Q: Do you all contribute in the creative process or do you have one person who is the creative force behind the music?

Housefly Army: Chris will usually come to practice with a new idea for a song he wants to try or with a song he's already put together. Then we'll all work on our parts and tweak it during practice. Chris's ideas are mostly a starting point where we each add our own perspective, sometimes morphing the song into a completely different animal. This is what happened with the song "Please," the third song on our new CD. It started as an apologetic mournful tune and along the way we added more rhythm and upbeat intensity that give the song its depth.

Q: What is the creative process like for Housefly Army?

Housefly Army: Most of our songs started out as a simple guitar riff in Chris's mind after he read or saw something that struck him in a meaningful way. That's always the foundation of our music and the lyrics, drums, and guitar all build on that one original idea. We'll usually take the basics of the song we're working on and then jam together for a while until we figure out what works best. The music itself will usually guide us to what the final outcome of the song should be.

Q: You have a CD that is out now, what was the recording process like for you guys?

Housefly Army: It was a blast. This CD was amazing for us all because it was everyone's first real studio experience. It felt like we were capturing lightning in a bottle but looking back it was really a few sporadic marathon days spread out across a couple months. Everything on this CD was trial and error, figuring out how to be experimental and still capture the energy of our live show in each song with the short amount of time we had to record was a challenge. We learned so much making this CD and that experience will really show up when we get ready to record our next CD.

Q: How involved are you on the production side of making a CD?

Housefly Army: We were all very involved in the production of this CD. We worked with River Tunnell, a great engineer whose band One Up is currently doing a USO tour overseas. River was really patient with all of our wacky ideas and he helped bring focus to some of our songs during the mixing process. The entire process was a learning experience for us all but because we were all directly involved we were able to translate the most important parts into each song or re-record certain sections on the spot until it felt right.

Q: Housefly army is donating 10% of online CD sales to the troops in Iraq; you also have sent over 100 copies of your CD to our troops over there. What prompted the band to do this?

Housefly Army: We all know that the soldiers in Iraq are giving up a lot of things in their lives right now to be in a place they don't really want to be. No matter what your stand on the war is, either for or against it, the soldiers are still there. The war started while we were recording this disc and we couldn't ignore that what is going on in the world is also influencing our ideas, music and shows. Donating the CD's was our way of trying to give back, in some small way, what our friends, family and fans are giving up to be there. We took a lot of heat for this idea from all sides. Some people thought we should give way more than we could afford and some people and bands thought we shouldn't have any opinion about the war at all, much less try to do something positive for the troops. In the end we just did what we thought was the right thing to do.

Q: Are there any plans for another album?

Housefly Army: Absolutely! Since we recorded our self-titled debut CD, Housefly Army has done some of its best writing. Our studio experiences have helped evolve our sound into places we always wanted it to go. It's so awesome to see people coming out to our shows that only know the songs from our CD and our fans have really responded to the new material we've been playing. Our CD just came out but people are already asking when the next one will be ready. It feels great to connect with so many people through music.

Q: Housefly Army is classified as an Indie band. Is there any plans of seeking a major label deal?

Housefly Army: As long as we can have creative control that's a strong possibility. There are definitely some advantages that come along with having a recording budget and some distribution channels already in place. Right now it's great that we're winning over fans one show at a time, but not everyone gets out to see live music and we haven't been able to tour outside of Texas yet. Most of our music isn't chopped into nice 3-minute blocks of pop so it's harder to get radio play and win over new fans. A major label might bring some wider exposure to the table that we need to keep growing.

Q: With all of the Indie bands that are vying for everyone's attention do you feel like you get love and support from other bands or is there more of a competitiveness?

Housefly Army: The Dallas music scene is very competitive, although we tend to stand out because of our style of music. The live energy Housefly Army brings to each show is subtler but it hits the audience just as intensely as any scream-core band out there. Some of our biggest fans are guys from the other bands we play with. There is always a little competitiveness out there, but almost everyone we've been in contact with has always been supportive. There is just a sense of unity because we all working hard for the same thing ... to share your music, your art, with the world.

Q: What can we expect to see from Housefly Army in the future?

Housefly Army: We are completely focused on writing and performing as much as possible right now. We have enough material for our next album so we will be back in the studio very soon.

Q: What are your personal thoughts on the tragic death of Dimebag Darrell Abbott of Damage Plan?

Housefly Army: Everyone in Texas music is influenced directly and indirectly by what Dimebag brought to the scene. He was always really supportive of local bands and he was definitely a gifted and talented musician. This is not only a loss to the metal scene but the whole music community as well. The fact that a crazed "FAN" killed him on stage is scary since these are the people you are going out to entertain and then something senseless like this happens ... it's just tragic.

Q: Do you think venues should implement added security measures such as frisking patrons before they enter the venue?

Housefly Army: No. It's not like that kind of thing happens all the time and I don't think Darrell would have wanted it that way either. He loved to play shows, the crazier the better. It might happen again someday but we shouldn't go crazy with security measures for one incident. That would be like people being required to go through metal detectors before getting in their car because of all the road rage shootings. I honestly don't think you can stop a crazy person, someone who doesn't want to be stopped, this crazy fucker ended up dying so he could accomplish his mission to kill Dimebag what's to say he wouldn't have taken out a security guard or two to get past them if they wanted to search him, they are unarmed and there is little you can do to stop a bullet or a man with a gun. 99.99% of the people are there to have a good time its that 1 in a million loon that people worry about and that will drive you nuts.... Yes, I want to be safe but not at the expense of my personal freedoms.

Housefly Army is:
Chris Moss: Lead Guitar, Vocals
Alan Grieco: Bass
Peter Grieco: Skins
David McClellen: Guitar, Vocals

Housefly Army is from Dallas, Tx and regularly plays shows in the Dallas area. Their self titled album is now available at Houseflyarmy.com. You can also visit them online at Myspace.com/houseflyarmy.

Interview by Melissa Deskovic - © 2004 Florida Entertainment Scene - All Rights Reserved.