Steal the Spotlight: Hey guys what is going on?

Like A Storm (Matt and Kent): Nothing much and you?

STS: Good!!! Let’s get things started. What is your part in Like a Storm?

LAS: Matt/bass, Kent/guitar

STS: What bands did you grow up listening to?

LAS: (Matt) Nirvana, faith No More, GNR, Incubus, Soundgarden, STP….trying to be their self, doing their own thing

STS: Are there any that you have drawn from musical?

LAS: (Kent) a big thing for us is that we moved from New Zealand which is literally on the other side of the world and for us we decided that we were going to make the kid of record that we always wanted to make and we put into a wide range of things that we grew up listening to. This included like Metallica, Pantera, Prodigy, Silverchair, (Matt) and bands that did string arrangements. (Kent) and we also wanted the record to have a wide scope too, because we always loved music that was progressive. So I think in the record this is a little piece of everything.

STS: Why did you guys settle in Canada rather than the U.S? I know you guys spend a few years in L.A.

LAS: (Matt) Well the US is a tough nut to crack in many ways. From an outsider's point of view is hard to get residency or citizenship in the US and we had Canadian citizenship. I was back in New Zealand working a dead-end job and listening to the radio and there were all these bands coming out of Vancouver and so I figured there was obviously a scene there and obviously people there that can point you in the right direction and help you out. So it was that or Toronto, but it is freezing so…

STS: That actually was part of my next question was Vancouver’s scene. Which one of the bands around that area have you been closer to as far as friends as well as musically?

LAS: (Matt) I feel that we have been really lucky that a lot of the band in the Canada were on the radio and we got a chance to hangout with them and we were lucky that we came in as total outsiders, because we didn’t know anyone and we started playing clubs and at our first show we meet Kai Marcus. He then introduced us to Mike Plotnikoff which we did the record with. We have a lot of friends in L.A., Vancouver and Toronto despite the horrible weather.

STS: Have you stayed in contact with people back in New Zealand and how have they responded to your rising success.

LAS: (Matt) Oh yes, there was a band back home that kind of gave us our big touring break. They have since broke-up, but we have stayed in contact with all of them. We really didn’t stay too long in New Zealand. We aren’t one of those instants were a band toured and built themselves up as big as they could in their country. It’s just more of an epiphany. We seen a lot of bands and told ourselves that where we want to be. So our last couple of years in New Zealand was getting everything together and selling off what we didn’t need. Working as many jobs as you can so you can save money, because we literally didn’t have a clue what was going to happen moving to Vancouver and not knowing anyone or anything, but it was the right path for us instead of staying in New Zealand and build us up there.

STS: All right, let’s get to the album. I know it hit the New Artist Charts when it wasn’t a physical release. How did you feel about that?

LAS: (Kent) I thought it was a mistake, because we were only selling it on the Creed tour. (Matt) It was only off three shows too. On that tour there were 3 shows that we should like 1000 records and it was three shows in a row. It was amazing for us to play in front such a crowd. I think that we owe that 100% to our fans. All the people that went and bought the album after seeing us just one time are awesome.

STS: Where do you see if leading too after something like that? Do you see yourself a mainstream, supporting tour or do you see yourself headlining an area the size or bigger than the one you will be playing tonight?

LAS: (Matt) headlining would be something that we defiantly will be working towards. You know you realize when you’re starting out that there are milestones that you are looking at. First your like I want to make a record and you get it done and you realize that you have a long way to go. The next step is to get signed and get a company behind you. Then you realize that you need to go out on tour and big high profile tours. You know you have to start at the bottom and work your way up and it’s a long claim man. It’s a long way to the top if you want to roll and rock as ACDC said. But yeah, we did inspire to headline this type of show. We always loved to go to big shows with lots of pryo and that’s what we want to be doing.

STS: I know that Shinedown has 3 albums out now. Do you see yourselves headlining something like this, 3 albums in or even 2 albums in?

LAS: (Matt) we only have one album man, come on. LOL. I’m kidding, I’m kidding… (Kent) We have been really lucky. We really wanted to make a record that we wanted to make in a time that many artists are being told what to do and how to do it and expected to do it a certain way. Making an album the way we wanted to was very important to us. Once we got to that stage it was kind of like if we dream it we can do it. We certainly aren’t put off by anything today.

STS: Do you think that, like you were just talking about and bands being told what do to, if the huge major labels are going to crash and the smaller indie type label are going to take over?

LAS: (Matt) it certainly looks like that is the way its going. It’s hard in rock music because the industry has found itself in this predicament where less and less bands are turning a buck because of downloading. Now rock music can’t be just for rock fans it has to be for everyone and they look at these models like Chris Daughtry or something and they start to replicate that. Then the problem is that just because someone is into that doesn’t mean that they will be into someone trying to copy that. We could kind of see that and we wanted to stay away from that and make our album the way we wanted to and wanted to listen too more importantly.

STS: Do you have a tentative date set for the physical release?

LAS: Yeah actually in early March and coming out in the U.S. and Canada in parallel in March.

STS: You mentioned the Creed tour being big, then you had a stint with The Veer Union, and now you’re playing with Shinedown and Puddle of Mudd. What have you taken from each tour and how do you think you will use it for feature tours and albums?

LAS: (Kent) I think, well we feel so lucky to be over here and the Creed tour was like a crash course because we had 2 weeks to prepare for this arena tour when we were thinking that we were going out to play clubs. We went from getting ready to for those small venues to going out on stage for 4000 people. We wanted to learn from these guys. We watched Creed play every night and checked out some sound checks as well. They are great guys and love playing together. It was really great to see guys that have played together so long and each and every time they got on stage the chemistry was there. (Matt) and one thing that I have learned from all of those bands is how to be as a person, because this is one of those lines of work that have a lot of legend and a lot of mystery around it. People expect you to be this larger than live personally on stage and what are you suppose to do when you are off stage. This is a time were people don't tolerate that asshole type of behavior in the way they use to, so you go into it trying to just be me and no bullshit all these guys have been really down to earth guys and more down to earth than people I know that are not in successful bands and why not. They are secure in who they are and it’s really good to learn early on to be humble and stay true to who you are. (Kent) we didn’t know what to expect because we were this new band playing with Creed, Hoobstank, Staind, Shinedown, and Puddle of Mudd.

STS: With 2009 over and begin such a huge year for you and obviously 2010 starting out with the physical release and this Shinedown tour, what can we expect for the rest of the year and beyond?

LAS: Matt- well firstly man, big smile on out faces. I mean this is all coming together. Its great with the video being out there and everyday we are getting more and more e-mails about radio stations that are airing us and we just got word that Sirius was airing us which is rad because people, friends and family back home can hear us. What you can expect from us is much of the same. We got the bug when we were on the Creed tour and we love doing these arena tours and play to as many people as we can. We are having the time of our lives. (Kent) once we wrap up with Shinedown we will be tracking through Canada doing radio shows and we will back in the states for the summer festivals. It will be a good year man.

STS: Well Guys thanks for taking the time to sit with us and I can’t wait for the set.