasn’t — it’s not like a — we don’t really have that father-son relationship, because the time that we spent together has been mainly music. Yeah, so I have picked his brain a lot and I have asked him questions and I have — I got the opportunity to just hang out with that guy, you know what I mean?

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: Like you would hang out with one of your friends or something. It was interesting. I don’t do anything with him that I don’t do with any of my other friends.

C6M: Right.

Dylan LeBlanc: We just hang out together. We talk. We have a good relationship now. There were some times when we didn’t — we’ve struggled through our problems and things that we had, and I don’t know man. I think the world of him, and I think that he’s such a — I’ve always thought that he was a great songwriter and a great singer. If you ever hear him man, like his old stuff he was my age and he was singing, it’s like the voices are exactly the same.  It’s really — but anyway.

He did play for this record, and he played guitar for most of it — not most of it, but he played bass on like a lot– and he sang background which was really cool. He’s done some shows with us — and I absolutely love it when he plays shows with me, because it’s like the best feeling in the world, because we’re so in tuned, like musically and I know that without a shadow of a doubt it’s going to be absolutely correct and great and there’s a certain sense of comfort.

But then I also like playing, like with Jessie, who’s another bass player. There’s a certain sense of like “This is going to fall apart at any minute, and are we going to be able to make it?” Then that kind of feels cool as well, it’s very thrilling in a certain way, I don’t know.

C6M: Do you feel like music, do you pick the music that you play or does music just kind of pick you?

Dylan LeBlanc: I definitely think music picks me. I think a lot of people — I haven’t been really surprised, but a lot of people do like — they see it’s like country, like Americana folk music. I think it picks me. I think that I like — just whatever I feel in my heart, there’s things that I definitely like, that I definitely strive to do when I write music, like a melody.

I always — there’s melodies that I come up with, that I feel like they are just like who I am, like especially with melodies and lyrics and stuff like that, that I really like. If it makes me feel something in my heart, I would hope that it made feel somebody else out there — so it does pick me in a way, I guess.

C6M: What’s your current guilty pleasure musically?

Dylan LeBlanc: Guilty pleasure?

C6M: Yeah, the thing that you probably wouldn’t tell anyone that you were listening to. I get some interesting answers every now and then. Some people say Lady Gaga or something, whatever.

Dylan LeBlanc: I really don’t have any guilty pleasures, because if I think it’s good I’ll listen to it whether or not it’s this or that. I don’t know man, if it makes me feel good, then I’ll listen to it.

C6M: Yeah. Well, what’s in your iPod right now?

Dylan LeBlanc: Right now, I don’t know. I got Sweet Dream Woman by Waylon Jennings playing right now.

C6M: Awesome. Alright Dylan, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. Good luck with your album and I hope that you have fun at the rest of your touring.=

Dylan LeBlanc: Well, thank you, man. Thank you for interviewing me and taking the time to do that, that’s very kind of you.

C6M: No problem.

Dylan LeBlanc: Nice of you. I appreciate you doing this and helping me getting my name out there and that kind of stuff.

C6M: Absolutely, the album is awesome, and yeah we’ll do everything we can to let people know how good it is.

Dylan LeBlanc: Man, I appreciate that, thank you. You all have a wonderful day now. It was nice talking to you.

C6M: Alright, you too.

Dylan LeBlanc: Alrighty.

C6M: Bye.

Dylan LeBlanc: Bye.

Paupers Field is proof that music doesn’t always have to follow the same conventions or formulas to have a soul.  The album is solid and deliberate.  The music goes beyond Americana in some ways and speaks not just to a way of life, but to our humanity.  And I think that’s what hasn’t been said yet about this kid.  He’s on a road that probably makes the most sense on days when you need to sit by yourself and try to understand not just who you are, but why you are. If you haven’t picked up a copy of Paupers, you really should.  I guarantee it will be something that will resonate with you on those hot summer days.

By Paul Stamat

“I have to admit at the start of the week (leading up to the Mayhem Festival), I had no idea who you guys were.” I admitted.  Everything about them surprised me including the fact that they were about to release their third album, A Star Crossed Wasteland.

“Well, what did you think?” During the face time with the lead guitarist, Chris Howorth, for In This Moment seemed to be okay with my ignorance.

“Your PR team sent us your new album and I have to say after listening to the first track with Maria screaming, I wasn’t sure that you could pull it all off live…but you did.”

Chris confides that he loves the challenge of winning over new fans.  Praising the Mayhem Festival for the great exposure, In This Moment discovered that other festivals like the Warped tour weren’t nearly as good of a fit for them.  But with a female front person, they have had their work cut out for them from the very start.  I’m probably kinder than other listeners who have been known to direct more aggressive comments towards their femme screamer extraordinaire.  The anonymity of the internet has been winning them a fan base, but sometimes that includes some not so nice comments.  If there is a downside, it certainly is that some of the comments are a bit troublesome and Chris seems protective of his singer.

I try to talk about their music, but I struggle a little.  The media has been scrambling to figure out what to call the new music that has been coming out as of late.  They’re not “metal core.”  Chris is quick to point out how different they are from that sub genre of heavy metal.  I don’t disagree.  Not that they don’t share similarities with the subgenre, but metal is in transition.  Every subgenre seems to take the music into a more muddled and confused landscape.  Chris points out that nobody struggled with what to call AC/DC just because Brian Johnson or Bon Scott were screamers.  They were rock.  And I realize that every time someone seems to ask their new wave of bands to describe themselves they can’t.  It’s a mix they all confess.  It’s just metal.

Maria playfully flashes Chris “the horns” as she passes us as we talk about the finer points in music.  I mouth that she needs to sit and chat with us.  But this is a media madhouse and as he is being escorted by the PR people, Maria can only give us an apologetic look suggesting that they are making her talk with another media outlet and that we’ll have to wait.  I will steal some of her time later, I think.

Chris and I talk about the history of In This Moment.  They are, in many ways, the new face of metal.  But they are also a template for bands that are searching for a way to find an audience.  Their following began online.  Chris acknowledges that the path that led to this road through the Mayhem Festival and how they needed to be innovative to get this far. But most importantly he points out how they had to be market savvy and not just know who their potential audience might also be, but how to get them.  They may have solicited a few message boards in their day.  “I would say that of those that we solicited we would gain eight out of the ten that we would draw to our Myspace page.”

Without a doubt there are very few bands that sort of steal the hearts of its listeners, but as Chris Howorth seemed to like the idea of being an underdog.  He challenged me with the initial comparisons that I made and then I point out that Maria is fascinating because she is doing something that could be considered dangerous and damaging to a weaker vocalist.  She is, after all, screaming I suggest.  And I point out that at least one of the bands that they might compared themselves to during this conversation that we’re having (Avenged Sevenfold) have reinvented themselves, putting aside the guttural screams for something more traditional.  This doesn’t seem to bother them.  Still young enough to take risks, I concede Maria is the female version of Corey Taylor (Stone Sour/Slipknot).

Maria has never lost her voice during a show.  When I finally get to sit with her and discuss this fact she seems enthusiastic about the comparison taking it as a compliment.  She attributes her prowess to having good technique.  Another thing that she shares with Corey Taylor.  She isn’t screaming from her throat.  And whatever else they’re doing as a band is working.  I tell her and Chris that they’ve won me over and that’s a hard thing to do during this transition in metal.  I’m not interested in derivative.  I want to know that they’re trying to be innovative and create something with heart and substance.  Looking at the current landscape, In This Moment is definitely offering a glimpse of something different.  The only question left is whether or not they can continue to give their audience what won them over in the first place.  I guess only time will tell.  In any case, what we have right now is food for thought…that and a pretty decent album in A Star Crossed Wasteland.

