Chapter 9
Snakes in the Playground
Snakes in the Playground would be the breakthrough CD of our career. This would
produce more touring, more press and even two Dove Awards for best song. But it
was no easy chore achieving such accomplishments.
SESAC had now esteemed us with another award for outstanding achievement in
Christian music. Seeing that we were their only Christian metal act, we felt
that being recognized as a legitimate band was important. Now more than ever did
I understand the importance of Bride as a band and as a ministry. I could
finally see how God had been with us through all the good times and bad times,
and that he had much greater things in store for us.
I felt that our next record had to really excel above and beyond anything that
we had previously done. It was important to outdo ourselves, or fall into the
pit with many of the other stale bands. We did a lot of work in the studio fine
tuning possible songs even before a producer was decided upon. We tried to write
more from the heart. Doing a more live sounding record was the key. Our energy
from the live shows had to somehow come through on this record.
Star Song, knowing how much we despised Steve Griffith's previous work, had the
nerve to suggest him for our up and coming project. We immediately began
searching for a producer that we could bring in that would impress Star Song. We
even thought about big names and giving away all our royalties. We came to our
senses, though.
We met with Star Song to discuss this problem. Moseley, Dez and even the big guy
at the company, Darryl Harris, attended the meaning. After we pleaded our case
with Harris, he simply said, "If they do not want to use Griffith, then let's
not force them." It seemed that through this whole Star Song experience they
never had the real confidence in our abilities to make decisions. I believe that
they attributed most of our success on Steve Griffith and their own work.
This angered us. They had not been on the road with us, they had not talked to
fans night after night, they did not even know what the fans were writing to us.
Star Song gave us very little credit, and made it seem that they had gone out of
their way to push us. Yet Bride was still broke, and if not for our 24-hour a
day dedication to the ministry we would be completely starved to death.
We began our rehearsals again, brainstorming possibilities for a producer for
our next album. Just when we thought we had run out of names, Jerry had someone
in mind that would be perfect. The name that he mentioned was Plinky. (Plinky
had produced the band Novella.)
We all agreed that we liked the sounds on the Novella record Plinky had produced
better than the sounds we got on Kinetic Faith. We threw the name at Dez, and
the process of working him in began. We had one day of pre-production with
Plinky. He was from New Jersey, and he and his brother made the long drive to
meet the band. Plinky listened to the songs and made no changes. We were feeling
pretty good at this point.
We were booked at the Salt Mine again, and it was no better than the first two
times we had been there. It still had bugs, it leaked in the studio when it
rained, and the mixing board broke down frequently. We decided to call this
album "Snakes in the Playground" after we had an incident with a large snake at
the studio.
We were in the beginning stages of recording, and took a break to drive to the
store. A large reptile was lying beside our car sunbathing on the pavement. In
my attempts to chase the snake away, I chased it under the car. To make matters
worse, the effort to move the snake from under the car drove it up into the
fender wells. We spent the next hour and a half trying to get the snake to come
out. We sprayed it with the water hose, poked at it with a broom handle, even
shook the car, but it would not come out. Finally, when we thought we would just
have to let the snake have the car, it crawled out and back into the wooded area
next to the studio.
The "Snakes" album was done on long hours into the night and Plinky's oil-like
coffee. Plinky was lots of fun in the studio and had a great ear. Jerry and
Plinky butted heads a few times about triggering the drums, but they seemed to
work things out. Plinky needed lessons in the art of coffee brewing, and his
blackened chicken dinners were a gourmet treat, though we had to eat the meals
outside due to the entire upstairs filling with smoke. We had every door and
window open and fans blowing on high to clear the heavy fog that rose from the
skillet.
We brought in a few special guests for the album. Peter and John from the
Newsboys, Rik Florean from White Heart for back up vocals, Greg Martin from the
Kentucky Headhunters, Rick Elias, and Derek Jan from Novella for some solo
guitar spots. The album was coming together very well, and Plinky had already
convinced us through his knowledge of the studio that we would have a project of
which we could be proud.
Snakes was released with overwhelming praise and acceptance. I was pleased, but
had to question if maybe we had compromised our songs in order to gain such
credibility from those who despised us just a couple of years earlier.
One of the last songs recorded on this project was "Goodbye." It was a piano
ballad. We had to get it by Moseley in order to add it to the CD. Moseley loved
it, and even teared up the first time he heard it. However, the song was never
released as a single.
