VOX: Hey Jim, what's going on?

VOX: Another tour with Depeche Mode?
JS: No, no. Not a third time, I don't think so. Maybe in Europe we would.

VOX: Then who?
JS: It looks like a tour with The Cult and Monster Magnet. That should be great.

VOX: A lot has happened since Darkest Days. What are the biggest changes that have taken place within the band?
JS: There have been so many changes…originally, we were set to go to go into the studio with Bob Rock, who is one of the biggest names there is. On the very day we were set to go into the studio, Columbia, our old label, basically decided to liquidate any of the bands that were under platinum status, and we fell under that.

It was really freaky, being cut loose like that, but at the same time we felt a tremendous burden being lifted. Here was a great opportunity for us to make some choices and decide where we wanted to go.

Cliff Cultreri of Koch heard we were dropped and had heard some of the demo stuff we had done, and he approached us first thing to talk about changing labels. Koch is great, and they're a killer label, very boutique-y, great…

VOX: And it makes you guys a bigger fish in a smaller pond.
JS: Right. There's no comparison - we've been treated very well. Ricky Martin is everything to Sony now, and they can't support the smaller bands.

By the time we were ready to back into the studio, Bob Rock was in doing The Cult's new album, so we had to look at other options. We had this change brought on us, and we wanted to retool the demos, so Koch signed up Ed Buller - who played keyboards in the Psychedelic Furs and did the Suede album, and Ben Lee - and his philosophy was for us to approach the making of this record unlike any other Stabbing Westward album. He wanted us to approach it as rock, with a pure, organic sensibility, not with the drummer playing to a click track and everything sequenced. He basically pulled the rug out from under us, made us turn off the hard drives and start playing again. It was just a huge breath of fresh air.

He really moved us away from having everything on the hard drive, sequenced up. We've made that album three times. It was cool and bizarre at the same time, and it made us aware of a side of the band we didn't know existed.

The other big change for us was that Ed, and the whole process, made us aware that we had a guitar problem. In the past, everybody would step in and play parts, and if we could just get 4 good bars out of it and then loop it, then try to move on and get a few good bars for the chorus and loop those if we needed to. Ed said, "This is not the album I want to do." So, he and Missy Wirth - Missy used to run Revolution - she and Ed Buller suggest this guy Derrek Hawkins from New York, that what we were doing was not cutting it. He came in, and we knew, "We've got the guy. OK. Great."

So, now we've got a new vision, new sound, we're not stuck with the guitar part we had sequenced. Now we can expand out, play the songs any way we want, and each night the songs take on a new life. It's phenomenal and it's propelled us ahead.

VOX: You know, you basically answered my next few questions right there.
JS: [Laughs] Is that good or bad?
VOX: No, it's great. It makes it easier. Now let's talk about the new music…what's behind "So Far Away"? What's it about?
JS: It's about…Chris and his relationship. You know, we all have a relationship at some time or another that is very love/hate. There are so many aspects of a person that you love, but there's also so much water under the bridge that this invisible wall has been built. It's an intense love, and there are so many things you want to tell the person and do with the person, but you get to that point where there is that invisible and you just can't get around it.
VOX: Sort of that "weird space" that develops in some relationships…
JS: Yeah. Once you begin to take an accounting of the relationship, you realize that you just can't break down that wall. Needless to say, that relationship ended.

VOX: How about "Breathe You In"?
JS: That was a combination, lyrically, by Andy and Chris. That's a tough one…it's kinda that frustration you can feel when you care for someone, and you care for them so much that you literally want to breathe them in. You want to kiss them and be show them the passion you feel for them, but you want to become one with them, on so many levels.

VOX: Are you guys dying to get back out and get the music to the fans?
JS: It's interesting - Napster has changed things. For the last record, when we did the promo tour, not many people had heard the stuff yet. Now everyone has the music, they grasp the meanings and they're at the shows, singing along. It's kind of freaky - cool, but very bizarre. It shows how much things have changed.

It is great to get out there and get the complete fan reaction to the new songs, whether it's at a small, 500-seat place or doing a radio show in front of twenty thousand people, like we did with Live in West Palm Beach. It's a lot of fun.

VOX: With the change in direction, does it make the live show more interesting for you guys, to move back and forth in styles?
JS: Yeah, it does. It gives us complete freedom - we're not playing with sequenced tracks anymore. We've updated things. Fans will get to hear new versions of the old songs, which is really cool! This is really a brand new beginning for the band. Chris always goes at it intensely - when he gets up, the band goes way up and when he gets down, the band is able to go way down and change with him. We're a brand new band, almost. We can go off, change songs and cater our performance to what is happing with us that day or night. We can get feedback right away and change the set of need to.

Now were able to extend the songs - Derek is a fabulous guitarist, and if he goes off, we're able to follow him, circle around him and follow his lead. It's an amazing change for us.