By Paul Stamat

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Don’t Open Until Christmas

It looks like the 33 Chilean miners (who were trapped in a cave-in on Aug. 5) may be stuck 2300 feet below the surface for up to four months. Rescuers are doing their best to get notes from relatives, food, and games to pass the time down the four-inch supply tube but when it comes down to it, four months is a LONG time, especially considering we get sick of people after just a couple of hours. We at C6M wish our best to those guys and hope that none of them have seen The Descent.

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Bat Boy Lives!

This week marks the 175th anniversary of The Great Moon Hoax, when the New York Sun reported that moon was inhabited by unicorns, bison, beavers, and bat dudes that were “four feet in height, were covered, except on the face, with short and glossy copper-colored hair, and had wings composed of a thin membrane, without hair, lying snugly upon their backs from the top of the shoulders to the calves of their legs.” We know now that there is no life on the moon and this description was really just referring to Oklahoma.

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Attack Of The Baby-Faced Bigot

Tensions in New York reached a new height this week when film student Michael Enright stabbed a cab driver after finding out he was Muslim. The debate over the “Ground Zero Mosque” has increased acts of stupidity to such an exponential level that this will certainly not be the last act of violence against American Muslims. Look out, Hawaii – the rabble will be heading to all the Shinto shrines near Pearl Harbor next…

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But Will There Be A Wasteland 2?

C64 fans, your day has come. The greatest computer of our childhood is coming back – better than ever! I’ll be honest, some of my best memories from the 80s involve me and my friends huddled around the Commodore trying our damnedest to get through classic RPGs like The Bard’s Tale, Might & Magic, and Wasteland. If these guys are smart, they’ll include a kicking emulator and access to the C64 back catalog.

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The Return Of Stay Puft

In continuing the themes of our childhood, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is also back, this time in caffeinated bite-size form. For $20, you can pick up 24 scrumptious pieces left behind after the gooey terror of NYC exploded into a spray of delicious flavor. The addition of caffeine will also ensure that you never again fall asleep during the glory that is Ghostbusters 2.

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Japan Wins…Again

For today’s moment of epic glory, we present you with GIANT MOTHER-EFFING GUNDAM ROBOT, stationed outside the Namco Bandai factory in Shizuoka, Japan.

C6M: Okay. Let’s talk a little bit about the band and the formation of the band, and how you got your name. I’ve read some of it, but just in your own words.

Mike Hranica: The band was formed back in 2005. Originally, it was Dan, Chris and James who started kind of putting together songs and what not. I joined the band shortly after, wrote more songs, and after playing like two or three shows, they found Jeremy and Andy who joined, and we’ve maintained the same lineup.

We signed our record deal early 2006. We toured summer of 2006, went back to school for the year, and then started full time touring 2007. We’ve had three full lengths done, countless tours and an EP on the way.

C6M: Yeah. I caught you guys at the Wiltern, when you were touring with Killswitch Engage, and in my opinion you guys kind of stole that show, especially given the fact that they had a replacement singer who didn’t finish his set.

Mike Hranica: Yeah.

C6M: But do you feel like that tour and previous tours like the Warped Tour — well, let’s go back a little bit. What were the major differences in doing something like a festival versus going out and doing something with Killswitch?

Mike Hranica: We’ve done a lot of the A market tours, that are like — we usually hit about the same venues in every city. We did it with Chiodos, and we did it with Silverstein, and we did it with Underoath, and then we did it on our own with A Day to Remember.

We’ve done — we did all that, we’ve done the Warped Tour two years, and then just recently we did the Killswitch tour. Primarily, the difference is that Killswitch draws a little bit older of an audience, which is why we really want to do the tour.

A lot of the venues, there were no small venues, they were all massive. The ticket price is a little bit more, because Killswitch has a lot more production in their show and everything. So, I’d say that’s the most primary differences in the tours.

We got along with Killswitch really well. It’s sweet to tour with bands like Killswitch and Underoath, just because we’ve looked up to those bands for so many years now. The Killswitch tour, when we heard about it, we really, really wanted to do it, because we were trying to get a little bit older of an audience

C6M: I have to say it worked, because before the Killswitch show, which we covered, I hadn’t heard of you guys, didn’t know who you were, and I thought it was a book, right? So, the surprising part was, I walked out going, “Who are these guys? These guys are pretty good.” Did you find that that was the case that you got, what you were looking for?

Mike Hranica: Yeah. It was a lot of positive feedback. Early in our career, summer of 2007, we did Sounds of the Underground, which was headlined by GWAR, and Chimaira was on it, Shadows Fall.

Back then, I think maybe not so much GWAR, but we could hang with the other bands on the tour, but back then we were really young and we were playing most of the songs — most of the songs we played were from our first record and a few from the Plagues, which hadn’t come out yet.

I can totally see that audience seeing us and not liking us, because we didn’t do so well on that tour. It was just a lot of criticism and middle fingers and all this. And kind of what we’re trying to do is go back to that, which is why we did Killswitch and why we did All that Remains co-headline and stuff.

This time around, it’s been great feedback. It’s not like middle fingers and people all pissed off. It’s been really good, and we knew that being older now and having heavier material, and being able to present ourselves as a heavier band, as we intend, we know that we can pick up those fans.

C6M: Well, my follow up is that’s just sort of what I noticed as well as I went back into your catalog moving forward, is I sort of felt like you added a bunch of dimensions as you progressed, and added more layers and it was a deeper, fuller, more exciting sound. I mean it almost — it went from sounding like — the first album sounded like something…

Mike Hranica: Crap.

C6M: Well, not really crap.

Mike Hranica: To me it’s crap.

C6M: Well of course, as an artist you’re always going to be critical of your work, and of course, because you want to strive to be better. But going back to that though, it was okay as far as the sound…but I really felt like as if you went to the next album, and the next album it was like bigger and bigger. I mean was that the intent, you were like trying to grow it that way, so that it was just full?

Mike Hranica: Yeah, the production was stepped up, which was a big part of With Roots Above as far as when it came to like the keys and orchestras and stuff, Joey, who’s done all three of our records, really came and stepped it up.

But I think what’s even more important than that is just the natural progression of the members in the band, and the fact that — Chris has always been the one that writes most for us, as far as songwriting to the riffs within the songwriting, like the formula.

He started doing it when he was 16 or 17, and now on the newest record, he’s like 20, 21 and it’s like it’s not — for anybody that plays guitar, they’re going to get better. That’s just what happened. I always feel like it was easy for our newer stuff to be so much thicker and so much more full because the early stuff was just really basic.

That’s because we were young. We weren’t the musicians that we could be, and we still have a lot more room to grow and moving forward.

C6M: Right. So, let’s talk a little bit about the EP. Whose idea was it, and…?

Mike Hranica: It was my idea to do a zombie song because of all the books I was reading, and Zombieland had just came out coincidentally, which was on the TV up there. That day, we were on our way to go see Zombieland. We were in Scotland, and I was like, “What if we made a zombie song, like just something evil, something thrashy, like Circle Pit?”

From then to me saying that till the end of the evening, we had our hearts set on doing an EP of zombie songs, and we had already reached out to our manager, and like kind of begin the process as far as presenting it to the label and really making it happen. So, just like that, we were like, “Let’s do a concept EP that’s just frigging fast and hard.”

C6M: I got to hear it, and it really felt like it was like a film in five acts. Was that also the intent of telling like a story that could be almost viewed as a movie or as a concept that later on could become something else?

