MT's Interview with DARKLAND

Hello everyone!

I was recently interviewed by an indie 'zine
out of New York called DARKLAND.

Here it is...enjoy!

Tell me about the CD Outside the Design.

It started off as a concept record but has now shifted to more of a centralized theme. That theme is the choices we make and how it affects our lives and the lives of those close to us. With all that has happened to both me personally and the band this year the story side of things started to fade away and the theme of choices seemed to rise to the surface. We are looking at tracking the CD in the spring with our producer, Chris Mara (www.chrismara.com), at the house that we practice in, which is owned and occupied by Scott (bass). Kind of like the Red Hot Chili Peppers "bloodsugarsexmagic", we would live in the house and pretty much eat, sleep and breathe this record. With the recent addition of people downloading entire CD's off of websites, its making less and less sense to us to sink a ton of money into duplication of thousands of Cd's. We are looking at alternate ways to get our music out there thats exciting and new to the music listener.

What is your attraction to progressive metal?

It's what Ive always felt inside. Its the best platform for a release. Not just the release of ideas, but the emotional release writing and preforming these songs brings with it. We don't always play shows to sold out audiences or make tons of money, but one thing that is always there when we get off that stage is that feeling: like someone just emptied the bin of emotional garbage. I think we all need this in our life because with out it we would slowly submerge into the cracks of society.

Was this the first time you played the Red Gorilla Music festival?

Yes it was, and hopefully not the last! Travis (X-drummer) and I attended SXSW in '04, so we had a pretty good idea of what to expect as far as people and vibe. It was fantastic, a really great experience all around. Playing that show helped pave the way for us to do a national college radio campaign which then lead into some licensing opportunities on cable television.

What would you like to see more/less of in American metal?

I think Metal is in the best state its been in awhile. Id like to see more bands push themselves musically to create something unique and amazing. Otherwise we risk the chance of diluting our scene with crap and it becomes harder and harder for new Metal fans to find and be turned on to great stuff.

How is the scene in Minnesota?

Its a pretty good scene. Theres a lot of fans of live music and bands playing metal. I moved here in 2002 from Madison, WI, a place that saw few metal bands in the local scene. Then once Xerus got out and started playing shows, I couldn't believe how many talented bands we wound up playing with. For the most part everyone gets along great and theres very little attitude, were all in it for pretty much the same reasons.

Ready to Rock!

Hey everyone!
Theres some interesting news on the Xerus front
I feel is worth updating you all about.

Travis has returned behind the kit,
rejuvenated and ready to rock.

We are now concentrating on getting the songs for the new
CD as tight and amazing as they can be.

We have also begun booking shows.
At the moment the only one we have is Thursday,
April 3rd at Club Underground with Screaming Blood Skull
and someone else TBA.

We hope to have shows in all parts of the
Midwest booked soon, so stay tuned!
We might be comin' to your neighborhood!

Back On The Hunt

Just wanted to let everyone know that
we are once again on the hunt for a drummer.

Mark is a great guy with amazing chops,
things just were not meshing the way we had hoped.
We wish Mark nothing but the best!

We are currently in talks with a few people,
we hope to announce whats next soon.

More to come...

The search is over! We are complete!

Hey everybody.
Hope everyone is having a good '08 so far.

Xerus is once again a fully functioning three piece!

We have found ourselves a drummer
by the name of Mark Steffens.
Mark has played in many projects that
have taken him all over the country.
Most recently he was rocking the
skins in a band called Zion Tribe.
Before that he was in a cover band called Drive Time.
The change up of drummers will of course
change the very core of our sound.
With that said, we think Mark will fit nicely and
bring a new vibe and feel to Xerus
while still honoring our sound.

We are ready to get back on track with
everything we have always been up to:
writing, practicing, playing shows
and recording our next CD.

We hope to be back out on stage for you
by the spring with the new CD to follow soon after.

