Interviewed by Brian Rademacher
Date: December 6th, 2005

http://www.artofdyingmusic.com/

What band were you first a part of?
In high school, I was in a band called Lost Cause. I was always singing. I really didn’t start playing guitar until I was a teenager and I wanted to write instead of playing other people’s songs. So I tried to get good enough on guitar so I could start writing. That was when I met my boys. I was playing guitar on the streets of Vancouver making a few dollars here and there just singing my songs. I am a pretty loud singer so Dave our bass player heard me from two blocks away. Next day we set up a rehearsal and it was kind of magic.

When you first started singing, did you have a dream?
Yeah all my life I wanted to sing and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I remember one day that I was sitting with a counselor in school.

He asked me, ‘What do you want to do?’
‘Well I gonna sing.’
‘Yeah that’s great!’ They told me.
‘Yeah, yeah I know it’s great.’
 ‘Well what if that doesn’t work out.’
 I said, ‘I gonna make sure it does, that’s what I want to do.’
‘Well for argument sake what if that doesn’t work out?’

I was fourteen at that time. I was thinking that’s not a positive approach, to think how it’s not going to work. Ha-ha. So yeah, I knew that’s what I wanted to do and I’m still doing it.

Did you play any sports in school?
Yeah man. I’m from Canada. Hockey in the winter, baseball in the spring and you name it volleyball, bag mitten, football pretty much anything. The only game I did not play much was basketball.

What was the first album you ever bought?
Holy shit! My first one I bought was Bryan Adams' “Reckless.”

What was the first concert you attended?
I was a little kid and I saw Poison, ha-ha that’s where it all started hair metal.

What kind of kid were you in school?
I was a good kid. I talked too much and got in trouble a lot. I did my stuff and got through it.

Do you have any hobbies?
Mostly music, I live in Vancouver, and we have some of the best snowboarding in the world and I look like a snowboarder. People are always asking me how is the snow and the mountain. I tell them hey dude I’m in a band I don’t have time to snowboard. Music is full-time.

When you started in Pan, did you release any material?
We did a three-song demo. Put it out on our own label called Pan Records. We only made 500 copies in Canada and they’re all gone. I don’t know where they went but there out there.

2000, you were going under the name SunLikeStar. Why the name change?
We were influenced by electronic sounds and we spent two or three years diving into that world. We were into bands like Primal Scream, and industrial stuff. We applied that and my guitar player went to a God Lives Underwater show, and he was super inspired. He told me dude this is the phase of music. This is the shit. So we thought it would be cool to incorporate our rock and roll roots with some electronic roots. So we put a SunLikeStar album out on our own label. It was a lot of fun. We didn’t really concentrate on the writing that much compared to the vibe of the music… kind of an underground thing.

You changed your style of music on the “Inverse” CD which was an electronic alternative band to a rock alternative band… why the change in direction?
I think bands like U2 and Madonna always reinvent themselves. I think to stay fresh you have to keep changing and evolving, that’s the way to go. You will never get stale and I don’t want to be one of those bands that get bored playing their single at a show.

“Inverse” came out in 2000 and received a good response. What happened from 2000 to 2005?
We played a lot around town in Vancouver. We went into hibernation and decided to write better songs. We literally went through some member changes so that is why we decided to come out with a new name. We really wanted to hone in on a good song. It took along time. A lot of bands don’t know what a song means to a band instead of just putting out music. It took us a couple years to get it. We wrote our songs on a wall with jiff marker and we have over hundred up there.

Art of Dying. How did you come up with that name?
We had a couple different names floating around. Dave our bass player came up with that name. He brought it to me and I said that’s cool. It struck me right away as a positive message rapped in something that does scream positively right off the bat. That’s what I’m about when I write a lot of the lyrics and our album is a little darker but our ultimate message is pretty positive.