Mike Hranica: Yeah. I’ve actually thought about that, if we actually did like a follow up year and years down the road. It’s possible, because I know I could write. We could all write more of what we did on the Zombie EP, but we wanted to keep it in EP, because you know the full length would have just been too much.

I think that would have lost its sense of being so relentless. But I don’t know, like lyrically they all follow each song as a strict theme, but the songs don’t really tie together. The only song that has like a story and a character is the last song, “Survivor.”

But I don’t know, each song — and we actually did serious song titles for once that kind of describe what’s going on in each song and what the lyrics follow.

C6M: Well, let’s get back to then what leads back into your past, which is you have serious songs with not so serious song titles. So, was that sort of an accident that just kept going or was it…?

Mike Hranica: Kind of. We started writing songs, and we never even thought about like putting the CDs in stores or I didn’t know what a record deal was, I didn’t know anything. That’s how we all were, and we made these songs and then we weren’t doing anything with them besides playing them, so we just gave them numbers.

We still do that actually when we write records. The first song we would write is one. We do that, like one through 10 every time, and then when it’s time, we put these stupid names over them, because originally when it was time, we had to have song titles, because we were making this EP that we put out ourselves and just sold at our shows.

We had to have song titles, and we always liked the bands that did less serious song titles, and it was something that just seemed fun, and it’s kind of like a release as far as doing something goofy, being the fact that we tend to be not so serious a lot of the time.

So, we ended up doing it, and then it kind of just stuck. Then on With Roots Above I even suggested doing serious song titles, and the rest of the band was like “No, we need to keep doing the stupid ones,” so maybe some day.

C6M: You think some day maybe?

Mike Hranica: I don’t know. Yeah, I think it’s possible, because I kind of forced us into doing serious song titles for the Zombie EP, and I think it would — I think it’d be cool to do serious song titles and something easy to come up with for our next album, but we’ll see. Maybe I’ll be able to convince them.

C6M: Yeah. Well, you know — and not that it really detracts, because when you sit down and you start reading the lyrics, obviously it’s multi-layered as well.

So, I was reading that you — a lot of the members, I’m not sure if all of the members, but that there is a definite connection to faith in your music. Do you feel strange going out there and being those guys or do you feel like nobody looks at you that way?

Mike Hranica: I don’t think people really look at us that way, or at least I hope not. It was kind of scary, like on Sounds of the Underground, because that’s where we received more criticism than any other tour, as far as going out there and saying, “Hey, we believe in God, and we think it could help your life.”

That was the only tour where we really struggled with it. There have been, very rarely, times where bands don’t give us the respect that we give them. That’s a big bummer, but it’s like 99% of the time everybody is just hanging — like we all share faith in God and belief in Christ, but that doesn’t mean we’re like any different.

C6M: Sure.

Mike Hranica: We’re just a touring band. I guess if it came down to judgment, you might be able to say, “Well, members of the band have more of a strict moral system compared to some other bands,” but I don’t know, it’s just always been what the music has been about for us and something we’ve always felt like should be in the music, and just kind of what we went with.

As far as like perception, this is kind of a good example. Yesterday, I checked Twitter after the set, and someone was like — I don’t know how they worded it exactly, but it was something along the lines of being like, “My perspective on Christians is totally different, TDWP band was awesome.”

So, it was like seeing us made them be like — they might have been like not know anything about us and be like, “Oh, they’re Christians, it’s going to be boring.” Even that person had a bad view of Christians, and they’re probably not a Christian themselves, but they were enjoying the music.” That’s who we are and that’s what we hope and what we expect out of all fans.

C6M: Right, because I was noticing, and I had a chance at the Mayhem Fest, talk to Norma Jean, and they’re in the same category. But I was noticing that it was a trend that — I suppose it was less of a big deal that you had artists out there that had a definite stand on things, but were also respected, where in the past it didn’t seem like that.

Though it was very much like if you were a Stryper or if you were somebody else, it was just like, what a joke. Even if there was quality music coming out of there, right away, it was like, “Well, they just quoted something and…”

Mike Hranica: Yeah. You still get that today obviously with the metal metal-heads, but I don’t know, if they can’t have an open mind to something as simple as a band saying one thing, something that’s so miniscule, it’s upfront, but at the same time it’s very minimal. If you can’t handle that, then like I don’t really need you as a fan.

C6M: Sure. And the flip side of that is, it seems almost more offensive to talk about God on the one hand, and you’ll have fans giving you the middle finger, but Slayer can be anti-God. And not to criticize Slayer; Slayer is what Slayer is, and obviously they’ve been around a long time, so it lends itself to — it commands its own respect as far as longevity goes, but it is interesting.

It’s a double edged sword in music. How do you feel about — just talking about fan comments, I noticed one in particular when I was looking at one of your videos on YouTube of — it was off of the last album.

Mike Hranica: “Assistant” or “Danger?”

C6M: It was — let me see, “Louder than Thunder.”

Mike Hranica: Okay. “Louder than Thunder” is…

C6M: Yeah. People had very positive comments about that song and…

Mike Hranica: The weird thing is that people were so — I guess even still just almost like dumbfounded by the fact that we did a slow song with all singing, but I listen to every metal record, and towards the end or right dead in the center, there’s always that slow song, like acoustic with someone singing.

That’s really all we did, and everyone was like really surprised by it. But to us, it was just like the slow song, like the kind of more ballad inspired song. From my end, the fact that I didn’t really have a part in it besides the lyrics and like the track listing and where it’d sit with the other songs, I just wanted to make it sit well within the album, because I find it really cliché when it sits — when bands do the slow song and you know they just…

C6M: The song at track four…

Mike Hranica: Yeah, or the last track. And it’s like I wanted it to be a little bit different than that, and I find like when it comes to slow songs, I think like Underoath and Jimmy Eat World — like a Jimmy Eat World record, there’s like a formula to it, to where like probably about halfway to two-thirds of the way, they’ll do a slow song, and then another couple of songs and then another slow song, but the record just flows perfectly.

I think Underoath does the same thing, especially like to find the great line, as far as it goes real slow kind of — at that same point, a little bit past halfway, but then it still moves, and it still just goes.

I would definitely not give “Louder than Thunder” as much credit as Jimmy Eat World or Underoath, but I wanted to have it enough thought to where we had it somewhere where it didn’t kind of just keep the record flowing and not be as unoriginal as every other metal band’s slow song.

C6M: Sure. Well, did it at least move you that people were moved by it?

Mike Hranica: Yeah. I was stoked on it and so many — this is the first tour where we actually played the song — and they played the song, I don’t have to do anything. Like a lot of people seemed really inspired by it and you see all these — I don’t mean to belittle fans, but then like girls make these videos, like these kind of artsy videos with the song and all this.

And it’s like it is awesome, because I never expected that much of a reaction from it. I remember writing the lyrics for the song, and my intentions for the song, and it really — for me, even though that I didn’t go out and like pour myself into it singing the song, because like I said, I don’t do anything on the song.

I really wanted the lyrics to mean a lot, and they do, and I’m really happy with how the lyrics are and what they mean to me, and the fact that I intentionally wrote something that people could connect with, which is how a lot of our singing parts go.

I write lyrics that are going to be sang to be kind of dumbed down, because I think that’s what makes it a little bit more catchier, easier to remember, and that’s kind of what I did with that song, and I’m glad it’s — people really enjoy it.

C6M: So, talking about the future of your music, do you feel like you guys are moving more towards melody in the music or you have no plan, it’s just record by record?

