Tony Cummings quizzed the melodic hard music band AXLANBAY

Axlanbay

Tony: So who's in the band?

Axlanbay is: Gareth Edwards (vocals); Luke Morgan (guitar); Joe O'Hare (bass); Rory O'Hare (drums). We met in May '02 through a mutual friend and started rehearsing a week after meeting. Luke and Gareth played in another band before meeting Joe and Rory. Joe and Rory (brothers) were practising together in anticipation of finding two like-minded musicians.

Tony: Axlanbay is a pretty weird name! How on earth did you come by that?

(Gareth) To be honest it's a bit of a play on words. There was a language we used at school to fool the teachers so they wouldn't know what we were saying called "backslang"; basically we would remove the first letter of the word, place it at the end and add a y. So axlanbay is "backslang" in backslang (slightly modified spelling though). Just a demo, tony would be "ontay" - that will be your inherited name from now on!

Tony: Hard music seems to have a lot of subdivisions. How would you describe your particular style? Who are your influences?

(Joe) People have said that, as a band, we are very original, although we are heavily influenced by similar bands individually, ie, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Incubus, Faith No More, System Of A Down. It's been said that there's a really diverse mix but I guess we don't sound a great deal like our influences, like I said we have a very original sound. Personally I wouldn't like to label this band metal, nu-metal, rap-core. I would say that you can hear some of these mixed in to our sound but at the end of the day we play heavy music with plenty of melody. We like it that way!

Tony: The "Rough" single is currently a hit on Cross Rhythms radio. What is the song about?

(Luke) It's about the many arguments between denominations, where so many people disagree on so many different things and the true message of Jesus seems like it's forgotten between brothers. I look at some churches and it often seems that they don't believe the same as I do, and it makes me very angry. Not to say that I am perfect and I know it all, but my roots are firmly placed in the Gospel and I don't give a crap about the petty little arguments that blind the ways of so many people. Perhaps that doesn't make sense to many of you, so go and hear the song!

Tony: Can you see a time when you will be able to give up your day jobs?

(Rory) Yes, we have a lot of faith to go full time in the near future which is God-centred. We have a set a lot of time aside for the band and haven't made any long term job plans because we see the band as priority No.1 not just a hobby but a future career.

Tony: What's the spiritual purpose behind your music?

Although we are very conscious that we have a part to play spiritually in our musical roles, honestly we never thought for one second that we would lead a crusade or a worship meeting in the future and see people saved at the events; we don't feel that is the calling from God or the purpose given to us. We believe that basically we have a "mission" in the secular world:

1. To be a positive influence on the people in the industry we meet as individuals.
2. To positively influence people through our lyrics.
3. To be an example by our lifestyle next to the other rock bands of this world. We think the youth of today need a "relevant" alternative to all that's out there at the moment, and also need to hear "Christian" bands who can actually play as well as secular bands, which unfortunately we don't see a great deal today. If Jesus went into the world and made a difference then it's good enough for us. Why lock ourselves away and hide when we can really change things with God's help?