Tell me about this acoustic project that the both of you are working on.
Thomas: Well, we decided to team up and have an acoustic
duo kind of thing… can I be any more vague? (laughs) It’s similar to the Tim Reynolds and Dave Matthews idea,
but we’re making out own type of vibe. It’s sort of different in the sense that we each are singer/songwriters
who also have bands and do acoustic shows by ourselves. What we’re going to do is; when I play one of my songs…
Venice does the backups like the harmonies and guitars. And vice versa, when he does his songs then I do backups.
It’s the only time that I think we ever take the backseat at being the frontman; that’s where it becomes different,
it gives the opportunity for our fans to see us in a different light.
How did you guys team up for this?
Thomas: Venice made me do it. (laughs) When someone is choking
you and telling you that you’re going to do it… (laughs) I know for me personally, I can’t speak for Venice,
I really dig his music… I met him through his old manager and we thought our styles kind of meshed and that we should
play some shows together… and we just took it to the next level; instead of playing shows on the same bill we decided
to become an acoustic duo.
Venice: I felt the same way too about his music, and sometimes when a manager comes to you with a situation
saying that you might go really well with another artist; it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t, but this time around
I liked the music right away. We jammed in L.A. and it was just a perfect match, then we went to Vegas and had our first
duo show.
Thomas: Yeah, the House of Blues.
Is this a full tour; will it be nation
wide?
Thomas: We’ve done a few dates in the states, but we’re actually going over to Denmark for a week and a half to
two weeks. For me personally, it’s the first time I’ve ever gone and done that many dates in a row, so it’s
really my first real tour.
Venice: Yeah, and it should be a great time up there, Denmark is a beautiful country… I have a feeling
that we’ll be well perceived up there.
Thomas: At least you will, I don’t know about me. (laughs)
Venice: (laughs)
Thom, you’re also releasing an acoustic version of your latest album?
Thomas: Yeah, I’m currently working in the studio on
a new album with my band, but in the meantime during the writing process I decided to record an acoustic version. I’ve
been asked for that for a while because I started out promoting the record by doing an acoustic tour, and when I finally released
it I was doing both… band dates and then acoustic dates; then people would buy the record and come to an acoustic show
and they’d say that they really dug the record and asked when I was going to release something like my acoustic show.
So after getting asked that question at least four times I decided to do that finally.
Venice: And for myself, I’m actually finishing up a
new album as well. Essentially we’re going to work on a duo album, perhaps after the European tour… or
2010…
Thomas: Yeah, 2010… who knows (laughs)
Venice: But, it’ll be great when we get out because we’ll have plenty of
time to actually sit down and write together.
Thomas: Yeah, that’s sort of the problem when you put a live show together…
it’s an idea, and then people want the studio version of that idea… they want the recording. We did like
a three day tour in Arizona last year and the same thing happened, people were like; “Oh, cool… which CD is it
that has you guys together?”
Venice: And we’ve both been so busy that it’s been hard to sit down and do that.
Thomas: I know, I just can’t make time between the
Xbox 306 and my Nintendo Wii… (laughs) I just got Rock Band 2, man.
Venice: I’m more of a soccer fan. But, yeah, so it’s
going to be pretty cool… I’m excited to go out there to see how the Danish people react to us.
Thomas: Also, for me… Venice has been over there before,
but it’s my first time going overseas for music, so I’m excited.
What are each of your plans for when the
duo tour is over besides the upcoming CD’s?
Thomas: What, that’s not enough? (laughs) I’m just going to continue doing
the acoustic dates to promote the acoustic version of Without Warning; then I think that I’m finally taking my band
over to the east coast this fall… we booked a festival out there, so we’re going to book a tour around that,
which will be exciting because I’ve played a lot of east coast dates, but I haven’t had the chance to bring my
band out there yet.
Venice: For me, I have some things I’m doing in Switzerland after that… after we do our Danish tour,
I then go to Switzerland and come back to the states. We’ve got some dates in Arizona as a duo…
Thomas: Yeah, in May.
Thom, how does your faith influence you
as a musician?
Thomas: It effects my music because it effects me and the music is a representation of me; and I write based on my experiences
and opinion. So it effects me through expression.
