believe The Byrds said it best when they said there is a time for everything… The Byrds?… and A Plea For Purging seems to agree:  funny, but serious when it counts; outrageous at times, but always honest. They seem to grasp what is most important in life and they aren’t afraid to show you what they are really made of. There are not many filters with Plea, and that is why we love them. Still riding their March release of Depravity while touring and writing for a summer 2010 release Vox man Andy Atkins took some time to talk to us very honestly about Depravity, their next album, and life in general. Thanks Andy!

You dudes seem way funny and real crazy, from your mock T’s to telling jokes on stage (ask Andy to tell you the whale joke), but your last March release Depravity was very serious marked with a lot of conviction. You seem to take your music very seriously but with everything else you seem to come across as very light-hearted, talk to us a bit about your views on life and music and the vision for A Plea For Purging.

Andy Atkins: Well, it’s not ALL fun, games and DOO DOO parties with A PLEA FOR PURGING.  We are definitely light hearted dudes, who love to have fun and hang out.  I love making fun of people, including myself.  I love making fun of this ridiculously serious “scene” we are apart of.  We aren’t the type of dudes that want to be viewed as dark, mysterious, and totally cool.  We are just trying to be real and unapologetic about it.

As far as our music, like I said, we want to be real.  I write about my life and people in my life.  I write about being pissed, sad, unhappy and mad just as I write about being happy.  Christians always write the same ol’ happy song about God being good.  Let me say now that I believe our God is big and good.  But I also know that I’m not programed.  I have a brain and emotions.  And as a Christian I still get upset and I still have bad times.

I question a lot of things in life.  I question God a lot.  And I’d be a hypocrite if I lied and said I didn’t.  So I’m gonna write about that.  In that, I hope people feel comfort in knowing that they aren’t alone in those thoughts.  I got a lot of new things going on in my life right now and I’m stoked to talk about it on the next record.

I know that everyone wants to know the meaning behind the last track “Depravity”, can you take a minute to explain, to those that may be confused, what exactly you wanted listeners to take away from this track?  Hit us with a bit of wisdom and insight.

AA: This goes along with what i was just saying.  Basically, I know and believe that there is one God.  I believe he created me and loves me.  I have felt his spirit and I have redemption thru his son.  With that being said, I still feel alone sometimes.  I still feel like I can’t hear God talk to me sometimes.  I still question the statement I just said.  “Do I REALLY believe in this invisible God?”  I got a lot of filthy stuff in my life that separates me from feeling the presence of God.  If everything I’ve already told you is true, that I want to be real and appear transparent to fans and friends, then I am gonna write about these thoughts.

“Depravity” is my confession to others that I am still growing and questioning and my challenge to others to do the same.

One of the first things I think of when I think of A Plea For Purging (other than brutal and awesome) is merch. You guys sell a ton of merchandise. You probably have more merch than any other band right now. From a business standpoint, what advice would you give young bands about handling merch?

AA: Well, I wouldn’t say we sell a “ton” of merch but we are blessed to stay afloat financially through merch sales, yes.  For a band these days, merch sales are as important as lungs are to the human body.  Record sales are low as the state of the industry isn’t as flourishing as it once was.  And for a band like us, we aren’t getting thousands of dollars to play shows, so if we were working with just guarantee’s to do all of our budgeting, we’d be up a creek.

If i were going to give any bit of advice to a young band in the ways of the merch game I would say this:  Never get into merch debt.  Pay all of your merch costs up front.  It might be hard in the beginning but will pay off tremendously in the long run.  Many bands fall apart due to debt.  It’s probably the number one band killer, so keep your debt low. When you sell a shirt for $10, $12, $15…etc, you don’t have $15 to go out and blow.  Put your costs back and save for re-orders and new merch.  Simple and effective. The more merch you have, the more merch you’ll sell.  Give the buyer options.  Follow the trends.  Your music makes your statement.  Your merch pays your bills.

Whats your favorite design that you sell?

AA: We just got a new shirt last week.  Its called “THE RUDE DUDES SHIRT.”  Its a cartoon drawing of us from MikeC Hardcore.  We are all naked on the front of the shirt.  With our name covering up anything too lewd to show on a shirt, of course.  The back says “RUDE, NOOD, DOO DOO DUDES.”  And of course it says “PARTY” on the front too.

I think it’ll be an all time great seller.  PS We love Mike C!

We hear there is talks of a new album summer of 2010, can you tell us anything about the sound or direction of your new stuff?

AA: The new record will be the heaviest thing PLEA has ever released.  It will also have a lot of new elements that PLEA has never showed off before.  Clean vocals will make their way to the record.  Lower tunings. Traditional songwriting song structure.  We are really wanting to do something new to us, or should I say NU to us.

Lyrically the record will be honest.  We have been questioning what we do and why we do it.  We have been questioning our friends and enemies a lot.  We question this whole “Christian Music” thing a lot.  All these questions will make their way to the new record.  It should be sure to raise some questions, I’m sure.

We get a lot of feed back from listeners and readers about whether a band is a “Christian Band” or not, what is Plea’s take on this topic?

AA: Well, I’m not one to care what people tag their music.  I think christians can sing songs about things other than spiritual issues and biblical topics.  What makes music “Christian?”  But if you are asking, do we consider ourselves a Christian band, well I’d tell you we sing songs about our battles with ourselves and our God.  Our purpose is to show others the love of Christ through our music and our relationships.  Take that as you will.  I have gone on record to say, we are a Christian band in the past.

What music or life factors would you say have contributed to the writing of this new album?

AA: We are tired of seeing God’s name with a price tag on it.  I think others are too.  We don’t want to be apart of the mass marketing of the name of Christ.  These realizations have led us to wanting to speak our minds about the topic.

I recently watched one of your tour updates, it was funny and ridiculous as usual. Having all the fun Plea has you got to have a few crazy stories from the road, what would you say are your top two?

AA: One time Aaron(drums) pooped all over Lyle Paschal(ex-guitarist) in the van.  It was funny.  No, that’s not the reason he is now EX-guitarist and no longer guitarist.  Haha.

This isn’t funny, or exciting to most, but we recently got to stop at the Redwoods in Cali to see some huge trees.  It was an awesome day in the woods.  The rare times that we get to do those kind of things rule.  Touring can be all work and no play sometimes.

Tell us about your experience with Facedown Records, how you came to be on it and where you see the label fitting into the music world today.

AA: Facedown Records is the BEST RECORD LABEL on this planet.  We love everyone at the label and appreciate what they do for us.  We are undeserving of how well they treat us.  And I know they treat all their bands the same way.

Joining the Facedown Family started differently than one would think.  We didn’t really hit up Jason to sign us.  I was actually in an email convo with him about something totally different. It had something to do with online distro, and Jason mentioned his interest in our band.  The rest is history.

I think Facedown is really rising up in the industry while keeping its integrity.  God is doing many great things through the willingness of Jason and Virginia Dunn to be obedient. I am blessed to be apart of what God is doing through Facedown.