[L+R: Justin, Me, Bryan]
Why don't you guys introduce yourselves?
Justin: Hey, I'm Justin.
Bryan: I'm Bryan.
How did you guys decide to start a group?
Bryan: It was mostly one of those things where we were little kids that wanted to grow up and be in a band, so we started playing instruments and made it happen. That's pretty much it, pretty simple.
Now your name has a meaning, Praising Him All Times, Every CHANCE we get. How did you pick that name?
Justin: We were just picking names, so that's the one we chose.
Bryan: It was one of those brain things.
When did each of you start singing?
Justin: I started playing guitar, when I was 15. That was about four years ago.
Bryan: And I started playing guitar about 2 1/2 or 3 years ago, and I've been singing since I was a kid.
Have you ever had singing lessons? If so, for how long?
Bryan: I had singing lessons for about 6 months.
Justin: I took bass lessons for about 6 months.
Are you still taking them?
Bryan: Naw, it's hard to do that, when you're on tour.
Do you remember any specific singer/group that influenced your decision to start singing?
Justin: I like DC Talk and Reality Check. We were in middle school and listened to them all the time. We wanted to be a singing group, too. That was what we wanted to do, so we watched them do it.
Do you guys have any musical role models? If so, who?
Justin: Yeah, I like all sorts of music, so I have a lot of bands. I don't think there's any one that I really look up to. There are just so many out there, just anybody really.
Bryan: Anybody that takes their musicianship seriously, and they do the best they can do, I really respect.
How would you describe your music?
Justin: It's got like a lot of hooky melodies and stuff to it, but it's also got guitars and rockin' drum beats. So just pop-rock right now.
Your album 'Without You' has a lot of different styles of music. Which is your favorite song and why?
Bryan: I'd say mine is probably "The One". It's probably not the most rockin' song, which is what I usually tend to like. I think it's just one of those songs where you sit with your acoustic guitar and play it and sing it, and it's a good enough song to stand by itself.
Justin: I would say "Without You". My favorite song used to be "Hide Their Eyes", but now it's "Without You".
What are your career goals? What do you hope to accomplish with your music?
Justin: I guess everybody's one goal is to be good at it. To succeed and to be your best and to try to do your best in what you do. And I think getting as much exposure as you can and as much experience as we can is one of our goals.
Do you guys have a CD in the works, or a new single coming out soon?
Bryan: We're writing for a new CD. We're recording it in December or January, and it should be coming out in April or May. We've got new songs, but not recorded, yet.
How does it feel to be on the road so much?
Bryan: I love it. I think it's something I've never gotten tired of. I mean, you're going to get tired of everything, when it's too much. I still love going out on the road and I think this is really where God wants me to be.
Justin: Same here.
You guys will be touring with Plus One and True Vibe this fall. They are two of biggest Christian groups. How does that feel?
Justin: Pretty good. It's pretty cool to get a chance to go on the road with the guys. They've sold a lot of CD's and they've been on TV a lot and stuff. Just to be playing before them, and spend the time with them is a cool thing.
You guys were friends before you made the group. How does that affect touring? Does it make it easier, or harder?
Bryan: It definitely wouldn't make it harder. Being friends before you're in a band is going to set a foundation for getting to know each other. And it's really weird, we all seem to be hungry at the same times. There's such a unity about what we do. That's always good for five guys with one focus, so it's important.
Do you guys bring just one member of your family, or your whole family?
Bryan: Actually, none of our family comes regularly.
Justin: Just us five guys, our manager and our bus driver.
Bryan: My grandpa is driving for us this trip out, so it's going to be different.
How do you deal with school when you're touring? Are you homeschooled, tutored?
Bryan: Well, Justin and three of our guys have already graduated and don't have to do school anymore. Dallas and I do homeschool, which is through mail and everything. We'll do it on the road sometimes.
When you're at home, do you still go to public school?
Bryan: No, we used to go to a private Christian school.
What do you guys do for fun when you're not on tour?
Bryan: Play guitar.
Justin: I usually stay home and listen to music [laughs]. That's like all I do.
Bryan: And go bowling.
Justin: I ride the four wheeler we have at the house. I watch movies, a lot of fun.
What are some of the sacrifices that you have had to make?
Bryan: Well, obviously, school is a sacrifice, but I really didn't have to make any sacrifices that were too big, I thought. So many people would say, "Oh, you're going to miss all your highschool memories and friends and stuff". But, to me, if I missed out being on the road, there are all those memories that I'd miss out on, too. So there's win and lose situations, but this is definitely the best thing I could have done with my life.
What do you guys think has been your biggest accomplishment?
Bryan: I think our biggest accomplishment right now is that God's put us in this situation, and he's planted us here in our musicianship and our band and we're really growing.
How did you guys feel to be invited to perform at Disney's Night Of Joy?
Bryan: That was very cool.
Justin: That was a very good thing, I think, to be in a kind of a public theme park that's known all over the world, and to be able to play and to say you've played at Disney World, a very cool thing.
Bryan: Good career move.
Most guy groups are given nicknames/personalities picked out by fans, like "the baby", or "the hunk". Do you guys have any?
Bryan: Not by fans. I guess fans don't really have nicknames for me. People know our drummer, Dallas as "the nerd".
Justin: Yeah, everybody calls Dallas "the nerd". And everybody just calls me Justin.
Have you guys had any weird fan encounters?
Bryan: Yeah.
Justin: Yeah. I've been attacked by one [laughs]. She was supposed to be hugging me, but she almost threw me over. She just you know, tackled me or whatever. Freaked me out.
A lot of fans would like to know, if you would you ever date a fan?
Justin: One of us is right now [laughs].
Bryan: None of us would date a fan that knew us as Bryan or Justin or Brandon or whatever of Phat Chance. We would date a girl that knew us as us and loved us and you know didn't really get caught up in the band that we do, but who we are and the things that we feel passionate about as individuals.
Do you want to stay a smaller group with a bunch of dedicated fans, or do you want to go mainstream and have a lot of fans?
Justin: Personally, I want to go mainstream. I want to reach a bigger audience than we are now.
Bryan: It's not one of those things that we want to do just "because". We want to do it, because we feel that if we make really good music, then music lovers in general should hear it and should enjoy it. If we know that that's our focus, just to make really good music, then we don't put any boundaries on ourselves, and limit ourselves in any way. Then, hopefully, that will mean that more ears will hear our music. So it's not really that we want to go mainstream and that we hate the Christian music industry, but it would be really awesome to watch God multiply what we're doing many times.
If in a few years, you guys no longer are singing as a group, what do you want to do?
Justin: I want to be a record producer. I want to stay in the studio and help bands make music and also maybe hit the road and be a roadie or a road manager, or something, to somehow stay in music.
Bryan: I would probably stay in music and be in another band or something, or go to college and study something that has to do with the ministry and become a pastor or something.
And last, but not least, if you could say anything to the fans reading this now, what would you say?
Bryan: I'd say thanks for listening to our music and really supporting and encouraging what we do, because without people that encourage and support us, we wouldn't be in existence. I really appreciate people that realize we don't just play good music, that they see the passion in our hearts, the joy that comes through Christ in our lives. So that's a huge encouragement.
And that's it!
Bryan: Excellent.
Justin: And that's a wrap.
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