Interview With Gwen Stacy

June 13th, 2008 by Richiedude

GWEN STACY is a rock band from Indianapolis, IN. They have a passion, literally, for their music, fans, and their faith in God. Since those early days Gwen Stacy has maintained a diligent work ethic rivaling older, more experienced bands and have toured America on multiple occasions sharing the stage with today’s favorites such as The Devil Wears Prada, mychildren mybride, and metal sensation The Human Abstract among others. I got a chance to email them and TJ responded.

BEING A CHISTIAN ROCK BAND, HOW DO YOU FIND TIME TO PRACTICE YOUR FAITH WHILE ON TOUR?
We practice our faith with our lives. Church is great, and some of us go when we’re home from tour, but our faith revolves around loving on the people we’re surrounded by, whether it be fans, other bands, or random people at gas stations.

DO YOUR FIND IT DIFFICULT TO SPEAK ABOUT GOD AND YOUR FAITH TO NEW FACES, WHO MAY NOT BELIEVE?
Not at all. We’re respectful about our beliefs and others’, so it usually isn’t too difficult of a conversation if it comes up.

IF YOU COULD DESCRIBE EACH SONG ON THE LIFE I KNOW WITH TWO WORDS, WHAT WOULD EACH BE ?
The Path to Certainty - hard, core
I Was Born With Two First Names - hard, core
Challenger Pt. 2 - hard, core
If We Live Right, We Don’t Die Wrong - hard, core
What Will Happen If I Hit Enter - hard, core
The Fear In Your Eyes - hard, core
Playing God Is Playing For Keeps - hard, core
Falling From the Fence - hard, core
Sleeping From the Train Yard - hard, core
Gone Fishing. See You in a Year - hard, core
Paved Gold With Good Intentions - hard, core
I’ll Splatter You Like Jackson Polluck - hard, core

DO YOU FIND IT EASIER TO WRITE ON THE ROAD OR AT HOME?
Either way really. I spend a lot of time at home writing, not that I’m home often. And about 75% of my van time goes to writing as well.

WHAT IS USUALLY THE FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU START RECORDING A NEW ABLUM?
Get prepared. A lot of bands go into studio with half their record written, and we have made a sort of rule for the band that we’ll never do that. We work with producers, and we’re not above doing preproduction to better songs, but we’ll never let a producer write our record for us.

DO YOU HAVE ANY TRADITIONS AS A BAND, THAT YOU DO BEFORE YOU GO ON TOUR AND WHILE AT HOME?
Not really. Hang out maybe. We do a lot of that. We’re definitely a hang out band.

WHAT DO YOU BRING, AS A BAND AND INDIVIDUALLY, TO A NEW TOUR WITH NEW BANDS?
Well for one we’re a respectful Christian band. Brent and I sat around with Ryan from PTW last night and discussed how disrespectful and ignorant people go about their faith. We hang out really hard. We’re all pretty laid back. Other than that we’re nothing special. Just dudes hanging out in a van.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO WHEN ON TOUR AND AT HOME?
On tour, play shows. At home, practice. So I guess just play drums. I have a lot to learn behind a kit, so I’m working on that.

YOUR BIO SAYS THAT YOU TOUR RELENTLESSLY AND HAVE BEEN OUT WITH SCARY KIDS SCARING KIDS, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, AND HASTE THE DAY. WHAT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU HAVE LEARNED FROM TOURING AND FROM THE BANDS YOU HAVE BEEN OUT WITH?
That we’re not anything special. There are a million other bands out there, and the majority of them sell better and pull more kids than us. We’ve learned to enjoy life on a day to day basis and find joy in what we do.

WHAT IS ONE IMPORTANT ASPECT YOUR BAND HAS TAUGHT OTHER BANDS AND YOUR AUDIENCE?
That there are still people in this world that have a genuine joy and love in life.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CITY TO GO TO WHILE ON TOUR, WHY?
Portland, for the culture.

IF YOU COULD HAVE A GUEST ARTIST ON YOUR NEXT ALBUM, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
Paul McCartney, for our older demographics.

IF YOU COULD LIVE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY FOR A YEAR, WHERE WOULD YOU GO AND IF YOU COULD HELP MAKE IT BETTER, IF NEEDED, HOW WOULD YOU HELP?
I’d live in the South, and I’d push for them to join back up with the Union.

WHAT IS THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU, WHILE ON TOUR AND IN YOUR ACTUAL LIFE?
Pat ran into Brent’s mic and destroyed one of his front teeth. Watching Pat search around stage for his tooth while still playing was funny. And Brent jumped through a stage.

ANY LAST COMMENTS? FAMOUS LAST WORDS?
As quoted from my Cracker Barrel game: “Leave four or mor’n you’re just plain EG-NO-RA-MOOSE”