Interview: Showbread   Comments (0) Showbread is a Raw Rock band from the Savannah, Georgia area. Showbread consist of Josh Dies (Vocals/guitar), Mike Jensen (vocals/guitar), Patrick Porter (bass), and Ricky Holbrook (drums). They are currently working on a new album entitled "The Fear of God" set for release sometime in late 2009-early 2010. Josh not only Is a member of Showbread, but has other musical projects including: D.I.E.S., Knife To Meet You, and The Thieves Guild. Aside from his music, Josh is also author of books including: The Spinal Cord Perception, The Insect, and two upcoming books Be Afraid: The Definitive Guide to Horror Nerdiness, and Nevada.

Although you guys seem to hate most of your old music, if you were to release a remastered/rerecorded/rereleased version of any of the older albums, which one would it be, and would this be an actual posibility? If it were at all possible I'd assume we'd do "Life, Kisses And Other Wasted Efforts" just because it's the most "put together" record out of all the old ones, though i like "The Dissonance Of Discontent" better. But it's nearly impossible anything like this would ever happen for a few reasons. We don't have access to the master recording of any of these old records, and i think that the effort it would take to rework/rerecord something old would be much better spent just working on something new. Have any cool tour stories to share? Yes. I have a lot of them. Thanks for asking. Your last two albums (Anorexia Nervosa) were highly influenced by Nine Inch Nails. Trent has said himself that their music can have negative effects on people. Was it hard to twist the style and make it into something positive? Not at all. As a Christian, I personally believe that all talent is God-breathed. Free-will intercedes and allows anyone to use their God-given talent in anyway they choose, but it all comes from God. According to this school of thought, Trent Reznor was ordained by God with a gift to make music. It seems obvious he has chosen not to use his gift "for" God but it doesn't change where his gift came from. So, stylistically, Reznor's musical influence on the record was not something that required "tweaking" to put a positive spin on it. That said, "Anorexia Nervosa" has some very dark unpleasant moments, almost the entire story really, until the ending... so there were "moods" from albums like "The Downward Spiral" or Marilyn Manson's "Holywood" that influenced the record as well. We aren't out to offer a "Christian" alternative to bands like Marilyn Manson or take "negative" music and put a positive spin on it. We have our influences and we simply make music the way we see fit. The stories to Anorexia & Nervosa have had great impact on people. Did you expect them to be so powerful during the writing process? Yes. I never assumed it would be a commercial success, but we knew we were making something powerful that God was planning on using in a big way. It has so humbling and so encouraging to see what that record has done in people's lives. If approached by a film company who wanted to make an Anorexia Nervosa movie, would you take the deal? Absolutely, if I could be involved. So, the new album is entitled "The Fear of God". Why that name? "The Fear Of God" has to do with the fear of accepting the consequences of what believing in God means. I've heard it said often by atheists that people latch on to the idea of a God to give themselves comfort and because it's easier than accepting that we're all alone. But, to me, there isn't anything easy about believing in Jesus. There is certainly a comfort, but it requires a total upheaval of your life and who you are and denying yourself for a beautiful reason. I think that can be scary... hence the name of the record. Your sound changes for every album, what can we expect for this one? Sound wise, this is a record we've wanted to make for a long time but in the past we've had so many opinions in the band that made it difficult. It's about energy, and passion, and aggresion. It has a punk rock spirit to it.. There are elements of all the Showbread styles involved, but put together in a new and interesting way... It isn't about trying to be anything but raw and just letting it all come out. What featured musicians (if any) can we expect on this album? That, I don't know. it seems likely this will belong to the Showbread family only. Who can we expect to be on tour with you guys this year? I'm not sure. Hopefully someone good. You've covered several songs live (such as "New Noise", "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch", "Safety Dance", and It Is Well With My Soul). Will you ever consider doing studio recordings of any of these? For years we've talked about doing two things, a cover album and a DVD. The DVD finally happened so we'll see... Sometime last year you said "Mike, Patrick and myself are also working on another music project with Reese [Roper] which we are excited about" what happened to this? We're still working on it. It's a band called The Thieves Guild. We've recorded a few songs but it takes a while for Reese because he's finishing nursing school right now. When he's done and has more time we're going to shop it around to some labels or just release a record ourselves.. Do you have any plans for a Knife To Meet You release, or is it just something for fun in your spare time? No we're going to release an album for sure. We just have to make time to write some more songs and then lay them down. I love Knife To Meet You, it's basically Squad Five-0 meets Misfits. What can you tell us about your upcoming book Nevada? It's pretty strange, but I'm very excited about it. It's quite a differnt story and approach than my last novel was. There's this enourmous hole in the Nevada desert that gets discovered, these things come up out of the hole, and then the entire world changes. When I was Recently Reading up on you guys on Wikipedia I came across this. How do you feel about that, and why does Galactus fear you? Becuase if Glactus ate earth, his stomach would explode from the rawness that comes from eating Showbread. He wants to, but he knows there is a great risk. It makes him scared. How did you come up with major showbread symbols, such as the no music symbol and the phrase "Raw Rock Kills"? I'm not sure. "Raw Rock Kills" just sounded right and the Raw Rock symbol just popped into my head. Plenty of your songs contain literary references, what are some books that you would recommend? Too many to list. "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka, "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath, "Flowers For Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, "Geek Love" by Katherine Dunn, "It" by Stephen King, "Lunar Park" by Bret Easton Ellis, anything by Amy Hempel, the list goes on... What are some things that influence you the most as a musician? Jesus and the world around me. What are some of your favorite songs to play live? "A Llama Eats A Giraffe..." and "Pachycephalosaurus" are always favorites of mine... But we haven't played anything from "The Fear Of God" live yet... I'm excited to play a song called "I Think I'm Going To See You". Do the chickens have large talons? Ask my mom, she loves that movie.