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T3M: I can understand that. I read reviews of albums that I thought were really good or really awful, and the review had a completely opposite view.

RC: Right. There are some that we didn't expect to give us a good review. We would have been shocked if they would have. There's just some that are clearly not our target market, so that's to be expected. I think people get assigned reviews, and they're not necessarily fans of the entire genre in general. I don't think that some of those people that actually do reviews are fans of every genre that they review. So if it falls into a category that they're not particularly into, they can't take it at face value for someone that might like that genre. They would write it off instantly. I think that happens far too often.

T3M: I bet it does. I have the luxury of not writing a review if I choose not to.

RC: Worst case scenario. If a Nickelback puts a record out, and someone that's reviewing doesn't like that kind of music, then what's the point of getting a review from them. Because there's six million people that bought their record. It doesn't make sense to me that someone that doesn't like that kind of music would review it. It could be generalized as crappy or cheesy or whatever someone wants to say about it. The people that are buying it, if they read a review of it, I'm sure they'd want it to be from someone that had an open mind to that kind of music in the first place.

T3M: What's the most important message that you'd like to get across to people?

RC: I write songs in order to communicate with people from my personal experiences, and experiences that I know of or have heard of. People that I know that have gone through similar things. I write in order to give comfort to those people. I would say that would be the main inspiration behind writing what I write. And just giving a Christian viewpoint from the experiences in my life, and not shoving it down anyone's throat, but offering it as what I feel and what I believe to be the right way to live.

T3M: What's coming up next for the band?

RC: We just wrapped up a video this past weekend. That should be ready a little bit after the New Year. We're excited about that. Also, we're lining up stuff for next year's tour. The routing and all that stuff... every little detail that goes into that. We should also have news on that fairly soon in the New Year, in regards to the line-up and when we'll be starting and everything. So that's keeping us pretty busy for now.

T3M: Will you be headlining?

RC: Yeah, we will be headlining.

T3M: Cool. Hopefully you'll make it out to the northeast so I can see you play.

RC: Yeah, we definitely will.

T3M: Which song is the video for?

RC: "Carry Me Down", which is like the first ballad on the record.

T3M: You and your brother are also the principles in Invisible Creature; how did you get started with that venture?

RC: My brother had been designing off and on post-high school, and doing little odd jobs. He'd done a lot of hard-core band records, 7", and things like that. It was more of a hobby for him at that point. After a few odd jobs here and there, my brother started working at some Web companies doing design. In 2001 or 2002 my brother and a friend decided to break off and start their own thing and that was Asterik Studio. That's when that started, and was going strong for about five years. About a year ago it kind of separated into two companies; my brother and I, which is Invisible Creature, and the friend that we started Asterik with started a company called Wonderful Union with a friend that worked at Asterik as well. We've just always been involved in art to one degree or another. All throughout high school, didn't go to college at all, either of us. It's just something that we always were just as interested in as music itself. So obviously, the idea of doing design in the music industry, packaging and things like that, was something that we gravitated towards.

So I got hooked up in 2000 with a job at Tooth and Nail records as in-house art director, doing most of their package design, and all the advertising and promotion that goes on and things like that. I still do that now, but I also work with my brother for Invisible Creature. It's something that's basically our day to day. We found more and more time to do Demon Hunter as time's gone on. It's kind of evolved into something that's much more of a priority for us. So we find the time to do it, and it something that's important to us. 9 to 5, if you were to say that, would be designing.

T3M: I think a lot of your work is really impressive. Is there a piece you've done that you're particularly proud of?

RC: Yeah, I have a handful of favorites. I would say the two that stick out the most for me would be Norma Jean, The Aftermath, and Mae, The Everglow. Those were both quite an undertaking, in terms of man hours and just involved a whole lot. They just came together almost exactly like they wanted. There are very few things in both of those packages that I would do differently at this point. Usually there are always a few things that I would do differently after I have been sitting with something for a while. Those things ring out as the things I definitely feel most proud about.

T3M: Where's the best place to learn more about Demon Hunter?

RC: The most updated Web site would be MySpace. We're sure to be on there and keep that up as much as we can. There's also a Demon Hunter community fan club, The Blessed Resistance, where we stay in even closer contact with some of our die hard fans. We're able to offer them stuff exclusively.

T3M: Any closing thoughts?

RC: Stay tuned for dates on the upcoming tour. That's it.

T3M: Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me today.

RC: Absolutely.

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| 12.18.2007 | Interview by J. Pierson |