Mike Hranica: Well, after each record, you look kind of into the next one and think what you’re going to do. From Dear Love to Plagues, and Plagues to With Roots Above, it’s always just like the heavier stuff is heavier, the catchier stuff is catchier, and the melodic stuff like — and it’s always just the progression, because like I said, we started out so basic, it was easy to get better.

Now that With Roots Above is something that we can all look back on, and be like “That’s us.” When we did With Roots Above, we looked back on Plagues and went like “Ugh”, and With Roots Above, we can still look at it and be like, “Yeah, that’s pretty accurate.”

And Zombies, or the Zombie EP is just — I hate to use the word, but brutal. People keep asking if the next record is going to be like the Zombie EP, and I think Zombie EP was natural to us, because we knew we could write music like that, stuff that was a little bit thrashier, stuff that was just relentless and stuff that just didn’t slow down.

I think now that the Zombie EP, even though we only have one song out but people are loving it so much. And I think because they love that song, they’ll love the EP. I think that we will try to focus a little bit more to have like that kind of heavy in it, but at the same time it’s going to be more melodic than the Zombie EP, because I kind of — musically I kind of see the Zombie EP as being a little bit dumbed down.

It’s just like punching. It’s not like — it doesn’t have the pretty parts or like the parts, the real emotional parts that you really feel, or the ambience, and that’s the stuff that we like to do. I think for me, I would like to see the next record be as heavy as — just a lot of heavy stuff, more heavy stuff than With Roots Above, even though I think besides Zombie, it’s our heaviest to-date.

I think we might work more like jam parts, more instrumentally kind of driven stuff. And I think it will be more real — I think right now it’s looking like we’re going to have a different engineer, which is going to really change everything, because everything we do has been with Joey.

Joey will probably have a hand in some of like the synth production, but being engineered by somebody else, I think it’s definitely going to be more real, and I think it’s going to be a good thing for us.

C6M: So, you mentioned fans a little bit, and I’ve had a chance to talk to a few fans that seemed to be very in-tuned with their fan base. I’ve also talked to people who said it’s a waste of time to be on Facebook or whatever, but do you find that that is more helpful than hurtful to be out there, to be connecting to your fans, at least…

Mike Hranica: There’s a line to be drawn. I could talk about this for years, because I’m so weird about fans.

C6M: Because you just had them giving you stuff.

Mike Hranica: Yeah, like I love our fans and we have so many fans that really do get it. I just read the letter from the girl that gave us our Yoohoo, because we love Yoohoo Chocolate Drink, and fans always bring it for us.

Obviously that in itself is the fact that we stay in touch with our fans. We have our fan website, and MySpace has really been phased out, but that used to be like — when MySpace was getting popular is when we were getting popular, and it was just like we just worked it and now, it’s so over-saturated, it really doesn’t work like that anymore.

I think when it comes to fans, some bands don’t have any interaction with fans, and it’s awesome that way, like Coldplay or Interpol, like they don’t really — it’s not really a face to face thing, at least from what I’ve seen.

Then there are bands that like with the internet and with like Twitter alone, it’s like it’s really connected. Like people standing in line at a venue can find out all these “celebrity band dudes” are doing, like eating here with so and so and so, and that kind of gets to me.

C6M: Is that too much?

Mike Hranica: It’s too much for me. Even though certain members of this band are kind of like that, but for me, like I don’t know, I think there’s a line to be drawn, and it’s not so much putting all this stuff on the internet. It’s that all these dudes do it, but they’re never real.

People are like, “He’s really nice, because his tweets are nice,” or whatever, but it’s like people kind of need to see through it. Just because they’re reading his Twitter and his Facebook, and his Tumblr and this and this and this, and you’ve met him once. It’s not real.

That really gets on my nerves, and I feel like our band is a band that should be interacting with fans, and I think we do a pretty good job at it, but me personally, I like to be real and I like to be honest to where I’m — if someone does something and I’m like — it’s just not my personality to stand there and be like, “They’re making really stupid decisions,” and I just smile like I can’t do it, I have to be honest.

When people ask me about certain bands, I tend to be so bitter about bands that — I can’t be like, “Oh yeah, they’re good dudes,” like I have to be honest.

C6M: If you know them, right?

Mike Hranica: I talk trash, and I don’t know, like that’s just how I am, and I hate to see people look up to other people who are just as bitter as I am, but they think they’re God because they seem nice on the internet. I think that’s — it took me a long time to answer this question.

C6M: No, that’s okay.

Mike Hranica: I think that’s what really gets to me, is when people just — it’s like yeah, you have a lot of followers or whatever, but that doesn’t make you a leader, and it definitely doesn’t make you honest or real or a good person.

C6M: So, how do you stay grounded then? I mean if you have that many people throwing that much adoration at you, it’s hard not to…

Mike Hranica: Well, yeah, a lot of people don’t stay grounded, and for me, I could write a list of who those people are, because I can see right through it, I can see right through the BS, and a lot of fans don’t, and that bugs me.

But for me and for the guys in the band, it’s just like I don’t know, I still — seeing people throw adoration at me, I’m like I guess so, like people baked us a cake and gave us drinks today and like signing stuff every day and pictures and stuff…

C6M: And they defend you tooth and nail on the internet if somebody says anything bad, so…

Mike Hranica: Exactly. But I don’t consider myself adored. I guess I feel like technically I am, and you know all the records have sold a lot, the people come out to our shows and everything, but like I just still see myself as a normal person and someone that — I just like to be honest and I like to be truthful.

The fact that some people want to — a lot of people nowadays seem to want to hear what I have to say. It doesn’t make me feel better about myself, because like I need to — my focus is about my own perception, like I can’t think about what everybody else thinks of me, because it’s a waste of time.

I just have to try to be happy with myself and my character and my being within the perspective of like the big picture. I need to see myself, am I making a positive impact? That’s what’s important for me. It’s not about who likes me and who doesn’t, how many people follow me on Twitter and just all that stuff, and that’s just kind of — I guess if you were to say that I’m a grounded person, that would be my explanation.

C6M: Yeah. Well, you sound grounded. I mean and…

Mike Hranica: Thank you, I try.

C6M: Well, I’ve talked to a few people and sometimes you get the whole — like for example, I just talked to Rob Halford, the most grounded guy ever, but the perspective was that he doesn’t do his music for any other reason than he is addicted to it, do you feel like that’s kind of how you are too? It’s like the music is really — the creation of the art is why you’re in this and everything else is gravy to some degree?

Mike Hranica: Yeah. I would never describe it like that, but I can truly relate to it. I mean to say that I’m addicted to the band would be like the fact that when I go home, and like I love being home and be with my girlfriend and my puppy and my roommates, my friends, the city itself, just like all that, like I love it, but if I were to take too much time off, I would go crazy without having lyrics to write and then a song to put the lyrics to, and touring and performing.

Not so much touring, but just playing shows, because that’s what I love about touring, is getting up and going nuts, just punching and doing that. I would say that’s what I’m addicted to. I wouldn’t say that — if someone asked me why are you making music, I wouldn’t say that the only reason was because I’m addicted, but I can understand where that comes from.

I think Rob Halford being a huge metal legend, he’s definitely seen a lot more than me. Like if I were to feel like a lot of fans looked up to me, that’s only a fraction of Rob Halford, because I looked up to Rob Halford, like still do, like Painkiller. But that’s why I would say why he could have that perspective more than me, it’s because he’s been doing it for…

C6M: 40 years, 30 years, yeah, it’s a long time.

Mike Hranica: Oh yeah, oh yeah, so…

C6M: Great. Well, I know that you’ve got your show tonight, so thank you so much for taking your time. Good luck and good luck on the tour and the EP.

