"People die and I don't want to be unsure about what's gonna happen when I die"

Straight out of FourteenG's homeland of Chicago, The Fold is born into an array of emo and generic music, clawing to stand above. The Tooth & Nail rockers broke through the thin glass with their debut release, This Too Shall Pass, which catches the ear of alternative fans anywhere. The Fold took a break for this year's Warped Tour to hang out with the fans at the Cornerstone Festival, drawing in a new crowd.

Maggie: Please, would you introduce yourself and what you do in the band?

Daniel: Yes, Daniel from The Fold. I'm the singer, and also a hack at the guitar.

Maggie: Awesome, well I want to ask you about "This Too Shall Pass". I actually love the title of the album, and the song, too, is amazing. Could you tell me what it means to you and what the song means to you?

Daniel: Yeah, I guess the reason we started doing this band is just because I realized all my life, all I wanted to do was be in a band, and my hope was in that and when it wasn't going well I was miserable. So I had to tell myself that this, just like everything else, is going to pass, if I can just put my hope in other things and just have fun with it, and not so much have it be the only thing that I'm hoping on, chances are I'll have fun and chances are things will go better. So I gave it a shot and that's kind of what this record's about, realizing that there's bigger things in life than even music, which was always the biggest thing to me.

Maggie: I like the title a lot, I don't know why. It stuck out at me because I've been going through things and, like, I was looking up your band, I did research, to put questions together and I saw the title of this record and for some reason it just struck me as amazing because it was, like, perfect timing. So I've been listening to your music all the way here, to be honest with you.

Daniel: Oh wow!

Maggie: It's like – I don't know.

Daniel: Did you get to see us today at the Encore 2 Stage?

Maggie: No, we didn't get here in time!

Daniel: Oh!

Maggie: We left at like eleven, we live up by Wisconsin, it took us forever to get here. Do you guys play again?

Daniel: We actually don't.

Maggie: Oh.

Daniel: We did have a slot planned, but it got canceled so...

Maggie: Oh, well I saw you at Tooth & Nail Tour.

Daniel: Oh, cool!

Maggie: Yeah, in April.

Daniel: In Chicago?

Maggie: Yeah. It was pretty cool. At least I got to see you once.

Daniel: Yeah.

Maggie: So are you proud of this new record you have now?

Daniel: Yeah, it's kind an accumulation of songs that we've been writing, even before this line-up was together, like, songs that I'd had even before Tooth & Nail was involved and this line-up. So I guess it was kind of like a cleansing for us to get those songs out and there's even more songs that we're excited about for the next record, but, definitely it was necessary to get those songs recorded in a tangible format and get them out to people, and we're happy to hear people like the record.

Maggie: How does it feel to come from the same area where Fall Out Boy was born?

Daniel: We love it! Like, I have never had a problem with that band because I'm a sucker for, like, a pop song and if somebody's tapping into whatever the Beatles tapped into, which I think Patrick does with those vocal notes he writes, I think that's awesome. If anything, I have problems with other genres other than pop. But I'm proud to say that we're from the same town as Fall Out Boy. We just signed with the same booking agent, so maybe we'll get to tour with them!

Maggie: (Laughs) That would be so weird!

Daniel: (Laughs) Yeah. Sorry if you hate Fall Out Boy.

Maggie: Oh no. Actually – they're from Wilmette, aren't they?

Daniel: Yeah, not too far – a little bit North of Chicago?

Maggie: Yeah, that's like 20 minutes from where I live. My friend's always like, "we'll go to his house, and we'll find him!" (Laughs)

Daniel: "I know where he lives!" (Laughs) Poor guy.

Maggie: Oh! (Laughs)

Daniel: No! (Laughs) Not because of you, because everyone knows where he lives.

Maggie: Yeah, people are stalkers, man, you'd never believe the things they find... but anyway... how did you get signed to Tooth & Nail Records?

