Recently we had the chance to talk with guitarist Jared Hartmann of Flyleaf. Below is what he had to say to us.

FES: What are your thoughts on performing on this year's rendition of the Family Values Tour?

Jared: I’m really looking forward to it. Last year was great, it will be good to play with Korn again and I think we’re going to be bumped up a slot that’s always good. The Family Values Tour is great there’s always really good food and these good venues.

Flyleaf

FES: Flyleaf's self-titled debut album has sold over 656,000 CD's, what are your thoughts on having a Gold Record?

Jared: It’s kind of overwhelming. I never, ever thought I’d be in a band first of all and once I was I never thought that would be an option. It’s overwhelming.

FES: Has the band decided when the video for "All Around Me," will be released?

Jared: It should be out soon. We got the final cut and approved it so it should be out pretty soon.

FES: What was it like to work with director Paul Fedor on the "All Around Me," Video?

Jared: It was awesome he was a really cool guy. He was really enthusiastic and full of energy the shoot didn’t go as planned. The concept is we’re in this white room through out the song there are different colors of paint that come down on our wall. It starts off with a red then goes to yellow then green, blue then black. They were doing a trial test of it on day two and what ended up happening was one of the walls collapsed because of all the weight from the paint. Paul was really cool the whole time and kept everyone’s spirits high. It was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had on a video shoot.

FES: Is "Fully Alive" about Layla Palmer? Note: wife of Kevin Palmer (lead vocalist of Amity Lane, formerly of Trust Company).

Jared: Yes it is true. Lacey wrote it after we toured with Trust Company that was one of the first tours we ever went on. That’s where she met Layla and heard about her story and that’s where she got the inspiration for the song even though she had that condition.

FES: Is it true "Again" and "Have We Lost" will be included in Flyleaf's sophomore album?

Jared: I’m not sure. That will be up to the collective minds of the producer, the label and us so I can’t say for sure.

FES: Will Flyleaf be playing any other news songs during The Family Values Tour?

Jared: I’m not sure how long our set time will be they’ll be a couple of new songs for sure I’m not sure which ones yet.

FES: When does the band plan on going into the studio and is a release date set in stone yet?

FES: There are no plans right now. We’re just writing songs whenever we have time. A lot of us have ideas but we just haven’t had time to work on them. Actually today in sound check was the first day in a while we worked on our newer songs.

FES: Will Howard Benson produce the second album too?

Jared: We don’t know for sure yet, but he’s definitely a candidate.

FES: Was it good working with him?

Jared: It was a good learning experience for our first major album recording. We learned a lot.

FES: Are there any other tour plans for Flyleaf once Family Values Tour concludes?

Jared: I think we’ll be going overseas after Family Values. After that I’m not sure what the plans are. I heard possibly a Canada tour and maybe even a European Tour.

FES: On the average how many dates a year does Flyleaf play?

Jared: We had to cancel a bunch of shows because we had been touring so much Lacey’s vocals never had time to rest and she was on the verge of getting nodules because her vocal cords were swelling and touching each other. If we didn’t take that time off she would have had to have surgery. Before that we were doing three or four [dates] in a row. Now it’s only two or three at the most. We’d toured pretty heavily the past two and a half years or so we’ve done I don’t know something like 15 national tours.

FES: Do you ever get tired from touring?

Jared: Sometimes yeah it gets into a grind. When we get stories from people that our music helped them that’s really what keeps us on the road and keeps us doing it.

FES: Flyleaf has been together since 2002 can you flash back to one of the first shows in 2002 then fast forward to one of the band's more recent shows and tell us the difference between Flyleaf then and Flyleaf now?

Jared: We’re a lot closer now. I remember our first show we played together, Pat wasn’t even in the band then we had a couple of different bass players before we had Pat. We’ve just grown a whole lot since then.

FES: Do you personally feel an obligation to be a role model to younger fans?

Jared: I don’t know if I feel obligated. I don’t know.

FES: Is it true “Cassie” is about Columbine?

Jared: Yes it is true.

FES: Was the band trying to make a statement with this song?

Jared: Lacey explains the song usually she wrote it after the shooting when she was in high school she thought it was really cool they stood up for what they believed in because not many people stand up for what they believe in anymore. Not many people I guess in America are faced with death for what they believe in.

FES: Do you have anything to say to Flyleaf fans who read this interview?

Jared: First of all thank you for listening and caring about our band. We love you all. That’s all I have to say.

FES: Jared thank you for your time I wish you and Flyleaf much success.

Jared: Thank you very much Michael.

Flyleaf is from Belton, TX and tour on a regular basis.

Flyleaf is:
Lacey Mosley – Lead Vocals
Sameer Bhattacharya – Guitar
Jared Hartmann – Guitar
Pat Seals – Bass
James Culpepper – Drums

For more artist information log onto the official Flyleaf Website.

To sample music visit the Flyleaf page at Myspace.com.

Musician Interview by Michael Montes – Copyright © 2007 Florida Entertainment Scene – All Rights Reserved.