Question 1:
Tell me about your favorite song or songs - what is it about the message or the music that makes that song (or songs) stand out above the rest?

"The Message" is the song that I think best embodies every intention and every commitment this band stands for. Granted, all of our songs are very much a part of me, and all of our songs are supposed to add up to this big picture--the overall message of Die Young--the actual song "The Message" has been our most successful attempt to put that entire big picture we're going for into one song. I think that song itself, musically, draws from influences all over the range of hardcore within the last decade, and that's something we've always wanted to do. Though most people would consider us a metallic hardcore band, we've always strived to be very much punk-rooted, by means of the lyrics or by means of writing fast, in-your-face music. "The Message" was meant to convey theimportance of keeping the spirit of idealism alive in Punk and Hardcore, rather than the endless apathy most outsiders usually equate Hardcore and Punk to represent. See, I came into Hardcore at a time when many bands at the frontline of the scene were all about being vegan/vegetarian and Straightedge and there was this very idealistic vibe to it all. I think the mid-90s were the reincarnation of the early 80s (just slower and more metallic, haha)--nearly everything was about standing defiant to mainstream society and trying to create some kind of change. That's something that I connected very deeply with, and its something I hate to see fade to the background in this commercial phase of Hardcore. Looking at things now, I think the scene/HC community needs a voice chanting "idealism" more than ever as our community becomes increasingly watered down by record labels going corporate, and by corporations trying to commodify the underground. I know things are bound to run in cycles, but "The Message" is my statement to the scene, to the whole fucking world, that true Hardcore and Punk will always be in the underground and those of us in this underground community must always maintain some kind of belief in "change" - no matter what that may entail, and no matter what phase of the cycle the scene is in.


Question 2:
Can you think of your best show ever in terms of communication, passion, and intensity and describe it to me?

It'd be tough for me to narrow it down to a single show, because there have been many that were memorable favorites, but I can generally say that if I am not feeling a connection with the audience and striking a chord with people I become pretty irate with the whole situation. For the sake of answering with some kind of clarity, I'll just run with this example. We recently played a show in nowhere, Texas, and it was a long, cold and miserable night (the only one of the year--it's usually hot and miserable) in this skatepark with too many bands playing. There were about 20-30 people there, and I figured it would be even more depressing if everyone stayed spread out during our set so a few people could mosh. So when we took the floor I encouraged everyone to come up front and requested that we wanted to see NO moshing for the duration of our set. No horseshoe bullshit! Everyone needed to come up front, chill out, and just enjoy the show--that hopefuly they'd feel like a part of it for once. And for once, people listened (as opposed to when people don't usually mosh when bands tell them to), and I think it was one of my favorite recent sets because I really felt the connection between myself and every individual person in the audience. For once, we were all there, eye to eye, and there wasn't this vacant space in front of me. I get so tired of playing shows with "x" amount of kids in some venue that feels really empty because everyone is spread out the corners of the room trying to avoid 5 jerkwads moshing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy when people dance to Die Young (after all we do have parts that are fairly mosh-worthy), but if people are just dancing to act hard, or if people are killing the togetherness of a show by running around like apes the I'd prefer if everyone just stood up front and watched. There's a certain psychology to a good hardcore show, and I think it involves a real sense of unity and togetherness. Kids need to packed in against one another, and I suppose there needs to be an element of unpredictability much of the time, but most importantly there has got to be a sense of unity--that we're all a part of the show. I feel that sense of unity and communication dissipating more and more as I tour the U.S. with Die Young, as the almight "mosh" continues to prevail over the substance and communication that made Hardcore worthwhile in the first place. Even if kids don't know the words to our songs, there is simply nothing that can compare to a show when I know people are drawn in both physically and mentally. Seeing flailing legs and fists doesn't motivate me to keep doing this half as much as when I can sense that most everyone in the room is on the same page and there's nothing for anyone to prove.


Question 3:
Twenty years from now, when you are reflecting on your time in the band, what about it will mean the most to you in terms of what you have done or accomplished or communicated, and why?

Well, we'll see if I'm alive in twenty years, haha....I don't think much about the future at all--not beyond the next tour atleast. In many ways I don't believe too much in the future, because who knows if we'll have tomorrow, and moreso, I could never want to look back and say "those....those were the glory days." Hopefully, if there is still breath in my body, I'll be doing something to make my life continue to be what I feel is extraordinary and worth living for. Ultimately, Die Young is very much my immortality project and my attempt to leave a legacy. Like any of us who are honest with ourselves, I can't claim to understand the purpose of human life, and I can't be certain that any attempts to affect some change in the world will really mean anything at all. The best I can do is try to put some meaning in my life and show those around me what life can be. If I can look back in twenty years, or whenever, and say to myself that I never compromised a belief, or a desire, or a goal, and I did everything I could to live on my own terms and right as many wrongs within my power as possible, then I will be satisfied. People ought to be saying "that motherfucker wasn't playing around." I suppose all that I could ever hope to communicate to others is that in this universe of infinite uncertainty, we've got to put some certainty here by being accountable individuals with integrity. If I end up communicating that to a few people around the world with this band, and making some true friends along the way, I think will be a lot to be proud of. As an individual I can only do so much, but as long as I don't fail myself in my own goals I can never envision there being anything to regret.

Check out the band on Immigrant Sun Records!