Benj - The only thing I need to have is lactaid pills. We, the band, ask for pretty normal stuff like juice, water, soda, chips, candy, bread, deli meat. Joel asks for nuts everyday.

Chris - I love orange Gatorade and water more than anything. Those are a must. In fact, my dad made up this drink when he plays tennis that’s about 60% water and 40% percent orange Gatorade. Yes, it’s just watered down Gatorade, but it’s the best. We also like to ask for peanut butter and jelly, fruit and vegetable tray, deli meats, vitamins and lots and lots of beer. Lots of beer. We usually get Heinken, Amstel Light, and Budweiser and a bottle of Jack or Patron. What else? I guess we have pretty boring things, just things that make life a little more comfortable on the road, nothing really extravagant. Chips and salsa, soda, juice, bread, water, beer, towels, gum, pb&j, pita and hummus, stuff like that.

Jerry - It is really not that interesting. We normally have various assortments of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages with some deli meats for sustenance. I wish it was more Rock N’ Roll, but it’s really not.

Marc - The temptation to ask for ridiculous items is very difficult to ignore. But, when you realize that it is you and only you who pays for this shit when all is said and done the less you want to request a bottle of champagne, swiss chocolate, and cheesecake from Brooklyn.

Richard - Besides all the standard things bands have on their rider (deli trays, soda, water, etc.) there are a couple things that I personally request. Sugar-free gum (since I always chew gum, might as well prevent cavities), hummus and pita bread, Dragon Well green tea, Amstel Light, a bottle of Jack Daniels, and Zantac 75 to assist with all of that.

Benj - My pre-gig ritual, well, stretching happens everyday. A lot of the time I’ll play bass for about 20-30 minutes. Sometimes I’ll listen to the songs we’re gonna play that night. The only other thing I like to do is make sure I have a few pieces of gum for during the show. For some reason, it makes me feel more comfortable while on stage, so I always try to get that going. Sorry there’s not a crazy story, we’re all pretty normal.

Chris - I like to spend about 30 minutes warming up on a practice pad or on my electronic drumset that I set up in the dressing room. I don’t have any ritual or anything that gets me pumped up or anything like that. It’s usually all of us just hanging out and talking. I’d like to think of it as the calm before the storm, I guess.

Jerry - I usually take 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to warm up and play so that I’m not up on stage stiff and cold. I usually try to talk to my fiancé before I go on as well jut in case I don’t get a chance to talk to her after the show.

Marc - I use warm up tapes for about a half hour most of the time. Call home right before show time and drink some water. The days of hookers and heroin are gone.

Richard - I don’t really have a pre-gig ritual. I try and warm-up on guitar at least a half-hour before the show and stretch out my hands and forearms to prevent cramping.

Benj - In 10 years, I have no idea where I’ll be. I can only hope I’ll be playing music with my boys, if not, well, I hope I have a great family and a roof over my head. 10 years ago, I was beginning to learn to play bass, dreaming of having a real band and a career in the music business. It’s unbelievable that this dream came true...

Chris - 10 years ago I was in 9th grade at Wootton High School in Rockville, MD. Marc and I were probably practicing in my basement some of the songs we are still playing to this day. We had the closest group of friends and we were always hanging out, so if I wasn’t playing music I was out with them. In 10 years I know I will still be playing music. We want to play more than anything, so I know we’ll still be performing no matter what.

Jerry - I would hope to be playing with these four guys doing what we’re doing right now. I would like us to grow not only from a fan base sense, but musically as well. I think the most prolific and long-lasting artists always change and evolve. I would hope to be a higher species of artist.

10 years ago I was in my basement with my friends trying to figure out how to be a band. Fortunately and unfortunately, we never really go it together. We were more interested in being in a band to really be a band. We had t-shirts and all of this stuff and only knew one song, “Angry Chair” by Alice In Chains. After that thing fell through, I was in another band that was this emo/slacker rock thing. It was actually a pretty good group that I had a great deal of fun with. I had a chance to play all around Ohio when I was in high school. We would play all of these shitty clubs and biker bars and be scared out of our minds. I was the epitome of a "band geek." I did the high school band thing not only during the school year but in the summer months as well. I had a lot of fun though.

