Here are various links if you want to read up on the interviews-
click here for rockcool.com's interview with Sean RockCool
click here for VH1's Q&A VH1 Q&A
click here for VH1's site on VH(includes Keiths tour diary) VH1 site
click here for the bugjuice site Bugjuice site
Click here: FANCLUBS: PHOTOGALLERY
Click here: FANCLUBS - Vertical Horizon
Here is an interview aol conducted-
AOLiveMC5: Welcome, Vertical Horizon. It is a pleasure to welcome you this evening.
Matthew Scannell: Hi to everyone out there, and thank you for tuning in and for being a part of tonight.
Sean Hurley: Same here!
AOLiveMC5: OK then, let's get right to the questions.
Question: Is this your first national tour?
Matthew Scannell: No, we started touring in 1993 around the country. This is our first tour behind a hit single, but not our first national tour.
Question: Is there a certain band that you had a lot of fun touring with?
Sean Hurley: Right now we are on tour with Strobe 9, a band we've spent a lot of time with in the last few weeks. Some of my favorite guys in the world.
Matthew Scannell: I had a lot of fun touring with a band called Jackopierce back in the day. Four years ago, that is. :)
Question: Do the lyrics of “Everything You Want” hold any personal significance to you guys?
Matthew Scannell: Yes, absolutely! I try to write about topics that mean something to me, because we play so many shows during the year, and if you didn't mean it when you wrote it, you would be sick of the songs. I think it is very important to write songs about things you believe in. For me, “Everything You Want” is about that feeling you have when someone you love doesn't see you in the same way. That can be really frustrating.
Question: Which album do you think best represents the band as a whole, both lyrically and musically?
Matthew Scannell: That's a good question! If the question is the band as a whole, I'd say this last record. It was the first time that we had the opportunity to sit down and concentrate on songwriting for an extended period of time. Throughout all the other albums, we were continually touring, and it made it hard, at times, to focus. For this record, we were able to really work hard at making something we would be very proud of, and I think “Everything You Want” is our best effort yet.
Sean Hurley: This is the first record that I am on, but I've been in a lot of different bands and have done recordings with other bands, and this recording process was the most fun and allowed everyone to put in their heart and soul and feel like it was their project. I think it's a great record and a great band record that everybody in this band is in love with. I'd like to encourage people to see us live -- we're the same band that's on the record, but we've been working so hard together, we're hitting new plateaus, and it's exciting to share with people.
Question: Longtime fans have noticed that Keith has been singing less, and Matt sings more often. Is there any significance to that?
Matthew Scannell: The only significance to that is that Keith has been writing a little less and I've been writing a little more. But everybody is still incredibly important to this band, and Keith fills an incredibly important role.
Question: How did you come up with the name Vertical Horizon for your band's name?
Matthew Scannell: The truth is, Keith and I were playing in Washington, DC in 1991 and we needed a name fast. Keith thought it up one day when we were joking around, and the band started to do really well so just kept the name, and it has taken on its own life since then. But the name itself doesn't really mean anything -- it's just two words that sound cool together.
Question: Will "Glass Waltz" ever make it onto an album?
Matthew Scannell: It might. We have lots of songs that we would love to put on our next record, and it will just depend on the recording process, to see which one sounds the best. But I'd love to hear "Glass Waltz" on a record.
Question: How does it feel to have your video getting some airplay on MTV?
Sean Hurley: It feels strange... and exciting! But I have yet to see it as I'm watching TV. I don't have a lot of time to watch TV, so it's more fun to hear friends and family members who have seen it. It's exciting that people like it and want to see it. We just feel very lucky.
Question: What will your next released single be?
Matthew Scannell: The next single will be the second song on the record, "You're a God," but we don't know when it will come out because we want to ride the wave of "Everything You Want" for as long as we can.
Question: What inspired you guys to write "Everything You Want"? Matthew Scannell: I wrote the song as a way to deal with some frustrating feelings about being in love. It was a hard song for me to write because of some of the painful feelings it brought up, but when I was done with it, it made me feel a whole lot better.
Question: Who are some of your role models in the music world?
Sean Hurley: Some of my role models are Sting, the Beatles, AC/DC, Rush, Otis Redding and a bunch of bass players that most of you have never heard of. Also some of my bass teachers that I studied with early on really helped me to focus my energy and are great role models, too.
Matthew Scannell: Mine are Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian, Michael Hedges, Erik Johnson, Michael Landau and James Taylor.
Question: Do you and the other band members ever have any conflicts over what songs to use when cutting an album?
Matthew Scannell: First of all, that's a good question! Making a record is always about choosing the best songs, and one of the hardest things to do is to choose which song is better than another, so there are always going to be difficult moments when choosing which songs make it on a record and which ones don't. But we are very lucky in this band because we are all very clear in our desire to make the best record we possibly can.
AOLiveMC5: That's a good quality in a group.
Question: What song do you like the most on your recent album, and why?
Sean Hurley: It changes almost daily! Today, "Finding Me" and "Miracle" are my favorites.
Matthew Scannell: I think I'm proud of every song on this record, so it's hard to choose. But right now I would choose "Everything You Want" and "Shackled."
Question: Have you guys known each other for a long time?
Matthew Scannell: Keith and I met in 1991 at school together in Washington, DC. We met Ed about five years ago in Boston, and Keith and I met Sean two years ago in Boston, so Sean is our newest member... and we love him the most.
AOLiveMC5: We are nearing the end of our time onstage, so here is on last question.
Question: What do you look forward to accomplishing in the next year or so?
Sean Hurley: Release singles and trying to find out each one of our fans’ favorite breakfast cereal, if possible. :) We've been working so hard that, with these opportunities that have opened up because of “Everything You Want,” we're going to do all that we can in the next year to bring our music to everyone who wants to hear it.
Matthew Scannell: I want to learn how to bake blueberry muffins.
AOLiveMC5: Thank you, Vertical Horizon, for joining us this evening.
Matt and Sean: We love our fans, and thank you for helping us to do this.
AOLiveMC5: It has been our pleasure.
Portions of this transcript may be edited by AOL to correct spelling, punctuation and/or remove any material that violates AOL's Terms of Service.
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