ION : WHICH SONG ON THE NEW CD MEANS THE MOST TO EACH OF ONE YOU AND WHY ?
Neil : I have a personal connection to all of the songs . Each has a meaning that I hold in my heart , as they are all my personal experiences . “ 12 Steps ” is de�nitely the song that means the most to me . It echoes in my mind , as if it happened yesterday . It is my " wake up ”, and was a de�ning moment in my life . I am a recovering alcoholic and am happy to say I have been sober for 6 years . Not an easy feat in the business we are in . Luckily , I am in a band with gentlemen that share the same views and we all hold each other accountable . We are a close nit crew of miscreants .
Jason : Honestly I can ' t really name one . “ Smile ” is probably my favorite song on the album , but “ 12 Steps ” probably has the most meaning for me . My parents were addicts and my dad became a substance abuse counselor after he got cleaned up . He did that for around 18 years before he passed away . I also lost my mom when I was 16--so the message of “ 12 Steps ” really hits home with me .
ION : YOU GUYS HAVE ACHIEVED A CERTAIN LEVEL OF SUCCESS OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS AS A BAND , SHARING THE STAGE WITH SOME PRETTY BIG NAMES . WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE SHOW AND WHY ?
Jason : I think for me ( in this band ) it was probably the “ Uproar Festival ”. We played with a lot of big bands on that festival . The guys had the chance to experience the festival life and how it ' s run like clockwork . We gained a lot of new fans and we have seen a lot of those fans at our other shows since then . It was like 100 degrees that day , but it was a great time .
ION : IF YOU COULD PLAY WITH ANY BAND YOU WANTED , WHO WOULD IT BE ?
Jason : This is impossible for me to answer . ( LOL ) I ' ve had so many different bands in�uence me that I can ' t choose just one . Of course , METALLICA got me into metal . But I ' m a big 80 ’ s fan also , so MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD would be on the list . Also , bands like KORN and SEVENDUST are on the list . They have that heavy “ in your face ” sound live that I love . So it ' s really hard to choose just one for me .
9