Marc - Honestly, I see myself as a dad who can still play shows and enjoy playing shows every night of the week. If it were up to me, we would still be on the road working and making records. Ten years ago I was getting my license, playing a lot of sports, and being a total pain in the ass to my parents. We had started our band the year before in junior high and Richard had just come back on board. Freshman year of high school was a big leap for me. You go from being the cool eighth grader who has a band that can play Pearl Jam songs to the uncool ninth grader who is in a band that isn’t old enough to compete in the Battle of the Bands.

Richard - In 10 years I hope that we will still be able to tour successfully and keep writing, and recording music. I don’t think we’ll be able to physically tour as much as we do now because we’ll be approaching "over-the-hill" status and I’m sure some of us will have family obligations. 10 years ago I just about turned sixteen causing much havoc behind the steering wheel. I also started writing and playing music again with Marc and Chris (we use to play in a band together in 8th grade called "Exposed Youth" and we rocked the 8th grade talent show along with various daytime weekend gigs).

Benj - My best memory with the band... well, there’s a lot of them that are up there on my list, but if I had to choose one I’d say it was when we were in Cincinnati after a show and we were all boozing at our hotel, some dump we could barely afford at the time, and I got locked in the bathroom. I was a little drunk at the time, being my college years and all, and I started trying to break the door down to get out. Finally, I think Marc unlocked the door or something like that. It came back around on him that night though, if I remember correctly. He had to share a bed with Jerry and they slept head to toe, and sometime during the night I awoke to a loud thump. Apparently Jerry had kicked Marc in the head and Marc nearly fell off the bed. Jerry didn’t even wake up, or at least he acted asleep pretty well. The next day, we all had a ton of laughs over it all. That’s probably what I appreciate most about our band, its that regardless of what happens one day, the next day it’s behind us and we’re better friends for it.

Chris - One of my favorite memories is going to joel’s cabin in upstate new york on a day off a few years back. We rode four-wheelers and dirt bikes all day. Shot some guns. Went fishing. Set up our equipment on his front deck and played for a while. Then had a camp-fire later that night and watched Evil Dead really late that night. It was one of the most chill days I can remember. Every tour we try to get all the band and crew together outside of "work" and go play paintball, golf or whatever. But this was just one of those days that I’ll never forget.

Jerry - The night that stands out the most was the night I was inducted into the band. It was at Mama Einstein’s in Athens, Ohio (Ohio University) in the fall of 2000. I had no idea that this would be the night. After the first song of the night, Marc announced on the mic that the band would like to introduce me to the audience as the 5th member of O.A.R. There are a few significant events in your life which change/alter every one after. This night was the epitome of such an event.

Marc - Playing paintball with Something Corporate, 311 crew, and our band and crew inside the caves at the base of a mountain. It was one of those days that you need so badly to relieve some of the stress you let build up out on the road. It is still one of my fondest memories.

Richard - I have so many great memories that involve the band that I don’t even know where to begin. One that seems to stick out in my brain the most was during our last year at OSU spring quarter. We were invited to play Nashville River Stages, Memphis in May, and Music Mid-town in Atlanta. This was the first time we ever traveled by bus. I was so use to sleeping sitting up right cramped in our van that sleeping on the bus, in a bed, was quite the luxury. This was also the first time we’ve ever played a huge music festival, let alone three of them. I’d be walking around backstage and Ben Harper and Lynyrd Skynyrd would walk by. I couldn’t believe we were sharing the stage with some of the biggest names in music history.

Benj - I love playing San Diego because of damn near everything about it. Its like this surreal city where the weather is always 75 and sunny, the people are all happy and healthy, and the shows are always fun. Its hard to top that, but Chicago is a really fun place to play and ranks up there too. The crowds are always enthusiastic and there are always a lot of good people around to hang with. My favorite spot of all is playing at home, both Maryland and Ohio. There’s a feeling I can’t describe when you play for people you actually recognize. When so many things are continually unfamiliar on the road, and then one night familiar faces show up, it just makes you remember why you do what you do, why you love it and most importantly, where you come from.

