Type 3 Media: Congratulations on the new album. It sounds great.

Curtis Casey: Thank you.

T3M: The review copy I received indicates that it was the demo version of the album. What will be different about the new versions of the songs? What can we expect?

CC: Mainly the biggest difference is the mixing. Everything sounds a lot clearer in the new mixes. Some tracks were rerecorded, but you probably won't even notice those. The difference between the demo and what we're putting out on June 3rd when the album drops, is that it's re-mixed and re-mastered and it sounds another thirty percent better.

T3M: When I first heard this album I was very impressed.

CC: I'm glad you liked it.

T3M: When was this album recorded?

CC: We recorded the album a year and a half ago... almost two... we recorded the beginnings of the album. We really took our time to make sure everything was right. We had it for about a year and a half, and then along came SMG who loved it and signed us.

T3M: That's a long time to sit on something. How did you handle that?

CC: It didn't seem like that long, especially when we were going through some changes as a band with the guitar player and the bass player. We just did our own thing, because we were fortunate enough to have a lot of people come out to see us play here in Phoenix. One part of me thinks it flew by, but when I look back there are some parts that were a little scary, like changing members of the band and stuff like that.

T3M: I read that your former guitar player has an injury that severely affected his music career.

CC: Not his career, just his ability to perform on stage. We're not the type of band that gets on stage and just stands there. We really perform these songs. It's quite physically demanding all the time. He had a degenerative back disease since he was born. We knew that he wasn't going to be able to perform with us forever, but we thought that it would take a little bit longer. So he had trained this kid, who was a bit of a prodigy. We thought it was going to be about two or three years, or maybe four or five, and it ended up being a lot sooner than we thought, so the kid really had to jump up into this position real quickly. It's a really cool thing because Rob is like the Jedi Master and Armin the Padawan. Rob still teaches him, and he still comes in and writes with us. Our guitarist now, Armin, is amazing. This kid gets to sign a record deal in his senior year of high school and all that stuff. It's just a really good setup because he's kind of the face for Rob right now. Not to take anything away from Armin. He's an up and coming writer; he's got a couple songs that we're working on for the next album, which are going to turn out really good.

T3M: Your MySpace refers to him as the "luckiest kid alive."

CC: Yeah, that's his nickname for himself. That is pretty lucky, you know. To jump into a band and start right away with signing a record deal, and looking at touring before he's graduated high school. It's cool.

T3M: Have you selected what your first single will be yet?

CC: On April 15th they're going to start adding "Anthem of the Used."

T3M: That's a good tune.

CC: The final mix sounds amazing on that one. I love how everything sounds clear. I take back that thirty percent thing. It just gave me a brand new perspective on the album. I could listen to it over and over again, again.

T3M: Are you planning to shoot a video for that song.

CC: That's a good question. Let me write that one down because I need to ask our label about that (laughs). I'm sure we will. They sent me an email saying there was a budget for a video. I just want to make sure that the concept is right for the video.

 
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| 05.05.2008 | Interview by J. Pierson |