photo by Amanda Parraz

If you are a regular reader of Rock On Request, it should come as no surprise to you that I like to get right to the point. I think beautiful, artistic writing is a wonderful thing....and I like to leave that to novelists and musicians who write amazing lyrics. When it comes to band interviews I know that the fans are the ones I am reaching out to most, so I like to let them know how I feel about a band rather directly. With that said, I would like to sincerely thank my good friend Amanda for turning me on to Submersed. They are by far one of the best rock bands I've heard in a long time.

Submersed is a rock band out of a small town in Texas and is made up of front man Donald Carpenter, guitarist TJ Davis, bassist Kelan Luker, drummer Garrett Whitlock, and guitarist Justin Finley. They signed to Wind-up Records in 2002 and put out their debut, 'In Due Time', with their single 'Hollow' grabbing the #19 spot on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. So why hadn't I heard of Submersed until my friend brought them to my attention? Why indeed. I can only say that, in my opinion, when 'In Due Time' was released the rock genre was not nearly as strong a presence in the public eye as it has been in the past couple of years....a change I have been eagerly awaiting.

Whether it was the luck of the Irish (or the Mexican since I'm a little bit of both), I discovered that I already knew the publicist for Submersed after working with him on another band and we got the interview set up with no problem. When I was informed I would be talking to Donald I was very pleased, because after seeing many live performance videos something very specific caught my attention. Not only did the band as a whole blow me away with their ability to put on a rock show that would catch the attention of each and every band they list as an influence, but front man Donald Carpenter puts every inch of himself into his performance.....and the audience is pulled in instantly. They really didn't even have a choice.

I want to thank Donald for taking the time out of his busy life to sit and talk with me for nearly an hour on the phone. I hope the Submersed fans enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed doing it.

photo by Amanda Parraz

CHRISTINA AVINA: Hi Donald. If it's okay with you, I'd love to hear just a brief band history to get us started today. I always assume that some readers might get introduced to you through reading the magazine.

DONALD CARPENTER: Right, right. We started about six years ago in Dallas, Texas. Me, TJ and Kelan grew up in the same small Texas town and we're all about 2 to 3 years apart. We all came from pretty diverse backgrounds, but we ended up coming together about six years ago to start this idea of forming a band and seeing what we could do with it. Things have been a crazy ride ever since.

CA: To say the least, right?

DC: Yeah, that's the very quick rundown.

CA: That's great, because you know I'm going to dig a little deeper.

DC: We'll be able to piece this puzzle together.

CA: It's always funny to me when I ask for a little band history, and I listen to artists talk about how they started. It always strikes me how most fans don't realize that you guys came from the same kind of background that they live every day, and just pieced everything together to get where you are.

DC: Yeah, exactly. Everything kind of happened really rapidly for us too. A lot of our history has actually been documented within our short career so far. There's not too much back history that most people don't know about.

CA: That's true, and really six years in the music industry is not really that long, even though a kid might think it is. That's pretty young for a band, relatively speaking.

DC: It's definitely pretty young. Our second record is just coming out now. It's been a nice even pace for our career so far.

CA: I wanted to ask you about how things have gone once you signed with Windup Records. They've been your only label, is that correct?

DC: Right.

CA: You mentioned that some of the inspiration for the first single off your new record kind of came from feelings after you started having to navigate through the industry after you signed. Can you tell me if there was a big difference between how you thought things would be after signing....the image you might have had in your head of how things would be when you were dreaming of one day signing a record deal, was that very different than the way things actually were once you got there?

DC: Well, I'm a dreamer....so I obviously had big dreams and hopes and things like that, as far as a timeline. You'd just love for things to take off right away. I think things have worked out for the better. It's not exactly as I would have expected, but it's the business that I expected. I didn't expect anything to be easy or things to happen overnight, but I am starting to realize how a career does take time and gaining fans takes time. It takes commitment and definitely being out on the road, trying to build relationships with other bands and managers and booking agents....all these things it takes to be successful in this business, it takes time. I think most people, when they're putting a band together and they're dreaming about that day, their dreams are a little bigger than the reality is. Once the reality sets in I think all you want is a fair chance at success. That's all I ever wanted when I was dreaming about it. Right now we have that. Whether it takes the six years or it takes another six, as long as I have the chance to succeed in doing music for a living....that's kind of what I set out to do.

