Contrary to the title "You Lose", the most recent release of Sonset Down I believe that being able to able to claim ownership to this cd is a victory for any music fan especailly if you gravitate toward the sound of Southern Rock. I also must say that it only seems fitting to have a train on cover art of "You Lose" because these boys from North Central Florida are constantly gaining speed and don..t seem to be slowing down. If your musical life needs to be awakened, refreshed, or even brought to life I strongly encourage you to step infront of the train coming down the tracks that is Sonset Down. It will be one heck of a ride, a ride you won..t easily forget, and what makes it even sweeter is that its all in the name and glory of God. Signed to Wounded Records and touring across various states across the U.S, this band is not only a success but a band that is making a impact along the way.

1. When trying to come up with a name for the cd why did you decide to call it "You Lose". I notice that it is a title track and often if a song is profoundly meaningful to a band they will name their cd after it so with that being said what is the meaning being the song "You Lose"?

SD - We actually named the cd "You Lose" because we just thought the term sounded funny, but after we talked about it for a while we came up with a spiritual answer for the title. As humans we are trash, we don't deserve anything that God has given us, so we as humans lose. It's only through Christ and his love that one can truly win. So we wrote the song about the constant battle to defeat sin and in the end being victorious.

2. When I am in the beginning stages of compiling a interview for a band I will often go on the each band members myspace. When doing this for you guys I saw that most of you are in your early 20..s. This is a age where your either going to college or getting into a field you will hoepfully spend your life in so how has God called you up until now both individually and in as a band to make music together?

SD - Well Jordan and I (matt) have known each other since 5th grade and when we started playing together in High School we knew that we wanted to play music as much as we could. Dan and Smitty always knew that music was a calling for their lives. Dan already had finished school and Smitty was close to being done, but decided that music was where God wanted him to be. It was the same with our new guitarist Eric. He was going to school but felt God wasn't through with him and music, so he decided to join the band.

3. So I thought I saw something on your myspace awhile ago about "Blister" getting air play and doing well in the charts. Was this at a particular radio station or more than one and was it the first time you have ever gotten on the radio as a band? What was that like?

SD - Yeah our song "Blister" was getting airplay on Weathered Steel Radio which airs in Ney York, Sweden, Kansas City, Peru, and Columbus, OH. We debuted on the charts at 38 and in a few weeks climbed all the way to 1! It was sweet to hear our music in the mix with so many other great bands. You can listen to episodes online at weatheredsteel.com

4. I really enjoy your song "Medicine and Gold", everything about it weather the intro, guitar, the drums, vocals, and lyircs make it a personal favorite. I was wondering if you could explain some of the lyrics from this song to myself and the people reading this interview. At one point in the song you say "Which way is the river bank"? When I hear this I automatically think baptism. At another time you say "You won..t take us alive, we..ll take this train ride down to hell". What do these particular parts of the song mean?

SD - "Medicine and Gold" is about a town called Providence that is dying of a plague. The part about the river bank is because the man is searching for water to quench his thirst, which symbolizes God being the sustainer of man. The song tells a story of a train heading towards the town carrying medicine for the sick. There are some bandits called The Black Riders that want to derail the train and rob it, which would stop the medicine as well. So the part about taking the train to hell is coming from the Black Riders which symbolize Satan saying he wants to take the medicine that will save the good people back with him to Hell.

5. Since April of 2007 you have been signed to Wounded Records. Being signed to Wounded Records, what has this allowed you to do that you were unable to do before. Almost every bands goal is to get signed so now that you have conquered that ambition do you have any other goals as a band that you hope to achieve?

SD - Being on the label has allowed to us to get our music out there to so many people. We wouldn't have the resources or the money do it all on our own. They also got us on Cornerstone 07 this past year and without them I don't know if we would have gone. The people at Wounded have been real awesome to us and helped us out so much. We hope to tour a lot more than we have. We would like to get a legit agent who can get us on tour with some rad bands.

6. So please tell us about how you came up with the name Sonset Down? Also tell us the story of how the band formed and came together how long have you guys been together? Have you had any member changes since the band started? I think I heared awhile back that you had a change on vocals?

SD - Well it originally started as Sunset Down but I wanted to change the U to an O because of the verse John 3:16 which most people know. If you split the name into 3 parts it's Son Set Down. God set his son down for man.

The band started when I was in 10th grade and we were just kinda a rock band. We changed to a little softer of a sound after that. Then we began to get more into heavier music and gradually evolved it into the southern metal sound we have today. We have had tons of member changes throughout the years which always contribute to our evolving sound, but we really like what we play now. So we don't plan on changing it too much. Hopefully just making it better.


7. What is your relationship fans, do you think your fans are different in any way compared to fans of other bands? Is there one thing that sticks out in your minds as the best thing that ever happend at a Sonset Down show or a worst if there is one?

SD - We try to be personal with our fans as much as we can. We try to remember names and faces that way when we see them at a show we can go talk to them. We really love talking to everybody, but I think a lot of bands are that way. We just want to have fun with fans and hang out at shows.

There has been so many blessings God has given this band. Whether it was big shows, important contacts, safe travels, I am not sure if we could pinpoint one thing. As far as bad stuff goes we have had our share of that too. The worst was probably a show in North Carolina that we did. It took like 15 minutes just to get the drums mics working. There were no monitors and all the upfront mic cables were shorted out so Dan had to do mine and his vocal parts. Plus we couldn't hear each other. It was a bad night.

8. Since you are heavily influenced by Southern Rock as it is proven in the sound of your music do you ever get compared to bands like Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster? If so how does that make you feel? Is it a complement or a honor to be compared to bands like that or do you try to stand out so much musically that it would be difficult to compare you to anything?

SD - Yeah we are compared to Maylene alot. I think it's just because of the whole southern thing. They hear southern sounding parts and immediatly think Maylene. We get frustrated sometimes when we get compared to them but we love listening to Maylene and we never really get mad. We always think we sound more like an Every Time I die sound or He is Legend.

We try to stand out musically as much as we can. It's hard because they're are so many bands out there. We just like writing songs and hope that kids get into them.

9. In the song "Blister" the lyrics state at one time " We are the thunder that brings the rain". What did you mean by this? Are you trying to say that your music (the thunder) is in hopes of having the grace of God fall on the world just as rain would fall?

SD - No, but that could work I guess. The song "Blister" is the story of the Black Riders. So by them saying they are the thunder that brings the rain. It means that they're coming and you should be terrified.

10. I see that currently you have shows lined up til March 8th but what are your plans after that? Will you continue playing shows, will you work on writing new material, hit the studio, or something different?

SD - We will most defintely be continuing to play as many shows as we can. We have our own recording stuff so any time we are home we will probably be demoing new stuff.