Prescription
by Trisha Bleau

CS: If you don't mind me asking right off, do you mind sharing how old each of you are?

K: I'm 18, Andrew is 17, Stephen is 20 and Nathan is 19. Sorry that Nathan isn't here. I couldn't get a hold of him. Drummers.

CS: How do you decide who plays in the band and how do you manage differences between players? How did your group get started? How many members have you seen come and go in the history of your group?

K: Really, everyone always plays. We only have 1 drummer, 1 guitarist and 1 bass player.
F: When we come to conflicts, we just vote on it. And majority rules.
K: I started the band 6 years ago with my best friend Todd Dakin, who is no longer in the band. We basically started it for fun. It was just to 'jam' sometimes. At that time, we had 2 guitars (Todd and I), 1 drummer (Paul Venable, and 1 bass player (Ryan Flynn). Paul was replaced by Nathan and Flynn was replaced by Franz. So there weren't too many changes.

CS: What is the main focus in your ministry? How did you come to agree on this as a focus?

S: We focus on reaching high school and college aged kids. Half of our focus is Christians and their walk, and half is on people who aren't Christians.
F: Yeah, we also are just trying to glorify God and show His love through our actions and passions.
K: I concur.

CS: Where did you come up with your groups name? What does it mean exactly? What are some other names you may have used or thought of using?

S: They decided not to include me in the naming of the band (laughs). No, I wasn't in the band till later. Kennen will have to explain.
K: Okay, here's the deal. Everyone in the world is looking for something to cure their pain. They look to drugs, sex, drinking, whatever. But the true PRESCRIPTION, is God. He's the only one who can really take care of it. That's the meaning behind the name. We once thought about being called Merge.

CS: Where do you see the band in five years? Ten? The future?

F: In five years I see us touring full time.
S: True. I also want to be playing all the major festivals in the US and possibly on our second national album.
K: I just hope to be still playing guitar in 5 years. (smiles)
S: In ten years and the future, we hope to own a record label.
F: Yeah. Helping out younger bands and stuff.

CS: Do you ever worry about getting caught up in the world of show biz? That success will change your group?

S: Yeah.
F: I don't worry about it. I don't plan on us becoming so successful that we have to sell out or get stuck in the show of it.
K: I worry for myself, but not the group. Often I concentrate so hard on playing everything right and keeping the crowd involved that I forget to be worshiping God. But God's working on that with me. (smiles again)

CS: If you could ask Jesus any one question, what would you ask?

(awkward pause)
S: I don't know...hard question.
F: Yeah. It's hard to answer with such little time.
K: I know. I've been trying to figure this theological thing out. When there is a people group isolated from the world, and they've never heard about you, Jesus, are they still allowed into the Kingdom? What are the stipulations? That's all.
F: I'd ask him what's up with dinosaurs. I've been confused about that lately.
K: Franz, it talks about dinosaurs in the old testament. Lizards and stuff that could breathe fire.
F: Oh. Never mind.

CS: When did you feel called to perform in a group like this? Have you felt God's hand guiding you towards this all along? How did you get started in the music business? Did you take private lessons?

K: When I started Prescription, I felt called to the band. later on I realized that I should be doing it as ministry.
F: Yeah, 2 years ago I felt called to the band. At first I was just stoked about being in a band but later I began to see it as ministry.
S: Early high school. I felt God has always been calling me into traveling ministry in the US.
F: I started with clarinet in 5th grade.
K: Yes! Clarinets rock! I started in 5th grade too! (both laugh)
F: Sweet. Then I moved on to saxophone. After that I wanted to learn guitar, but everyone and their mom plays guitar, no offense to guitarists. So I learned bass. But I've never had lessons for bass.
K: Me either, except not bass, guitar.
S: I've had voice lessons and some guitar lessons.

CS: What is the biggest thing God has done during one of your concerts?

S: Ummm...led people to Him through us? (everyone laughs)
K: That is our goal you know.
F: For me, it was when God reached someone who was very close to unexpectedly.
K: Awwww....how cute.

CS: Do you write your own music? Where do you get ideas for your music? Do you ever get criticized for your lyrics or music style?

K: Yeah we write our own music. I write like 2/3's of the music. And Franz and Stephen write the other third. I can't write lyrics though because they always end up sounding like a Dr. Seuss book. Cat in the hat on a mat just sat, at. (laughs yet again). Sorry, I entertain myself a little too much.
S: I draw a lot of my ideas from the heart. And from the Bible and situations I've been in. My favorite part of the Bible is Psalms. I do get criticized for what I write sometimes. People will ask me why I would say something that way, or why I would speak so openly about depression and suicide. I'm just writing from the heart.
F: My musical ideas come from other artists. Some of the more obscure artists. Some people give me constructive criticism about the band in general. You know, 'you could work on this or that'.
K: I usually come up with songs while watching TV. I'll just be sitting there watching TV and jamming quietly on my guitar and all of sudden I think, 'whoa, that sounds cool'. And eventually it's a song.

