Feature: Stryken rocking on
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STRYKEN Interview for HM Magazine 40th Anniversary in 2025 (the extended version)
What’s new with STRYKEN (always all caps – not Stryken)? A reunion show? New songs? Movie? What?
· Maybe there will be a STRYKEN movie someday as Joey Knight and I have a LOT of ideas in that regard (haha).
· We’ve been friends for a very long time Doug, and much has changed for STRYKEN over the years but I would say the “what’s NEW with STRYKEN highlights” would include:
o The release of 3 STRYKEN albums in 2023, which included the subsequent digital releases as well that my son Matthew personally made possible.
o New STRYKEN music for 2025 that fall into 3 categories:
NEW STRYKEN songs written as a result of life’s trials and tribulations
· Your Light Touched (Luke 8:16)
o Good for anyone who’s ever lost someone they love which includes 5 separate versions.
· Run With Horses (Jeremiah 12:5)
o Written during one of the very difficult periods of my life, it serves as a reminder for myself and hopefully fellow Believers to “stay in the fight for the Kingdom” by continuing to seek the Lord.
STRYKEN songs that were previously performed live but were never recorded and released.
· Victory
o We know how the story ends, and it ends with Victory in Jesus!
A very special song that we are working on with Sony Music and God-willing, it will be released in 2025.
· Let’s call it “Special Song” for now
o LIVE performances beginning with Immortal Fest 2025 Part II
Again, God-willing!
Who is in the band? Who is going to perform at Immortal Fest?
· The LORD has provided STRYKEN with some men of faith who are very gifted musicians…in short, you will find out on that day!
· And as you would expect, there will be some surprises when STRYKEN hits the stage at Immortal Fest Part II (August 29th thru 31st 2025).
How does preparing for this show feel? How is it different (if it is) from preparing for shows back in the 80s? Compare and contrast what these preparations and rehearsal are like now vs then.
· STRYKEN used to prepare for shows by “physically rehearsing together” nearly every single day.
· Today, not a single STRYKEN band member lives in the same city and most don’t even live in the same State.
· The short answer is that STRYKEN has to utilize technology like Dropbox (to share files and ideas), webinars like ZOOM (to collaborate) and phone calls to nail down show specifics.
· We will be ready individually and collectively come showtime!
What led to this reunion show (if that’s what you want to call it)?
· This show was totally a God-thing!
· The vision to invite STRYKEN to Immortal Fest came from BMI Event Center owner Steve Barhorst.
· Steve then reached out to Les Carlsen (formerly with Bloodgood) who contacted Rex Smetzer from Area 312 as he knew Joey Knight and I did some interviews on their show a couple of times.
· Rex was cool about it and contacted me before providing my cell phone information to Les who made the initial call to me.
· After speaking to some band members (e.g., Joey Knight), I called Steve Barhorst to tell him that STRYKEN “is IN”.
· Steve is an amazing man of God, so we ended up talking for a couple of hours on two separate occasions, mostly about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. It was totally awesome!
How has the re-releasing of your recorded catalog gone? How do you feel about it? What sort of feedback have you rec’d from fans?
· STRYKEN’s “Allies” (not fans since we are on the same Kingdom team), embraced the 3 STRYKEN albums that are now available on 24 streaming services and were released on CD and Vinyl by Retroactive Records thanks to Matt Hunt.
o By the way, I need to give a shout out to Scott Waters who did all of the fabulous album cover artwork for those 3 albums and Rob Colwell who did an excellent job mastering the songs from multiple studios.
· I would like to go back to the “beginning of the STRYKEN catalog release process” as it all started when Joey Knight and I were discussing the boxes of old studio recording tapes we found and how we wanted to try to “release” songs that were on those tapes that nobody ever heard of.
· Since the first two albums worth of songs from 1979, 1981 and 1983 were ALL released as Stryker (not STRYKEN), many people never heard those songs. Ultimately we released 3 separate albums:
o STRYKEN – Stryker the Early Years
Referred to as Power Pop, Punk and New Age with some “hidden” references about our faith in Jesus Christ. Like on “It’s Over” it says “I am looking to the Son”…meaning the Son of God! People assume “the sun” but the second line says “to be blind was not much fun”…a reference to being lost or unsaved.
o STRYKEN – Blitzkrieg
This was originally released in 1983 as the Stryker – Blitzkrieg album and was the first album with a Bible verse on it (Job 37).
It’s purely rock music with more subtle references to our faith. An example is in “Need Your Love” which contains a line that says “and reaching upwardly your knowing why and saying now…I need your love”…referring to needing the love of Jesus our Lord.
o STRYKEN – Once Lost Now Found
This includes remastered versions of everything from our 1986 STRYKEN – First Strike album plus songs we added like “A Man” that were “once lost” but “now found” on these old tapes.
Looking back on STRYKEN’s career and activities, what are some things you are most grateful for? Any regrets? Please share.
· Let’s start with “regrets” first because from my perspective, I have ZERO related to STRYKEN. Why? Because God’s hand was in it from day one and He laid out our path!
· I spoke to Joey Knight (who played Thunder Drums, keyboards, backing vocals) about this and we are grateful for the tremendous opportunities that God gave us as what I would call an “Activist Band”.
· STRYKEN stood up for good, and stood against evil in the name of Jesus whenever and wherever we felt the Lord leading us:
o Various ProLife events
o Picketing outside Pornography businesses
o Attending anti-drug rallies
o Supporting orphans and widows
o Challenging evil
What are you hoping the audience takes away from your immortal fest show?
· Our goal is for anyone who attends a STRYKEN show to:
o be encouraged in their faith as Believers
o know that we genuinely love and care for them
o Trust in the Lord, and do good (Psalm 37:3)
Anything else you’d like to share?
· You will be the first, and your readers may be the second to have a look at the STRYKEN Initial Setlist for Immortal Fest 2025 (in alphabetical order of course).
· The question is “who will be able to accurately determine the SETLIST order”?
1. Blitzkrieg
2. Crush The Head Of Satan
3. One Way
4. Rock On
5. Run With Horses
6. Special Song
7. The Answer
8. The Young Men Have A Vision
9. Victory
10. Your Light Touched
May God continue to bless you Doug, your immediate family, extended family and our Christian brothers and sisters all over the world!
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