Chris - My favorite city to play is Washington, DC because it’s a hometown crowd and my entire family always comes out. It’s great playing when you can look out and see your friends and family. My second favorite city to play is Chicago. The crowd is always wild and it has always been one of our biggest markets. Plus the venues are so cool... Schuba’s, H.O.B. and The Aragon. My third favorite city to play is San Louis Obispo, CA. That’s just a personal favorite of mine. I look forward to going there because it’s such a cool town. I like walking around the city or going to Pismo Beach. I guess it’s just one of those places I probably never would have visited if it wasn’t for the band.

Jerry - Chicago-This was the first major city that the band made an impact in after we went to Ohio State. We knew that if we made people take notice here, we would be well on our way. We always have a great audience in Chicago, and it is still today one of our largest fan bases.

Columbus-I love the city of Columbus. We have the luxury of traveling all around the country seeing many of the beautiful cities and people of this great nation. Columbus, to me, still holds its own. The weather leaves a little to be desired for, but it has good people, business, schools, and an affordable cost of living. It is a place that I still call home today, and hopefully, it will be my home for a long time to come. Besides everything I have mentioned previously, it is where the band went to school (Go Bucks!!!!) and really started becoming the band we are today. Ohio State/Columbus gave us our start and home base for four very significant years.

San Diego-I love to visit and play San Diego. The weather is always perfect, the scenery is beautiful, the people are beautiful and laid back, and it’s really just a blast every time. It is my favorite city out west. We always try to schedule a day off when we are there. You need more than a day to take in this beautiful city.

Marc - I hate to pick just three, but if I had to I would say Chicago, Columbus, and Maryland.

Richard - My three favorite cities to play would have to be Washington D.C., New York City, and a toss up between Chicago and Atlanta. Washington D.C. because I get to see friends and family while still being out on tour, Chicago because of all the love we get there, Atlanta because of how polite everyone is, and New York City because it truly is the greatest city in the world.

Benj - The songwriting process we go through has changed dramatically over the years. When we began, it was pretty much like, here’s a chord progression, lets just play around with it and feel out some parts. I wouldn’t say we were acting like a jam band, it was just that we didn’t know that much about music yet. After that we found where choruses, verses, bridges and stuff like that needed to be and the song began to come together. After a while, we began to get more complex and people would come to band practice with chord progressions, changes, and even fully written songs at times. Still though, things remained a collaborative effort. Nowadays, Marc Rich and Jerry do most of the songwriting and then we build a structure to the song as a group and make sure everything fits together in a way that we’re comfortable with. Throughout the years though, we have always liked to test songs out live, to get a feel for how people react to them. To see what parts of the songs people enjoy and what they just don’t get into at all.

Chris - Good question. We often play new songs that are a "work-in-progress". I guess that it just depends on how we feel about the strength of the song, regardless of how complete we think the song is. More often than not, we have parts of a song together but don’t know what and where to play the other parts. By playing the song in front of a live audience, it gives us a chance to experiment with the parts of the song that are incomplete (or sometimes even non-existent) to see what we come up with when we are really playing with all our hearts. That’s usually when we come up with the best stuff… because it just happens naturally onstage. But that doesn’t mean we don’t figure out new parts when we practice during our sound checks, because that happens a lot, too.

Jerry - This tends to vary from song to song. We have been playing through ideas at souncheck a few times before we put them in front of an audience. Sometimes we wait longer than others to play songs out live. A few times we have done it way too early and the song may or may not have suffered because of it. In other cases the song evolves from the stage in front of an audience. We are constantly trying to improve our songwriting process in order to just write better songs on a more consistent basis.