CA: Right, and that's a good way to look at it. You're right, I don't think anybody has an idea of the kind of work that goes into being an artist in this industry.

DC: It's a lot of unfruitful work. You don't get paid for a lot of things. Pretty much, when you sign a record deal you're taking out a loan from a bank that owns you. Not just the money that it gives you or the interest rate that they lend it at, but they own a lot of different aspects of your life and you have to be willing to deal with that. That's something that we've gotten used to. Even when writing songs on this record, I tried to battle some of the political battles and tried to gain my own footing and grounding while battling it out. I just realized that I need to just concentrate on becoming a songwriter. Whatever I thought I was as a songwriter can always get better. I was confident in what I could do, but I needed to learn what I wasn't able to do and try to get better at it. I knew if I wrote good songs then it didn't really matter what problems I would have and the music would take care of itself, so that's what I tried to do.

CA: It really shows on this album. I am always very honest with the artists that I talk to. I have artists that I've interviewed that I have been a fan of myself for a long time, and then I have others that I have only recently been introduced to. I'll admit to you right now that I was introduced to your music not that long ago, so I didn't have a lot of familiarity with your other work. Since I have listened to it though, it really seems on this new record that you fell into a comfort zone. It was very obvious to me. Aside from the great new material that you came out with, you also had a really good producer too. How was it working with Rick on this record?

DC: It was an interesting experience. Of course this is only my second "album making experience", so I don't know how many people go through the same process. It was a little nerve wracking. We spent two years piecing together the best songs that we could come up with during different writing sessions. I have to give the label some credit because as much as it pissed me off throughout the process....I was like, "Come on, we have a record here." They weren't just going to settle for a couple of good songs and then the rest of an album. They wanted to keep going and piece together a lot of really good tracks. The end of that process ended up with Rick. The beginning of it was just me and him writing these songs and trying to come up with the vision of a record that we could put some of the earlier songs that we wrote with.

CA: Right.

DC: We were just really trying to get the stories that the record would tell together. By the time we actually went in to track the record we had a good idea of what we were doing. We had already worked with him on the majority of the record, so he was really locked into it. The actual tracking of the record only took about 3 weeks, vocally and instrumentally and everything. The process went together really quick, but the process of finding the right songs and the right words, the right stories....that's what really took awhile. Once everything started taking shape we felt like we had something.

CA: For me, as someone who loves music, my favorite albums or follow up albums from artists that I already love take a long time to get to. As a fan, of course, you're dying because you want that next record. I'm sure as an artist you have that same feeling like, "God, I just want this next record out."

DC: Yeah, and in today's game you almost have to operate that way in order to even have success.

CA: Right, just to stay in the public eye.

DC: Wherever we go we're going to have the same problems. I think we're just fortunate to have the personal relationships that we have lined up and whatever problems the industry is having, or that the labels are having with artists or whatever....or whatever problems we have we'll have the ability to kind of work through that. We obviously have the support from the label because they stuck around for the last two years, trying to have the patience and keep working with us and having faith. They found the right people to bring out the right things in us to come out with a good record.

CA: I have unfortunately never had the pleasure of seeing you play live, which I'm not happy about so you need to come out my way. I have watched a lot of performance videos though, and was very impressed. I'm a true rock girl at heart....

DC: Then you'd definitely love our show.

CA: I know I would, I could tell. I like a lot of different rock genres, but my heart is with just pure rock. And, of course, Soundgarden is one of my favorite bands and I know Chris Cornell is a big influence on your music....

DC: Oh yeah.

CA: That definitely comes through. Being a band that puts on this great, energetic, fun performance....it's obvious that you love every second that you're on stage....

DC: Yeah, definitely.

CA: Do you think of that when you're writing your music, whether or not it will sound good live since that's what you guys are really about?

