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| The Peabodies Who is who in the Peabodies? Well, theres me, Brandon. I sing main vocals and play bass. Then there's Josh and Jay-Jay, who play guitar, and Ryan on the drums. They all sing backing vocals. How long have you been together? The three original peas have been together almost 2 years now. We formed in Feb. of 98. We recently acquired Jay-Jay in August, we love him. I like the name, where did it come from? Ever watch Rocky & Bullwinkle? You know the time traveling Sherman and Peabody? Well, they were both dorks, and since we're all dorks, we figured, hey, The Peabodies fits. Aren't you from Michigan? Yeah, we're from Michigan, Josh, Ryan, and I are from the lovely metropolis of Merrill(cowville), while Jay-Jay's from the ghettos of Saginaw. How is the scene there? The scene here is great, lots of good bands that are doing just great. Any other good bands we should check out? TheKindOfGuys, Big Al's Coaster Club, Crock Pot Oatmeal, Face Value, Sneak Attack, Abound Failure, At Peace While Burning(indiana)...just to name a few. How would you describe your sound? Well, to sum it up in four words: Fast, technical punk rock. We used to be very poppy, but we've moved away from that a lot now. We're just becoming better songwriters, and now with 2 guitarists, it's starting to reflect the sound we've always been striving for. We do have some poppy stuff still, and we have some emo style influences. But yeah, fast, technical punk rock says it pretty well. Oh yeah, we've also been commended on our vocal harmonies a lot. Phil of Johnny Respect said we're a "wall of vocal harmonies". Who are some of your influences? I could go on and on and on here, but I'll try to keep it short. Slick Shoes, mxpx, Craig's Brother, LagWagon, nofx, strung out, the get up kids, texas is the reason. Those are mine at least. If you wanna see more, visit our website(which I designed) http://www.angelfire.com/mi/thepeabodies What is Ripped Heart productions? Ripped Heart Productions(http://www.rippedheart.com) is the best thing that's ever happened to The Peabodies as a band, besides Christ. It is run by Bryan and Julie Hampton of Bay City, Michigan. Bryan's been putting on shows under that moniker for about 5 years now, maybe more. They put on AWESOME all ages Christian shows in the area....and to tell you the truth, the crowd is better at those shows than at most secular shows I go to. THANX BRYAN AND JULIE!!! How do audiences respond to you being a Christians? They don't really seem to care. It's something we don't address from the stage unless we're asked, because our lyrics and actions do that better. Like Bryan from Ripped Heart says, "Dialogue is more effective than monologue." None of us in the band are preachers, so we feel it more effective to talk to people one on one more than having altar calls and preaching from the stage. If someone who hears our music doesn't know we're Christians and then later find out by listening to our CD or whatever, and they become intrigued by that...they want to ask more about it. They want to find out more, if they start reading the bible. That's awesome. Even if we don't have anything to do with it other than them seeing us at a show and then later finding out that we're Christians, that's great. Any funny stories from shows? Oh man.....sheesh.....how about from rides to the shows? No, Josh would kill me hahaha! Well, our most recent one was last Friday(Nov. 19th). We were playing and in about the 3rd song, the crowd was going mad and they flew into us, knocked over my mic stand and I had to sing into Jay-Jay's mic. Also Ripped Heart was making a live recording of the show, for all the bands to be put on a live comp. Well, the computer that was recording got knocked over and we lost half of our set. Bryan said that's what we get for making the crowd go so nuts. What is your favorite breakfast cereal? Sheesh, you had to ask this huh? The hardest question for the resident hog of the band........I'm always hungry. Ok, since I've been fed this from the womb, Count Chocula, but it's probably different for the rest of the guys in the band. What has God taught you since being in a band? Oh man, so much more than I could ever explain. LOVE, TRUST, FRIENDSHIP! I don't usually talk much about this, but it IS something that the Lord changed in me. I used to be a pothead(you can edit this if you want, it's up to you), and I was just so down on myself. One night I went to a Ripped Heart show, and I didn't know it was a Christian show, I just thought it was cool. Later I found out, and I was amazed. I started questioning what I was doing, started reading more into the Bible....and By The GRACE of God, I was saved. That's a really really big thing to me, and no one can ever take that away. Another thing about those 3 uppercase words is that all of us have had our share of troubles since the band has started(mostly with girls hehe) but we've always got eachother's backs, "we're loyal, like brothers"-the Get Up Kids What does the future have in store for the Peabodies? Well, immediately, we're gonna get some stickers finally! I mean quality, vinyl stickers. But as far as the band, we're all in school(Jay-Jay and I attend college), but when Josh & Ryan graduate from High School this year, we're planning on a tour this summer. Also, we're planning on all finishing our educations at Central Michigan University. We're gonna stick together through thick and thin pretty much. We just wanna do what God wants us to. As far as musically, we're basically just gonna keep writing songs and playing shows....there's a couple of comps coming up that we're planning on doing, and there's talk of some split ep's with other great Michigan bands, such as Face Value of Bettie Rocket records, and tomorrow feels like sunday, an awesome emo band from blissfield. Once we get enough money we're gonna head back into the studio and record a slew of new stuff for the kidz. Any final comments? Yes, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the opportunity to do this interview. Keep in touch, and let us know what's going on with the scene in your area, we can always use contacts for shows. God Bless You. Oh yeah, if you wanna know more info, and up to date news on the band, shows and stuff, visit our website. http://www.angelfire.com/mi/thepeabodies In Christ<>< Brandon Peabody |