Nick: I have not been in the band since the beginning, so unfortunately I am not the best person to answer this question. I know that Tim, Jordan and our old guitar player Evan, after playing together in local San Diego bands, got together in early 2001 and decided that they wanted to write more aggressive music than what they had all done prior to starting AILD.

Being formed only four years ago (2001) the band's popularity has skyrocketed like nobody's business. Why would you say that is?

Living on the road most of the time…we've tried to keep our momentum going and we haven't let anything hold us back from getting out there and doing what we do best, playing shows. We've had a good team of people working for us setting up the right tours at the right time and I think that has contributed greatly to any success that we have had in the past year. We wouldn't want to disappoint our fans, and especially ourselves, so we took a lot of time to try and write the best album we could and really improve ourselves as musicians.

It's clear to see that since signing with Metal Blade Records, the band's performance has been kicked up a notch. More aggression, more emotion, more power. Any specific reason(s) for that?

The writing process for this new album was different than the last one. There have been several member changes since "Frail Words Collapse" was written. I had contributed a lot to the new album musically and I believe that we just wrote this album keeping in mind not to lose the energy during any of the songs and writing more tasteful, melodic riffs.

Currently there are quite a few popular metalcore bands out there, one of which being one of my favorite bands-Killswitch Engage. Do you think As I Lay Dying's music stands out in any form from say, the afore mentioned Killswitch, or do you think the band's sound tends to get caught up with the others?

I believe that we put a lot more emphasis on keeping the energy throughout the entire album. A lot of the drumming is very fast paced most of the time. Other than that, all I have to say is we look up to Killswitch musically and on a friendship level so we'll let you guys be the judge of that one.

You're gearing up to play this year's Ozzfest. What bands are you looking most forward to meeting and playing with?

I'm excited to see Maiden everyday, no matter what. They've been such an influence and it'll be good to ask Bruce to give me some sweet tips on fencing. It'll be really good to watch Slash, not so much Velvet Revolver, but Slash. He's amazing and I can't wait to see some of his sweet shredding as well. I don't think Rob Zombie would ever disappoint a fan with his live show, so I know a lot of us are really looking forward to watching him. Clint our bass player has been making a huge deal about Wicked Wisdom so I think he'll be watching them pretty much everyday too.

Your new album "Shadows Are Security" was #35 on Billboard's Top 200 Chart on its first week. Did you expect for this release to be selling so rapidly?

I honestly tried not to think about it at all. We were all very happy with the final numbers for the first week and we're very thankful that so many fans ran out and picked it up the first week, especially the first day. It was really awesome hearing about kids lining up outside some stores, the day it came out. We thank all those who have helped us out in any sort of way, it means a lot.

Considering how much of a breakthrough your "Frail Words Collapse" album was, was there any pressure on 'Shadows'? How did the recording process go?

Yeah there was a lot of pressure. Certain deadlines always have to be made so there's always that pressure. Sometimes there have to be last minute changes. We wrote "Meaning in Tragedy" the first day in the studio. Metal Blade wanted one more song, a really strong one, so Tim and I put our thoughts together and within the next 3 days we had Jordan laying down the drum tracks for it and we're very happy with how that song turned out. There were a lot of late nights, stressful moments, and a lot of around-the-world being played outside whenever there were any small breaks. Overall, it was a tough first writing process for me but I learned a lot and it gives me a lot more confidence towards writing and recording our next album.

I've read quite a few interviews for you guys and this topic seems to be brought up in every one of them-is As I Lay Dying is a Christian metal band, or do you look above and beyond that-beyond the labels and consider yourselves something else? Do you think being dubbed a Christian metal band affects your fan base?

I don't really think it has. No matter what faith someone may have, you can still come and watch us play a 45 minute set, and 'rock out' just as much as we try to do and you wouldn't have any sort of uncomfortable feelings whatsoever. Our hearts are in the right place spiritually but that doesn't come out so much through our performance, we're just having a good time putting on a good show. But it does come out through our personalities offstage, when we're taking the time to talk to our fans and meeting new people all the time. Also through our lyrics, there's a lot in there that has a lot to do with our faith and struggles that we all go through as Christians and how sometimes we get all locked up in things that don't really have any strong purpose in our lives.

I'm really into As I Lay Dying. You guys give me what I want in every aspect of your music. What do you think is the bands strongest and weakest (if any) points?

I think the strongest points are we all try to have good perseverance. We'll try harder and harder to make sure we can get things done the right way. I used to be the laziest one, but now I try harder to be as productive as I can with every aspect of this band, especially on the road. Another strong point is that we try to be as professional about things as much as we can. We may slip sometimes but ultimately, being a legitimate band is something we all care about and work hard to make sure it happens. Of course, while still having a good time and joking around with one another. Having good morale on tour is always a bonus.

There are a lot of bands coming out with new music right now. Who are some of your favorite bands out right now, and who are some bands you think should just crawl under a rock and never be heard from again?

I love the new Coldplay album, I think it's amazing and there's no way anyone can say it sounds like every other album of theirs. Of course his voice is the same, that's 'his' tone. But the overall mood of the album is so much more, I guess...groovin. I love it and its one of my all time favorites. The new Black Dahlia Murder is brutal. The new Darkest Hour sounds really good too, I'm very impressed with how much better their musicianship has gotten since their last album. If there's any 2 bands that I think should crawl under a rock and never be heard from again then I think it would be Bright Eyes and Metallica. I just can't listen to Bright Eyes at all, and the worst recording I've ever heard was Saint Anger. Or as Joel from Killswitch Engage calls it, "saint good".

Finally, although As I Lay Dying's life span isn't but 4 years young, what has been the pride and joy of the band? What's been your biggest achievement?

I guess our biggest achievement has been the opportunity to play Ozzfest. I never thought I'd even be playing in a band full time let alone touring the country with Maiden and Sabbath. It's ridiculous and something I'm very thankful to be given this opportunity. I'd say another big achievement is being able to play in foreign countries. Its been an amazing experience with every country we've been to. Meeting new people and playing shows for fans of ours, speaking a different language, all the way on the other side of the world. It's an amazing feeling.

www.asilaydying.com