Back From the Dead

It was 1993 when we first heard of this group that was bringing us this hardcore rap sound with an intense lyrical message. Pulling no punches they let us know that they were here for one reason, to help the weak in spirit and to save the hardcore.With an almost 6 year break from music rapper/frontman David Vasquez a.k.a. CycoLoco has resurected Life Sentence with the intent to start the party and not stop until God says so.

TIFF:  “Tell us a little about your band members.”

DAVID:  “First we have, myself, then we have Bruce Williamson, he’s another rapper, writer. And we have TJ, Tony Johnson and he’s our producer, he does all the music. And we have Malcolm Carey, he’s the scratcher, mixer.”

TIFF:  “Which of these band members were with you from the beginning?”

DAVID:  “From the first time we started there was Malcolm and then Brian, but Brian is no longer with the group, he moved to Texas.  And TJ, well, TJ was there, he just hung out with us. He didn’t do any of the music, but he hung out with us and stuff.”

TIFF:  “He was a good supporter then?”

DAVID:  “Yeah, he was pretty cool.”

TIFF:  “Tell me about Bruce, he’s new right?”

DAVID:  “Bruce is the new guy.  I met him at the International Church of Las Vegas.  And, um, just one day I was just getting back into the ministry, back into Life Sentence, and, it’s pretty cool, how this happened.  I was kicking back and listening to the sermon and stuff, and I saw him. And I felt like I really had to go talk to the guy.  And it was like not an audible voice, but like a yearning to, not, well, you know what I mean.  That kinda sounds cheesy. (laughs)  But, uh, I was feeling that God was telling me to go talk to him. And I had no idea why, because at that point I wasn’t too sure I was going to go back into the music ministry.  So I went and talked to him and I found out that he wrote and he sang, and man, can he sing, he can really sing.  And, um, so we started talking about the music ministry and what I used to do and stuff like that.  And we just got together and kicked it off.  We just started writing together and stuff like that.  So he’s pretty cool.  He’s like my right hand man.”

TIFF:  “So when did you originally start Life Sentence?”

DAVID:  “Life Sentence originally started back in ‘93.  When I moved back from Las Vegas.  I used to live in Las Vegas on my own.  I moved back from Las Vegas to California and, um, I can’t remember how it all fell into place.  I don’t know who it was that got me started with it, but I just knew I wanted to do something , I wanted to be apart of ministry, or any type of ministry and I loved music and I loved rap. I liked rap music but I also liked all kinds of other styles like hard thrash stuff.  So I met TJ and I met Bernard.  Tj introduced me Malcolm and then Malcolm introduced me to Brian who did our music.  So that’s how we got started.  Then I just started writing.  That’s how we formed Life Sentence."

TIFF:  “What happened to Life Sentence?”                                                         

DAVID:  “Well, we were going on for awhile.  Life Sentence was uh, going on for about,  not even that long.  Maybe a year.  And uh, we pushed our stuff out.  We had a lot of chances to get signed by a lot of different companies and stuff.  But nothing clicked, nothing felt right.  And at that time, with our producer, the main guy that did our music and stuff, he wasn’t ready for it.  He wasn’t ready for that type of ministry and stuff like that.  So, uh, so we just stopped for awhile until we could get some more people and change it up.  But I couldn’t find anybody that good.  It took awhile.  A long while.  And God just changed my direction to other things.  I got out of that and I just started hanging out on my own.  Just trying to get myself stronger.  Before any of that I went through many trials.  

A lot of stuff.  Crazy stuff."

TIFF:  “So, now your back.  When did you decide you were going to start Life Sentence again?”

DAVID:  Well, when I first started Life Sentence I used to write lyrics and when I wrote my lyrics I felt like they were inspired and stuff, and one of my lyrics was that , 'I’m not gonna stop until my God says so,' and that was one of my lyrics.  And that affected me for the rest of my, well ever since then.   It really did.  And I kept hearing that over and over and over and over and over and over again.  It was like constantly, and then finally I gave up and I said ok,  I made a promise to You. It was a promise that I made.  When you write lyrics or when you say anything,  your saying stuff, not only are you just saying something but it’s something that is not only inspired but it’s fact.  So you really gotta watch what you write."