Daniel: We had been sending them demos since this line-up got together, actually – since before, remember I said before that there were some songs that had been around before this line-up – like, I became a Christian in 2002, basically, so I've been sending music since then so I was like.. I wanted to have this message, even if it was just something in the lyrics. (Distant expression) I thought that guy just poured water on that table. (Referring to Showbread's merch guy a table over)

Maggie: (Laughs)

Daniel: I just thought if I'm gonna have my message in this lyrics – even though it's not, like, a blatant thing, like telling people to repent or they're going to Hell, I thought I should do it with the label that shares my excitement about God and just.. I don't know, it was a natural fit. So, we were sending them demos, and then after we signed I found out that they had been receiving demos all those years and they just never liked them. (Laughs) They were like, "we just didn't see the point until now". So I guess when we got this line-up together, it's been two years – I'm repeating myself a lot – that line-up, they saw a picture of us, and they thought, "this is something that should be marketed", so I guess it was kind of a business move for them, they wanted to wait. I guess they just didn't think we were ready. So they heard the music was getting better, we were a band, and they pretty much signed us right after they got the last demo that we sent in right after this line-up got together.

Maggie: Awesome. This is a random question, but – if your blood could be any color, what color would you want it to be?

Daniel: Hmm. I've never thought about it other than red. So I'm cool with red. (Laughs) Or maybe bright pink.

Maggie: That would be weird.

Daniel: That would be kind of metrosexual.

Maggie: (Laughs) That would be extreme. Was is the clearest memory that sticks out to you from being on the road? What's the best experience you've had so far while touring?

Daniel: Umm.. I think just being on that Tooth & Nail tour was cool, because it was like a new frontier for The Fold. I used to be in a band called Showoff, and we would play tours like that because we were on a major label and we kind of had all this money behind us, but for the Fold to get to that same place was just really cool because we got here on our own merit. We were signed to a smaller label and it was cool to go back to all those same venues that we went to with Showoff. It's kind of just a cool feeling I guess, my fondest memory so far.

Maggie: That was an amazing tour.

Daniel: Well thank you.

Maggie: Was that the first one that Tooth & Nail's done? Like, the official Tooth & Nail Tour?

Daniel: There's like Tooth & Nail-ish tours, like lately we did one in November or October with Project 86, Spoken, Number One Gun before they broke up and another band.. us. There were like four Tooth & Nail bands and then Morning September. So that was pretty much Tooth & Nail tour funded in some ways, but an actual Tooth & Nail Tour – that's something that only happens once a year.

Maggie: Yeah.

Daniel: To be a part of both was really amazing.

Maggie: Awesome. I just wanted to tell you from a more person, fan-level that your voice is very impressive; who influences your style? Who do you listen to a lot?

Daniel: Oh, that's easy. I could, like, pick a part every song we've ever written, because I always imitate somebody, in my own head at least. Most of the time it's Elvis Costello and I love Jimmy Eat World, so I probably rip off Jim Aktins a lot. I shouldn't admit that, but I love that band so..

Maggie: (Laughs) It's fine. It's not like they're going to come and kill you or something.

Daniel: Yeah, like he's ever heard of us. (Laughs)

Maggie: He should.

Daniel: Aww, well I'm glad you like it.

Maggie: Of course.

Daniel: I'm pretty new to being a singer so it's good to hear that you like it. (Laughs)

Maggie: You do a very good job for being new, then.

Daniel: Thank you!

Maggie: It took me a while – I can be so stubborn when it comes to music. Like I saw you guys play back then and I was like, "eh, whatever", and then when I went to ask you guys for an interview and, you know, actually got it set up and had to do some research, I listened to your recorded stuff and couldn't help but fall in love with it. Because at the Tooth & Nail Tour, I was ready to see Emery, you know. (Laughs) So it was like, "Emery, Emery, Emery, and screw everyone else!" so I didn't pay much attention to you guys at the time.

Daniel: That's even more cool that we caught your ear when you were so stuck to see Emery. Very cool. (Laughs)

Maggie: Oh. Wow. If I were to take you on a date, where would you want to eat and what would you want to do?

