DALLAS — On Thursday, Feb. 1, Staff Writer Renee Caldwell interviewed members of the band Crossfade after their Dallas appearance with Saliva.
ET: Renee
M: Mitch James (Bass/Vocals)
J: James Branham (Drums)
J: Hello. Hello.
ET: Hello there.
J: This is James and I am also joined by Mitch.
ET: Hello Mitch.
M: Hello…
ET: By the way good show Thursday night.
M: Thank you.
ET: It was excellent. So how did it feel when you guys got off stage? What kind of vibe did you get from the audience?
J: Let’s see Thursday where were we at Thursday? (laugh) Dallas, was that Dallas?
ET: Yes sir that was Dallas.
J: That was the Aztec wasn’t it?
ET: Palladium Ballroom.
J: Palladium, oh yeah, it was a great crowd in Dallas at the Palladium. It was surprising they had em packed in there like sardines. But it was a really intense crowd and they were getting into it. We had a pretty good vibe getting off stage
ET: Excellent, excellent. Do you guys as individuals or as a band have any pre-show rituals that you can disclose to your fans?
M: I think most of the time we just kinda sit around and drink in the bus for ya know 30 or 45 minutes before a show. And have a cocktail or something to ease the…(yeah screamed by less and a laugh) to ease the tension a little bit. And uh right before the show we have this little ritual kind of a prayer slash druid meeting where we all join thumbs and say a little prayer to the rock gods to make the show go well. That’s about it.
ET: What is the best part about being onstage for you guys?
J: For me personally it’s seeing young new bile boobies. (haha) Small ones always highlight the being on stage for me. But no seriously you know just the fans and the crowd just gettin into a rock show, man. And like I said it doesn’t matter if it’s 100 or 100,000 of em. Don’t think we’ve ever played in front of 100,000 people but we played for 100 for sure. (laugh) As long as the crowd is gettin into it and havin a good time it’s just an awesome feeling.
ET: I bet it is, what’s the best band story you guys have ever had?
M: Ohh, That’s really tough to um to sift out one that’s the best. We just had so many. We have played with so many of our idols and hero’s through the last couple years. We’ve gotten to play Jay Leno and Conan O’Brian and do some things that few bands even get to do. So we’re extremely lucky to be doin what we are doin and be able to do that on a nightly basis. Especially when you get to play festivals and stuff and see a lot of your old friends and other bands that you toured with that you’ve always been inspired by.
ET: Right, right…For you guys what’s the best part of being in a band period?
J: The question was what’s the best part about being in a band period???
ET: Yeah like the best thing. Like you wake up in the morning and your like “God, I’m glad I’m in a band and this is why…
J: Definitely, Definitely young new bile boobies. (laugh) I’m kidding I’m kidding…I kid, I kid.
ET: You and the ladies dude…
J: The best thing about being in a band is you don’t have to punch a time clock. For me personally I don’t have to step on a shovel anymore and like work a real job so. It’s just fun all the time it seems like. Fun most, well okay, it’s fun about 15% of the time and uh, no I’m kidding. It’s great because we get to live our dream. And that would be the best part for me.
ET: What about you Mitch?
M: Really I would second that, just all the old normal jobs that we used to hold down and try and fit in band practice between that. And sittin at home dreaming about your life just gettin to be able to do that is spectacular. We don’t have anything particular we have to do everyday except play a show so everything else is kinda up in the air. That really fits our lives cuz we have become accustomed to being gypsies and running around the bus spreadin the man love, if you know what I mean…(laugh)
ET: What is your favorite moment from this present tour or the last couple of tours you guys have been on?
J: There’s so many of them, it’s hard to nail it down to just one particular moment. I guess for me personally one of the best experiences was when I actually got to meet the experience. Joined by our new member Less Hall that was a pretty great experience. He’s also known as the experience. He has a symbol for his name kinda like Prince used to. (laugh) But yeah that’s probably been a good one for me. Ya know, I’ve been starin at Mitch and Ed for so long it’s nice to see a fresh face.
ET: What is your favorite funny tour bus moment?
CF: sings “Don’t stop believing”
M: Well there was this thing, we really can’t get into it. It’s definitely our favorite it involves Seether and Crossfade crowd surfing in the front lounge of a bus while screaming down the road at 80 miles an hour.
ET: That sounds like a lot of fun actually.
J: That’s all we can say about that…(laugh)
ET: Do you guys have any advice for local musicians who are trying to make it?
M: What we tell everybody, we have been in the same band for almost 15 years so don’t ever give up. Cuz we’re old, we come out on stage in walkers and grandpa diapers now. We’re new to the game but we’re old musicians. Don’t ever give up cuz sooner or later it may happen.
ET: Right on, who wrote the song Invincible and why didn’t you guys play it on Thursday night?
M: We can’t answer the second part of that question. But Ed wrote that song it’s an older song it wasn’t some of the new material we had for this new album. It was in a time when there was hope for love evidently. That’s why that song is the only one like that on that whole album.
ET: Well I love it and I love the new album by the way. What are your hobbies?
J: Binge drinkin, social drinkin, and the occasional cocktails. (laugh) Actually we don’t have many hobbies on this bus. We watch a lot of movies and play a lot of video games. Just try to make time go by. When you’re playin an hour show in a 24-hour period you have a lot of free time. You just have to do the best you can with it. A lot times that means roaming around going, “I’M BORED!!!”
ET: So there is no knitting or scrap booking going on?
M: No we don’t do a whole lot of things like that, people do some clay modeling but gets all over the bus and our bus driver hates that.
ET: Alright well just one more question for you guys. And it is a two parter. What is your favorite Crossfade song? And what is in your CD player right now?
J: I think my favorite Crossfade song is oh gosh what’s a good one, off the first record I would have to say No Givin Up definitely. Off the new record I’m kinda diggin Someday right now, I really like that song. I like the way we do that live, with the harmonizing guitars and everything it’s really cool. And what’s in my CD player? Actually I don’t even have a CD player out here. And what’s in my computer right now would probably be porn. I don’t know if that’s what you’re looking for or not. (laugh) Wait I don’t think she’s laughing.
ET: No I’m laughing, I’m just trying to keep quite to get all this down. Mitch what about you?
J: Mitch what about you?
M: My favorite song is probably The Deep End off of the last album. This one I’m really torn up about I love 9 out of the 11 songs just because I was a little more involved in creating these then the last album. What in my CD player? I don’t have one either, I had an IPod but it got stolen from the bus. So I am pretty much stuck with what everybody else listens to.
ET: Right on, well thank you guys so much for talking to me today I had a great time. Have a good show tonight and we will see you next time you come through Dallas.