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[ by kim flanders | gma week 2004 ]
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cMW: When are you going to learn how to spell "rawk?" I mean, I know how Canadians sometimes spell words kind of funny....
Trevor McNevan (vocals): Easy, easy!
Steve Augustine (drums): Hey, we're musicians.
Trevor: The "rawk" thing really wasn't meant to be such a big deal. It was just like, "Should we start it with a 'k' or what?" We'll try to fix it up.
Steve: FM Static does not have any weird letters in it. It's spelled out the way it sounds.
cMW: What CD's are you looking forward to release this year?
Trevor: We are working on new records for both bands. [They] may or may not be released by the end of the year — we're hoping, but we don't know for sure. We're going to have them done and ready-to-go by then, probably at least a single and a video out.
cMW: Is there anything else out (CD's) that you want to buy this year, or are looking forward to?Trevor: I'm stoked on the new Hawk Nelson record coming out. I had the privilege to work with this band, and Tooth and Nail is bringing them out in July. Super rad. Demon Hunter, as well has a very rad, anticipated new record.
Steve (to Trevor): Demon Hunter, huh? She asked if there was anything out there that we wanted to buy this year. And I would love to buy a Porsche 911. I just don't have the money.
Trevor: Oh, I thought you were talking about records.
cMW: Well, I was, but....
Steve: I'm sure she was, but you know me... always taking things the wrong way.
cMW: You were one of the higher-up bands on last year's Festival Con Dios tour. Did you have any input or recommendations for the "little" bands on that tour?
Trevor: We actually consider ourselves to be a "little band." To any bands, especially newer bands or bands writing, we try to encourage them to be creative, try not to grab onto the things that are going on and try to copy them. But try to do their own thing and [just] be inspired by them instead. That's our recommendation. We try to do that, anyway.
cMW: Does Thousand Foot Krutch ever tour without FM Static?
Steve: Absolutely. All summer long this summer.
cMW: How do you do that?
Trevor: We're actually going to be doing quite a bit of club stuff as well, in between the festivals. With some other bands, possibly Hoobastank and maybe Three Days Grace and a few other bands. So, we're going to kind of "get out there."
cMW: Some have said that Phenomenon is less Thousand Foot Krutch sounding than other releases. How do you respond to that?
Trevor: I guess I can see why they would say that because our record Set It Off was our second indie release and the one that we toured with the most. We ended up going through some indie label problems with that one. We ended up having that record out for almost four years before we got another one out, just because our hands were tied. I think that's probably why people would be adapting that to TFK's sound. That was four years ago, so we have changed. Our tastes have changed a little. We like to try new stuff and keep it fresh. But also, it is a very different record. This time we were able to talk about some new issues, and maybe talking about something that's a little bit more serious as well.
cMW: What is the song-writing process? What do you like to write about?
Trevor: It's basically, "God, what do you want us to say?" I know it sounds super-spiritual, and we don't try to take it there. But we really, honestly don't set out like, "Okay, this record, we want a hit." The guys are phenomenal musicians, and we all like to write and spend a lot of time just writing. And we're writing stuff to get on the new record.
cMW: A lot of songs may not have that obvious "Jesus per-minute" factor, that so many people look for in the "adult contemporary" type radio airplay. At the same time, you're talking about doing "club tours." Is that something you might think about focusing more on hanging out with the mainstream world?Trevor: For us, it's that God's opened a door for us right now, with a general market single, and if He opens the door for us to your with those bands — we played a lot of clubs before with a lot of general market rock bands. We love them for who they are, and they respect us for what we believe. And I think that these are kids that we want to hang with the most as far as our heart in talking to them; these are kids that seem to have the most questions. And I think that we can affect that in a small way. And if God can use us, then that's incredible. That's what we want to do. I don't think it's something we try to hide from, we're not trying to tame down ourselves or our heart. We're the same band, about the same things. We realize fully that there's no reason that we deserve to be here. It's totally [that] God honored this thing, so we don't take credit for it.
cMW: What's your ideal "The Thousand Foot Krutch Fan"?
Steve: That's a good question, a hard one to answer.
Trevor: You show up, we are happy. (laughing)
Steve: He could be 40 years old or 14 years old. We'd love you just the same. We actually had an 84 or 86 year old woman at our show, two weeks ago, [and she was] just rockin' out, ten or fifteen rows back.
cMW: What is it like being on Tooth and Nail?
