and belt out old Sacred Warrior tunes at the top of our lungs…)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhat blessings has your voice brought you through the years?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWell for one thing, I have recorded several records and have had the\u00a0opportunity\u00a0to lead worship in church so\u00a0I would say that those are great blessings.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhat has music cost your family?\u00a0 How have you fought against it taking a toll on your wife and family?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDoug, I am very blessed to have a\u00a0totally\u00a0supportive family.\u00a0Trissy\u00a0always has had full support for my career as an artist. It has never come between us nor will it ever. My kids are just stoked about it because in their eyes,\u00a0their\u00a0dad is a Rock Star LOL!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhat drives you as an artist?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThe driving factor in my career is simply to get the Gospel Truth to as many people as possible using, what I believe to be, great music that is relevant to these times. Doug, the bottom line is, “PEOPLE NEED JESUS.” I’m\u00a0not trying to over spiritualize this, but it is the truth. Now I will also say that putting out music is also very rewarding.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nHow hard is it or what challenges do you face in creating compelling art\/music in 2018?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nFirst and foremost is time management. I am a project manager for a national builder and it takes up a lot of my time. I also am very involved in my\u00a0kids’\u00a0lives. Trissy\u00a0and\u00a0I try\u00a0to go to all the school functions that they are involved in –\u00a0there’s\u00a0football practice,\u00a0my\u00a0son\u00a0Dylan’s\u00a0concerts, watching Survivor <\/span>(laughs), and so on. but,\u00a0that\u00a0being said, I have to make time for music as well and\u00a0it gets challenging but I just do it. Not as often as I need to,\u00a0that’s\u00a0why it takes so long to\u00a0do a\u00a0record.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhat themes have been important for you to write?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPeople today are very critical of everything. Our nation has made it so easy for us to judge\u00a0everything,\u00a0there is no such\u00a0thing as mercy any more. “One nation under God” is not a reality. It’s\u00a0quite\u00a0comical how issues that really matter have become sort of a joke in our society. Our president is not respected, the flag is being punished for racial\u00a0tensions. Many who have loved God and country, no longer love either. Why do we\u00a0persecute\u00a0this\u00a0country\u00a0when it always gave us freedom, gave us the right to pretty much do as we wish. Makes no sense to\u00a0me. Why is there so much hatred toward\u00a0Christians?\u00a0Why is God being removed from our homes and our schools? God’s plan for us is to spend eternity with Him in all his glory,\u00a0not\u00a0for us to utterly\u00a0destroy His spirit yet\u00a0that’s\u00a0exactly what is happening.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWe need God more now\u00a0than\u00a0ever before but yet\u00a0we\u00a0continually\u00a0push him away and move closer\u00a0and\u00a0closer to a Godless society. We write music that\u00a0hopefully\u00a0reaches those who need to know the truth.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nHow have you kept your faith growing and healthy?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI am the spiritual leader of my family and as for me and my\u00a0house, “WE\u00a0WILL SERVE THE LORD.”\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nKeeping in tune with God\u00a0is not easy, however, if you devote\u00a0yourself\u00a0to prayer and seeking\u00a0righteousness\u00a0in all you do,\u00a0it\u00a0becomes easier.\u00a0There are\u00a0many struggles we all face but we just need to stay focused on Jesus.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nTell me about your latest and new projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMy new band DENY THE FALLEN\u00a0is a\u00a0collaboration\u00a0with Jon Johnson (second guitarist of Sacred Warrior, Wicked Generation and Obsessions). Jon and I have talked about doing this for years and, 4 years\u00a0ago,\u00a0while I was working on Worldview music, Jon and I started writing. I faced the challenge of singing in a form\u00a0I\u00a0was not accustomed too.\u00a0I wanted to sing some harsher type vocals styles, but I did not know how to get there. Jon worked diligently with me and the end result was great. The\u00a0Symptoms\u00a0Of\u00a0Eternity<\/span> record had many of those topics I talked about in the main body of this record. I believe that we accomplished what we wanted to with this record, both\u00a0lyrically\u00a0and opening up about how we\u00a0feel. J\u00f3n\u00a0is a great writer and producer. This record will not please everyone but I\u00a0believe\u00a0it will please God.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s it been like working with people outside of Sacred Warrior?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nYou know Doug,\u00a0the\u00a0guys in Sacred Warrior are and will always be great friends of mine. We shared a\u00a0ground-breaking\u00a0experience\u00a0with the birth of Warrior. George Ochoa,\u00a0Ronson, Jonnie, Toss, all from Worldview, have become great friends as well. George and I clicked and once we started tracking The Chosen Few<\/span> we just had a\u00a0dynamic\u00a0time in the Lord. Working with Jon is\u00a0a pleasure\u00a0as well. As you know, Jon and I have already shared writing time together on Warrior. I especially like the direction we were going in with this new music. We shared lots of laughter and tears as did I with the other bands. For me it has been a pleasure working with all these guys.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhy the move to Florida (is that right?). Tell us about it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
