10 Questions with ... Thousand Foot Krutch

NAME:Thousand Foot Krutch TITLE:Band/Musicians LABEL:Tooth & Nail Records WEB:www.thousandfootkrutch.com

Line-up:
Trevor McNevan (Vocals/Guitars)
Joel Bruyere (Bass)
Steve Augustine (Drums)

Label:
Tooth & Nail Records

Discography:
The Flame in All of Us (2007)
The Art of Breaking (2005)
Phenomenon (2003)
Set It Off (Indie release in 2000, reissued by Tooth & Nail in 2004)
That's What People Do (Indie release in 1997)

1) Introduce the band members using personality traits and musical background.

Wow, this is a unique question. Here goes nothin'. My name is Trevor McNevan. I enjoy channeling every bit of my passion and aggression through my vocal chords into the nearest microphone, playing guitar and spending most of my life spilling my thoughts onto instruments and pieces of paper. Joel Bruyere, the incredible man that he is, sees life through the strings of his bass guitar and many times through the lens of a camera. He has eyes like a hawk. Steve Augustine whittles amazing things out of drumsticks and it is said that he whittled his entire house out of one case of sticks. He, too, releases his energy/passion and aggression through these sticks onto a set of Yamaha drums.

2) Give us a brief rundown of your history as a band from start to three records with Tooth & Nail.

I started the band out of high school in my hometown of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. We've been through several member changes over the years due to college, marriage, etc. We started out just playing shows wherever we could in Ontario and around in Canada, and then through self-hired radio promotions and a few compilation CDs were fortunate enough to team up with a booking agency based out of the States. From there we toured endlessly in both Canada and the U.S., and years later God opened the door to be a part of the Tooth & Nail records family. We're getting ready to release our third album on Tooth & Nail called "The Flame in All of Us" on September 18th, and truthfully, feel like we're just getting started. We're making the best music we've ever made and are excited about new challenges and new heights this year.

3) What's the underlying message you'll be conveying in the new album?

This record has a pretty strict common thread in regards to the human nature, what we choose to believe, how we choose to live, which walls we decide to put up to separate us from whatever we choose to not be apart of. That said the inspiration for these songs came from loving people, losing people, meeting people, dealing with people in general, and taking a deeper look inside to see the similarities between us. It's fascinating when you realize that we all have this human thread, that no matter our beliefs, our place of birth, or how we were raised, we all ask the same questions: "Who Am I? Why Am I Here? What Is My Purpose?"

4) What's the story behind the current radio singles "Falls Apart" and "What Do We Know"?

"Falls Apart": This song's about the glue that holds us together. It's about how things start to crumble when we walk away from the things God's put on our hearts, when priorities get messy, if you will, and they do.

"What Do We Know": This song starts out waking up the morning of 9/11 and is specifically talking about things like Katrina, Virginia Tech, the major events and catastrophes that have taken place in the last few years that have made us all (no matter what you believe) stand back and say, "Wow, we're not in control here."

5) Which do you enjoy more: the process or the performance?

They all have a very different appeal to me. Songwriting is life. I include that on the same list as getting up in the morning and brushing my teeth. It's an every day occurrence. Recording can be grueling at times but has a different kind of excitement to it. You're now translating what was with what will be. Performance can't be beat. It's such a big part of who we are as people. I'm not sure what we'd do if weren't able to share our music live with people. It would be a sad day.

6) What urges you to make music?

I think we make music because we love it. We love it the same way we did when we were kids. When God gives you something and you're passionate about it, it's the best gift you could ever get. You don't spend much time thinking about things as "the details" because to us it's all a part of music. The same way there are a lot of thankless hours that go into playing one show, for one hour, there are months put into writing, recording and releasing a new record, and it's all part of it. You take the good with the bad, like anything, and try to stay focused and keep your head up.

7) Did you have any "ah-ha" moments in the studio, where you thought, "OK, now we have a record"?

Not really. The songs were finished beforehand, so we knew exactly what we were getting into before going in.

8) What's your favorite song to play live? Why?

Right now my favorite song to play live is the title track from our new record, "The Flame in All of Us". I think half because it's getting to play something new and half because the crowd seems to lose it when we play it for the first time. We just kind of stand there amazed.

9) Do you have any interesting or funny experiences/stories from stops at radio stations?

Nothing really notable

10) Making the rounds of another festival season, have any highlights so far? Which ones do you most enjoy playing?

We played this great Chili Cookout for DC101 FM with Jimmy Eat World, Cake, Switchfoot, Chevelle, The Donnas, etc, so that was pretty fresh. You don't get to see Cake throw down very often. Fave fest of the summer is usually Creation West though at the Gorge Amphitheater. We've jammed that for years now and it's always nice to go back. The view from behind the main stage is ridiculous!

1) Who would be a dream artist to record with?

For me? It'd be fun to jam with the original members of Led Zepplin or get to throw somethin' down with Jay Z (that LP mash-up was tight).

2) What is your favorite city to visit?

Don't have just one. I love Cali, love Seattle, but there's nothing like Canadian soil though.

3) What is your favorite road meal?

Something healthy. Hahaha. Too many years eating meals at gas stations and truck stops can mess you up. No joke. When we're traveling, I feel we've been to every stop in North America. Seasoned vets.

4) Musical guilty pleasures

Hip-hop