DC: Right. I think definitely we would have loved to have had more of a luxury just to write more rock, rock, rock songs and make it work. I think on this record we stuck more to just trying to write great songs, whatever songs could give us a career and give us success. We always felt like we could go heavier as our career went on, once we could establish ourselves. That was the main thing. We felt like we had a nice record where we could establish ourselves the first go around, but things just didn't really line up the right way. We definitely keep it in mind and it's something that we hope to maybe go a little bit closer towards, making a whole record that's more like our live show.

CA: Right.

DC: The beauty about a live show is that you kind of get to bring out what you want to bring out to that show and to that set time. No matter what kind of record we put together, our live show is always going to be based around what gets the crowd involved and what gets the most out of it for them.

CA: What I really like too is that you incorporate some great covers into your set.

DC: Right, right. Oh yeah, Metallica.

CA: Oh my God, that was fantastic. It's really nice because another one of my newer favorite bands that plays more pure rock....they do the same thing, and I think that's great because the crowd plays off of it so well. It just makes them eager to hear what the band is coming back at them with.

DC: Right, exactly.

CA: A few fans actually sent in some questions. One of those questions I wanted to put in here because it relates to your live show. She saw you recently in Odessa, Texas, and she wanted to know if you feel it's really important to make a genuine connection with the audience? She really felt like you would just burn your eyes into people from the stage and it seemed like you would sing directly to individual people to draw them in. Is that something that you are really conscious of when you're performing?

DC: Um, yeah, most definitely. I think that....I'm trying to find the best way to put this....I think the biggest problem we have with the music business nowadays is the lack of value to the consumer. From buying the record, to the ticket to the show, to the person who is actually willing to be involved with the show or really taking it to the next level. I think once we can convey that importance and that value back to the consumer and to the people who come to our shows, I think they're going to be willing to invest back into the artist again. I think they're going to want to own a piece of that artist, rather than just that MP3 or that track listing from iTunes....which I think is great, it's a great way to get it quickly so you don't have to wait or go to the store and find it sold out. It's great to have it and hear it, but I think just investing so that you're accounted for and so that you're part of the numbers that support that band that you love....the best way I can see to do that is to let people know that you can see them. We need to let them know that we appreciate them, we know that they're there and we see the value. That's just a big metaphor....that's just a way for me to put it into perspective. On a smaller level I can do that every night just by letting them know that the lights aren't too bright that are shining in my face and that I can see you. That's what we want to do on our Myspace or on our records when we write the stories that we put in our songs. Whenever I can write something that other people feel I'm writing about their own life, you know? That's my way of saying, "I see you, and we're all here together."

CA: I like that. The other thing that made think when she said that is that rock in general has relied a lot on sex appeal....

DC: Right.

CA: Rock front men have always had a very sexual presence on stage, or drawing the crowd in with that kind of tension. I've seen some of the pictures that this person took from that show....she happens to be a good friend of mine and she has some amazing shots of you.

DC: Awesome.

CA: Just the look in your eyes....it seems like you are truly calling out to the person directly. I love that.

DC: Yeah, I don't know....we're fortunate to get the reaction that we want most of the time. I think it's just contagious, when you see somebody on stage that's willing to be honest and open with how they are emotionally with what's going on. I think it just helps the crowd to be emotional. The looks I'm getting are probably just as powerful because those people really are drawn in I guess, obviously, and they are moved by what's going on. I think it's probably just as amazing a sight from my side as it is the other.

CA: I'm sure, absolutely. I can't imagine the feeling you must get from doing what you do. I've talked to a lot of artists recently about the rock genre in general getting more exposure lately, a little more attention.

DC: Right.

CA: I'm glad to see that, believe me. I've thought a lot about why we really didn't see as much in recent years. I think it has a little to do with the the term "radio friendly", which is something that is thrown around a lot in the industry. Rock bands love to perform live and they have the kind of audience who love to see a live show like that. Is that the difference, between being that band that writes the more "radio friendly" tunes and getting that exposure, or do you think it's possible to do both?

DC: I think it's possible to succeed at everything if you do it the right way. I don't think that succeeding a certain way is doing it the wrong way. I think the way people do it is wrong. There are a lot of successful people out there that aren't standing for anything in particular one way or another. What they're talking about doesn't have any substantial effect on the listener in any positive way. As long as a person is succeeding then they are bringing something that not only propels the music industry to a higher place, but the listener in general....then I don't think it really matters how you succeed in it. I think anybody that is doing it the right way should succeed period. I think we should be pulling for the good guys always.