(laughing) Well\u00a0it’s\u00a0kind of funny. Sacred Warrior had been to Florida on a few\u00a0occasions\u00a0to do shows. I believe that it was our second trip here that I just fell in love with Florida. I loved everything about Florida, the ocean,\u00a0the big palms, the great\u00a0weather. I just told\u00a0Trissy\u00a0one Day, “Honey, we are moving\u00a0to\u00a0Florida next year,” and she said, “Have fun, cause\u00a0I’m\u00a0not going.” Trissy\u00a0opposed it all\u00a0the\u00a0way because she did not want to leave her Dad in Chicago. Well, long story short,\u00a0her\u00a0dad moved here first and that made it easier for\u00a0Trissy\u00a0to agree. We love it here. Our entire family now lives here.\u00a0And\u00a0it’s\u00a0been\u00a0real\u00a0cool.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nTake us through EACH Sacred Warrior release and tell us what comes to mind. Don\u2019t forget to include any pre-debut times with demos and live opportunities. Also include any post Obsessions<\/span> activity that the world does not know about.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWOW! If anything has gone bad as an old geezer\u00a0it’s\u00a0my\u00a0memory, (laughs) not really, but\u00a0partially\u00a0true!\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Rebellion<\/span>
\nSo, in 1988 we released the Rebellion <\/span>Record. This record was a long time coming. Rick, Bruce, Tony, Steve and myself had been writing for quite a while for this record. I remember we had this reel to reel recorder in our makeshift studio, and we thought we were “big time” because we could record our stuff on tape instead of the old school ADAT recorder. (laughs).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
We would always have people come to our practices and sort of put on\u00a0a\u00a0live show feel. I guess that ultimately\u00a0prepared\u00a0us for the live shows because we almost always had a crowd in attendance. We had put out a pre-demo tape.\u00a0Yes, tape. And\u00a0I\u00a0guess you could say that people liked it. It\u00a0wasn’t until we were given the\u00a0opportunity\u00a0to open for Whitecross that we were discovered by Caesar Kalinowski. Caesar was present as we were doing our soundcheck and I guess he liked what he heard. Caesar approached us after our soundcheck and said that he wanted to sign us …\u00a0the\u00a0rest is history\u00a0now. We\u00a0then went on to record our first record in Chicago.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMasters Command\u00a0<\/span>
\nWell, I must say that this record was the least of my favorite albums. From concept to finish I was not\u00a0totally\u00a0happy with the\u00a0record. I\u00a0do love most of the songs, but I\u00a0didn’t\u00a0believe that the tones or the mixes were the best they could be. I will say that probably my\u00a0all-time\u00a0favorite song is on this record – “Holy, Holy.” As\u00a0you already know Doug, we ended every concert with “Holy, Holy.”\u00a0It gave us an\u00a0opportunity\u00a0to bring the other bands together and end the night in a spirit of\u00a0worship. Very\u00a0powerful. We saw God do many things through this song.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWicked Generation<\/span>
\nPhew, this record was a\u00a0roller-coaster\u00a0of emotions for us and especially me. I had an\u00a0opportunity\u00a0to interview several people about being\u00a0assaulted\u00a0by family members and such and found out just how much that was happening, hence the song “Little Secrets.” “Miss Linda” was sort of a\u00a0comical\u00a0song when you realize the inside story on how that song came about. Miss Linda is a\u00a0psychic\u00a0in Chicago who\u00a0totally got it wrong when it came to telling me my fortune. This was a research project, if you will, a way to expose the false realities of fortune telling. The entire record was a sort of concept album and it dealt with addiction, abuse, lies etc… It was a\u00a0challenging\u00a0album but\u00a0overall\u00a0it turned out exactly how we wanted it to.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nObsessions<\/span>
\nAs a whole, was by far my favorite album. Once\u00a0again,\u00a0we dealt with things like addiction, porn,\u00a0the\u00a0devil seeking to kill and destroy us and sweet memories. The song “Sweet Memories” was mostly written (lyrically) by\u00a0Bruce. His\u00a0mother had just passed away and it was weighing heavy on his heart, so he decided to write about it. It is a great song with lots of emotion and just filled with the\u00a0Spirit. The album even\u00a0has a song called “Remember Me,” which is the account of Jesus on the\u00a0cross. Overall\u00a0just a great record.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nFavorite Sacred Warrior memories?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nOne of my\u00a0all-time\u00a0favorite memories is the time we went to Germany. Germany was so beautiful and so clean and all\u00a0the\u00a0people we came in contact with were just very cool. Very hospitable.\u00a0So\u00a0I remember we were in Witten, Germany. We\u00a0did a\u00a0couple castle tours and saw the Castles on the Rhine. I was amazed at all the torture methods they used to use and how small the people were in those days, because all the\u00a0corridors\u00a0were very tiny but the\u00a0dining\u00a0table was huge, (laughs).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nAnything else you\u2019d like to talk about?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n