The album was raw and heavy, so I came to the conclusion that we had not sold
out to our critics, but rather, we had won them over by excellent song writing
and great performances. Radio ate the album like candy and acted like they could
not get enough. Star song launched an effective campaign using the "Snakes"
theme and my short affiliation with Stryper. The door had opened wide for us,
but many things were in store. Scott Hall was working hard putting together a
great press kit for us, and we sat down to work on battle plans for the coming
year.
Why I Write Songs
There were many songs throughout the years that had reflected personal
experiences in my own life. From the very first record I had always tried to
convey the things that I felt important. Through the maturing process in my
Christian walk, and just understanding things around me, I became an authentic
songwriter on the Kinetic Faith record. I could see how much influence I had on
young people. Not only by my actions on and off stage, but the songwriting, how
I responded to their letters, and practically everything that I did.
Song's like Sweet Louise, which told of my grandmother's bout with cancer, and
Some Things Never Change, which spoke of my cousin's suicide after years of
verbal abuse by her father, had real impact on people. Many songs were about my
life, my family. These were the songs that hit home with people.
Some people in my life, such as my cousin, Robin Barnes, would appear in several
songs. She was a sweet young teenager with life head of her when that very life
was taken from her in a moment. She had been raised by alcoholic parents who had
divorced. She lived on and off with her parents and their live in boyfriends and
girlfriends, and sometimes with my aunt, her grandmother. I can still remember
like it was yesterday playing as children in my backyard. As children, we never
thought about dying or tragedy, yet tragedy would be all she would ever know.
I remember Troy and myself helping her and her sister, Gayla, out of a bedroom
window of their house as their family fought a bloody drunken fight in the
house. When their family would fight, (which seemed like every Friday night
after their grandfather cashed his paycheck and bought enough beer and liquor
for the weekend) Robin and her sister would spend the afternoon at our house.
Robin lived a life surrounded by alcohol, drugs, abuse, and I am sure there are
things that she had seen in that house that she never said anything about.
One night, while she was out with her boyfriend, she was abducted by a man. This
man took her out, tied her to a tree, abused her, then shot her to death. I did
not attend the funeral. Robin would appear in many of my songs for years to come
in some way, even if it were a small part. I felt like I could help others
through her tragedy.
Sweet Louise had made people think about their grandparents, and put many in
touch with hidden feelings. I knew that Robin's life, as short as it was, has
many clues for others who were going through similar situations. Carol Ann Capps
and Dana Capps were a brother and sister who also happened to be my cousins on
my mother's side. Both committed suicide at different times for different
reason's, but from the same family.
My cousin Carol Barnes, age 23, had committed suicide when I was very young. His
death stuck with me for a very long time. A man in his early twenties, with
three children and a wife who had left him, takes a shot gun, places it to his
chest and pulls the trigger. Just moments earlier, he was speaking his last
words to his mother over the phone (The Lord's Prayer).
When you are young, death seems so far away, even though it is all around you.
Through things I had seen, done and had been told, I found a reason to write. It
seemed like I wrote about the sad parts of people's lives, but I felt it was my
mission to heal the broken hearted. If it required me taking parts and pieces
from lives gone bad and putting them into some type of order to make another
person's life make sense, then maybe that was the reason I was called to write
songs.
All of my songs after Kinetic Faith had reflection and images of those I had
been with, cried with, and prayed with within the lyrics. When people would say,
"I really do not understand what you were talking about when you wrote a
particular song," I felt good, knowing that person probably never had to go
through what that song spoke of. People did not just want a beat, they wanted a
message, a meaning. Everyone looks for answers. My lyrics, and the music that
Troy and I would compose, was always laced with answers. If a person was
searching for an answer and our song only asked a question, I made sure that the
question only had one answer that pointed to Jesus.
I always wanted to write a happy song. I prayed that the Lord would bless me
with the talent to write a happy, uplifting song that was not cheesy. To this
day, He has not. Maybe all the happy songs are cheesy.
With the completion of any record, there is the process of writing for the next
record. Bride was always a band that had plenty of songs because I never ran out
of things to say. Knowing the importance of this next record, I was determined
to write more personable than ever. We had time to write and prepare. Also with
the completion of a record comes the touring. With touring comes meeting the
people I write about. I was thinking maybe I would meet some happy people
without any problems or dilemmas, but it was not likely.
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