CA: I agree.

DC: Whether it be on the radio, or record sales or in a commercial, whatever it may be. If U2 is out there doing what they're doing, then I hope I can see them everywhere. I hope they are everywhere so that everybody can see them, because that's the kind of stuff that we need. I don't think it would ever register in my brain if we were to....I can't even come up with an idea of us selling out, but if we were to do something that people would consider as selling out and I was able to reach so many people in a way that I knew moved them positively in their life....I don't think it would even register in my brain to take it seriously that it would be selling out. I think we just have to get over this social click bullshit crap that comes along where people feel that there are these certain guidelines that we have to fit into in order to feel like we fit in.

CA: Thank you. It's so good to hear someone say that.

DC: Doing the right thing is just doing the right thing...

CA: It's what's right for you, you know?

DC: Even on this record, a lot of people wanted us to go heavier and to maintain just rock, rock and rock. I really wanted to make sure that the right things got conveyed, whether it was heavy or not heavy. It's just how you define heavy. I felt like the content, the lyrics, the words and the stories in these songs are heavier than the first record.

CA: Right.

DC: It's just some of the tones and riffs....it's riff rock. We can go there and we always have the ability to go there, and it's something that we do well. We just wanted to get better at the things we didn't do so well. Some people have called that selling out, but I feel like what we've done with this record could do something special to the fans that we have, and the fans that we hopefully have the fortune to gain even. If that's what it does then I'm not going to consider it selling out.

CA: I know what you mean. A band that I've interviewed a few times had a situation recently having to deal with some of their fans saying they were selling out. One of their songs got nominated for something on MTV and their fans ended up pissed off, and they actually started posting stuff on their Myspace calling them sell outs. It got to them at first, but then they just felt like their fans should want them to have whatever kind of exposure came their way. I have never understood how people can feel that they have that kind of ownership over an artist to where they should dictate how they conduct their career.

DC: I think it's obvious. You can look at an artist and you can just tell who is selling out and who isn't. If you're a fan who truly understands the artist that you love it's going to be evident. We have fans that have done some funny stuff with us, but it was just evident that it was never about what they really knew about us. It was just about whatever type of ownership they thought they were taking over us and what they didn't approve of. That's just not how I've lived my life.

CA: Exactly. You just need to live your life and do what you want to do. Wherever that takes you, then so be it and people who support you should be happy with that.

DC: We had the good fortune of having our 100,000th record sold and really have a nice little fan base to start from, and the majority of everybody is really happy with where we went. We just realized that there is a lot of our fan base that we hopefully haven't even discovered yet.

CA: I'm sure there is.

DC: How we represent ourselves is so very important to us and we're very proud of this record. Our next single is going to be 'Price of Fame.' I think it's a song that needs to be heard on many levels. Number one, I think it's a great song and it would just help the industry to have great songs for people to listen to out there. And two, just the content on what it's speaking about. It's talking exactly about what we're talking about now. I think that....I want those radio station reps and those DJ's to be playing that song during the day and sit there while it's spinning, just listening to the lyrics and understand that I don't think this is what any of us wanted. As long as we can all say that, then it should be pretty easy to make some serious changes for the better.

CA: I couldn't agree with you more. I have just a couple more things to ask you because I'm sure you have a lot to do....

DC: Nah, I'm cool. I like chatting. Whenever you can talk like this....I think it's good to talk. I think that's why intellectual discussion is important in society. There are a lot of important ideas out there, but we come up with our good ones by just wracking each other's brains. This always helps me come up with different ways of thinking of things, especially when there are good people like you that can ask inquisitive questions to help me with that.

CA: Well thank you. I appreciate that. For me, I don't see the point of sitting down for an interview without making it a conversation. There are plenty of interviews out there where you are just asked a set list of the same routine, crappy questions over and over. I try to never do that, so I try to let you know ahead of time that if we run long and you need to go be sure to let me know.

