IGN: Do you think it's more difficult with extensive touring, like you just spend so much time with the same people? Ryan: Definitely. Ryan: I think ZZTop is the band that has been together the longest in the history of music with the same core members. Wes: Pearl Jam has had a couple drummer switches. They have great songs and they're a great band and you're just like, "Man, such a hard road out there to get to the place that this band has gotten to," and you just feel bad. Ryan: I see a lot of baby bands that you kind of feel bad for.
Yeah, you see a lot of switching going on behind the scenes that some people don't even catch sometimes. IGN: Do you feel like you see a lot of other bands going through that? Wes: Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. What's the hardest thing about being in a rock band? Wes: Finding people you can enjoy playing music with and getting along with, or else it'll just turn into a big nightmare. He's like, "Oh, not so fast buddy, now you gotta go REALLY do it." IGN: Now you've got to go do it. I got to be in this band for a while and it's pretty cool but man, you know I've got a kid and I'd appreciate it a lot," and then I went to sleep and woke up. Wes: I said a prayer to God that night before I went to bed, I was like, "Hey, you know God, I just wanted to thank you so much for giving me this gift.
That's like the rock dream, you know, to hand your demo to somebody and then actually get picked up. Get on the plane and come to LA and we'll go ahead and sign you up." I'm like, "Come on, man…" He's like, "Go to New Orleans and fly into Los Angeles and do some showcases." Here's this number." So I'm like "Hello?" and he's like, "Yeah, yeah man. The next thing you know, I'm in Alabama and I'm getting crazy phone calls from a friend of mine like, "I don't know what happened, dude, but you've got to go to LA. I mean I started the band in KC in '92/'93 and then worked and jammed and tried to get it going for a long time, saw a lot of band members come and go, come and go, come and go and then when I was about ready to hang my hat up, I went to Family Values, brought a demo tape, didn't really want to go… My buddy made a fake backstage pass and we got backstage and gave it to Fred Durst's security guard, and then he gave it to Fred, Fred jammed it, another guy Danny and Jordan, they all loved it.
IGN: So, you guys have been at this for 17 years? Wes: Yeah.