ost of you won’t recognize the name Overcome but they have a fairly rich history within our scene. Some even say that they are the founding fathers of early metal-core. And though they are not quick to take any credit, or any specific label, they are grateful for the chance to return to the scene, over a decade later, and put out Facedown Record’s 100th release. So if you are in the category that I mentioned earlier and don’t know Overcome, this is your chance to get on board.
So talk to us about your history? You had a release on Facedown Records back when the label first started in ‘97 correct? What has happened to you guys between then and now?
Jason Stinson: Overcome actually began In the summer of 1993. At that time Arizona had a very small hardcore scene and to go to shows we would all go to southern California. One night we went to see Focused play and it blew me away. I had never seen a “Christian” hardcore band before. To make a long story short, we started playing in southern California with all of the original “spirit filled” hardcore bands like Unashamed, Focused, Bloodshed, N.I.V. It was really nothing more than good timing. Everything was so new and exciting then and we were right in the middle of it. Before we even made it a year we were signed to Tooth and Nail and recording a record. We released our first two full lengths with them and a 7″ record with a small California label Life Sentence Records. Shortly after recording “When Beauty Dies” the band pretty much fell apart and I was left to rebuild it. Without any real band members and being unable to tour Tooth and Nail dropped us. I ended up rebuilding the band and writing new songs.
Jason Dunn of Facedown Records was a guy who had pretty much been around us one way or another for as long as I can remember. I have to say, there was always something special about him. He was always around helping out, setting up shows, especially with N.I.V. who we played with a lot. When he started Facedown he had a couple small 7″ records out and when he asked us to do an EP with him I couldn’t say no!! I had a feeling if anyone could be “great” at this, he could. That EP came out around ‘97ish. We had other offers to do our 99 release “Immortal Until Their Work is Done” but I know now more than ever that God had us do that record with him for a reason. We did one final tour for that record and called it quits. After Overcome I did a short term with a band called Indwelling, which Facedown released, and a few other bands that I never really stuck with. Basically between then and now we have just been doing “real” life, having kids, businesses, mortgages, etc. About a year ago our now drummer Jon Strunk “just wanted to jam.” The band that we are now just clicked well with each other and we decided to bring back Overcome.
This release is Facedown’s 100th, was that planned or did it just work out that way?
JS: I really don’t think it was planned, it’s kind of cool that it just ended up that way.
What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen happen in the indie music world since your first release in ‘97?
JS: It’s amazing to me just how many sub-genres there are to every style of music now. I mean with hardcore alone there are endless files of sub-genres. Hardcore, metalcore, deathcore, mallcore, mathcore, it goes on and on.
Not to mention there are literally thousands upon thousands of bands!! And with Myspace and Facebook and any-and-everyone getting their music heard, it’s almost like there is just too much now.
“I’m really not sure how I feel about the metal-core label these days. I tend to picture bands that use a lot of “breakdowns” when I hear the term metal-core now. I know we don’t fit that description.”You guys are said to be one of the “pioneering bands” of the Metal-core genre. How does that label make you feel? What influenced you guys to write the music that you did?
JS: I think this may be true, only in the smaller “Christian” hardcore realm at the time. There were plenty of bands that influenced us to move towards mixing more metal with hardcore. I would say our biggest influence ever were bands like Unbroken and Rorschach, or even Mean Season. I was always a huge metal head so it was natural for me to bring more metal into it. I’m really not sure how I feel about the metal-core label these days. I tend to picture bands that use a lot of “breakdowns” when I hear the term metal-core now. I know we don’t fit that description.
Do you feel pressure to try and conform to the sounds that are big today?
JS: This is a good question. I actually don’t. In fact I think we actually purposely tried to stay away from those sounds. I don’t mean this in a negative way at all, but we really set out to make a real deal Overcome record. I really think that those who are familiar with Overcome will be really happy with this. Those who aren’t may not know what to do with us. (Laughs)
Who have you been listening to as of late that you feel influenced this new release of The Great Campaign of Sabotage?
JS: A few of my favorite bands are Between The Buried and Me, Thrice, Clutch, and Coheed and Cambria. I would say they have been the bands I have listened to the most over the last few years. Having said that, I’m not sure if they have influenced this release too much though. That’s always tough to see.
Can you tell us a bit more about this new record?
JS: With this record we really didn’t try to reinvent the wheel or anything. Like I said before, we wanted an Overcome record. It’s raw and fast and encourages participation. I think for those who were fans of Overcome and Indwelling will find that this record is a happy medium between the two. Most important is the purpose of the record though. We want to glorify God with everything we say and do. Every gift we have is His, and for Him.
I have heard a lot of great stories of the music scene in Phoenix. Talk to me a bit about what it is like coming up in that scene, and why you feel that it is so great…
JS: Yea, I think the best thing about the music scene in Phoenix is the people behind the shows. We have always been shown great respect by the venues and promoters putting on the shows. Coming back after all these years it has been awesome. Since I have an opportunity to drop names, people like Mike Genz, Michelle Donovan, and Will Anderson have been doing shows for over 15 years in Phoenix. Immediately when we started playing again they were so easy to work with and generous. The crowd participation was always a cool thing here also. We hope our new record will bring this back for us.
I read earlier that your purpose and your message will not be changing with time or genres, can you expand on that?
JS: Overcome has always strived to be a band with integrity. We definitely aren’t perfect at it, but we try. We want our music and lyrics to glorify God and lift His name, not ours. Yeah, we are older now, we don’t sound like the other bands on Facedown. We may not fit the new genres of metal-core or whatever. We do love God and love music and use our gifts accordingly. That’s the point for us. That’s our goal.
Do you guys have any tour plans in the near future? What is twenty eleven lookin’ like for Overcome?
JS: I don’t think we will be touring. But I never thought I would be doing Overcome again either so who knows. We will be playing shows just about every month and working on another record. We definitely didn’t make this record just to disappear. Right now we look forward to the future and will play as long as it is God’s will for us to do so. 
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