“I think a lot of people talk about how we’re spoiled or how we don’t have to work hard or we’d had things handed to us,” repeats guitarist Jeremy DePoyster, “and that’s really not true. We’ve worked really hard for everything we’ve gotten and we’ve given up our lives at one time or another to do this and I think a lot of people see maybe the success and the shows that we have now and kind of assume, ‘Oh, they’re just lucky.’
“In certain aspects, obviously, we are, but also at one point in time we chose to do this and to do it simply because we love God and we love music and we weren’t making any money. We were actually spending money out of our pockets that we didn’t even have and eating peanut butter sandwiches. It really wasn’t that long ago. I guess people that see us as that kind of thing – it’s really not who we are. We’re still the same dudes we were three years ago or four years ago – before any of this happened.”
Such is the criticism that just about any successful person faces from bystanders. One sad byproduct of becoming bigger is that you become a bigger target. As soon as your band’s music gets sold in a Hot Topic, for instance, one segment of the modern music population writes you off.
When speaking of misconceptions, if DePoyster and his five bandmates had their choice, “I guess my ideal perception of it is just six dudes that, for whatever reason, God has chosen us to do this band and we’ve been blessed with all this success and we’re really, really grateful. We’re just stoked to be doing it as long as we can.”
This six-member band from Dayton, Ohio certainly has a lot to be thankful for. Their 2006 Rise Records debut, <em>Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord</em>, and the many live shows that followed quickly built an enthusiastic fanbase. 2007’s follow-up, <em>Plagues</em>, took things up another notch, and now their third full-length promises even more with the larger Ferret Music label behind them. The band’s confidence level is high, but they’ve got several things that help them stay humble.
First, there’s God: “We’re constantly being shown on a daily basis that, anytime we get too confident, God kind of like yanks things away from us and gives us a show like we’re kids or something,” admits DePoyster. “It’s like, ‘Oh, okay, we need to get back to what’s really important,’ and stuff like that.”
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