Marc - Unfortunately we haven’t learned to keep new material off the stage. Most of our songs begin very bare. Some chords and broken lyrics, maybe a riff or two. Then we take it on stage and the fat and muscle slowly wrap around the tune show after show. Now, we are trying to keep songs out of the show until they are done. But it is just too hard to keep the excitement of a new song to myself.

Richard - There isn’t really a strict formula for how we go about writing songs. It can start with a musical idea from Marc, Jerry, myself, or maybe a lyric that Marc has. We’ll usually go through it during sound check and that’s when the song starts to come together. It doesn’t have to be perfect before we play it in front of an audience. Sometimes we’ll play it the same day we wrote it and just see where it goes on stage. That could be a good or bad thing.

Benj - The one instrument I wished I knew how to play better is the piano. Its just something I’ve never put enough time into, I don’t think its necessarily a matter of not being able to do it. Maybe I’ll get to it one of these days.

Chris - I wish I played the piano. It was an instrument that I never much liked the sound of growing up, but I guess for me it was an acquired taste. I’d love to be able to play "New York State of Mind" on the piano.

Jerry - I wished I played the piano. If you have a firm grasp of the piano, you will have a basic understanding of almost all instruments. More so than any other instrument, it is all laid out in front of you. It is also a great instrument to write with. You are the rhythm, the melody, and the percussion all in one.

Marc - I wish I played piano, drums, and percussion.

Richard - Before I started playing guitar, I played classical piano for about 6 years. I hated the fact that there was no room to improvise or to play things the way I heard them so I quit (being that my teacher was actually my aunt, that didn’t go over too well with my Mom). Now I think the piano is one of the most beautiful instruments out there and have been kicking myself for quitting. I also wish I could really play drums and not just the two beats I play over and over again.

Benj - My first concert was the Monkey’s who were playing with Weird Al Yankovic. I was real young and my parents took me. It was fun, though now that I look back on it, it was a pretty cheesy concert to go to.

Chris - My first concert was Extreme and Saigon Kick at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. My mom took Marc and me. It wasn’t his first concert, but I know it was both of our first real rock concerts

Jerry - My first concert was in Cleveland at Peabody’s. I went and saw this band Dink with my buddy when I was 13. All 90 lbs. of me dove into the mosh pit where I proceeded to get my ass KICKED. I left bruised, beaten, and bloody, but I of course had the time of my life. I can understand people wanting to crowd surf and most at shows. I did it—almost everyone has. But take my word for it you never want to see a young person get their head smashed into a barricade.

Marc - I went with Chris and his mom to Constitution Hall to see Extreme and Saigon Kick and was blown away. An entirely new world had been laid before my eyes and I wanted more. Richard took me to see Fugazi in D.C. shortly there after. That was a different scene. I saw Billy Joel with my folks after that and that too was different. I saw early on that music had many genres, many audiences, yet had a similar intention in each forum. It brought people together.

Richard - The first concert I ever went to was either New Order at Merriwether Post Pavilion with my brother or Fugazi in D.C. with Marc. They both happened around the same time somewhere between 8th and 9th grade.

Benj - Well, I’d say I Feel Home or About Mr. Brown are my favorite songs of ours. . I Feel Home cause it reminds me of where I come from and is just a very powerful song. About Mr. Brown cause I like to remember Mike and my friend, Phil Bricken. Not many people outside our group of friends in Maryland know, but Phil and Mike were killed together. When we play that song I always say a prayer and say hey to my boy Phil.

Chris - My favorite recorded song is About An Hour Ago off of Any Time Now. I think it came out great and it’s definitely my favorite off the record. When Jerry first started playing with the band, he slowly started adding his parts to the old stuff until it became integral to all the songs like they are today. And what he did to About An Hour Ago, especially over the choruses, was so cool for me to hear on the tape because it was one of the bits that I’d never heard him do before. Whether I had just never heard it before, or it was something he had made up on the spot, I don’t know. Either way, I love listening to this song because of it.

