interviewpage
Theocracy - interview November 2003 |
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This is one excellent interview I did with Matt of Theocracy, enjoy! Victory: Hello Matt! If a person asks you; "What is Theocracy", what would you answer them? Matt: My band. Haha! Seriously though, the "textbook definition" is a government that is directly ruled by God, but I put a different spin on it. I detailed what it means to me pretty thoroughly in the title track; basically, it's just about having the desire to be used for some greater purpose and having a servant's heart. I use the word in a personal way rather than a political one Victory: Matt, you're musically genius. How come you play almost every single instrument there is so well? Matt: Haha, you're too kind, but I'm certainly no genius. I'm really not a very good instrumentalist; I'm pretty good at rhythm guitar and harmonized lead stuff, but I'm not a very good soloist. I'm barely competent on bass, and even worse on keyboards and drums. But if you practice any part long enough, you'll eventually get it right, and no one else was around to play the stuff for me so I had to do it myself. :) But when it comes to playing live eventually, I hope I can just concentrate on being a singer and frontman and won't have to worry about playing an instrument. I consider myself a songwriter first and foremost, then a singer, then a guitar player, in that order. Victory: Speaking about your new album. How would you describe it? Matt: I would probably call it Epic Metal with some progressive tendencies. Very melodic, grand, heavy, bombastic. Often fast, but there's a pretty good variety on the album in terms of tempo and so forth. I don't think the songs all sound alike by any stretch of the imagination. Victory: It must be hard with touring when you've played every instrument by yourself, so I understand that must be an impossible task, or? Matt: Well, for now it is. But I really hope to find other band members, put together a real band and go on tour at some point. It's certainly a dream of mine, and I've already had people contact me and express interest in playing, so hopefully it will all work out soon. But I will say that there were several points during the making of this album that I was wishing I could clone myself... Victory: Is the music business your fulltime work or do you have a 'regular' work as well? Matt: No, I have a day job as a graphic designer. Still a LONG way to go before I can make a living in the music business, but hopefully someday! :) God's really been blessing this project so far, so we'll see what the future holds. Victory: What would you do if today was earth's last day(before judegement day)? Matt: Hmm, that's a tough one to think about. I guess I would try to urgently tell the gospel to everyone I saw. It makes me realize how much I fall short, since this is what we should be doing anyway. It shouldn't matter whether the earth has a million more years or one day. Victory: If a nonchristian is reading this, what would you like to tell him/her? Matt: I would like to say a big THANK YOU for being interested enough in me and the music of Theocracy to read this. I hope the album touches your heart in some way, whether you are a Christian or not. If you have any questions about all this faith stuff, feel free to send me an e-mail or contact someone here at Victory Ezine; we'll be glad to answer as best we can. Don't be scared of Christianity just because you have a problem with "religion"--they're two totally different things. I have many problems with "religion," and so did Jesus (that's one of the reasons they had him crucified!). But anyway, God bless you all! Victory: God bless you Matt and I hope that you'll achieve great success with your music ministry! Matt: Thank you, my friend. :) Best of luck with Victory Ezine as well! Matt www.theocracymusic.com |