Written By Cary Barnhard

HB: You recorded 35 tracks for this album?

BN: Probably more than that!

HB: How do you decide which ones to use?

BN: I can't decide! Ultimately, I can't decide so I don't leave that up to me. I let everyone else kind of draw names out of a hat at the end of the day. A lot of the songs that were written were kind of sad, some of them just didn't fit with the presentation I wanted to make. I like making records that go in a full circle emotionally, and it would have been kind of lopsided; too many songs about despair or hate or shame. It had to be more balanced. It was hard to pick, but at the same time it was easier to try to find a balance rather than to keep it lopsided.

HB: So you feel that in the end it comes out stronger having gone through all that material?

BN: Absolutely! I'm ecstatic about how it is, how the songs fit, the order, the selected material. It is exactly the emotional ride I wanted to take my fans on. It is very representative of where my head and heart have been.

HB: Could you explain the ride, how you got in that space?

BN: You mean the despair?

HB: It's not all despair, is it?

BN: Well, a lot of it is. And it's just the emotional shit that I go through. Just in lessons in life, and matters of the heart, and pain and anger and stuff from my childhood. Just the emotional journey; the ride that I go on all the time.

HB: You're more successful in Canada than in the US………….

BN: Well, I don't know what success means! I was successful when I put a CD out in '94, and I still will never top that feeling. Ultimately, everything's been gravy. The fact that I can feed my dogs and put food in my mouth just based on playing a gig, it's the greatest job in the world. I could die happy tomorrow. And different countries are all different. I found success in Europe before I ever found success in Canada. I've really been fortunate because I've been doing it a really long time and It's always been great and fun. As far as America goes, we played The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in '99, we did the Warped Tour, we did Lilith Fair, we played with Kid Rock, we toured with The Cult, and played with Run DMC in the Bronx. We did so many things over the years that for me to measure success the same way Jessica Simpson does, it just doesn't translate. I feel like we always have such a good time everywhere we play. America's really fun. They have better snacks and boys are way more friendly.

HB: So you're going to tour the States?

BN: Oh yeah! Name the day and I'll be at the gig! Even this year we had a great time. I got to play in Hawaii and I'd never been there before. We did a big show with Snoop Dogg there. It was really fun. And we played at the X Games; we played at them before in San Francisco, and that's always a good time because we're skateboarders and BMX riders from way back. And where I live in Vancouver, obviously we snowboard. So, something like the X Games is a lot of fun for us.

HB: When you play with Run DMC or Snoop Dogg, is it a different experience than playing with another rock band?

BN: Oh yeah! Obviously the audience that goes to see Lamb of God will be very different than the audience that came to see Run DMC in the Bronx. It's all good challenges for us. I've never had a hard time with an audience because with our generation, we came up listening to Iron Maiden and Ice T and DRI. I just think that with music fans today everything crosses over.