What\u2019s up with 316?<\/span> Did the band get back together after all this time? Why?<\/span> What is the brief (or long) history of 316?<\/span> What were the challenges you guys faced bringing a message of faith into a faith-less or dark metal music scene?<\/span> Where are the current members now? How did time treat them?<\/span> What was your favorite moment with the band? And what was your least-favorite moment?<\/span> Least-favorite moment? The ride home from Texas. We thought we were going to be headed to California to sign a record deal. But we ended up, tails between our legs, booking it back home. That was the worst. (Eventually, I DID make it to Cali, though!)<\/p>\n Favorite song to play live? Why?<\/span> How did the music archive get re-discovered? What\u2019s the story on that? Who and how did this happen?<\/span> How do the dreams of a teenage Christian rock\/metal star-in-the-making differ from your dreams now?<\/span> What was it like meeting Rob Cassels?<\/span> How did you young guys on stage deal with girls who wanted to be seen with a \u201crock star\u201d?<\/span> What is your favorite comment from an adult that wasn\u2019t happy about your music at the time? (Was it a \u201cturn it down!\u201d comment or something else?). Sometimes it\u2019s comments like that which become inside jokes within the band members.<\/span>
\nI grew up in West Columbia, South Carolina, and attended Northside Baptist Church. 316 was a Christian metal band I started in high school with some guys from my youth group. I had been in a couple of bands before, but nothing really clicked like 316. Probably because I was writing with a kid named Jamie Oliver\u2026an AMAZING guitar player with a great ear for melody. Jamie\u2019s dad was in the Army and they had joined our church when he was stationed at Fort Jackson.<\/p>\n
\nCliff Willis (316\u2019s bassist), Erik Eakle (our soundman), and I just reconnected at the funeral of an old friend. Jamie\u2019s off in L.A. doing his thing\u2014he\u2019s quite busy as a session player. And Scotty, our drummer\u2026we\u2019ve reached out to him several times, but he\u2019s not responded. So, we\u2019re not really back together, but we\u2019d like to be. For old times’ sake.<\/p>\n
\nHa! Sadly, our history is quite short. 316 played a couple of dozen gigs the summer of 1986, recorded an EP in Nashville, got a chance to open for Stryper and Cr\u00fce, and disbanded. Our church youth minister knew a guy from seminary who managed Christian bands. This guy, Skip Wick, he signed us for a summer\u2026basically, to play Christian camps and churches all over the South. It was a dream come true. But\u2026it kind of fell apart near the end. Honestly, I can\u2019t quite remember what happened. Just that eventually we went home and were just regular teenagers again.<\/p>\n
\nWe mostly played for Christians. It was only at the end, that we stepped into that world\u2026you know, the whole rock club scene. I tell you, it was hard. We were pretty much thrown into the fire. Like, one day playing a Christian music festival, the next playing a concert in hell. (I\u2019m not exaggerating!) I guess the hardest thing was realizing that the secular audience was inclined to hate us before we even played a note. Oh. And yeah. Non-Christian crowds DO NOT respond to altar calls. I\u2019ll just leave it at that.<\/p>\n
\nGreat question! I never left Christian music. I toured as a solo artist in the 90s, then had an incredible career as a worship leader. Recently, I started working for Kanye West and it\u2019s been\u2026well. It\u2019s amazing, but that\u2019s a whole other story. Jamie Oliver played in several touring bands (not Christian) and has made a great life for himself playing FOR EVERYBODY in L.A. Cliff Willis and Scotty Hoffmann\u2026neither one is in music anymore, but both seem to have built pretty great lives for themselves: kids and families and cool stuff\u2014at least as I see it on social media. And Erik Eakle, our sound guy, I only recently caught up with him after YEARS of radio silence. He seems to be a really cool guy. He said he gets to SoCal on occasion, so I expect we\u2019ll hang out soon.<\/p>\n