Thanks again to all who have supported us
during this "downtime" in Xerus.
Its that much more fun to get up on stage and
do what we do knowing that there
are people out there who want to hear it!

Thank you.

2008 Is Goan Be Great

Happy New Year Xerus fans!

Well what a year 2007 was for Xerus! Without a doubt our "biggest" year to date: Getting the chance to play the Red Gorilla Music Fest in Austin, TX during SXSW in March, having over 150 college radio stations nation wide put us in rotation, finishing second place in the Whiskey Wars in May, getting "..this impossible everything" licensed to four cable television shows in August...it was a helluva year.

Much of this wouldn't have been possible without help from many different people. Our producer Chris Mara, Jon from Tinderbox Music, Brian and Kevin from Dreamscapers and Rae from Soup Music Company, we thank you all so very, very much for your help in making 2007 the amazing year that it was for us.

Our focus lately has been on the auditioning of prospective drummers, which has been going well. We are close to announcing who will be sitting behind the kit in the coming weeks. We cannot thank all of you enough for your words of encouragement during the last couple of months. It has meant so much to us. We hope to be back on stage by spring with a new CD soon to follow.

We'd also like to thank all of the bands we shared a stage with in '07. There is some great talent here in the Midwest and we feel lucky to be a part of a scene that supports one another like we all do.

We hope you all will stay tuned to what we are up to in 2008 and continue to support local music!

Much more to come!

The Future of Xerus

Hello Xerus fans!

I have an important update to notify all of you about.
After almost five years behind the kit with us,
our drummer Travis has decided to leave Xerus for personal reasons.
The band wishes him the best of luck on all of his future endeavours.
As sad as we are to see Travis go, thats how the music business
goes at times and there is no time to waste.

We have had a tremendous year and hope to capitalize
on all of the hard work we have done.
Our main focus now is to find a drummer and record
our next CD with a tour to follow asap.

A little bit about us and where we are headed:
Our overall goal is to gain a national fan base
while using the Internet and touring as means of financial stability.
Most of us know that releasing Cd's is not the best
way to make money in this business.
With the slow inevitable death of that medium
it has opened up the doors for us and every artist to release
music in new and unique ways.
Record labels as we know it are almost dead and practically
everyone is accessible through the Internet.
Through our college radio campaign and playing the
Red Gorilla Music fest during South by Southwest
we have set the ground work for a national audience.
Now its time to capitalise on this by doing those things again
(and much more) with the next CD and then extensive touring behind it.
We have transportation and connections throughout
the nation so its just a matter of putting in the work
that needs to be done and making it happen.

As far as what we are looking for in a drummer:
A highly motivated and high energy individual
who is ready to make a career out of music.
Our ideal candidate will be willing to put in the time
and money it takes to get the name and sound of Xerus
into every set of ears all over the world.
We are proud of the songs we create and are serious
about making this a career.
Musically were looking for someone who wants
to do whats right for the song.
Please check out our myspace and our website for a sample
of past songs and to get an idea of what we sound like.
I can get you a CD of newer stuff and live tracks as well.

I also wanted to take a moment and thank
each and everyone of you who have seen us live,
bought a Cd or not turned the station when we come on!
We appreciate each and everyone of you out there
and you are the main reason we keep on keepin' on.
We hope that you all will continue to support us
and are as excited as we are for this new phase of Xerus!

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

--
M T Letsinger

Whiskey Junction Bow Out

We are very sorry to announce that we will not be performing
at the Whiskey Junction on November 8th.
Drummer Travis has taken a hiatus for an indefinite amount of time.
As sad as this is we do wish him all the best.

Scott and myself are continuing on with Xerus.
We are looking for a drummer and are currently
working on songs for a full length release sometime in 2008.
Please contact us via email if you are interested
in getting together and jamming with us.

We will continue to update you on the
progression of this next phase of Xerus.
Thank you so much for being our fan...
we promise you wont regret it.