If you’re an MTV addict like me, you may have seen 12 Stones’ first video “Broken” a few months back when it was getting a lot of airplay or you may have heard their single “My Life” on “The Scorpion King” soundtrack. They are among several rock bands like P.O.D. and Creed that believe in having a positive message in their songs. Even though they don’t preach religion like some Christian bands, they still believe it’s good to have God on their side. They are just getting a chance to take a break after a nationwide tour with Creed and Sevendust and I had the pleasure of talking by phone with their vocalist and songwriter, Paul McCoy.
Hornback: First off, on behalf of The Renegade Rip, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
McCoy: Thank you guys for having me, I appreciate it.
Hornback: Where did the name 12 Stones come from?
McCoy: The name 12 Stones came from the Old Testament of the Bible, from the book of Joshua, it represents the 12 tribes of Israel and strength and power.
Hornback: So are you guys into religion?
McCoy: We’re religious on our own and we each have our own relationship with God and our own beliefs but we’re not a Christian band or anything, you know, we each have our own religious beliefs but we’re a rock band.
Hornback: How did the band get together?
McCoy: We got together at a music store about two years ago, kinda friends of friends of friends, just kinda knew each other and we just started jamming together periodically. Jam sessions turned into practice sessions and practice sessions turned into small shows and it just kinda elevated from there.
Hornback: How did the tour with Creed and Sevendust go?
McCoy: It went really well. We’re home now currently but those guys are great. All the Creed guys are cool and the Creed fans really liked what we were doing a lot. It was a really good experience. We got to play in front of tens of thousands of people a night so it was really good for us.
Hornback: How did you guys end up not playing in Bakersfield?
McCoy: Scott Stapp (of Creed) had, umm … I think it was laryngitis. I’m not really sure. For some reason they canceled the show and we’re just an opening act, there wasn’t nothing we could do to play and that’s what we love to do is play live. We ended up sitting in L.A. for two weeks and doing no shows and we ended up missing Bakersfield. We have quite a few fans in Bakersfield and we were really looking forward to playing there.
Hornback: If you guys do make it to Bakersfield, what should people expect to see when they go to your show?
McCoy: A 12 Stones show is really kinda straightforward, there’s no gimmicks. We just come out and give it 150 percent of our energy and really put ourselves into the songs. We try to be a band that if you like the CD and you like to listen to a CD player and jam out, we want you to really enjoy the live show. We know when people are paying to go see Creed and they’re paying 50-some-odd dollars to come to a rock show, you kinda want to get your money’s worth. We’re really high energy on stage and we have a lot of interaction with the crowd and a lot of one-on-one stuff you know.
Hornback: What’s the craziest thing that’s happened while you were on tour?
McCoy: We were doing a show in Canada. We were having a lot of fun with Creed’s road crew, we got to be really good friends with them, and they turned all our stuff upside down, our banner and everything, and they sprayed us down with water during the set, it was pretty weird.
Hornback: What does your family think of your success?
McCoy: My family’s great, they love what we do. They’re like our biggest fans you know. My dad’s pretty much heading up the street team on our Web site. They’re really, really supportive of what we do.
Hornback: What do you feel about the MP3 sharing on the Internet?
McCoy: MP3s are cool because you know, as a music fan myself, I’m not sure that I’d want to pay however much it is for CDs to buy a CD from a band I’ve never heard. So I think that if your kids are gonna download the music that means they like the music and if they’re gonna like the music then they’re gonna want to come to the shows. You build more loyal fans I think by letting them have access to your music sometimes for free. At least they’re downloading the songs and not like not downloading them I guess.
Hornback: What are your plans for the future?
McCoy: Well right now, we’re just kinda taking a little bit of time off. We just finished the Creed tour and we’re working on material for an upcoming album, just kinda doing some preproduction here and there. And we’re gonna do a few shows in the South-east, that’s kinda where were from, and do shows around here to kinda stay on top of the live shows and hopefully at the beginning of next year we’ll release another single and get back out on tour and play as many shows as we can.
Hornback: If you could stand up in front of all the students at Bakersfield College, what would you tell them?
McCoy: Basically just believe in yourself and don’t let anybody hold you back from reaching your full potential because if you know what you want to do and you know what your goals are, then that’s all that matters. At the end of the day you have to look at yourself in the mirror and be either excited with what you’ve accomplished or be upset with what you’ve accomplished, so you should strive to do what you’ve always wanted to do and don’t settle for second best.
– For more information on 12 Stones, check out their Web site at www.12stones.com.