Jerry - It’s really hard to pinpoint a specific song to call my favorite. They all have something special to offer in their own way. I get off on playing new material. Those songs are usually raw, unpredictable, and have certain innocence to them because you don’t know how people are going to react. I also like to play songs that I know people are going to jump through the roof for. A song like "City On Down" or "Poker" always does it for me because they do it for the audience as well.

Marc - My favorite song right now is Lay Down. I haven’t really zeroed in on what the song will be about. It is a love song for sure. I just love playing it.

Richard - Right now my favorite O.A.R. song to play would have to be 52/50. In a lot of songs you’ll hear the verse being somewhat dark and the chorus opening up and being much happier, but in 52/50 it’s just the opposite. The verse has a much happier feel but the chorus is dark and for whatever reason, it works. I also like how crazy the song gets towards the end.

Benj - If I were stranded on an island, I’d bring someone people wouldn’t stop looking for, so I could get the hell off that island. If I could only bring one CD I’d bring a mix of my favorite songs, not one CD, I don’t think I like any one disc enough to rely on that for my listening pleasure for the duration of my stay on a deserted island. I would bring some kind of jewel that could focus light so I could make fire using the sun’s light. The one book I would bring to an island would be the Torah, the bible of the Jews, because the good lord knows I’d need some help if I was on a damn island. My luxury item…well, it’d probably be a global satellite cell phone so I could get the hell of the island. Is it apparent to anyone besides myself that this idea is in no way appealing to me? NEXT QUESTION PLEASE

Chris - I would bring my girlfriend, Katie, my favorite CD "Paul’s Boutique" by the Beastie Boy’s, my good-luck ring for jewelry, "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck, I’d eat only lasagna, and I’d bring my girlfriend’s dog, Split, as my luxury item (hey, it’s a high-class animal. But also, just in case I get sick of lasagna. Fried poodle couldn’t be that bad. Not that I’d ever get sick of lasagna.)

Jerry - 1 Person-My fiancé. It would drive me crazy to be there without her.
1 CD-Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue. I image I would have the time to figure out what exactly they are doing.
1 Piece of Jewelry- My watch. I really don’t wear too much jewelry except for a watch, so I guess I would have to take it.
1 Book- The Bible. I would imagine that if you were stuck on an island, you would need a little faith to get you through it.
Food=Roast Beef Sandwiches- There’s something I just love about a quality cut of meat. Besides, Dr. Atkins says you can eat the shit of the stuff and you’ll live for 100 years. 1 "luxury item"-an acoustic guitar

Marc - I would bring my fiancé because she is the only person I would want to see every minute and she’s the only person who wouldn’t end up killing me, The Essential Bob Dylan to keep my mind fresh, my worry beads, The Bible not for religious reasons by any means but basically for the rack of stories hidden in there, the luxury item would have to be one of my dogs because they are a luxury to me, and we would eat Totino’s Party Pizza because there is a party in every box.

Richard - The 1 person I would bring would be my girl Jeannie, my 1 CD would be Pearl Jam’s Ten Record, my 1 piece of jewelry would be the jade pendant my Mom gave me (my brother wears the other matching one), my 1 book would be My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, my one luxury item would be my Collings acoustic guitar, and the one food would be sushi.

Benj - Usually Rich or Marc writes the setlist, but we all kind of contribute by saying which songs we wanna play. We used to just play whatever people yelled for us to play as the show went, but after a while we had such a long time between songs it just got to be sort of unprofessional. So now I think we just try to build the show up so it sort of has a climax to it.

Chris - I’d say it’s a highly unorganized system that has no clear order, structure or formula whatsoever. Basically, whoever’s around at the wrong time gets stuck writing it out. We used to never write setlists because we thought it was so cool to be able to make them up on the spot. We’ve learned that not only does the crew need them so they can be sure all the guitars are ready and tuned for the specific songs, the sound engineer, JP, and our lighting guy, Malibu, know what we’re about to play so they can be ready before we start the song, (as opposed to just figuring it out after we have already begun and then start doing their things), but we can do a much better job of making sure that we aren’t repeating songs from night to night and make sure that we do add some rare and new songs each night. It also helps to eliminate some of the long "dead-air" we use to have between songs while we were deciding on what song to play next and then having to go and find the right guitars.