"I really want to effect people’s lives, I want to be apart of their life in every way I can, in any way I can . "...CycoLoco

TIFF:  “ So you want to stand behind what you say?”

DAVID:  “Right, right.  It’s not something you just go out and start saying and then just run off like a lot of people that are out there.  People promise you a lot of things and it doesn’t come through.  But when God promises you something, it’s fact.  So I thought about being back in ministry.  I started participating in youth groups and youth ministry and, um, I did that for awhile, but still that wasn't my main goal.  It wasn't’ right there.  It just wasn’t complete.  And one day when I got prayed for at church everything just clicked everything just started clicking together.”

TIFF:  “So, that’s when you knew it was the right time to start back up?”

DAVID:  “Yeah, it was right then.  It was just perfect timing.  And windows started opening and I just started jumping through them." (laughs)

TIFF:  “Is that what you mean about 'back from the dead'?”

DAVID:  “That would probably be about 50% of what I mean about 'back from the dead'."

TIFF:  “It’s a double meaning then?”

DAVID:  “What I mean about ‘back from the dead’ is um, I was dead when I was in the world. No man truly lives until he knows Christ.  So, when I was out in the world and stuff  I was the dead.  And not until I turned back and said, I’m going to give Christ my life, that’s when I started truly living.  That’s where our scripture comes from too, John 5:24."

TIFF:  “What is it like living in Las Vegas compared to living in California?”

DAVID:  “Compared to California?  Well, the music scene is not that big out there for one.  But as far as living life out there in Vegas, it’s a challenge.  Every day, it’s a challenge.  Well, in California, you can drive down the street and not see naked people up on billboards all the time, and stuff like that.  Out in Las Vegas it’s on every taxi cab, billboard, milk carton, (laughs) it’s everywhere.  And the gambling is all over the place.  You can walk into Vons and the first thing you see is the slot machines.  And, but people call it ‘sin city’, but I think God is doing major things in Las Vegas.  We go to an awesome church, West Valley Assembly.  They are getting ready to change their name though, International Church of Las Vegas.  And, um I’ve been with that church for a long time and it’s booming.  It started off with, I’d say about 300 people and now we're 3,000 plus.  The ministry is so strong out there and so needed that they started other churches like the Church on the Street.  All kinds of ministries which are needed big time out there.  So what we’re doing is we’re affiliated with that church.  So they are sending us out.  So we are a part of the ministry that that church produced.  But as far as lifestyles and stuff, it’s alright.  It’s pretty much the same thing.  You just gotta be prayed up a lot more.  You’ve got to be prayed up like 180% out there.  Out here you maybe can probably walk out the door and forget accidentally and catch up with yourself in the car.  Out there you're in trouble if you walk out the door without praying.” (laughs)

TIFF:  “So, what do you see in the future for Life Sentence and your ministry?"

DAVID:  “What I see and what God wants are pretty much two different things.  What I want and I would like for Life Sentence is that God could throw us out there and have us minister to the world. I would love to do that I look at Life Sentence as a ministry more than just a band because if we’re just going to be another band out there.  I’ll just stay home I'll buy the record . (laughs)  I really want to effect people’s lives I want to be apart of their life in every way I can, in any way I can .  So Life Sentence is more of a ministry.  So I'm just hoping that God will send us out there, so whatever God decides to do for us is what we’ll do.  So it’s cool."

TIFF:  “If you can, try to sum up Life Sentence and how it’s different this time around.”

DAVID:  “Well, to sum up the whole Life Sentence thing, is that I’m coming out harder than ever before.  I’ve been slowed down once, I’ve been back and I don’t like what I saw.   But now I’m coming back stronger and harder than ever.  I’m focusing.  My entire focus is on God and what He wants to do in my life and the full on ministry.  It’s going to take the rapture for me stop what doing.  And that’s it.  I mean, my lyrics I write in this song it’s called ‘What Ya Gonna Do’.  The lyrics sum it up right there. They go , 'When Cycolocoz on the set, demons break north because they’re afraid of a brutha who’s never stepping back but constantly moving forth.   If the devil wants a duel, then it’s a duel to the death and I’ll be laying ya’ll demons down ‘til my very last breath'."

TIFF:  “ Cool. Thanks Dave. We’ll be looking forward to seeing you play at RHYTHMSTX."