DC: Okay, no problem.

CA: You shared a little with me about this already, but what would you think are the biggest changes in Submersed between your first and most recent albums?

DC: Well, we definitely have had a lot of changes. Obviously, they were dramatic in the Submersed world. Musically, song wise I think we still have our same schizophrenic appeal where there's a little bit of everything. The first record was very much that way and when we started this record we wanted to make sure that we made a record that sounded a little more like it came from the same place. Even though we wanted a variety, we didn't want it to sound like it was a bunch of different bands. I think that we just really were able to have that same variety that we wanted, but have it sound like it came from the same place. I think lyrically the record is a lot more clear, a lot more wordy as far as the stories that I'm telling about my life and the experiences that I've been through. They're almost too clear at some points.

CA: That must be a little hard at certain points.

DC: It's been very evident what's been going on with me, but I think melodically and vocally we just tried to show some type of maturity and that goes in with the chord progressions and the songs. We just wanted people to know that we grew as songwriters and we studied. We looked at some of the old guys that we appreciate and we love and we looked at ourselves, our shortcomings and what we didn't like about ourselves. We worked on that and tried to make sure that we brought out the things that we thought we got better at.

CA: You mentioned that sometimes, lyrically, it got to a hard place once in awhile. The songs are very truthful....

DC: Oh yeah.

CA: They're very straightforward. When you're playing that material live, is that therapeutic for you to get out on stage and just let it all out to your audience?

DC: Yeah, it is. To me, I think that's probably the biggest change between the first record and this record....my connection with the songs. We all talked about that when we were rehearsing for this tour and we started having to perform the tracks. It was so much more emotional. I get emotional just talking about it. Even on stage, there are definitely certain songs that whenever we're performing them and I know that my vocals are loud and my words are clear and these people know what I'm saying....I can see those eyes just like we were talking about earlier. It gets emotional.

CA: Sure.

DC: But, thank God, you know? That means we got it right. It does, it makes our lives better, it makes my performance better, and it makes me enjoy what I do more.

CA: When you mentioned the eyes again, even though I didn't see any of that show other than video, to not have been there in your face you would think I couldn't really feel what was coming across. Just in the few pictures or videos of you looking straight into the camera, I could just feel what was coming across, even in a photo. I can't imagine what must come across on stage. That's why you need to come out here....(laughing with Donald).

DC: Where are you at?

CA: I'm in North Carolina.

DC: Yeah, we're coming there. We were just there earlier on this tour, but we're coming back.

CA: Your bio quotes you as saying, "We're still not where we want to be and we're scratching and clawing to get there."

DC: Right.

CA: What would make you feel like you've accomplished everything you wanted to as an artist or a band?

DC: Absolute power. (laughs)

CA: I know that's a broad question, but can you give me an idea of what would make you feel accomplished as an artist?

DC: Pardon my French but it's such a mind fuck. It's a constant power struggle every second of your career, but to try to maintain some type of identity....it's so easy to lose track of yourself in this business. I think that's something that we're afraid of, being small town country boys. The whole urban legend of "you don't want to move away to the city and lose yourself" type of thing.

CA: Right, of course.

DC: It's kind of funny, but I was just walking around the other day....I don't remember where I was....I think I was thinking about that. I was like, "When am I gonna feel like this is successful?" I think we were in San Diego just walking around. I think I was looking at the buildings and thinking that this is nice, to get to travel and get to see all these places. People where I'm from, that just doesn't happen, you know? I was thinking that already I was living such an eventful life. I've seen so many things and done so many things, but like the quote said I sometimes still feel like I've not accomplished anything. It's all about respect for me....it's just recognition. The way I feel about Sara McLachlin, Chris Cornell, Paul Simon and John Lennon....John Lennon and Bob Marley, I feel like those guys are in a completely different realm. I just want to feel like whatever I do has had a substantial enough effect to where people look at me in the same way. Not just because of hype or whatever their bias is, but for actual results or whatever people need to do that for; whether it be the success of album sales or just the ability to effect the music business or certain people in the world. I just want to be revered as a successful person who had a great and powerful influence on the world that he was trying to affect.

