Di: Well first off I must say I am a very big fan, I must include that of course. Why was your first CD named after Johns best Friend?

Tim:  Well, the working title of our band was Chin up. And it wasn’t the name we thought a lot about, we never took ourselves that seriously. When we had the opportunity to  record a record and  Sign a record deal with an Indie label, we kinda thought “Is this the name we want to live and die with?” And it wasn’t, but we decided to name our first album kind of as a nod to that first name. that and the fact that this guy , Willis Chin was this really funny friend of ours and a really great dude, and it was Kinda a way to keep a piece of home with us

Di: that’s cool, very creative I must say. When The other 2 joined the band was it hard to getting used to adding people?

Tim: Well, a Band is kinda like a family. it’s a really close knit bunch of guys whether you want it to be or not it just is, your sharing beds a lot of times, sleeping in minivans and Driving late nights. Its almost more important besides even playing music together the most important thing is “Do you like the guy” and you do you get along with them. Fortunately in our case, we are all really good friends And I don’t think we’d still be a band making our seventh album if it wasn’t for the fact that we have that camaraderie  that sense of unity. When we first added Jerome that was a really big deal, and the same thing with Drew. We thought “These are really great guys, I think we can do this”

Di: I read at one point you guys made your own merchandise, Do you still do that, and why would you choose to?

Tim: It was always out of necessity. Back in the day when we were doing tours in vans, opening mostly for punk rock bands selling T-shirts and Cds and stuff was how you afforded gas to make it to the next venue. So what would happen is every now and then we would run out of shirts or run out of stuff to sell. So, if we wanted to eat a burger at Wendy’s  and get gas for the next show then we had to figure it out. So we would stop by a Wal-Mart or whatever store is open really late and We’d get some fabric paint and a roller and cut our own stencil to make our own T-shirts. We had a chance to do that again about a year ago in Texas kind of out of necessity but also for the fun of it, Arts and Class day for switch foot.

Di: Would you rather make your own merchandise than have other people do it

Tim: Its definitely not something  fun to do Night after Night, but once every now and then its fun. Back when we did it a lot it would be in a hotel room with the hairdryer going at like 3 in the morning. There was definitely times when it was less fun then others.

Di: I can only imagine.  Is your new Album “Oh, Gravity” all you hoped it would be? I know you were trying to make it more artist then anything.

Tim: We’re really proud of that record. We don’t listen to our own records all that much but you do listen to them a lot when your making them and every now and then its fun to go back and remind yourself on what it is that you made. We did that as a band a few weeks ago., and we were really really pleasantly surprised, or I shouldn’t say surprised but it is a record we were really proud of it really is the record we wanted to make, and it explored new territory for us as a band and its definitely something we are excited about building on for the next record and taking it even further.

Di: How is it touring with bands like Reliant K?

Tim:  Those guys are really great guys, some of our best friends and its always fun when you cross paths them on tour , it happens more often than you think, or your in the same city as another band that your friends with and you get to hang out, it happens every so often. But its really cool to be able to hang out every day for a few months. It was a fun tour and it was for a good cause, Habitats for Humanity, so its something we both really believed in. at the end of the tour there’s something more to show for it then simply a bunch of songs that were played, that there’s something tangible to hold on to, and say “Wow, we built a house for someone that needs it”  and I think that’s what makes me excited for the tour were on right now, the music builds tour, a traveling one day festival benefiting habitats for humanity. We just did our first build on this tour in Indianapolis the other day, some roofing on a house working alongside the lady that going to own it. I cant tell you how rewarding it is to put down the guitar and pick up a hammer, and be a part of something much bigger then music

Di: That must be awesome. I read that you partnered up with one of the most inspirational organizations, to me at least, which is “To write love on her arms” what was it like partnering up with them?

Tim: It’s amazing. Jamie Tworkowski has always been on e of our good friends, he lives in Florida and when he started the organization he approached us about using one of our songs called “love is the movement” As one of their themes, we were really honored everything they were doing was really exciting to us. Rene’s story and really how the whole thing grew. So from the beginning we’ve been really excited about wearing their shirts on stage, and  just doing whatever we can as a band to give a creative platform to this organization that deals with Depression and suicide and cutting and all these things that are the forefront on problems that kids deal with but no one talks about it, kind of empowering kinds to go out and talk about it and get help and treatment its really an exciting direction for us to take

Di: What has inspired you during the writing process

Tim: A lot off times it’s the harder things then the happier things, A lot of the times it’s the painful situations and the only way you can try to make sense of it is to write a song about it, or it’s a question that’s still unanswered. then there’s also the moments where something made a big Impression on you I think the great thing about music is that you can sing about things that might be uncomfortable to talk about or strike up a conversation about, but in a song, anything’s fair game. And that’s kind of how we always used our music

Di: I know you don’t consider yourselves Christian rock, how do you feel when other people classify you like that

Tim: It depends on what they mean by it If they are talking about the faith then it’s a big honor to be given that title, its also humbling knowing the sinfulness of my own heart but its something we’ve always tried to uphold as a band, but if they are talking about the genre that’s where it becomes shaky, my faith has never been a genre Its much bigger then that. The music is not songs for Christians, it’s songs for people of all faiths, these are songs about humanity. Artists have always tried to avoid boxes, Whether  Rage against the machine being called a political band or whatever, no one likes their art to be classified in a single sound byte.

Di: what advice would you give to a struggling artist

Tim: I’d say, Keep your motives pure. Because if your motive is to make great art and to inspire yourself and others around you, then chances are your already successful, and if your motive is to get famous and sell records and all of that nonsense that comes along with that who knows if your successful those are dangerous goals to set. But if your goal is to make incredible art, then you control your own destiny

Di: Well,  Thanks for your time, I know things got mixed up. Is their anything else you’d like to say to people reading this?

Tim: Well, we are looking forward to seeing all you fine new jersey folk on the 13th, and were going to come to rock.