Q&A WITH TRADING YESTERDAY?S DAVID HODGES

What are the names of each of the Trading Yesterday band members and what instrument does each of them play?
mark colbert (drums)
steven mcmorran (bass, bgv?s)
david hodges (vocals, guitars, pianos)

How did Trading Yesterday form to be a band?
mark and i met through mutual friends in 2001. he was moving to la and looking for a gig. at the time, evanescence didn?t have a drummer, and ben and i were talking about him playing with us. mark?s la trip fell through and we reconnected a year and a half later in little rock right after i finished recording "fallen" with ben and amy. he and i clicked instantly and started working on some projects together. we had a great musical chemistry and really understood each other in the studio. in may of 2003 over dinner at ihop, mark and i decided to start trading yesterday (which at the time meant buying a protools rig, getting an apartment together and beginning to record the music that was naturally flowing through our lives). we had no idea where God would take it, but we were willing to pour everything we had into it. as the months wore on, trading yesterday started to take a more definite shape, and a mutual friend of ours (steven) seamlessly fit in place with the vision (both musically and spiritually) of the band.

What previous music experience does each Trading Yesterday member have?
mark, spent five years in the nineties playing drums in a christian indie band called "nickel and dime". i was a member of evanescence (writing, producing, and playing pianos, keys, and strings) from the winter of 1999 until the winter of 2002. steven, mark, and i have grown up playing in worship bands at church and college, so we are very used to adapting with each other and with the environment of the music. i think one of the reasons we mesh well together is because the song is more important than any of us. every part should promote the song, not the player.

Who are the musical influences of the band?
the beatles, sting, u2, toad the wet sprocket, coldplay, nichole nordeman (her lyrics will change you)

How does the writing and recording process work for the band? Who is going to produce the album?
when we made "the beauty & the tragedy", i produced and mark mixed the project, and both happened simultaneously as we went along. the songs we started the project with were more of a springboard for the creative process because most of the songs that ended up on the record were written during the months of recording. typically, i would write the music and melody and the lyrics would be collectively written by whoever happened to be walking through life with us at the time. that?s why lyric writing credits are from steven, myself, and friends of ours. especially when it comes to capturing the concept of the song with words, i really feel that two (or more) heads are better than one.

Where is the band recording their album? Can you talk about the differences between the new album you?re recording for Epic Records and the debut album Trading Yesterday self-released?
we are recording in la in october and november with dave fortman (the producer for the evanescence record). we feel like he will be perfect for this project. we had limited funds and resources on the self-released albums, so it was more ideas than really what we wanted the songs to sound like. this time around, we are able to go the distance with our imagination for each track. there will also be some new songs on this release that we are very excited about. i love the evolution process of our music.

Do you want to mention any specific songs that will be on the album and what they mean to you?
the writing process for this record came very organically; no deadlines or anticipation built by labels and fans because there weren?t any. trading yesterday started over a dinner and built itself in an apartment studio over hours and months of writing, forming songs and living life into something that we never could have planned or mapped out. trading yesterday exists because it had to exist - a musical representation of our lives, of our experience to now. whether the world hears these songs, or they stay in that apartment; the cathartic purpose of the band is found in the project simply being completed. if others connect to where we are and (more importantly) where we?re going, then that is just added blessing to the journey. because this record is our personal journal on disc, each piece of it connects to us. songs like "one day", "love song requiem", and "she is the sunlight" are about her (or should i say about the many hers); "revolution", "world on fire", and "what i?m dreaming of" are reminders of who we are made to be; but the song that seems to sums up the record the most is "the beauty and the tragedy" - for i am finding out that love will kill and save me - that line probably captures our year the best.