CA: That's very profound to be honest with you. I can't think of a better goal.

DC: There's obviously worldly things that I want, but I'm really happy with my family. I'm happy with the people that I have in my life to support me. We're happy now with nothing, so anything that we can gain worldly from this point is going to be an added bonus, blessing or however you want to look at it; a reward for being dedicated basically. Other than that, the things that I want to get out of my life or this world, for my children, it's so much more than money or cars or houses. It's much more than that. Just the ability to know that I have the respect of as many people on this planet as possible and to know that I can just do something positive enough in their life to make them want to go do something for somebody else.

CA: I've always had that same outlook, so I can completely respect what you're saying. Times can get tough and what not, and when some people are thinking about all the things that they don't have I always try to think of what I do have.

DC: Right.

CA: Or what I have accomplished. There's always more to do, but I've never been the glass is half empty kind of person.

DC: Right, and I mean I've been an evolution or a work in progress myself....even over the history of this band and especially over the history of the last ten years. I don't know, I just really feel like this band can do some great things, not just with writing music but trying to find ways to take the influence of music outside of selling records and making music videos and shit.

CA: Exactly. There's a little more to life than that, right?

DC: Right, and even in our music videos we don't just want it to be a video. We want there to be some type of profound epiphany that comes from viewing it, you know?

CA: Right, not just some bullshit piece of work on a sound stage that you really didn't have any attachment to.

DC: Right, exactly.

CA: I wanted to ask you what's up for Submersed after this tour ends? It's over in a couple of days, right?

DC: Right. We'll probably go back home for Christmas and New Year's. They're working on setting up the tours for the beginning of the year. There are some names that are out there right now that we're trying to get out there with. Some possibilities are Chevelle, Three Days Grace and Seether. Three Doors Down is trying to put some tours together like with Finger Eleven. They're trying to get some things going. I'm not sure exactly what's going to fall. Chevelle looks like probably the best bet, which is great for us. We'll take it out to their fans. That's a good fan base for us. Really, we're just trying to get on some bigger tours and get in front of more people. 'Price of Fame' will probably be hitting radio add dates toward the end of January.

CA: That's great.

DC: Hopefully we'll start back touring in the second week or third week in January. But really, this is just the beginning. The record has been out for a few months, but we released 'Better Think Again' as the first single and then didn't tour. There were no touring opportunities for us in that couple of months, so the single lost momentum. We were out there pushing it but it didn't have a shot. We're just getting started. We've been out here building a buzz and getting our live show fine tuned, and hopefully the word of mouth from what we've been able to do on these last couple of tours will help us get on the next couple of tours.

CA: I can truly see some great things for you guys in 2008. You heard it from me.

DC: I hope so. I'm glad we have another person to make proud. We like it when the people that appreciate it take ownership of what happens.

CA: I'll be glad to follow you guys along and do some updates with you and see how everything is going. I like to do that with bands that I believe in and know that are going to do well. I like to say that I'm never wrong. I haven't been so far.

DC: So how does your publication work and how is everything going with it?

CA: Right now we're online only. I've had a ton of interviews going on this year and continue to get requests all the time, so it's left little time for moving into print. I have so many more things I want to accomplish with it and I'm hoping that next year I can build upon all the activity that we've seen this year. We're growing much faster than I anticipated, which is a great thing.

DC: Right on. That's a good thing. It's always good when you can read an interview and find out something that you weren't expecting to.

CA: That's the way I feel about it. I do this with the fans in mind and remembering that the artist deserves to enjoy doing the interview as much as I enjoy it, and as much as the fans enjoy reading it. We do what we can and it's a lot of fun. Hopefully, in another year you're going to see a lot more of this magazine out there.

DC: That's awesome.

CA: Okay, there is just one more thing I like to do with the artists that I talk to. I know you get asked a lot of things from interviewers, but I like to let you turn the tables and ask me anything you want.

DC: (laughs) Right.

CA: If you could ask me anything at all, what would it be?

DC: Um, what was one thing you didn't like about our music?

CA: Wow....

DC: Is there anything you could critique about us that we could work on or that you would like to see more of, or less of?

CA: That's a tough one.

DC: I'll flip it around to you.

