The Better Days Ahead.

Have you heard of BDA (Better Days Ahead) lately? We had a chance to sit down with them and see what was on their minds…

Well, this isn’t a live interview, so I’ll try to ask some basic questions and then maybe do another reply after we get past this.

Jonathan: Let’s start out with some basics. Your band’s name is Better Days Ahead, also known has BDA. Where did this name come from and what does it mean to you guys?

Better Days Ahead (BDA): Well we sort of stumbled on it really, haha. We were thinking of band names right when we first formed, and just decided that it sounded really cool.

Jonathan: Has the meaning of the band’s name or the direction of the band changed at all since you started playing together?

BDA: Oh definitely, we didn’t realize how much spiritual foundation that BDA had when we decided on it. And more so, we didn’t realize how much our band would hold onto that meaning while we were (and really still are) going through transition times, or hard times.

Jonathan: I know this is a broad question, but what is the focus of the band? State the obvious and also state something that isn’t so obvious so we can get a little better feel about your band.

BDA: We just have a real heart for Christians, and especially Christian kids. A lot of bands want to get into mainstream music and that’s totally awesome. But for us, we just love playing for youth groups and churches. We feel like a lot of CCM bands nowadays loose sight of that and get to caught up in getting into the mainstream.

Jonathan: Let’s go back a bit. Where are you guys from? How did the band, Better Days Ahead, actually form?

BDA: Well, the band started at a small college in Illinois, but we are all from different parts of the country. Dave’s from NJ, Jake and Clint are from IL, Ben’s from PA, and Sean is from FL. We added Sean to the lineup recently, so Dave, Clint, Jake, and Ben are the 4 original members.

Jonathan: Of all the Christian genres out there, what would classify your band as?

BDA: Well it really depends on what your favorite genre is…because that’s basically what we sound like…

BDA: Seriously though, haha, we are a guitar driven rock pop band. Notice the rock before the pop…yeah it’s like that.

Jonathan: Why would you classify it as such?

BDA: Well we definitely hold true to a lot of things pop, such as melody and harmony, but our newer stuff is definitely fairly aggressive.

Jonathan: I know a lot of Christian bands that don’t really start out as Christian or weren’t Christians when they were younger. Maybe this is true for your band, maybe it isn’t. Can each of you or a few of you give some of your backgrounds as far as faith goes and explain where you’re coming from?

BDA: Well Jake and Clint are both from a Baptist background and played in a Christian band in High School called “Rain”. Ben grew up in an Evangelical Free church, and also played in a local Christian band called “New Season”. Dave went to a CMA Church and his band had more names than shows, haha. Sean, used to be in a vocal pop group in Florida called “Covenant.” They were kind of like NYSNC, but better.

Jonathan: Have you guys been in the studio at all lately or have you been touring? What’s been going on lately with your lives?

BDA: Well, we just got Sean on board as our new lead singer, so we are wasting no time at all getting going here for 2006. We are going back in the studio with Scott Williamson again, this November to start work on our next project. So we won’t be touring too much for the rest of 2005. But we are so excited to get our new material into all you guys’ hands and to have all of you meet Sean.

Jonathan: Do you have any plans to start touring the West Coast?

BDA: Hey as soon as y’all have us out! Well we don’t have anything set right now, but we have a few fans out there from when we toured it with Warren Barfield, so we’d love to come back.

Jonathan: While touring, do you play just the older stuff from your debut album or have you starting playing the newer stuff to start spreading the word about your new album?

BDA: We’ve started playing a few new songs. We start our set with a new groove tune called “One in a Million.” But don’t worry we definitely still play all your fav’s from the old record.

Jonathan: What have been some of the major artists in your guys’ lives as far as influences go? Describe that in regards to both music and to just life in general.

BDA: Well we all grew up big fans of CCM, Jars of Clay was the reason Ben even started playing guitar, and the reason a lot of us went to college to study music. But them aside as a band we are very musically diverse so it’s hard to say. Warren Barfield has been a really good friend to us over the past year, but musically we’re not that close to him. We got to know each other when we were on Creative Trust Workshop together and then when we toured with him. He’s really good at telling it like it is, haha.

Jonathan: Is there anything else you want to share in this interview?

BDA: Thank you guys so much for interview us, we did just want to say that in case you haven’t gathered this over the course of this interview, Matt has left band. Definitely on a good note and he is still one of our close friends, but he felt like God was calling him to his original home in South Carolina. So we definitely wish him the best in all. But the good news is we did pick up a new lead singer named Sean Perdue and we are very, very excited about what he is going to mean to this group. This past year has seen a lot of ups and downs for BDA, but ultimately we know that God is in control and that he is faithful. So with that said, we are very excited for the future with Sean and this is all a very big step forward for us. God Bless!