CS: How would you describe your music style?

S: Modern rock...heavy...almost heavy metal except that there's a focus on singing words and harmonies.
F: Yeah, modern rock that has a lot of different moods.
K: Okay. I'm the strange one of the group. Picture this: Incubus is walking down the street and Creed is walking the other way. All of a sudden, they meet each other and start a fat brawl. Project 86 appears out of the alley and dominates that match. But Living Sacrifice drives up to add to the intensity. The result is Prescription. (Andrew and Stephen laugh in
embarrassment)

CS: Who, or what, are your biggest musical influences? Have they been groups or individuals who you have been able to play with?

F: For me, Victor Wooton, an amazing bass player. Living Sacrifice. Project 86. And although I don't endorse the message or the lyrics, Tool. The guys are amazing musicians.
K: I'm going through my Living Sacrifice phase right now. They're so amazing. I also am really into the music of Staind and Tool, even though some of the lyrics are against what I stand for.

CS: Are you involved in your own home churches?

S: I lead worship for two churches in Sacramento right now.
K: I live in San Diego, so I'm back and forth between here (Sacramento) and SD. Thus, I'm never anywhere long enough to get very involved. But I learned how to play leading worship in Jr. High.
F: Me too. Worship was big for me learning how to play bass. I still lead worship a bit.

CS: What is the latest news on your group? What's the status on the CD mentioned on your site?

S: We're getting ready to go on tour this summer. On The Extreme Tour. I'm not sure if you've heard about it, but it's like 20 Christian bands touring the western states from California to Texas to Oklahoma to Colorado to Idaho to Washington and everything in between. Right now we're trying to get the funding that we need to go on the tour.
K: We're also starting the writing for our next album. We've got about half the music done and about a quarter of the words. I'm really excited about getting into the studio again. It's so much fun to write for the studio. Seriously. The album on our website, Reason for this Rime, is doing pretty well. We produced that album independently and got some private investment for it. Thus, we were very limited in what we could do. We are very proud with what we did without professionals. Our efforts are being put to distribution and reviews right now. Both of which we're having trouble getting. Nobody seems to be interested right now. Which is fine, but just a tad bit discouraging. The album is selling well in the stores we're in and at shows.

CS: Many teenagers and adults get really emotionally involved in the lives of the band members. Do you feel people look up to you as near idols? From reading your guest book entries a lot of the girls are already drooling over you cuties. :-)

F: If they do, I don't want them to because I want one on one relationships with people so that I can minister to them. When they think that I'm an idol, I'm not viewed as someone just like them, which is who I am: just like them.
S: Some people do look up to us, but I wouldn't say we're idols to them. We just want to be real with them, onstage and off. Being an idol is unreal.
K: True that. We try to hang out with as many people as we can after shows and as a band, but it gets difficult to keep up with everyone. We do love our fans dearly though. And if they ever have any questions about what they believe or what we believe, we always respond to the emails we get.

CS: Any plans to sign with a major Label in the near future?

S: If a good offer comes, and it's reasonable and we know it's from God, then yes.
F: I don't want to sign with a major label because I've heard that they really mess up smaller bands financially and trick them into bogus deals. If we were to sign a deal, I'd rather be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. So I'd rather have the smaller label.
K: If we can make it independently, then I would do it that way. Because then you retain all artistic creativity and musical rights. A label really 'cramps a band's style'. I'd rather have the pride of being able to say that we did everything ourselves than having to sell ourselves to a label. Not that all labels are bad. Plus, it would give us experience for our future label.

CS: Do you have any advice to give to the youth of our world?

F: Be real. If you're going to do something, good or bad, don't try to hide it. Also, don't make a big deal about everything. Things aren't really that bad unless you make a big deal about it. Just relax.
S: Yeah, also don't get caught up in the music and garbage that the world is feeding you. Like everything on MTV and stuff. Look into what's happening in Christian music and don't immediately right it off. There's a ton of great artists coming out in Christian music. Check it out.
K: Prayer and quiet time is more powerful than any of us give it credit for. Devote time to God and you will see changes in your life. Seriously. Also, follow your heart in making decisions. Listen to yourself, listen carefully enough and you'll hear the voice of God.