Well, we started around the summer of '97, I believe. It was me (Myke) on vocals, Erik on guitar, Zack on drums and Craig on bass. We wrote a few songs, then this dork named Kris joined the band. He used to play in a band called Rinse. He didn't last very long...lucky for us. We played our very first show September '97. We f**king sucked. But maybe a year and a half or so down the line Sam blessed our band. Then we recorded the 7". Then Craig quit to join this death metal band from here, called Vastion. Soon after that we recorded “For the Lust Of Prophecies Undone”. Then Sam quit to start a death metal band. Now it's me, Zack, Erik and this kid, Nathan, playing bass. We're working on getting the band steady. And let me tell you. If we do get this thing back together...expect some serious s**t, Not that hokey stuff on the CD. We're moving in a much more musical direction. We want to show what we can do as musicians. I feel that the last CD was written too fast. This next thing we do, we're gonna take our time on it and make sure we love it, rather than are just merely satisfied with it.

Well, Dawn of Orion, as a band, doesn't really stand behind any politics. Each one of us is different, extremely different. As far as religious stance, I know we are all anti-religion. When it comes to getting in depth with that, I can only speak for myself. I prescribe to no religion. I'm definitely not Christian, I'm not Agnostic, and I'm surely no Atheist. I just live by the idea that religion, in itself, is evil and only serves to divide. And that doesn't matter what religion we're talking about. An Atheist can be just as closed minded about worldviews as a Christian. I'm just at a point in my life where religion means absolutely nothing to me. I have no problem with spirituality, but when it comes down to following the god described in the Bible, that's when I have a problem. To me it's a fact that god is nothing but pure evil and anyone following that is doing nothing but spreading hate. Hate for others and, very often, hate for self. And all for something that we don't even know exists. How ridiculous is that? I believe that there may very well be something out there...whether it be an actual deity or some sort of extra terrestrial being(s). But whatever it is out there it definitely does not love everyone. That's evident from the state of the world at the present time. Just look around. What kind of God can truly love us and let us live in such s**t?

It's funny that you asked that. No. We are definitely not a sXe band. Me, Erik and Nathan are all sxe, but when it comes to the reasons behind it, that's a different story. Me, I'm sxe for myself. I don't give a f**k about any scene or clique. I'm sxe because I know myself. I know that if I were to ever let drugs become a part of my life, I would never be able to live without them. I guess you can say I'm weak. And I know that. I've never actually done anything except I got drunk once. And that experience alone was enough to make me never want to touch the stuff again. Doing that s**t just doesn't interest me. If I get frustrated, I don't need to smoke or drink. I can grab a pen and write some lyrics about the problem or I can grab a pencil and do some sketches reflecting it. I'm just not interested in that type of lifestyle. But that definitely doesn’t mean that I don't think it's right for someone else.

Well, it's kind of weird how I write my lyrics. I can't just sit down one day and say "I'm gonna write lyrics today". It never happens that way. I have to be in the mood. And when I am in the mood, all I have to do is just sit down and let my mind wander. Usually, I just jot down whatever comes to mind. Then once I'm done I just go back through them and edit them. Keep the thoughts that I think are pure, but also sound appropriate. It takes me a good while to write a song. My lyrics tend to deal with the darker side of life. There are enough bands out there trying to write positive songs. Trying to pretend that life is all around great. To me, if you're not upset or angry at something in your life then something's wrong. Lately I've been kind of depressed so the lyrics I've been writing reflect that Very dark and somber.

Well, this may sound close minded or what not, but I don't think religion belongs anywhere. Like I said, it only serves to divide us and there are already too many things in this world that do that. Religion is completely pointless. It's just like the cliques in high school. "Hey, we all think alike so let's get together and revel in our stagnant complacence and criticize anyone who's not like us!" That's the attitude religion holds. A total 'better than you' air is all about them. And why? Because they believe in an outdated book full of fairytales and senseless condemnation? Sorry, but that doesn't really make sense to me.

My musical influences at a lyricist? Well, I don't really have many. I think Fernando Rideiro of Moonspell is an amazing lyricist. His lyrics are rather simplistic, but they are so well thought out. And they hit really hard. He is truly a poet. Some of my other favorite lyricists are Anders Friden of In Flames, Brian Dingledine of Catharsis, Rennie Resmini of Starkweather, Bjorn Goobes of Night In Gales and Aaron of My Dying Bride.

The last book I read was The Born Again Skeptics Guide to The Bible. Actually, I'm not quite done with it, but I'm getting there. The last movie I saw was Silence of the Lambs. I rented it. Great movie.

Well, that essay is basically the subject of all my lyrics. Desire. Desire is everything. Everything is fueled by desire. No matter how many people try to deny it. That essay was about how people try to ignore their urges. There's no way to ignore your carnal desires. You were born with them and you'll die with them. Only thing you can do is try to cope with them and learn to work with them. Learn which desires are feasible and which ones aren't. Which ones will hurt more than help. So many people try to just bury their desires. These are the people that either One day snap and completely give in to these emotions or take the passion they feel from that desire and transfer it to something else. Let me give examples. For instance there's a young girl who has always been taught to wait until marriage to have sex. She fears the fires that await her if she gives in to her desires, but she knows deep down inside that sex is something she absolutely yearns to have. So rather than face that desire and deal with it, she chooses to bury it and pretend it doesn't exist. This may do her good for a while, but sooner or later what happens? She ends up loosing her self-control and gives in to her urges. Next thing you know her list of partners is a mile long. Another example, a kid, who smokes weed, drinks beer, and drops a little acid, meets some new kids. These kids show him how harmful drugs can be. The kid decides to give up drugs. They now disgust him, and so do the people that participate in them. They are now worthless to him. He decides to become part of the sxe "movement". He's now a part of something that he really believes in. Or does he? In the back of his mind he may have those urges to be a part of the activities he used to take part in, but he just can't "sell out". So he turns the yearning he has for drugs into violence. Then what do you have? The jnco wearing, tattooed and pierced up kid we all see moshing and beating the s**t out of kids in the pit at an Earth Crisis show. Sure he's no longer killing himself in one way, but is he killing himself in another? It's all about confronting yourself. Thinking of rational ways of dealing with your inner emotions. Burying them isn't an option. Transferring them isn't an option. Dealing and coping is the only option.

Well, not really at this time. We have to concentrate on finding a guitar player first. But we are writing new material. And, not to be a horn tooter, but it's pretty f**king good. I like it a lot more than the CD stuff. So I'm really excited about where the band may be heading.

Hey dude, thanks a lot for the interview. I really enjoyed it. Let me know when the issue comes out! Thanks. Rock.

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