Mike Hranica: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

So what does the future hold for The Devil Wears Prada?  Only God knows.  But if they keep playing they way they are, the future is bright.  Once again, special thanks to Mike Hranica for sitting down and being so open.  Be sure to pick up the Zombie EP at their website and don’t forget to let them know that Paul sent ya!

By Paul Stamat

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Following Photos by Erick Bieger 3/6/10 at The Wiltern (Los Angeles, CA)

C6M: Hello?

Zakk Wylde: Paul.

C6M: Hey.

Zakk Wylde: What are you doing brother? It’s Zakk.

C6M: Hi Zakk, how are you? Thanks so much for calling.

Zakk Wylde: Sorry, I’m running late here man.

C6M: That’s okay, that’s okay. I was just talking to your publicist too, just hoping to get the stuff together, so we get it today.

Zakk Wylde: I dig it brother, cool.

C6M: Very awesome. How is your health? I was reading about your health issues recently, and I was wondering.

Zakk Wylde: No, no, I’m doing — I’m fine. I just got off the Coumadin and I took that for almost a year. So, it was just blood thinners, you know what I mean. I mean the only thing that changed, the doctor was just like, “Zakk, you got to — the booze, say goodbye to that.”

I was just like “Well,” and he just goes, “Well, it’s a blood thinner Zakk. You put blood thinner on top of blood thinner.” He goes, “Literally, you’ll be hanging out at Hooters watching Monday night football with the guys, you’ll start bleeding out.”

He goes, “Every orifice of your body will be — you’ll have blood trickling down like a river dude.” And he goes, “Not advisable”, he goes, “That will be the last Hooters you’ll ever be going to.” I said, “Okay, well, that will be the end of that.”

Some guy asked me to go, “Oh, so Zakk, you’re with the 12 step program brother?” I go, “No. Black Label, man up, and that’s it, padding up and Black Label up.” “You’re done. Stop drinking. I don’t know what to tell you.” It’s just like, “Well, how’d you do it?” I go, “You stop. If I tell you not to stick your hand under the lawnmower while it’s running, what are you going to…?”

C6M: Right. So, it was real easy for you then to just make that decision?

Zakk Wylde: Well, I mean yeah, if you’re going to ask me if I’d like to still be drinking beer and just hanging out {top of the buzz} enjoying myself, playing a guitar, watching the Yankee game, of course, you know what I mean? Who wouldn’t?

C6M: Right, right.

Zakk Wylde: You know what I’m saying? It’s like really saying, “I can’t stand it now that my wife doesn’t rub my shoulders anymore when my back’s killing me.” You know what I mean? It’s like yeah, it feels good, who wouldn’t want that? You know what I mean?

C6M: Right, well, very cool, that’s great to hear then.

Zakk Wylde: Well, yeah, I mean you just got to stop. I don’t need to pay a therapist $40,000 to remind me or go to a rehab to go — to be sitting there talking with you, a bro going like this, going “Paul, how do you feel today?”

C6M: Right, right.

Zakk Wylde: “You feel like you want to drink?” You go, “Well, who wouldn’t?”

C6M: Right, right.

Zakk Wylde: You know what I mean? It’s just like, “Well, what are you guys doing for me in here that I couldn’t do at my house?”

C6M: Well, some people, they don’t cope well.

Zakk Wylde: Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous man, because the minute you’re going to get out of there Paul, you’re going to drink, you’re going to drink dude or whatever it is that you do, you know what I mean?

C6M: Right.

Zakk Wylde: Me, I just had to go to this rehab for crapping my pants, because my wife was like, “I’ve had enough of this man. You can’t be shitting in the bed anymore.”

C6M: Right [laughter]. So, I listened to the new album and enjoyed it a lot.

Zakk Wylde: Thanks bro.

C6M: I noticed that you guys just did a benefit show with your band at The Roxy, how did that go?

Zakk Wylde: Oh, slamming. At St. Jude’s, we had a good time man, it was very cool, we had a blast.

C6M: Yeah, that was a very noble cause. And you were joking a little bit about next award you win could be the Nobel Peace Prize, but it might be the Nobel prize for something, for caring for the kids.

Zakk Wylde: Yeah. The wife would be — yeah, just stop screaming around the house. But yeah, I mean the St. Jude’s thing was awesome man. I mean you know, it’s just like — I was talking to some one dude not too long ago, and he was just like, “Zakk, thanks so much. I’m actually cured from cancer man. When I was a little guy, when I was actually in there, when you guys started donating,” stuff like that.

So, I mean it’s like really super cool, like somebody can come up to you man and just say that, you helped save his life. You know what I mean?

C6M: Yeah, exactly. And it’s funny because you know, metal heads usually get this reputation for the kind of lyrics they write or the kind of guys they are, but I mean you guys are going out there and actually putting your money where your mouth is.

Zakk Wylde: Yeah, it’s entertainment dude, you know what I mean? It’s like saying, “Linda Blair, I don’t want to date that chick, she was in the exorcist.” It’s like, “Dude, it’s a movie man.” You know what I mean? It’s just like, come on, give me a break dude.

C6M: Right. So, Ozzfest this weekend, you’re on the second stage. Are you guys going to play some new stuff there?

Zakk Wylde: Oh yeah, without a doubt. We’re only up there 45 minutes, so you know, I figure that’s about seven songs right there. I mean before you know it, you start getting going, and then you’re off the stage. We usually do like a hour and a half, you know?

C6M: Right, right, so it will be a real quick in and out.

Zakk Wylde: Yeah, in and out man.

C6M: Yeah. So, how about this, your Black Label Berzerkus?

Zakk Wylde: Yeah, we’re going to start that in September. Just going out with Children of Bodom, and then we got Clutch, kick-ass, I mean all the bands. Alexi is amazing, and then you got the 2Cents guys, they’re all killer bands.

C6M: So, was it nerve racking to start up your own festival or was it just something that was like a natural progression?

Zakk Wylde: No, I love it. I mean if the whole thing is — I love doing all of it, you know what I mean? It’s just like with Jimmy Page is with Zep, like that was his baby. You know what I mean? It was just like — he bled that band, and I mean it’s the same thing with Black Label, it’s all that for me.

I mean it’s just like — aside of it just being a band, it’s bigger than the music. I mean Black Label is bigger than me. I mean we’re doing hot sauces, beef jerky, beer, we’re going to have coffee, everything down to the artwork, the merging and I’m talking about starting — we’ve got our own label, Panworkz, we’re going to be able to sign bands and do stuff like that, all for E1.

Then I’m talking about doing between all the new gear and everything like that, and then also with Panworkz coming up, talking about doing Doom Crew Pubs and stuff like that man. So, I’m looking forward to doing all of it.

C6M: Right on, right on. Well, let’s talk a little bit about your time with Ozzy, past and present. Do you ever get tired of the Randy Rhoads comparisons?

Zakk Wylde: Why would I? I mean he’s my hero.

C6M: Well, because I mean there’s always — it seems like there’s always those factions, you know, who is better or whatever.

Zakk Wylde: No, it couldn’t be. Well, he’s my teacher, so you know what I’m saying? So, I mean it’s just like saying it doesn’t matter who hits more home runs than Babe. Babe is Babe, you know what I mean? He’ll always be the Jesus Christ of baseball, you know what I’m saying?

C6M: Oh yeah, I know, absolutely.

Zakk Wylde: It doesn’t matter who — it will always be the house that Ruth built. No matter what Mickey does, no matter what Lou Gehrig does, no matter what Thurman did, no matter what Jeter does, no matter what anybody does, it will always be known as the house that Ruth built. And I would say what Ozz is, it’s the house that Rhoads built, and I just happen to be one of the guys lucky enough to wear the pinstripes.