“Get Through This” is getting tons of airplay. Do you feel this is the strongest song on the upcoming release?
You know that’s one thing we are really happy about; we have eleven songs for the record. I would say five of them are really great songs. The others are just as good, but not for radio. There’s a song called “Car Crash” that will probably never get played on the radio station. It’s like you’re on death’s door step and it makes you think of the way you lived your life and how fragile life is. Did you say ‘I love you’ to the people you love the day before you got in that car accident. Those are strong feelings the way I felt when I was writing that song. I am proud of the music on this record.

Will there be any videos?
Yes there will be. Will filmed a video for “Get Through This” last month. It’s being edited right now.

Will “Completely” be the next single?
It could be. It’s a pretty strong song. The great thing about Myspace, we really get to hear what people think and we get good feedback. A lot of people commented about that song and like it and we do listen to the fans.

Tell me about Decibel Collective Records; is it a subsidiary of Universal?
It’s four guys… an independent label. They’re just four guys who believe in what we’re doing; and we met them and they knew it was no bullshit and we formed a brotherhood.
The days of the label has changed and it takes positive people to move you forward and that’s what our record company believes in.

How does it feel to be the debut act for that label?
It’s good. You get all the attention there.

What is the biggest challenge after the release?
We are having so much fun playing some shows down the East Coast from Richmond, Va. to West Palm, Beach Florida. It’s been awesome. Our challenge is staying awake. We try to meet everyone at our show and say ‘Hi’ to people. Our Myspace has been huge for us.

Do you have songs written for a second CD yet?
That 100 off the wall, you never know.

So far what has been the brightest moment being a musician?
You know I got two e-mails this week for our song “Get Through This.” One of them from a girl whose friend past away recently and she heard the song for the first time. She was brought to tears.  She just wrote me to tell me that song is helping her to get through that. Another girl wrote me to tell me she just left her husband because of spousal abuse. I wrote my dad today telling him that’s the biggest Christmas present I’m going to have under the tree this year. Those people who I know that are getting something from the song and it’s just amazing.

What kind of feeling do you get from something like that? You must get chills.
Dude! Yeah, I literally was writing that to my dad today on e-mail. I was getting a little caught up in it. I want to makes sure I make a positive impact. When I hear that, I know it all makes sense.

What does your family think of your success?
I don’t think they know about it yet. When I go home for Christmas, I am going to show them some footage from the road and stuff. I will find out then. I try to keep in touch with them all the time but it has been hectic. I don’t think they get it. I don’t think I get it yet. I’m just having fun.

“Get Through This” is on the Radio in New York all the time. What is that feeling?
That’s brilliant. I’ve never been to NY. I really want to visit there.

If you have one dream come true, what would that be?
I think I’m in it now. That’s been my dream my whole life. It’s about taking a lot of chances. I know for me it’s giving up a lot of things back home to make all this happen. That’s my dream. That is what Art of Dying is about. Art of Dying is your life to live, if you dream your dream everyday, it going to make your life worth wild.

Do you have any feeling about the world at this stage in time?
Yeah I have lots. I was affected by the bands of the early nineties like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. When I went to my first Lollapalooza, I felt a sense of community and it wasn’t political. It was a calm feeling of friendship. I think that is the key to politics to keep things real and honest and talk your mind freely. I see a lot of changes in the world for sure.

If you have a chance to go out on tour with another band, which would that band be?
I was thinking about that today. The ultimate tour would be for me is going out with Pearl Jam. I think they are the best band in the world. Incubus would be cool. One band that influences our band the most is Faith No More. If they were still together that would be a dream come true.

I recently talked with a good friend of mine from Vancouver. Maybe you know him his name is Thor.
Yeah, I know Thor, right on! He is still kick’n. I like Thor a lot. Thor’s drummer Dave Pare helped us out on a couple shows in between drummers.

Jonny it has been great to talk with you.
Hey, man I’m good and would like to thank all on Myspace and all our fans. Check the new CD out in January and come see us and say ‘Hi!’ Right on! Thanks Brian.