Five Iron Frenzy (More)
Brad all meanacing and angry.
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Interview with Brad Dunham, trumpet player for the band Five Iron Frenzy, at
Purple Door, 1999.
Inteview and photo by Tom Bastian.
Tom:
So what is new with the band? Any big tours, new albums, new band members, etc?
Brad:
First of all we got a new guitar player his name is Sonny. He used to play in Jeffrey's Fan
Club. He's really fitting in great, he's got a great personality, and he is playing great. Then
we got a tour in the Fall with Insyderz, and W's it's called the Holy Roller Tour, were it's
mostly at skating rinks with like free skate an hour before the show, it should be really fun.
We got a new live album coming out November 2nd. We recorded around 20 shows over
the summer and Cornerstone was one of them, that was like one of the best tracks on the
record because the crowd was just so loud. Then in December we are recording a new
album that's going to be out in the Spring time next year.
Tom:
And is all the new recordings going to be on Five Minute Walk?
Brad:
Yea its going to be on Five Minute Walk. We are just really good friends with them, they
treat us really good, and we keep doing stuff with them just because we like them.
Tom:
What are your feelings on Christians and the arts, and Christians in music, and what the
purpose is?
Brad:
Part of our vision as a band is to be ministering to Christians but also to be able to play
secular venues or whatever. You know like play the clubs and stuff. Just be able to be a
good enough band so that kids will like it and then find out later that we are Christians and
we have these views and not have this like shoved down their throat but to be able to
minister to them in a different way were they can enjoy our music and then read our lyrics
or hear the lyrics at our show and they will have questions about what we stand for and
what they stand for. Thats how I feel
Tom:
What are your feelings on the current state of the average Christian concert goer,
especially at festivals like this?
Brad:
Well at this festival there are a lot of really cool kids that are really excepting and very
dedicated to a lot of these bands and its really cool to see. But a lot of kids I see they are
trapped in like the Christian bubble. Like this is our band and to see the band go out to
play clubs and reach other people is terrible for them. You know its like there band, and
they want to keep it to themselves. I would love to see a Christian audience were its not
the Christian Market and the Secular Market, but they are all one. Like you find out about
a band and find out the members are Christian and then it's not like a separate thing you
know.
Tom:
What is it that you are most proud about with your band?
Brad:
I'm really proud that we haven't change dramatically, our vision has always been the same
like even before we got signed and up till now we have always had the vision of
ministering to people in any situation, whether its being on-stage or off stage. Also that
we are not put in a box, like we don't put ourselves in a box and have to make a song that
sounds this way for it to be one of our songs. But we just let our sound go however we
want it to go.
Tom:
What bands are you really into right now, like ones that have really impressed you in
general?
Brad:
I can't stop listening to the Alkaline Trio, and Avail. Then their are like a bunch of other
bands. But both those bands have really been in my CD player a lot lately.
Tom:
The new EP from the Alkaline Trio(which Decapolis just reviewed in the Music Reviews
Section)?
Brad:
Yeah.
Tom:
Have you seen the Alkaline Trio before?
Brad:
Yeah, we have played with them twice. With MU330 and again a couple months ago with
Face to Face. They are great guys. Live they sound exactly like their CD, like everything
is just perfect. The vocal inflections, its just so incredible.
Tom:
Do you know what bands they were previously in? Was it Tuesday and Slapstick?
Brad:
Yea. Some of the guys from Slapstick went to Tuesday. But yea its something like that.
It's like a bunch of Asian Man Records bands.
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