C6M: Well, you know, you actually had a lot to do with his success later on though, so you’re no slouch.

Zakk Wylde: Well, I mean like I said, I mean I always look at Ozzy as the Yankee franchise, especially as a guitar player, you put the pinstripes on, that’s what’s expected out of you, is to win the World Series every year. So, I mean like with Ozz, it’s like now what’s expected out of Gus, is to keep the franchise, to keep the pinstripes going, you know?

C6M: Right, right. So, was it a shock to have the time end or did you just feel like it was coming and you were ready to do something else?

Zakk Wylde: No, no, I mean Ozz was saying — one of my buddies was like, “Zakk, you know how much of a compliment that is, that Ozz is saying everything is starting to sound like Black Label?” He goes, “Think about that.” He goes, “If John Mayall said to Eric Clapton, everything is starting to sound like Cream.” You know what I mean? I mean that’s a compliment. That’s not a diss at all, you know what I mean?

C6M: Right.

Zakk Wylde: I mean, rightfully so, I mean if Ozz was — let’s break it down, if he was playing with Rand or Jake at the time, and everything started to sound like Quiet Riot, everything started to sound like Badlands, same thing would have happened, you know what I mean?

C6M: Yeah, yeah.

Zakk Wylde: And you know, there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just like — it’d be like let’s say if Ozz, even with Black Sabbath was like, “Guys, I want to try and do — I want to do so much of doom and gloom stuff. I want to do more like pop rock stuff or anything. I want to do a jazz record.”  You know, I mean it’s just something different, you know what I mean? It’s just like, “Alright, no problem Ozz,” you know what I mean? It’s just like “I want to work with other musicians.”  I mean there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean put it this way, without Ozzy, it would be no Zakk Wylde, there’d be no Black Label, there’d be no Black Label Bunker, there’d be no hot sauces, there’d be no Zakk Wylde guitars. There’d be no Zakk Wylde Marshalls, there’d be no — all the stuff I got is because of him.

C6M: Well, let’s talk a little bit about your legacy, and your influence as Zakk Wylde and your own label itself. Is it hard to put that sort of stuff into a perspective, like someone who influences the younger guys coming out and things like that, while you’re still making music? Do you think about that at all?

Zakk Wylde: Well, no, I mean put it this way, it’s just a trickled down effect. Everybody that Randy Rhoads got it from, and everyone that Jimmy Page got it from and Eddie Van Halen got it from, and all the guys that I idolize, it’s just they got it from — you know, it’s just like Jimmy Page got it, I mean he got it from Robert Johnson, all the blues greats. That’s where — he loved all the old blues records, and so I went back and listened to those records, because Jimmy Page said so.

C6M: Right.

Zakk Wylde: And Eddie Van Halen mentioned Allan Holdsworth and all these other great guys, and I checked out Allan Holdsworth, you know what I mean, because of Eddie Van Halen. And then Randy Rhodes mentioning all the guys that he liked, I checked them out because Randy Rhoads said so.  So, I mean the whole thing is just a — so if any kid that’s into me, if he’s like “Zakk, you’re the reason why I picked up the guitar.” Then he’s going to find out about — and obviously all the guys that taught me, whether it was Frank Marino, Robin Trower, Jimi Hendrix, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco, Eddy, Randy, all the — the list goes on man. It’s just, go check out all the guys that Zakk talks about, you know what I mean?

C6M: Yeah, absolutely. So, ultimately were you surprised? I noticed on your website, there was — Justin Bieber’s guitarist was playing a signature Zakk Wylde guitar.

Zakk Wylde: Oh yes, and I mean because he was playing Saturday Night Live with Justin, and like people were on the Twitter, they were going, “Zakk, dude this dude in Justin Bieber’s band is playing a Zakk Wylde guitar” and this and that, and like I go, “Dude, I fully endorse it man.” I go like this, I go — my Twitter account just went from 30,000 to 18 million people.

C6M: Right…

Zakk Wylde: So, I know, and I just like to say [inaudible], I mean I’ve spoken to Dan and everything like that, so yeah — because he’s just a huge, he digs all the stuff I did with the boss and the Black Label stuff. And he digs all types of music, I mean he digs the heavy stuff, he digs everything from Dimebag, from Pantera down to John Mayer or anything, you know what I mean?

C6M: Yes.

Zakk Wylde: So, it’s just — I mean dude, if you like — there’s only two types of music. You’ve got bad music and good music in every form of music. There’s bad jazz and there’s bad classical, and there’s bad rap and there’s bad rock, you know what I mean?

C6M: Yeah. Well, do you think that ultimately then that sometimes music fans take too much ownership and take it too seriously? I mean if someone like yourself can look at it — a guitar player…

Zakk Wylde: Well, I know, and some dudes will go, “Dude, that’s sacrilege that he’s playing a Zakk Wylde guitar man. He can’t be playing that.” I go, “Dude, who cares?” It’s so funny. I go, “All those Justin Bieber fans, they might even find out about me through Dan Kanter.” And I go, “The funny thing is, they’re all going to be going — when they see me they go, yeah, I see some dude with a beard. It’s this big dude playing a Dan Kanter guitar.”

C6M: Yeah…

Zakk Wylde: You know what I mean? That’s going to be the comedy matter, but I said who cares man? I said, “That’s what it’s — music is for everybody man.”

C6M: Right, totally agree, totally agree. Well, let’s talk a little bit about the fans and I guess it’s a new era that we’re in. I mean it seems like everyone I have talked to is really having — either they’re really hot to it or they’re really cold to kind of like what YouTube does to music, and what iTunes does to music. I mean do you feel like the game has changed so much now that you have to be as yourself really actively involved with your fan base much more so now than ever before?

Zakk Wylde: Oh, then like when Zeppelin was around?

C6M: Yeah, yeah.

Zakk Wylde: Well, I think like if Led Zeppelin was around today, I mean think about how cool it would have been back in the day if we would have been on Twitter and Jimmy Page would have answered one of mine and your questions.

C6M: Yeah.

Zakk Wylde: I mean nothing for nothing, that’s pretty cool, you know what I mean? It’s just like if me and you would say, where we ask like Tony Iommi, we’re on the Twitter thing with Black Sabbath and we could actually ask Tony Iommi, “Tony, what gauge strings do you use?” And he goes, “Oh, I actually use sixes, and I use to .10 or whatever. It would be like, “Oh dude, Tony Iommi just wrote back to us, oh my God.” You know what I mean?

C6M: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Zakk Wylde: Or Jimmy Page writing back to me and you, you know what I mean?

C6M: Yeah, yeah.

Zakk Wylde: I mean I think that’s like so cool, but I mean it’s just — well, it doesn’t bother me at all, I mean like with the Twitter thing, I think it’s going — I mean with Black Label, I don’t consider — we don’t have fans. I call them fams, so Black Label has just got one gigantic fan base, it’s bigger than the band, it’s one gigantic union, it’s a big gigantic family.  So, you’ve got the Boston chapter, then the New York Chapter, the New Jersey chapter, the Philly chapter, I mean, and everybody hangs out and talks, you know what I mean? So, it’s just like — I think it’s awesome.

C6M: Yeah, that is, that is. And it’s strange, because it starts to really — as strange as it is that the world is shrinking in terms of that, is it also weird that like you’re approached by things that you probably never would have thought about 10, 15 years ago, like now you’re in a video game.

