![\"Pop](\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3789\/9703084899_cfa0e71378_s.jpg\" "\\"Pop")
<\/a><\/p>\nWould you like to discuss the elements of you new music? The blending of 80\u2019s, 90\u2019s and the style and directions you are going.
\nMatt: As many of you know we have a new album out called Onyx. This one has really taken more of a darker tone. Everyone in the band is sort of different. And to go back a little bit that is how the name Pop Evil came about. We have all these influences from lighter music, and we write a lot of ballads, and we also have this darker evil heavier side. So given the mixture of the guys and how we all come together to write, you know my influences are different than the drummers or the guitar players or singers, that has a lot to do with where our sound comes from. On this new album we have two new additions to the band. We have a new guitar player and drummer and I think all of that has been a big factor in how our sound has developed from the last album to this one. Our last album did have hint so the 80\u2019s, we co-wrote a song with Mick Mars from Motley Crue. We shot the video for Bosses Daughter, with him in it, which was awesome because I\u2019m such a huge Crue fan. I think we have matured with our sound with this third album. Through line-up changes and label changes and not knowing if we would even have a career to keep going on and our new album Onyx really has dark undertones.<\/p>\n
As well as the maturity in sound there is also maturity in the lyrics.
\nMatt: Good we hope for that. As artist we strive to grow and get better.<\/p>\n
Do you guys feel pressure to produce radio ready music?
\nMatt: Absolutely. There is always a balance; we are an active rock radio band. We have a handful of tunes on our new album that are not really radio friendly. Like the song Behind Closed Doors, will never be a radio single. We didn\u2019t write it to be a radio single we wrote it for us. There is a lot of pressure because in the music industry, the business side of it, you have to make music that appeals to mass quantities of people. If those people don\u2019t like you, don\u2019t want to go to your shows or buy your CD then you don\u2019t have a job. I think at the end of the day we all realize that if you write a good song it shows for its self. Good music will stand out on its own.<\/p>\n
What would you consider you most successful song? It doesn\u2019t have to be based on radio paly or copies sold or anything like that.<\/p>\n
Matt: that might vary by whom you talk to, one of mine that I feel has been the most successful is Last Man Standing. It got used in a ton of different things it was just a really cool experience. For us it was exciting to see the song get incorporated with ESPN and so many different sports teams coming out and using it. I really caught on for us. At that moment in time, where we were and what that song meant to us. We felt like everyone was trying to beat us down. We wanted to stay strong, and Last Man standing is a good example of that.<\/p>\n
As you mentioned your new songs are darker. Is that because of experiences band members have gone though recently?
\nMatt: Absolutely. We\u2019ve lost family member since our last album. We\u2019ve changed labels; we\u2019ve changed band members. All those things come into play and all those frustrations between a two-year period between that album and this album they build up. And it just came out at once Most notably our song trenches the first single off the album; we got our first number one with it just recently. We\u2019ve never had a number one single before and this song just went straight up. That song sort of signifies we have been waiting our whole lives to get out of the trenches. It\u2019s that feeling of scraping by all the time just trying to make a living doing this. It\u2019s funny that with that song having the success that it did we sort feel like we have gotten out of the trenches.<\/p>\n
The video for trenches is really good. Felt kind of like a cliffhanger though. I thought the girl was going to go kill the guy or something.<\/p>\n
Matt: A lot of people have said the same thing. We try to leave a little to the imagination.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve noticed that with a few of the videos, that there is something left undone at the end.
\nMatt: Off of this album we shot three videos. Trenches is the last video in the succession. It\u2019s kind of weird, we got a trilogy and we are releasing them in revers order. Trenches was the first music video to come out which is the last one. We just released the second one which is Deal with the Devil.<\/p>\n
Deal With the Devil Video: For anyone with anxiety problems that video can make you flutter.
\nMatt: That\u2019s exactly what the song is about. A lot of people hear Deal with the Devil and they think of signing a contract with the devil. It\u2019s not that at all. It\u2019s about facing things every day like temptation that we have on the road or anyone in everyday life. Whether it\u2019s women, alcohol, drugs and greed. Everywhere you go you have to face the devil and own up to it and not let it take you over.<\/p>\n
With the decline in popular music video outlets are sites like YouTube supporting the expense of video production.<\/p>\n
As far as making your money back on videos it\u2019s not really happening. You don\u2019t see people making million dollar videos anymore. It does have a really good reach; you can market yourself in really good ways with videos. Times releases and things of that sort. The RIAA basically counts how many downloads you have. Like if you have a certified platinum record you sold a million albums. They\u2019ve changed it now so that your official video one YouTube Vevo or any of those, for every one hundred views it counts as one album. So it\u2019s actually helping the artist. The more people watch the videos it counts as album sales.<\/p>\n