What is the story behind taking the Name Burnt by the Sun?

The story behind the band name is pretty funny. The name came from a joke. While
John and I were on tour with Black Army Jacket (the band we played in previous
to BBTS). We had a few days off in St. Petersburg, Florida and we went to the
beach. All of us were really badly sunburned, the name Burnt by the Sun came
up and we joked about naming a band that one day. Well the day came, ha ha

Your Music has got a good balance between agression, emotion. It's hard
to describe your Style. You combine grind,hardcore and metal. Does it come from
your different backgrounds?

Yeah I guess our backgrounds play a role in our sound, but it's mostly us just
doing and playing what we like. We really wanted to create something we all
wanted to hear that we couldn't find at any record store or show.

In which bands did you guys played before you formed up BBTS?

I think I have been the most busy being in: Human Remains, Discordance Axis,
Black Army Jacket, Exit-13 & Anodyne (briefly), Iahborher and various other
projects with some still existing today. Teddy was also in Human Remains. John
was in Black Army Jacket briefly and in Times Up for a long time with Chris
Chris was also in a band called Victory Hawk for a while. Mike came from Endeavor,
Nora and played in Try Fail Try.

Which bands are influences for BBTS?

None really, we influence each other. Things we like influence us, we all listen
to a lot of music with a wide range of styles, but we aren't really influenced
by any band in particular.

Your new Records came out on Relapse Records. How did you get together
with the label?

I have been friends with the guys at Relapse for a long time now and Human Remains
also had an EP released on Relapse. After Human Remains broke up, we still kept
in touch. When I told them I had something new going and the people who were
involved, they were interested right away. They saw us play and they were hooked.
As for our side, we knew we wanted to be signed to Relapse, cause they are great
people and really care about what they do, not to mention they are our friends
as well.

When I look at the titels of your Songs, I see a kind of humour, but on
the other hand your lyrics are very serious, sometimes very personal and political?
Can you explain this maybe?

The songs do have a message and a serious side, but the goofy song titles are
used to let you know that of course we are serious and very passionate about
what we do, but at the same time we are human and have a sense of humor. Bottom
line is, you shouldn't take yourself so seriously, we don't.

We do what we do and say what we have to say but aren't militarized by the facts
ya know?

I Like the Song "Shooter Mc Gavin". Thats the guy who wants to
ruin Happy Gilmore in the Happy Gilmore movie. That movie is very funny, I love
it. What is the song about, because the lyrics are very personal.

Yeah...Happy Gilmore is a great movie, so funny. My favorite part is when Adam
Sandler asks Shooter if he eats pieces of shit for breakfast?, ha ha ha That
made me laugh real good. The song itself deals with people and bands that care
about nothing but how good their band is doing and they let that

take control of them. Like whenever you see them, you ask them how they are
doing on a personal level as a friend and they reply with how good their band
is doing ya know? I mean, if I wanted to know how good your band is doing, I
would have asked you that. I want to know how you are doing. So pretty much
it's people letting their success go to their heads and changing as a person
and not for the better.

What kind of reactions did you get on the new album so far?

All the press has been really good, we are very excited about it. We think it's
cool that there are people out there who actually enjoy what we do, that's great.
The funny thing is, we are rather selfish when it comes to the band and we mainly
write to keep ourselves happy and have no concerns of

what other people think. It is kind of nice to see and hear that people are
into the music though.

What are you guys do for a living?

I proofread and do data entry. Chris works for a landscaping company, Mike is
a public speaker, John does websites for a living (he does our website too)
and Teddy is a Networking Engineer. At night we are heavy metal warriors, ha
ha

When will you come over to Europe?

The sooner the better, I was just there, playing drums for Melt Banana and I
loved it. Hopefully we will make it there for a full length tour in 2003.

If you have to make a choice, who should come on tour with you!

We would love to tour with Mastodon and Keelhaul!!! Those guys are our favorites!

Thanks for the interview, any last comments?

Thanks a lot for your time and support, we appreciate it very much! Feel free
to check the website for all news and tour updates at www.burntbythesun.com