Zakk Wylde: Oh yeah, no. I mean it is funny, I mean it’s just like — I remember my guitar teacher Leroy said it when MTV came out, I mean — because you got to remember, that’s before — because my guitar teacher was a huge Jimi Hendrix guy.  The only media you really had with bands back then, it was like when the Beatles were doing Hard Day’s Night and stuff like that was a big deal, to go to the movies and see The Beatles. So, you know, I mean when you look back on it now, you think it’s amazing that they didn’t come up with MTV way back then.

C6M: Yeah, yeah.

Zakk Wylde: You know what I mean? It was just like — because Zep would have been doing it. Because was the only way you got a chance to see your bands back then, your favorite bands, whether it was Zeppelin, Van Halen, Sabbath, all the 70s stuff, whether it was Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac or anything, you had to read Creem magazine, Hit Parader, all the rock mags, Rolling Stone magazine.  I mean that was the only way you got any info, and it was like, “Oh my God, Jimmy Page finally does an interview.” You know what I mean?

C6M: Right, and it was like five magazines, period, yeah.

Zakk Wylde: Yeah, that’s all that was out. And so, I mean like when Led Zeppelin came to town, it was a big deal man. And you know, I mean, it was a lot of mystery shrouded around stuff, you know what I mean?

C6M: Sure.

Zakk Wylde: Mystique, you know what I mean, which is cool too man. I mean, you know nothing for nothing, I don’t know if I would have wanted to see a reality show on Jimmy Page, him walking around in Boleskine House with Aleister Crowley, you know what I mean, it would kind of take away the whole mystery and the whole — the mystique of the whole thing, and you know what I mean?

C6M: Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah definitely — did you happen to see that movie It Might Get Loud that he was in with The Edge and Jack White?

Zakk Wylde: I know. I got to get that movie. A buddy of mine told me, he said it was awesome.

C6M: Yeah, the thing that he said in the movie, and I wanted to extend this to you, because it was something that blew my mind. He kind of threw it out there almost like — it was almost like a nothing statement, but he said that when he moved into his house, when he was a kid, that there was a guitar there, and that was like his first guitar. And I was like, “Man, what if there wasn’t a guitar there? What would happen if there was no Jimmy Page?” If there was no Jimmy Page, do you think there would be still be a Zakk Wylde?

Zakk Wylde: Yeah, I know what you’re saying about Jimmy. I remember that one credit card commercial, there was a — it had a little kid in front of the music store, a little black kid, and it had accordions in the music store, and then all of a sudden then they just had another black kid in front of a — the same kid in front of a music store, and it had guitars.  And it said — and then also I think he started playing the national anthem, maybe it’s a good thing Jimi didn’t walk in front of the accordion store. You know, it was just like blasting the national anthem, like maybe it was a good thing he did find a guitar, you know what I mean?  But no, I know what you’re saying. I mean yeah, like let’s say if Jimmy would have started playing a piano or something, you know what I mean?

C6M: Which definitely changed the face of music in some ways…

Zakk Wylde: Oh, without a doubt dude, I mean Zeppelin changed so many things. I mean The Beatles, I mean there’s not that many bands you could say that really changed — like I mean not {predominantly}, like I said, The Beatles, it was like dude, they didn’t just change the music, they changed the world bro.

C6M: Right, right.

Zakk Wylde: I mean that’s pretty huge, you know what I mean?

C6M: Yeah, absolutely. So, let’s talk a little bit about, like I said, you got your hand into a lot of things. You also did a little bit of acting and was in Rock Star. How much of that character was you?

Zakk Wylde: Well, no, I mean it’s just — let me put it this way, when I went down there, they go — I go, “What is it you need me to do?” And they go, “Well, just act kind of like this — the guy that drinks beer, you got to lift weights and play guitar, and we’ll have you shooting guns” or whatever, I go, “And you’re going to pay me for this?” I was just like, “Yeah, I know.”  And you know, Mark Wahlberg, super cool guy, and then Jennifer Aniston is a sweetheart, and Steve Herek, I mean the guy, the director, everybody that was down on that thing was — just really super cool people.  So, I was just going down and having a good time. Painless man; I mean everybody that was there, really nice people man. So, I was just like — I mean every experience I’ve ever had doing those things, every record I’ve ever made, I’ve always had a good time. Everyone has been always super cool, the producers, everybody. I’ve never done a record where I was just like, “God, I”, you know.  And dude, if I have a problem with anybody, anyways I’ll just get right in your face about it anyway. I’m not going to sit around here talking behind your back. I mean you got a problem, we can step outside if you want, you know what I mean? But it’s just like, I got tired of messing around with anybody — it’s like it’s going to hurt your feelings.

C6M: Right. Well, speaking of just being around and having a good time, you just recently got an award with the Golden Gods, right?

Zakk Wylde: What was that, the Golden, right brother?

C6M: Golden God, yeah, the Golden God?

Zakk Wylde: Oh yeah, yeah, that was the award for that thing, yeah.

C6M: Right. Do you think that ultimately your career as a guitarist will be measured by awards or do you think that — do you not care that much about it as long as you’re playing for as long as like Rob Halford and Ozzy Osbourne is?

Zakk Wylde: Well, no, I mean the whole thing is it’s — ultimately what people are going to remember you by is what they’re going to remember you by. You know what I mean, it’s just like Randy Rhoads, I know what I — Randy is just an amazing — he’s just a huge influence on me, you know what I mean? Still is to this day. I mean when I go [indiscernible] I still feel like I’m 14 years old, you know what I mean?

C6M: Right…

Zakk Wylde: And he always will be a huge influence on me till the day I die. So, you know what I mean? So, it’s just like that will never go away, but I mean the impact those records had on me, all of them, you know what I mean?  They really carry on with you for the rest of your life man, so I mean it’s just like — no, I mean it’s just like — to put it this way, if you’re going to inspire somebody to do something, like how Randy Rhoads inspired me to pick up the guitar, and Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen and John McLaughlin, all these guys, Al Di Meola and everybody, I mean that’s awesome man.

C6M: Right.

Zakk Wylde: And then all you’re doing, you’re just passing it on, you know what I mean?

C6M: Sure, sure, and so last question, and it’s actually a non music question. You’re obviously a Yankee fan, but what did you think of A-Rod 600?

Zakk Wylde: Well, I thought it was hysterical. Bill Maher, he goes, “Well, instead of putting asterisks near the 600th home run,” he goes “Why don’t they just write 368?” [Laughter] I mean my whole thing is with the whole steroid thing, nothing for nothing, they should just legalize it and put it under a doctor supervision.  No, seriously, I mean put it this way, if you’re getting tested once a week, and I’m saying like if your liver enzymes are high, your pancreas and he starts noticing your heart is getting enlarged or your lungs, it’s just like, “Dude, I got to back you off on some of this stuff.”  And so, none of these guys have health issues when they are in their 50s, and if you noticed, the majority of the older guys are dying. The wrestlers, football players, I mean every — I mean dude, baseball players are on steroids, baseball players, that’s a joke. I mean dude, go to the NFL man.

C6M: Oh, right, it’s definitely much higher.

Zakk Wylde: I mean there’s not one offensive lineman, defensive lineman, I don’t care who you are in the NFL dude, you cannot get that massive and that big and then be doing a 40 yard dash in like 4.3 seconds man. I mean it’s just like saying to me — I’m a huge fan of Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman, you know, professional bodybuilder, not [xx], just all the discipline that goes into it, and power lifting.  You mean to tell me on a professional bodybuilding stage, the 10 best guys in the world, in professional bodybuilding, that you see on those Flex magazines, they’re going to do a drug testing thing for that and go, “Oh yeah, this is all natural. This is protein powder and just eating clean.”