We actually do try very hard to make unique setlists each and every night. It’s important to us to try and please everybody in the audience, so we will always play a big variety of concert staples, older and rarer songs and some new songs each night. We may not have a clear system to choose the setlists, but we do try very hard to listen to feedback from the message board as to what they’re liking, what they’re not liking and what they would like but we’re just not doing yet.

Jerry - I hate writing setlists. I enjoy the nigh much more when I don’t write them. For all I know, they magically appear on stage every night.

Marc - We never used to write out set lists because we were so caught up in being off the cuff, but one day we realized that five minutes between each song debating what to play next while the audience sat patiently was bringing down the show’s vibe. So we tried to write set lists. Then we stopped. Audience not so patient anymore. Enter Malibu, our trusted lighting director who ever so politely asked us one evening if we could possibly inform him of what songs we were going to play. Next thing you know we are writing set lists. What a bunch of sell-outs we are.

Richard - We usually choose songs based on what we played the night before or how good/bad we’re playing certain songs. Of course there are a couple songs that we play every night, but we try and mix it up as much as possible.

Benj - I think one of my favorite places for a show is The Tabernacle in Atlanta because of the way it’s set up. It’s a converted church and basically in every direction you look while on stage there are people, that is if it’s sold out. Thanks to all who made that happen, by the way!!

Chris - My favorite venue is The Pageant in St. Louis. It’s a new venue that was built in the last few years, but they did an excellent job of building it in a way that was accommodating to touring bands that travel with their own production. A semi can pull right up and unload the gear, and the busses can park very easily in the back. The backstage area was well thought out with a catering room, production offices, and multiple dressing rooms with a clean bathroom and shower in each of them. The layout of the club is great because the room sounds amazing and everyone has a good view of the stage. It’s a big room, but the audience can still feel like it’s an intimate venue.

Jerry - Chicago House of Blues. Beside from being one of the most aesthetically beautiful venues in the country, it has great sound, a great staff, and a great town. It was the first place we played in Chicago proper. We have a lot of history there, and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Marc - I would have to say The Norva in Norfolk, Virginia. I guess this place used to be a fitness center. Not Best Western second floor fitness center. The backstage has a hot tub, sauna, and indoor basketball court. Brilliant.

Richard - Facility wise, my favorite venue to play is probably the Nova in Norfolk, VA. It use to be a health club and they left the women’s spa as part of the dressing room. It has a steam room, a couple saunas, and even a hot tub. In the green room there’s a pool table, video games, and a basketball court. Not to mention one of the best club sound systems in the country.

Benj - If I had to be a superhero, I’d be Wolverine without a doubt because he doesn’t take any sh*t, and he’s a badass m*thaf*cka. Plus if my bones were made out of adamantium(including those claws) and I had mutant healing powers I would use my powers for the good of the world and stop crime whenever possible. Though nowadays criminals have some serious firepower, so I might just become a landscaper and use my claws for people’s backyard pleasures.

Chris - comic books are for dorks. Go play in traffic geek.

Jerry - Wolverine. Look at that guy - he’s a bad motherfucker!!!

Marc - kl

Richard - If I could be one hero/comic book character I would be Gambit from the X-Men because I like to throw things and he also has cool hair. Maybe The Flash because it rhymes with Slash? I really don’t know.

Benj - The biggest/hardest problem the band has overcome was probably finding which major label to partner up with. It took us two years and many, many, many long talks/discussions/arguments over what was right for the music, ourselves, and our supporters.

Chris - I think the hardest problem the band has ever had to face is whether or not we should sign to a major label. Do we stay independent or sacrifice some things and take a risk in order to reach more people? Can we keep our creative control, freedom and independence on a major? And most important, would our audience support our choices and understand why we were making them? While it was a business decision to try and advance the band by signing to a major label, we dealt with the problem by trying to find a label that would allow us to hold onto the integrity we have always tried to maintain. If we believed that signing to a major label would have upset our current audience, we never would have done it. Our decision felt right and honest, and I think that’s all we’ll ever need to base our future decisions on.

