{"id":12043,"date":"2013-11-08T01:00:21","date_gmt":"2013-11-08T06:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=12043"},"modified":"2016-08-17T13:12:53","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T17:12:53","slug":"blowin-wind-with-strypers-michael-sweet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=12043","title":{"rendered":"Blowin\u2019 Wind with Stryper\u2019s Michael Sweet: \u201cWe will never stop being who we are and proclaiming what we believe in. At the same time you don\u2019t want to beat people over the head with the bible bat.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I have been a Stryper fan for well over 25 years. Stryper has always been a band that has been met with harsh criticism, ridicule, and lot of hate from people in the metal community but on the other end have been accepted and loved just the same. Over the years the heavy metal bumblebees have delivered some of my favorite all time metal classics like \u201cSoldiers Under Command\u201d, \u201cThe Writings on the Wall\u201d, \u201cTo Hell With the Devil\u201d, and \u201cThe Way\u201d just to name a few. While I\u2019m not one to grasp on to \u201cthe message\u201d, I\u2019ve always been able to look past it and accept Stryper for what they are: a truly great, powerful, and inspiring heavy metal band.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Stryper lead singer\/guitarist Michael Sweet which was a real honor for this long time fan. Together we talked about their latest masterpiece No More Hell To Pay, the challenges of being a Christian band in a predominantly secular genre, and just how hard it was to go on after Iron Maiden in Spain. Michael was a really sweet, humble, and hilarious guy and I\u2019m already looking forward to the next time we get to talk. Enjoy this one y\u2019all!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Michael, thank you so much for taking the time out to do this interview today!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey man, I\u2019m doing well. I wanted to thank you for that awesome review.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m so glad you liked it and I apologize for so many curse words. You just got me fucking pumped. Man, see? Sorry about that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[laughs] I thought it was hilarious man and you know, we\u2019ve been known to drop a few F-Bombs from time to time ourselves so no worries [laughs].<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve been a Stryper fan since 1986 and I have to say a big thank you for putting out such a stellar album. As a longtime fan, this was the record I\u2019ve wanted to hear.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you, Don. I really believe in my heart that when the fans come to hear it I think that this will be a comment that you\u2019ll read often and I\u2019m very happy to know that. We went out of our way to really throw the extra sauce on there, some extra icing on the cake, and just give everybody what they\u2019ve been asking for for years.<\/p>\n

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I love that you have always been vocal of being a huge metal fan. You\u2019ve always been very open about your passion for bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and it sounds like you really dug deep to grab onto those roots for this album. Was this something that you worked hard at or was it a natural thing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t pre-planned and it wasn\u2019t a conscious effort. We didn\u2019t sit down and have a meeting and say, \u201cLet\u2019s sound like those British heavy metal bands or the heavy metal bands we grew up on\u201d but at the same time I do think that those influences came out from deep within on this record. What helped make that happen was doing \u201cThe Covering\u201d and \u201cSecond Coming.\u201d Those albums really pulled it out of us. Getting back to our roots most certainly helped us to get back our roots musically speaking on our original songs as well so it was really cool.<\/p>\n

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So the making of this album was a pretty quick process right?<\/strong>\"\"<\/p>\n

It happened very quickly and smoothly. It wasn\u2019t like we spent 3 or 4 years making this record. I had over 40 ideas on my iPhone. I carry that thing around me all the time humming ideas into it. I took all those ideas and went down to my studio for a little over two weeks and I wrote all the songs except for \u201cJesus is Just Alright.\u201d Then the guys came out to my house, they spent about 6 days here, I thought them all the songs and then we recorded them live. Then we went on the Monsters of Rock Cruise, came home and had a few days off and then started recording the album. It wasn\u2019t like this long, drawn out \u201cin the works\u201d kind of thing. It happened relatively quickly. We tracked everything in a couple of weeks, I came home and did the vocals, and then we went back in and we mixed it. If you added up all the days and hard time, it was maybe a four week process if that.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s amazing to hear. I mean, the album sounds so thought out and precise but not like it\u2019s over thought if that makes sense.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely. I what can happen, and we\u2019re guilty of this, is that if you think too much about a particular record you can really screw it up. I feel like we did that to a degree with In God We Trust. I think we kind of also did that with Reborn. With In God We Trust, it\u2019s too slick, it\u2019s too polished and with Reborn we thought too much about being modern. \u201cMan, let\u2019s not do solos and let\u2019s not do screams and lets not be Stryper.\u201d We wanted to be modern and I think those were big mistakes on those albums. If I could go back and take a different approach those would\u2019ve been far better records.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s funny that you mentioned that because In God We Trust is my least favorite sonically but has some of my favorite Stryper songs ever on it. I mean, the title track and man, \u201cWritings on the Wall\u201d? That\u2019s one of the greatest songs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, \u201cWritings on the Wall\u201d is one of my all-time favorite Stryper songs and we only every played it on that tour and that\u2019s it. We\u2019re going to re-add that to the set and I agree with you that it\u2019s one of the best Stryper songs ever. There\u2019s a certain cool energy about it but with the album we did kind of just screw up the production. We over produced it and we overthought it. Instead of doing a guitar solo 2 or 3 times to get the right take, we would do it 20 times.<\/p>\n