\nThere was this girl, Sarah Wember; she kinda became our opening act that summer. \u201986. I\u2019ll never forget hearing her sing the first time. It was like, I think she thought we were special\u2026like; a \u201creal\u201d band. We weren\u2019t. We were just kids like her. But the way we met\u2026I don\u2019t know. I was great recognizing talent. Seeing her sing and being like, wow. Now that, that\u2019s <\/span>legit. I\u2019ll never forget that.<\/p>\n
\nWe had a song, a kind of arena rock banger called \u201cCommando For Christ.\u201d The lyrics are SUPER-cheesy, but man. I loved singing that song. And I loved playing the rhythm guitar part to Jamie\u2019s lead. Apparently, an old 316 fan has posted a music video and the song on YouTube. Listen to it yourself. It\u2019s crazy great. (For cover songs, I LOVED playing our metal version of \u201cKumbayah.\u201d That was EPIC.)<\/span><\/p>\n
\nWe have no idea. Like I said, Cliff, Erik, and I reconnected at a funeral. And like, a few months later, I\u2019m getting messages and calls from people like you\u2014which is AMAZING. But totally unexpected and strange. But hey\u2014that\u2019s how God works, right? He likes to surprise us. And I\u2019m there for it! YOU GO, GOD!<\/p>\n
\nOddly enough, not that different\u2014at least for me. I\u2019ve always seen music as the best vehicle for sharing the love of Christ. Even music that isn\u2019t meant to talk about Jesus\u2026it\u2019s still talking about Jesus! Like\u2026what\u2019s that song\u2026Bruce Springsteen. “Tougher Than the Rest.\u201d I love that song! Just heard it on the radio a couple of days ago. It\u2019s a love song. A guy singing to a girl. Both of them pretty broken people. Nothing special about either of them. But this guy, he sees something in this girl\u2026something he loves. Something rare and special. And he\u2019s asking for a chance. One chance to prove to her\u2026he\u2019s the guy! He knows it\u2019s going to be hard, maybe impossible. But he\u2019s going to try. He just wants a shot. Man, I LOVE that! That\u2019s all of us, right? We all\u2026we just want a shot! And we get it. It\u2019s probably going to go south on us eventually. But that ask\u2026that want. That\u2019s FAITH, man. And Jesus? He\u2019s all about that. Sorry. I\u2019m going WAY off topic. It\u2019s just\u2026music, man! It’s, it\u2019s God. MUSIC IS GOD.<\/p>\n
\nUm, vague memories. I think we played a couple of festivals with Rob back in the day? Solid dude. Great songs. Built his own Keytar. Great hair.<\/p>\n
\nCan\u2019t speak for the other guys, but me\u2026I\u2019m not sure. I STILL think those big hair girls from the ’80s were the prettiest women that ever walked the Earth. Can\u2019t believe I never crossed a line with them. Well, full disclosure\u2026I did make out with a girl that summer. Church show, I think. She was older, actually. Like A LOT older than me. College at least. I still remember that her lips tasted like strawberries. Isn\u2019t that crazy? What you remember? Forty years later and I\u2019m still thinking about an ’80s girl who tasted like strawberries. Rock-and-roll man, ROCK-AND-ROLL!<\/p>\n
\nOh man, we played a show once\u2026a church show. And like, the first song. In the middle of the song a VERY old man\u2026probably a deacon\u2026it was like he couldn\u2019t believe what he was hearing in his church! He walked up onto the stage and just, he jerked Scotty\u2019s sticks out of his hands! And shoved a cymbal or something? And we all just stopped, mid-song, and this old dude he was just boiling with rage and started shouting \u201cOUT! OUT!\u201d This guy, probably a World War II vet, he\u2019s bellowing \u201cOUT! OUT!\u201d And we were just like\u2026what do we do? And Cliff\u2014I love that guy SO MUCH\u2014Cliff locks eyes with the old guy and is like \u201cIN! IN!\u201d I was dying! We all were! And they went back and forth\u2014\u201cOUT!\u201d \u201cIN!\u201d \u201cOUT!\u201d \u201cIN!\u201d for like two minutes! And the youth group kids in the audience, they\u2019re with Cliff! They\u2019re screaming \u201cIN! IN! IN!\u201d And finally some lady comes up and leads the old guy away and we went back to the show. But yeah. \u201cOut! In!\u201d That became a catchphrase. We said it all the time\u2014especially when we were writing songs. If you liked something, you\u2019d say \u201cIN!\u201d And if you didn\u2019t, it was like, \u201cOUT!\u201d Ha ha.<\/p>\n
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