CA: That's a great question actually.

DC: Even us, we're obviously happy with who we are as human beings. We're proud of what we do and we're proud of the music that we put out, but we always have to try to find ways to better ourselves and objectively and positively make ourselves better. From somebody who obviously views us in a positive light, it would be interesting to see how you could objectively criticize us.

CA: I'm not going to bullshit anybody....if there was something that I could say right out of the gate that I noticed I'd tell you. With you I really have to think, because there wasn't a whole lot that I could say negative about what I saw on video.

DC: Right.

CA: If I had seen you in person I might have a much wider view of things, but I guess if I had to say anything at all I would say that....

DC: Do you think we'd be more successful heavier?

CA: I loved your heavier sound. I saw the Metallica cover and then I think I saw 'Rewind.' You blew me away with the Metallic cover. I thought it was completely fantastic, and not because it was a Metallica cover, but just because of the way you did it. The first thing that came across to me was that I don't think I've seen anybody in a long time who enjoys what you did on stage as much as you did.

DC: Oh yeah.

CA: You got the crowd just so into it instantly. For me that was amazing. I could watch a whole show of that and never hear a ballad. You know what I mean?

DC: We were joking about doing kind of like our own garage band revisited, or garage days revisited....kind of like Metallica just did, the cover album way back in the day.

CA: I was going to say that to you too. That's funny.

DC: We're from Dallas, so we're big on Pantera too. I have a unique ability of pretty much sounding just like Donnie, coming in and out of the stuff like he does. We're going to do some pretty funny stuff over our career, as soon as we can really build on that familiar fan base.

CA: Right.

DC: I think the most important thing about our show is the crowd, and the crowd's ability to let themselves go enough to do everything I tell them too....(laughing with interviewer)....as long as they do everything that I tell them to it will be a lot of fun. Once we have that Submersed crowd that shows up to a show and knows exactly what to expect and exactly what is about to happen, there's gonna be some real cool magical stuff going down. We're excited and that's why we're out here.

CA: I have to say this though. I see a lot of shows that have maybe six or more bands on the bill with fans that go there to see a certain band, and it's always exciting for me when I see them see one of the opening bands for the first time and they just blow the roof off.

DC: Yeah, yeah...

CA: They see them and they're like, "Screw those other guys, this is my band right here."

DC: (laughs)

CA: For me, I've found some of my favorite bands like that this year. I would go to cover the headliner and then come away thinking, "Man, those other guys just kicked ass." That's what I can see happening with you. That's the old rocker girl in me I guess.

DC: I can't wait for you to come see us because I think you're just going to have a blast. It's going to be great. Maybe with Chevelle in January.

CA: I'll be on your publicist day and night if I have to, believe me.

DC: We'll get you taken care of. I'll remember you. Just keep in touch and keep me in mind for anything special if you want to do some funny stuff. I'm kind of a straight shooter, so if you want to start a straight shooter column where people just write in with serious questions I'll give them honest answers.

CA: I'm gonna hold you to that, okay?

DC: (laughing) It would be kind of funny to stir some shit up in a side column, you know?

CA: That would be awesome. We need to do some work together then.

DC: Okay, yeah, if you come up with anything fun you want to work with just let me know.

CA: I will, definitely. Thank you so much for your time today. It's been a blast.

DC: You too, I really appreciate it.

CA: And you be sure to let me know if you guys need anything in the future.

DC: I will, definitely.

Doing this interview with Submersed has inspired me to do something that had completely slipped my mind. I need to compile my list of top rock albums for 2007. There are many to choose from, that's a given. I can say without hesitation that 'Immortal Verses' will definitely hold one of the top spots on that list. Be sure to pick up the CD and visit Submersed on Myspace or their official web site at the links below. And just to give anyone who has never seen this sinfully good rock band live before an idea of why they deserve your attention, I have included a video to tantalize your senses. Enjoy.

Submersed on Myspace

Official Submersed web site

I feel the need to add a small disclaimer here. You should not drive or operate heavy machinery after watching this video as it may cause your heart to race and impair your ability to focus on anything other than rock and roll. This video was shot by Amanda Parraz.