Semi-personal question for Matt

[Spyderman-Hyderman]

I'm very interested....
between your regular "day job", the BAND (including writing material, rehersals, recording, producing, live appearances, interviews, business dealings yadda yadda) marriage/family responsibilities, general social activities, and whatever other activities you do; do you find it hard to budget your time for all these things? How do you make time?
Also, when you do find yourself alone, what sort of things do you meditate on? What goes on in "Matts brain"? Ever any regrets about your music? I shouldn't say regrets, but rather things maybe you wish you had done differently based on your experiences.

in a nutshell

 

[Matt Smith]

Hey, sorry I’m just now getting to this; I’ve had almost no time online lately and have just gotten back in town.

Yeah, the time thing is impossible to get a handle on. If I ever figure it out, I’ll let you know. I sleep very little, and there’s still not enough time for everything. The people close to me understand how much time and effort the band takes, so they’re patient with me even when I’m out of touch for most of the time (which I’m trying to get better at).
It definitely gets frustrating, though, especially being stuck in a day job that I hate. If it weren’t for that, the album would have been done a year ago, easily, and that really makes me mad sometimes, because I’m not 20 anymore. There have been a few times I was REALLY close to calling it quits completely with the music thing. A couple of months ago was probably the worst; I just felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. But my family talked me into sticking it out for awhile longer.
Hopefully the new album will do really well for us so it won’t be as much of a constant uphill battle and struggle, without feeling like we’re getting anywhere.

I wouldn’t really say that I have any regrets, but sometimes I do wonder if we’d be farther than where we are now if I hadn’t gotten involved in the whole studio/production side of things. But I don’t regret it, because I love that part of it as well, and because that will be a valuable skill for me to use for the rest of my life, even after Theocracy has run its course. It’s all part of the same big picture to me. Plus, I know that our new album will sound killer, and I don’t have to worry about some punk screwing it up and making it less than it could be, and having to live with that for the rest of my life. Yes, I am a huge perfectionist and control freak if you haven’t figured that out by now, lol.

Anyway, I hope that kinda answers your questions.

 

[KeilanS]

Hey Matt!

Here I was thinking I was busy between my job and school, haha. Well I sure hope you don't give up on the band, it's amazing! I have no doubt that if it was more well known you'd have a best seller on your hands! Any chance the second album will be easier to get ahold of? I'm in the process of finding out which obscure American music site I can buy the CD from without giving away a Credit Card number (being 15 sucks sometimes)

Well God Bless Matt! Thanks for making such awesome music! Good Christian music is hard to find sometimes.

 

[Matt Smith]

Thanks for the kind words; you guys always help keep me encouraged. Don't get the wrong idea--I am not even remotely in this for the money (obviously, lol), so that's not what I'm talking about. But it definitely gets frustrating playing shows for 10 people who don't really care about the band at 2 a.m. time after time--it gets to where it's just not worth the trouble anymore. Hopefully with the momentum of the Progpower show and a great new lineup, when the album does come out, things will really start looking up.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!

 

[Jaen]

hey Matt, i heard the show the last week was killer, im sorry i couldnt stay but i had to get up really early the next day for school. Anyway, looking forward to the next show and the new album. good luck!!

 

[Spyderman-Hyderman]

some of those are reasons I left my band. I hate being in bands. Fun and all when I was in high school, but at 30 it just doesn't thrill me anymore. I love writing and recording my own stuff by myself though.

 

[Shamiah]

Hi Matt,
just want to encourage you with this...
Your music has inpired me from the time I discovered it, about 9 months ago. I became a Christian a while back and just couldn't listen to the music I listened to before... my whole outlook on things changed and what seemed to have such depth back then now seemed shallow and meaningless. Also, I couldn't handle listening to music that talks about demons or darkness... it just made me sick, so I got rid of all my CDs from before I was born again, just because I didn't like them anymore... or because of the message they carried. To make a long story short, I pretty much gave up on metal because I couldn't find any to my liking: good quality christian metal. So, the one evening, I went to see some of the old bands online, to see what they were up to these days, and saw that none of them had changed, so I said to God: "Why isn't there music like this that glorifies You?" and i heard in my mind: "There is, you just haven't looked for it.". Five minutes later, I was on the Theocracy website, listening to the sound samples, excited like a kid on Christmas morning. Finally, Christian metal made with a spirit of excellence, with no compromising in the power of the music or the power of the message. Anyway, all this to say that I've been really blessed with your music, and, if you do it to honor God, He will honor you, if not here, then after, but what we do for Him is never in vain. Bless you man.

 

[KeilanS]

Shamiah, I know exactly what you mean! I was giving up on great metal when I got rid of my secular music. It still haunts me however. I hate to say it, but I truly was addicted to secular music. Today a commercial for an old band I listened to came on, basically saying that they were coming to my city to play. I almost cried, they were my all time favourite band, but not Christian.

Theocracy is the first band I've found that gets me close to the feeling I had listening to that music. It's wierd, like a musical high almost. Anyways, it's bands like Theocracy that keep me sane I think

Although I must admit I'm driven crazy by the injustice of bands like this sitting around with few fans when they deserve to be in the big leagues.

GOd Bless,
Keilan