Full Throttle Rock recently conducted an interview with SEVENDUST guitarist Clint Lowery. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Full Throttle Rock: I am yet to hear a bad album from you guys. What is it about this group that keeps producing consistently good album after album? Clint: Man, that is a very nice thing to say. I do not know. I would like to think that there is something about us that with the contrast, like you were talking about before with the contrast of Lajon's [Witherspoon] vocals and the fact that there are a good amount of other contributors to the songwriting process, the fact that there is, if I am having a dry spell, someone else can come in and step up. I think, collectively, we support each other so the unit is strong, the infrastructure of our band is strong. We are the first people to say, "This isn't good enough," "This is not what the fans deserve. Let's dig in." And we are the fans of music that were always critical on bands that would start slacking up and start doing these weird half-effort kind of records. I am very defensive when it comes to that, I never want someone to say, "Oh, they are starting to slip," "Their songs are starting to get weird," you know. I do not want to lose the integrity of the band, and it is a challenge, and there are some records I will listen to and be, like, "I am not so happy about that," but I am very proud of the body of work that we have done and the records when I was not there. Full Throttle Rock: So when you look back at all the albums you have recorded, is there one or two that stand out to you as a favourite? Clint: I think right now, "Animosity" was a very good record, sonically, for me. I think the band was really finding itself at that point, that stage of the game, but they all have a special place. I really liked "Black Out The Sun"; it was a really fun record. It was self-produced, and it was my second record back with the band after a 4-5-year departure and I was very comfortable with the band again. They all have a special place, but "Animosity" was probably my overall. Full Throttle Rock: So speaking of "Black Out The Sun", let me say what an outstanding album that is. Has that album raised the bar for the band in terms of the quality that is expected every time you go in to record? Clint: I hope so. I mean, I invite that sort of pressure, I think that is the whole point of the game you make a record and you do not want to plateau, and that is the cool thing with our band, we never got to that stratosphere success plate. We never had this multimillion record selling; we never had any kind of Beatlemania whatsoever. So we have always had this mild success, and I think that kind of releases the pressure for us, so I think that has helped us maintain that we still have room to climb. I think we have a really solid fan base. I do not think we are ever going to become one of those bands that sell millions of records, I do not think anyone does anymore, but I think that it kind of enables us to hit theses plateaus and excel a little bit. I hope the last record, every time I go into the studio, I want to beat that last record, and I definitely feel like we are going to destroy "Black Out The Sun", we are going to dig in deep on the next record. Full Throttle Rock: What advice can you give to anyone looking to make a career out of music? Clint: Don't play music! No, I'm joking. [laughs] I think ultimately if you are not willing to do every single thing it takes, sacrifice pretty much everything, you know, family, birthdays, relationships, if you are not willing to sacrifice and put all that on the backburner, then it is really not happening. Unless you have a lot of money in the bank and you are just doing it for fun, it takes a lot, you sacrifice a lot of time. We have missed a lot of time with our families, and that is the only way to get out there in a real way to build and establish yourself. Be original. Do not think about what people are doing now, think about where you want music to go. Do not go where music is already sitting, continue to figure out the next turn. People always travel the same road. You have to veer off a little bit. That is where all the pioneers come from. Full Throttle Rock: Where do you see the band in the next 5-10 years? Clint: In a retirement home. Just joking. [laughs] I think we are still going to be doing what we are doing, just less the touring aspect of it. Because we all have kids, we all have other lives now, and so ultimately, I think we are going to be smarter about how much we tour. But as long as there is a demand, we will try to feed that demand for music. We work very hard on this, and we would like to retire doing this. Maybe we will be only doing acoustic music in 5-10 years. I do not know. But right now, we are just going to keep on doing what we do. Read the entire interview at Full Throttle Rock.
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