Singled Out: Another Lost Year

When I sit down to write, I never have a pre-determined idea of what is going to come out, I have certain times when something triggers me to want to write, and when they pop up, I know it's time to stop what I'm doing and write.

I wanted something that everyone could relate to, it wasn't necessarily drugs or alcohol, but everyday we fight struggles, be it relationships, work, family, drugs, alcohol, and so on. I was being pulled in so many directions, and battling demons from my past, so the War On The Inside was created.

At the time we were only 4 months old, getting ready to head out on our first week of touring that would take us from Baltimore to Jackson, TN., I remember it vividly, our first bass player had to quit because he couldn't keep up with the schedule that we had predicted, he was getting married and needed to step down. It had been years since I played bass, but with me being one of our 3 guitar players, in theory it was an easy transition, did I mention this was 2 days before we left for Baltimore. That night I sat down, with my guitar, I had been listening to a ton of Bury Tomorrow and Close Your Eyes at the time, so I was in a little bit of a heavier mood, tuned up and started saying what was on my mind.

There's always a door to choose, with anything, and ultimately you have the deciding factor on which one you open, and in those moments I feel as though I'm standing on a ledge weighing out the scenarios, usually only split seconds decide the door, but it can seem like an eternity. And in about 15 minutes the first draft of War was complete. We had less than a day, and I really felt like I wanted to debut this song, to see the reaction it would get, called the rest of the guys, and we took off with it. War has changed a few times, a few of the lines had been re written, mostly because I never write final lyrics until after we've played it a few times, I'm not a hurry up and write kind of composer.

I've got a very dark past with certain addictions, and I never set out to write a song about it, so when the director of the video (Nick Barton @ Prestigious Films, Wichita, KS.) asked my thoughts, I didn't want to convey my exact thoughts, his concept is what the video is, and coincidentally enough, one of the main factors in the song, a struggling past, came to life. We get a lot of people emailing everyday about how the song tells their story, and for that I am truly grateful that people take our songs and make them their own. Something for them to hold onto, and give them hope. In the end, I'm glad I could help give some hope to people, but at the same time, this song is therapy for me. And I believe the rest of the album follows suit.