The VOX Interview with
Shaun Lopez of
The Revolution Smile

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>> Shaun Lopez takes the crowd higher. >>

VOX: You guys obviously wanted a name that made people think.
Shaun Lopez: Right.  Actually, it’s just two words that are very different, and really don’t go together.  ‘Revolution’ is a sort of harsh-sounding word…it makes you think of violence and it’s got some ugly qualities.  ‘Smile,’ on the other hand, is…definitely not that.   It’s how the band sounds, I think, especially live; we can be ugly and loud, but at the same time, we can hopefully make people forget things for a while and let them enjoy themselves.

VOX: Do you still get butterflies each night, before you hit the stage?
SL: No, I’ve never really gotten that.
VOX: Do you take on sort of a different persona on stage?
SL: Um, yeah, I’m a lot different off stage than on stage, which is a good thing.  Some people are the same on or off, but for me that’s where I let it all out.
VOX: What do you usually think about when you go on stage?  What’s on your mind?
SL: Umm…I don’t know.  I think I tend to worry about technical things, like hoping a guitar will stay in tune or that the mix will be right, stuff like that.  I don’t think much about the crowd until I’m actually out there.   Then you wonder if anybody out there likes what you’re doing and is into it.

>> There's a reason everyone's talking about The Revolution Smile. >>

VOX: You’re getting a lot of exposure from Ozzfest – is it all a bit scary?
SL:  It’s not scary at all – whatever happens is gonna happen.   Whether or not a band succeeds or fails, you can’t stop it.  We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and let it happen.
VOX: No hopes of a Kelly connection?
SL: I really have no interest in that at all, thank you.
VOX: How did you get hooked up with Ozzfest in the first place?
SL: We got offered it, and it sort of all worked itself out.  There’s no elaborate story or anything, as far as I know.  Don’t get me wrong, we’re thankful for the opportunity, but it’s just one of those things where management and labels and all that work it all out.

VOX: What would you like people to take away from your music?
SL: Um…just that it’s a little bit different that most of the other stuff that’s out there.  I would like for people to like our music, but if they don’t, that’s cool too, as long as they have a reason for not liking it.  Just saying “I like that band, so I can’t like your music” and stuff like that doesn’t work for me.  Anything but indifference…

VOX: Is Above The Noise completely finished?  Tell me about the recording process.
SL: Yes, it is.  It took us four months of hard work.  It got really bad at times, not for us as a band, getting along, but at times the whole process is difficult.   Sometimes, though, the things I thought would be hard weren’t.  I did want it to be sort of a battle, because I felt that out of that would come the best record we could make.  If we were complacent, we wouldn’t push to make what was the best record we could make at the time.

>> We got lots of cool pix of Shaun. >>

VOX: What’s the first single going to be and what’s the song about?
SL: “Bonethrower” is the first single.  I think the song, once you read through the lyrics, is pretty self-explanatory – it’s about a relationship I had and what came out of that.  I found I could apply what I learned from that to other relationships.

VOX: For most people, they’ll be seeing you for the first time - what should fans expect when they get to see The Revolution Smile live?
SL: Hopefully some good energy and music they can enjoy, if we’re not killed by the sun.