10 Questions with ... Rush of Fools

NAME:Rush of Fools TITLE:Band WEB:www.rushoffools.com

Line-up:
Wes Willis (lead vocals)
Kevin Huguley (guitars/vocals)
J.D. Frazier (lead guitars)
Jacob Chesnut (bass)
Jamie Sharpe (drums)

Label:
Midas Records

Discography:
Wonder of the World (2008)
Rush of Fools (2007)

1) Introduce the members of the band using personality traits.

Answering is Wes Willis: What do you want to know? I could tell some embarrassing stories. I could go on for days and say some crazy stuff but I'll keep it simple. Kevin is certainly our PR person. That's what we call him anyway. He's definitely the first one out of the van and talking with people. If we're loading the trailer and don't know where he is, chances are he's got someone cornered and is talking their ear off. Poor victims. He's also very much our bible scholar. If we ever struggle with knowing where a scripture is, he can pretty much spit it out.

JD is our quiet guy in the band but is also our gear nerd. Every band has one or two of those guys. He's also probably the most musically inclined. He doesn't say very much at all but whenever he does, it's just golden!

Jacob is definitely our music and movie lover in the band. If there is a song, he's heard it. If there's a movie, he's seen it. We seem to pick on Jacob the most! He's also very much musically inclined and is funny. He is the nicest kid you'll ever meet and he would do anything for you, give you the shirt off his back.

Jamie is our "50 Cent" of the group. Most people know him as our drummer, but what they may not know is that he raps on the side. That's right! If you check out track 13 on our newest record, it is a rap Jamie has done. We love it. He's definitely our young guy of the band. Always making everyone smile and laugh. I'm pretty sure he's also in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the world's loudest and most shrill laugh.

2) Can you offer a brief look at how the band started and eventually signed with Midas Records?

In a nutshell, we were pushed and pushed to enter this contest called Band With A Mission. We really didn't want to go but we were told if you enter and played before the judges, you could get a written assessment. We entered solely for that. After going to one round, and then another, and then another, we looked up and we were hilariously in the finals. We got a call saying we won! Out of that, Midas Records and our manager Andrew Patton saw us playing there. Both of whom we signed with a few months later. It's been an awesome experience so far and it's we just always find it funny, looking back on how we got here! Praise the Lord!

3) What's the message you hope is conveyed through the new album "Wonder of the World"?

In this record our goal was to convey hope from the Lord in a way that is deeper and more intimate than our first record. God has given us hope and favor and we just wanted to write and sing about that on this record. We hope that you see that smothered in the entire record, but if you had to go to a couple of songs only, I would say the opening track on the record, "There Is Nothing," as well as "Freedom Begins Here." We wrote "Freedom Begins Here" to go with our partnership with the media research group, Freedom Begins Here, which draws attention to the struggle of sexual addiction and pornography in the church today.

4) What is your favorite city/venue to play?

Really tough question, but a great one! I think I really enjoyed playing in Minneapolis. New York City was also really cool! We've also played out in Los Angeles. Even though those are big cities that I'd probably never live in, it's soooooooo awesome to get to visit. Of course, it's always cool to play in your hometown!

5) Is there any special story behind the radio single "Wonder of the World"?

There's not necessarily a special story. But in this writing this song, we had been reflecting on the last couple years of our personal and musical lives. What a whirlwind it had been and just HOW wonderful God had been to us. We get to do what we love -- play worship music. We are so thankful and just wanted to write about that! Writing a simple song that just declared God being wonderful and how we couldn't contain that. He is so many things to us: Healer, Savior and Father. He shows favor, even when we don't realize it. He's so good.

6) Do you have any funny or interesting stories from your stops and talks with radio over the past year?

I can't think of any funny stories off the top of my head, but I can tell you this. Our band is FILLED with inside jokes. We are together ALL the time. There's so many times that we'll be on television or radio and do tons of inside jokes. We'll smile or chuckle and go on. As soon as that little red "on air" light goes off, we break out into laughter and people think we're crazy. It's gets to be so funny and we laugh so much that it might make people feel uncomfortable! Oops!

7) Was there a moment in the studio, working on the record, that you thought, "Ah-ha! Wow. Now we have a record!"?

When you get to work with Jason Ingram and Rusty Varenkamp, those moments happen ALL the time. But I have to say when we were recording "There Is Nothing", that moment happened for me, at least. We had recorded the drums and bass and key stuff. JD was laying down the guitars for the song. When we played it back and had it cranked in the studio, we were like, "Wow, this is going to be awesome!"

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

I LOVE playing our new song "Lose It All." It's 100 percent energy the whole song. It's so fun and we get to have the audience interact with us!

9) If you weren't doing music, what would you be doing?

I think about that question often and I can't quite come up with an answer. I was in automotive school to learn to restore and paint hot rods and vintage cars. That's still my passion. I have a '66 Mustang and a '78 Camaro Z28 now. Those are my two old ones! I think I would be doing that. At least, I still plan on doing that one day!

10) Life on the road isn't a cakewalk. How do you remain friends while being co-workers?

We have never used the term "co-workers" before. We are the best of friends and we all know how to read each other. Know likes and dislikes. We know the buttons each other has but most of all, we know how to be in ministry together. Still God gets the glory for that because we could hate each other's guts. Sometimes when I'm home for a long period of time (i.e. 3-4 days, HA!), I kind of miss hanging with the fellas.

1) What song (ANY song) do you wish you had written?

I JUST saw the video for "Jesus Take the Wheel" that Carrie Underwood sings and immediately saw the credits for the writers and thought, " Man, it would have been awesome to write that song! Then I could CERTAINLY pay off mine and my wife's student loans!" HA!

2) Who would be your dream artist to record with?

I would love to sing a song with Lamont Hiebert of Ten Shekel Shirt. My favorite band of all time!

3) If you could join any band, past or present, which one would you join?

Rush Of Fools!

4) Any musical guilty pleasures?

I love buying gear. Mostly electric guitars and amps. The thing is, I don't even play ELECTRIC in the band anymore. I've shifted to full-time frontman and acoustic. Man, I've got to quit!