Jerry - I think the largest obstacle is staying focused and allotting enough time to all aspects of what we do. It is hard to give the proper time to family, touring, records, writing, audience, business, etc. Sometimes there are not enough hours in the day. I think we do o.k. at this, and I believe we will get better at it.

Marc - The biggest problem we face is balancing your life. There are not many jobs that take you away from your home nine months out of the year. Not only that, but you bounce around every day to a new place. You have to find some way of creating a balance with your family life at home. Nobody wants to hear about your adventures every night after they have been hearing about them for three years. How many times does your dad need to hear you tell him how nice San Diego is when he is knee deep in snow. It is important to learn how to stay just as involved in other people’s lives as they try to be in yours. I wouldn’t say that is much of a "band problem." It is a people problem. Sometimes you just have to shut up and listen to what is going on with someone else.

Richard - I think one of the hardest problems the band has overcome is trying to have a normal personal life outside of the band. Now I’m not saying that because of “fame” or anything along those lines, but solely because we travel so much. On average we are on the road about 8 months out of the year, which leaves little time for us to be around the people we love and care for.

Benj - If I could relive a year in the band’s history I’d say it would be while I was in my last year of school at OSU. I didn’t put a lot of time into working at my classes and I think I either would have just cut out even earlier from school or I would have put more effort into my studies. Either way would have been fine by me.

Chris - I’d go back to my junior year in college, ‘99-‘00. We were playing any and every show we could get, but the best ones were the house parties we’d have on campus. I loved putting together parties when I lived on Woodruff at OSU and having the band play in the courtyard of our apartment complex. The place was packed on all three levels. Every apartment in the complex would pitch in and buy a couple kegs each. Those were some of the best parties I have ever been to.

Jerry - I think the years are getting better and better. I don’t want to go back in time. I don’t spend too much of it wondering and thinking about the past. I live for the present and hope well for the future.

Marc - I know this is corny, but I wouldn’t change a damn thing.

Richard - If I could re-live any one year since the band has been together I would probably pick last year (2003). We were playing venues that I never imagined us playing, performed on late night television, and we were getting radio play in our hometown of Rockville. These were all things I use to dream about happening.

Benj - I’d be happy with staying where we are at, but I don’t think I’d be happy doing it forever. Like anything in life, things need to grow and change in order to stay interesting and to give a sense of accomplishment. I’m definitely happy with things right now, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’d love to headline stadiums and sh*t like that. I’m not saying that’s what drives me, I’m just saying it would be a dream come true. I also believe our music has a good message a lot of people in the world could benefit from, and so I feel that if we are able to play bigger places, our music will touch more people, so that is more of the reason why I’d like to see things grow, not because of financial desires, personal ego notions, etc.

Chris - Yes. We have always believed that we will continue to make music for many years to come, whether it is in front of 5 people or 50,000 people. While the band will continue to try to reach as many people as possible, we will continue to do it our own was, as we always have. Besides, this is already a dream come true.

Jerry - I think that as long as we progressed and grew as a band that we would do it. I don’t define our success in this business by concert revenue or by album sales. I love what I do with whom I do it with, and as long as that was there, so would I.

Marc - I would love to say that everything we have achieved so far is enough, and the story could end right now and I would be satisfied. But that just wouldn’t be the truth. It isn’t an income issue. It is a growth issue. As a member of a band all you want is to continue to grow. Continue to reach as many ears as possible. Most importantly, to get better. I just don’t think we have even come close to where we could one day be. We have so much to learn as musicians and songwriters. I just grew up with the dream of one day being a professional musician and getting on stage in a stadium. And after that coming back down and playing in the bar down the street from my house. I want to come full circle. Ups and downs included.

Richard - I would be perfectly satisfied staying in the venues we are playing now and selling the same number of CD’s because we never expected any of this to happen.