Steve: Tooth and Nail is great.
Trevor: Tooth and Nail is awesome. Some bands have had bad experiences ... but we can't say anything bad about them. For real. If we tried to, it would be hard because they've been so good to us. Super-strong label. They've been willing to do things outside the box and support us to the fullest. They've been super-cool; it's been a huge blessing.
cMW: What are some of those things, "outside the box," that they've done?
Trevor: I think it's maybe the way that they go about things. If they get a vision for something, they're just like, "Whatever it takes." There are a lot of great labels and a lot of great people at other labels as well. [And those] sometimes may be a little bit more structured. It seems like certain people might not be able to take some of the risks that they [Tooth and Nail] have; kind of go out on a limb and be like, "We're just going to do it because we feel we're supposed to do it, not always because we know it's going to work."
cMW: Let's try some word association. What do you think of when you hear Radio-friendly?
Trevor: CHR.
Steve: Kutless.
cMW: Mainstream record deal?
Trevor: Maybe?
cMW: Festival?
Steve: Creation.
cMW: Artist rider?
Steve: Smarties, just red.
Trevor: We don't do that.
Steve: Someone asked that all the red smarties be picked out of the smarties, and they only wanted red smarties in a bowl. Which was pretty ridiculous. Maybe it was M&M's.
cMW: (joking) I thought it was Skittles.
Steve: Yep, kind of crazy.
cMW: Canadian versus American fans?
Trevor: So much love for both.
Steve: Very similar.
Trevor: I think we have a little added appreciation for the Canadian fans, maybe because there's a lot of Canadians that want a Canadian band that seems to tour a lot more in the U.S. that are like, "Whatever. You guys don't care about us. You just turned your back." Our fans, the people that we hang with in Canada when we play, seem to be super-supportive still. We have a lot of love for that.cMW: What makes you come down to the United States, instead of staying up in Canada?
Steve: We love you guys too. (laughter)
Trevor: Honestly, it was not even really a choice, it just kind of happened that way. We seemed to be invited a lot more here, but now it's totally equaled out. We love going back and touring in Canada. At the start, the first couple of years, we played pretty much all of our shows, almost, down here. We didn't set out to do it, we just kind of did it.
cMW: Tell us a little bit more about where you're going from here.
Steve: Probably somewhere to eat.
Trevor: We hope to keep making music. We're loving it. We all get along super well. We love each other. We just hope to be able to make music for a long time and stay in the industry and be a part of it.
cMW: What do you think about the fact that a lot of those little bands, like at Festival Con Dios, are no longer in existence?
Trevor: It's sad. There's a lot about this industry that a lot of people don't know about and don't find out about. There are a lot of tough things and trials and stuff that you're faced with. Sometimes, God has other plans for people. Sometimes bands can't stick through it. It depends on the situation. Keep praying for the bands that you like, seriously, because a lot of things will try to get in the way of being together. We've been blessed with not deal with those yet, but if we ever did...?
cMW: What is your favorite song to do live?
Trevor: I'd say, "Faith, Love and Happiness"
Steve: "This is a Call" We do an acoustic vibe, and I play drums. So it's my time to have a quick little break. I've got to be honest, that is my favorite little time there, because I need a break by then. Probably, to be honest, I really like playing, "Break The Silence." Definitely fun, fun, fun for me. "Ordinary." Those two probably.
cMW: Is there anything else that you like to say to the readers, something that people aren't asking about, that you really wish you could say?
Trevor: Justin, Jerry, and I of FM Static started a clothing company called Reakt Clothing, which is spelled with a "k," you are going to hate us. So check it out. React with a K, clothing dot-com. http://www.reaktclothing.com. We have a bunch of fun gear and stuff, and it's a pretty fun band. So go check it out!
cMW: What is the purpose for that?
Trevor: Our slogan is, "Stop talking. Shut up and Reakt." It's more of a positive, outreach clothing line. It's not a Spiritual based clothing line. We endorse a general market base and some Christian bands as well. We wanted to do something positive, it is more like an eye-opener. ReaktClothing.com. Check it out.
- Kim Flanders
October 2004
October 2004
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