C6M: Right, no way.

Zakk Wylde: It’s just like, dude, it’s impossible — it’s like, “So, what are you doubting that?” I go “No, I’m not doubting at all that the amount of hard work that goes into getting into that kind of condition, the cardio, the lifting, the eating,” and then I go, “But dude, you — I mean no, it’s just impossible dude.”  I don’t know what to tell you. That’s like me trying to tell you that an acoustic guitar can sound like a frigging wall of Marshall’s and an electric guitar, okay?

C6M: Right…

Zakk Wylde: No, it’s just like well, how come that electric guitar is a trillion times louder than that acoustic? Because it’s amplified through a couple of hundred watts, that’s why. I mean it’s just like basically yeah, you can take a Les Paul guitar and it sounds great. Plug the thing into a wall of 200 watt heads, that thing will shake the foundation of a building. That’s steroids for you bro.  You know, so I mean it’s just like — I just think if it’s under a doctor’s supervision, then everybody is on the same playing field. If you want to take them, cool. If you know what I mean, because then you take out all the guessing game.  You know what I mean? I just think it’s ridiculous, I mean how you can get a drug test for guys. Drug test every guy in the NFL, you won’t have the NFL.

C6M: Yeah, yeah, that’s probably why they do it random.

Zakk Wylde: You know what, drug test the NBA for marijuana. I mean seriously, just go in and take hair samples, and just like they do — my buddy is a narcotics division detective. They drug test the guys, they take hair samples, urine and a blood sample, like every two months to make sure that the guys aren’t taking anything.  And dude, I mean they’ll tell you — I mean I’ve done it before for insurance purposes. They take your hair samples, they take some piss, and then they’ll tell you what I was taking a year ago, whether I’ve had a drink or anything, whether I’ve been taking steroids or I’ve taken anything, so it will come clean up, whether you took heroin, cocaine, anything.  It will come right up on your — I mean it’s ridiculous. I mean you can’t go up to Mark McGwire and go — or Barry Bonds and go, “Piss in a cup right now, let me take some of your blood.” “Oh, no, no, no, I can’t do it,” “Let me do it.”  And it’s just like it’s still shrouded in a realm of shit that Barry Bonds was ever on anything. It’s like how can you not just walk up to the guy and go, “Dude, piss in a cup right now, and let me draw some blood.”  And then he goes — because I guarantee, within — “Actually in a couple of hours from now, Barry, we’re going to know what the hell is in your body right now.” “Well, fuck you man, I ain’t doing any of these tests.” It’s just like, “Well then, guess what, you’re not playing.”  So, what you’re saying is, Mark McGwire, I plead to fifth. I say, “Wait, so you’re not saying you did and you’re not saying you didn’t, so as far as I’m concerned you’re guilty dude, because if you didn’t do anything, I’ve never taken, I’m not on roids.”  I’ll tell you right now, here you go. It’s just like saying that you’re an illegal immigrant. “No, I got my — here’s my license right here.” What, you got a problem from me stereotyping you, because you’ve got long hair and a beard? Because that’s how — where most people have beards and long hair are illegal immigrants.” I go, “No problem, you can test me. Here is my passport and here is my license. I’m a legal citizen. I have no problems with that at all.”  ”Okay Zakk, do you want to take this drinking test right now to see if you’re drunk driving?” I go, “I’ll take the test, I haven’t had a drink, so go ahead. What, because you’re pulling me over, because I look — because I’ve got long hair, what, rock guys drink? Yeah, I’ll take the test right now. You could test me for cocaine or heroin, I ain’t on either one of them either.”   But you know what I mean, the minute you’re going to go, “No, I plead to fifth.” Dude, you plead to fifth, you just say you’re guilty there. It’s just — I’m just saying it’s a joke. I mean they’ve got to test baseball players. Look at the size of baseball players and look at an offensive lineman, look at a defensive lineman man, a linebacker in the NFL dude. Come on, give me a break.  I mean I’m saying — it’s not that I don’t advocate it. I mean dude, you’re doing everything else you can. You’re eating clean, you’re eating right, you’re training, you’re lifting weights. You’re taking all your vitamins and everything like that.  Put it this way, you just want to bring it to — if you’re going to a doctor and he’s actually testing your internal organs and making sure that physically you’re fine, then who cares, you know what I mean? Just get it over with.

C6M: Yeah, totally, totally. Well, once again, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day, I know you were busy.

Zakk Wylde: No problem brother. Well, listen, we’ll see you out on the road brother.

C6M: Absolutely, I’ll see you this weekend.

Zakk Wylde: Alright Paul, so you have a good one brother.

C6M: Okay, bye.

Zakk Wylde: Bye-bye.

Zakk Wylde was definitely one of the biggest highlights of Ozzfest and I considered it an honor to chat with him.  If you’re going to buy a ticket, I highly recommend you check out the Black Label Society on the second stage.  And don’t forget the new album Order of the Black. It’s definitely picks up where he left off with Ozzy, which in this case is a good thing.

By Paul Stamat

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All Photos by Erick Bieger 8/14/10 at San Manuel Amphitheater (Devore, CA)

A quick hit on this week’s hottest topics: The Weekly Six. If you missed out on what’s been going on this week, tune in to read about the hottest topics on the net – or at least the hottest topics to us. This is your chance to feel free to agree or disagree. And without further ado, in no particular order, behold the six!

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U Smile

The newest sensation taking over the internet is apparently slowing down tunes by Justin Bieber.  Why?  To prove how evil he really is.  Don’t let his boyish good looks fool you. He’s Satan incarnate.  How else do you explain why his song actually sounds better when you slow it down to the speed that no human can hear?  Don’t believe me?  Take “U Smile” and slow it down by 800 percent and I swear that it turns into a gateway into the supernatural.  Listen for yourself here, you can actually hear angels singing.  This is proof positive the music industry can’t be trusted and maybe our parents might have been right when they warned us about backwards masking on records when we were kids.  Heaven knows what might happen if we slow down tunes by the Backstreet Boys.

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The Return of Brett Favre

I know, I know.  This is hardly news.  But like Favre, this news bears repeating.  Seriously, this news bears repeating.  I’m not kidding, this news bears repeating.  Sorry.  Which of you out there really thought he wouldn’t be coming back?  Of course he’s going to play.  We want to see Favre play as much as the next guy, but does he really have to hold a press conference EVERY year telling us about it?  That’s like God holding a press conference every night to let us know that the sun is going to rise in the morning.  Duh.

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Iraq: Mission Accomplished?

The war is ending. Finally.  As the final combat brigade heads home, we at C6M who have family in the armed forces are glad to see them return for good.  But at what cost?  And what did we learn?  I can only hope that our children get to live in a world with sustained peace.  But I’ve lived long enough to know that humanity has a ways to go before we truly get there.  But that’s neither here nor there.  For now let us celebrate the fact that this one gets to end.

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The Moon Is Shrinking?

Well, according to scientists this is something that you can’t see with your naked eye.  In other news scientists reported that there were also other things you can’t see with your naked eye like planets and air and…flatulence.  Anyway.

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Clemens Indicted

Baseball legend Roger Clemens was indicted on charges of lying to congress.  Will he go to jail?  Has any professional baseball player gone to jail yet based upon lying about their steroid use?  This is a fate reserved for track athletes because nobody watches that sport.  Anyway, I’m not saying that it’s right, but it’s fricken baseball for heaven’s sake.  Wanna indict some people, start with a few Presidents and work your way down.  When you get to Barry Bonds again, let me know.

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The Soothing Sounds of Worms

Can I just ask why and go home?

Exactly.