abel them weird. Label them pioneers. Label them versatile. Just don’t label Showbread as a genre. Showbread is over ten years into their career and show no signs of either slowing down or conforming to any trends or styles. A lot of artists would claim this same statement with every last breath, but in reality, Showbread is the only one who has, time and time again, proved that they truly don’t care what people think. Through dashed expectations and multiple member changes, the guys rallied to release a new record this past month. Touring behind their newest release, The Fear of God, these good old Georgian boys took a break from their current trip to remind us that they are no strangers to controversy and, once again, they are here to stay.
What year did you guys start Showbread and how old were you? Give us a little background on the band.
Josh Dies: We started Showbread in 1997 as a church worship band. When the southern Baptist church we grew up in thought we were evil, we decided to keep playing and got into punk rock.
Having spent so many years touring non-stop, what keeps you going? What drives you to get up every morning and, well, drive?
JD: If we weren’t a band with a mission statement (telling people what we believe), there’d be no reason for us to continue to play. It is the only reason we started the band and the only reason we continue.
We know that Showbread took a lot of heat for the Age Of Reptiles album, how did this affect the band? And how did it affect the direction of the writing? Do you find yourself trying to write music that you feel everyone will enjoy?
w/ Joshua S. “Dies” Porter
Showbread frontman Josh Dies knows a thing or two about unlabel-able music, fashion, make-up and putting on a killer show. But did you know that he is also an author? The Spinal Cord Perception is Dies’ first novel that promises a spooky but hopeful premise. With more novels on the horizon, Dies spoke with us candidly about what one can expect from Josh Dies the author as well as the book itself.
How has your book been received thus far?
Joshua S. Porter: Really well. I was worried when it first came out that people would have a hard time with it because it’s very dark through the bulk of the story. I was amazed to see how many people were inspired by the message of hope in the book. Of course it isn’t for everyone, there were people who wrote me to say “You can’t write, you suck” but that kind of thing never bothers me. I just wrote the book I wanted to write. For the most part it seems a lot of people really love the story and the characters and analyzing the weirdness of it all.
For those people out there who haven’t read the book yet, can you give us a quick snapshot as to what the novel is about?
JP: A guy named David Rivers, who is a 24 year old substitute teacher, has been struggling with violent, dark hallucinations his whole life and he can’t seem to figure out whether or not what he’s seeing is a result of some disease of the brain or if he has a deeper insight into a world no one else does.
Tell us a bit about where the inspiration for this story came from.
JP: I’m not entirely sure actually. The element of David and the monster that haunts him was something that popped into my head and became a short story I penned for fun. Years later I was inspired by a lot of novels I was reading at the time to translate the short story into a novel.
Who are some of your influences as far as authors go?
JP: It’s pretty obvious when you read the book that my main stylistic influences are Bret Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk. But reading Franz Kafka and Sylvia Plath when I was younger was what made me want to write.
Do you see yourself writing more novels in the future?
JP: I actually just finished my second novel which I’m going to self-publish through my website this October or November. It’s called Nevada and it tells the story of a strange discovery of a huge pit in the Mojave Desert that becomes a gateway for certain creatures to enter our world and take control of Washington and Hollywood. It’s an epic, black comedy with a lot of political sociology. It’s very different from my first novel. I’m really excited about it. I can’t wait for people to read it.
JD: Not in the least. Every band should be able to say that their own band is their favorite band, why wouldn’t you write exactly what you wanted to hear the most? For better or for worse we have never taken into consideration any factor other than what WE want to do artistically, if no one in the entire world likes our music we can still go to bed at night knowing we did what we believed in. We figured that Age Of Reptiles would reveal that we had no interest in being a “scene” band (we hate hardcore, indie, emo, screamo, etc.), and that the folks who had mistaken our Refused influence for an interest in scene music would lose interest in our band at that point. It never mattered to us because existing in that world never mattered to us. It seems that because we’re on Tooth and Nail and can’t easily be wedged into a specific genre, people tend to categorize us with a lot of our peers who play screamo music, and then when we betray that formula they hate us for it. We think it’s hilarious.
I read recently that you consider this upcoming album to be “the definition of Showbread”. Can you explain this a bit further?
JD: To me the definition of Showbread has to do with purposely alienating ourselves from the world of music to do what we want to do, and this record epitomizes that ideal. That’s not to say that it’s a bizarre, abstract record that no one will get, it’s actually pretty accessible. But we write our records as if in a cave alone in the world and it will be all we’ll have to listen to. We never think of what anyone else will think and we infuse that stance with our message of hope in Jesus. I think the people who love Showbread love us for that reason that we do not compromise even if it means no one will like us.
You guys have gone through numerous lineup changes in the last few years but have seemed to maintain the Raw Rock sound that you guys invented. Do you find it hard going from seven members to four?
JD: Well we’re back at six members now, but we’ve never changed songwriters and the members we’ve changed didn’t play a big role in the writing process. In that sense, the lineup changes weren’t a big issue. It is, however, extremely tedious replacing members and dealing with people who are upset about the changes. We have a pretty strict agenda for our members and its tough finding the right people to meet the requirements, but we’re always provided for and right now we have our strongest lineup yet.
Your new album art looks like a collection of controversial symbols and topics. Can you explain a little bit about why you chose this design?
JD: I told the designer about the themes on the record and let him run with it. I didn’t realize we even had Catholic fans, let alone that they’d be so offended by the red dot over the pope’s face. The album cover is a statement about various symbols that we as people associate with God, good or bad. It’s just about how we as human beings reconcile the idea of a higher power and the ramifications of choosing to believe or not to believe. I think the pope is a very recognizable religious icon and that’s probably why the designer chose him as the centerpiece, it isn’t a personal attack on the man.
For those out there who have never witnessed Showbread live, how would you describe your live show? What are some of your goals each night?
JD: We have lots of flashing lights, TV screens flashing bizarre images and the most reckless, chaotic performance from the band we can muster. It is a very passionate fifty minutes for both the band and the fans, totally full of worship and beauty, nothing like it in the world.
Anorexia/Nervosa was a pretty lofty endeavor. Did you see the response that you had hoped from this release?
JD: Absolutely, ten fold. That album is a simple story that conveys our message as a band in a very special way. It isn’t a record to just jam and enjoy the way you do with a conventional rock record, it’s more of an imaginative journey and I couldn’t be happier with how it came out.
You garner a lot of attention for your “unconventional” looks as a band, i.e. makeup etc. What brought about this look and how do you deal with those who may see it as a bit extreme?
JD: For me as a singer the makeup and funny getups came from being an aesthetic fan of David Bowie and glam era Marilyn Manson. It’s just theatrics and in good fun. For the most part people either enjoy it or don’t care, but occasionally people have questions and even confuse it for sexually sinful cross dressing. I usually just explain that our performance is like a play and our outfits are like costumes. It’s stage makeup, not drag.
You guys as a band are involved in many mission organizations, how does that fit into Showbread?
JD: Our band’s single purpose is to humbly share our belief in Jesus Christ and offer His spirit of service to the world. Often that involves going into foreign countries and working with those less fortunate and often it means just putting on a rock show and showing kids we love them and that we care.
Where do you see Showbread heading in the next few years?
JD: Further into madness.
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