Benj - I’d say the show that blew me away the most was the Aragon in Chicago the first time we played there. The place was sold out, and I remember I was so nervous before the show that I was bugging everyone out cause I kept pacing and talking gibberish. In the end we played great and now it’s a frozen moment I’ll never forget.

Chris - I would have to say that Bonnaroo was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. For weeks before the show, we were a little skeptical about how the predominately jamband-favored crowd would take to our music. On the day of the show, we found out that we lost a close personal friend of ours who worked on our crew. His name was Darrell. When we walked on stage all of our fears and concerns dissolved as we saw the huge sea of people that came out to see our set. We dedicated the show to Darrell and started playing one of the rare sets when everything just seems to come together. The band was playing well, Gabe Dixon was sitting in with us on the keys and was absolutely bringing down the house, and the crowd was so loud and energetic the entire time. The whole Bonnaroo experience was completely indescribable to people who weren’t there and I’ll never forget it. The festival was truly amazing.

Jerry - We played in Minneapolis last tour in this 5000-seat room. I never expected to have that many people come out and see us, but they did. This was a show we did with Robert Randolph & the Family Band, which was an added bonus. The venue was amazing, the audience was crazy, and the band was firing on all cylinders. The balcony was actually moving 8" up and down. I’ve never seen or felt anything like it.

Marc - as

Richard - The 1 show that blew me away the most was last year when we played the Aragon in Chicago for the first time. We didn’t think it would sellout until finding out day of show, making it the largest show (with us headlining) that we had ever played last year. I got goose bumps whenever I looked into the crowd... it was like a sea of people.

Benj - It’s a very fulfilling feeling to know we’ve touched people’s lives in a very personal way. For a good part of my life, I thought I’d never do anything special but it seems me and my friends have done something very meaningful and because of that I feel happy and content. Also very proud.

Chris - You know, we started this band in my basement almost 10 years ago. We never dreamed we’d ever reach this level of success. I have no idea what level of success lays ahead of us, but I do know that we have always known that we’d be playing music for as long as we wanted to, no matter what the level. To say that our music has actually touched peoples’ lives, or even changed people’s lives, is something that I couldn’t begin to really comprehend. I know that it makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I am accomplishing something meaningful. And it’s the first thing that has ever been said to shut up that little voice in the back of my head that sometimes says, “You shouldn’t be playing around in a band, you need to get a real job and act like an adult”. I don’t know if we have ever influenced any person or changed anyone’s life, but I do know that people work their entire lives to receive a compliment like that… and it’s just about the most amazing honor I could ever imagine receiving.

Jerry - I take it as a great responsibility and honor. It is a blessing and a burden at the same time. The band has received letters and email in the past explaining that our music has helped people cope and come back from very dark times. I’m very happy that we were able to help but also very freaked out at the same time. A lot of the more emotional and inspirational songs that the band writes come from our own copings and dealings with issues. The music is as therapeutic for us as it could be for someone else.

Marc - It is hard to answer this question in a way that doesn’t come off as corny. When you are a seventeen year old you think you know it all. I’d write songs about things that I had never experienced. The songs had characters in them that were really pictures of people I one day wanted to be. They had all the characteristics of my heroes. Searching for freedom and unity, love and understanding. I already had all of that right at home. I didn’t have to search anywhere. Looking back, I see why people can relate to these themes. We are all looking for the same things either in our imagination or in reality. The stories I created when I was young were a product of someone who wanted to get out and have adventures, see the world, and find acceptance not just at home, but abroad. When I started to actually leave home and have adventures the songs then became based on actual experience. I know I am rambling, but I think I am getting somewhere with this. My point is, if any one of us were to write a story or song about the search for the self we would all be able to relate and someone out there would be touched. People want to love, they want to be accepted, and they dream of living in a world bound by unity.

Richard - It’s the greatest feeling in the world because it makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing. A lot of time I don’t realize how much of an influence we have on people until someone in a band gives us a demo to listen to citing us as a musical influence. That can be flattering and humbling at the same time.