Daniel: Umm.. I.. I'm gonna try to think about this. Where would I want to eat? Umm... probably... Chinese food. Because – did you ever hear – our shuttle bus runs on vegetable oil?

Maggie: No!

Daniel: Well we get the vegetable oil from Chinese food restaurants so we smell the Chinese food all day when it goes through our engine, so we're always wanting Chinese food, it, like, makes us want it.

Maggie: You'd think you'd get sick of it, though.

Daniel: Yeah, you would, but it smells like free gas to us. (Laughs) So it's a good thing.

Maggie: That's amazing. I'm going to ask you about a couple of the songs on the record and if you could tell me the meanings from your own perspective, that would be great.

Daniel: Totally.

Maggie: "Going From My Lungs"? What is that about?

Daniel: That was something I wrote when we started to tour a lot more and – I got married in 2003, so it was kind of like one of those things where I wrote the song for my new wife and I just wanted to let her know. Like, "this is gonna be hard, I'm gonna be in a band that's really gonna give it a shot, I have to give it a shot, I'm gonna be gone," and if you listen to the lyrics it's very much about that feeling of uneasiness, like, I can't imagine being away from you for more than a week,  but.. it's just me trying to sort that out in a song and I think I did, but I tried.

Maggie: How about "I Believe You"?

Daniel: "I Believe You", like I said, in 2002 I became a Christian, and "I Believe You" is just my way of saying, "I don't understand this whole faith thing, but I'm gonna give it a shot; I know that there's power in it, and I'm kind of a mess by myself – God, step in". That's kind of where I was at the time, so that's song's just about letting go and giving my life to God.

Maggie: Awesome. That's gotten me really interested – how did you decide you wanted to become a Christian, or how did that happen?

Daniel: For me – it was something where I was raised – I went to a Lutheran school, so religion was, I was around it my whole life. It definitely didn't take root at all, I kind of almost laughed at it. So when I became older I just – I'd turned twenty (Laughs) I started to think about things, I lost a cousin to suicide, and I think that really woke me up, because I was just like, "people die and I don't want to be unsure about what's gonna happen when I die", so I don't know. I guess I just got into thinking more seriously about God and the afterlife and that sort of thing, and I was at a Bible study at the time.. so it kind of took root and I wanted to learn more about it, and once I did I found it to be the truth.

Maggie: That is really awesome. I'm glad I asked you that.

Daniel: Oh, yeah. (Laughs)

Maggie: A lot of musicians say they want to achieve a 'comfortable life' with their music; what would be a comfortable life, to you?

Daniel: I mean, I'm fine with being, like, not a rich guy, I never aimed to be rich. I already own a house, so I guess I'm kind of content with where I am. I just want to be able to do this..

(At this the manager of the Relevant Stage interrupts and offers The Fold to play a slot the next day; a coincidence since we'd just spoken about them not having another performance at Cornerstone)

Daniel: Sorry about that.

Maggie: Oh, no, it's fine. Hmm.. if you could ride any type of wild animal, which animal would you ride? (Laughs)

Daniel: Ooh, um, a pig is nice and low to the ground, maybe I'd want to ride a pig. And I know it could hold me.

Maggie: (Laughs)

Daniel: Those things are tough. It'd have to be a trained pig. (Laughs)

Maggie: So it wouldn't buck you off? (Laughs)

Daniel: (Laughs) Yeah, so it wouldn't kick me off.

Maggie: Okay. How important to you, as a Christian, to include spirituality in your music, in your lyrics, things like that?

Daniel: I don't know, I just think it needs to be natural. If I'm gonna write a song about going to a show and having a good time, that's what I'm gonna write about, you know? I don't want to bring God into songs just to cater to a certain type of fan, I guess. But very much when I was writing the songs on "This Too Shall Pass" and a lot of the songs for the new album, that was just what was on my mind, that's just what I think about a lot of the time, so I just think it's got to be natural, like, if it happens – it happens. If I'm going to write about other things, maybe next record I'll happen to write about God again – I don't know – I don't mean to sound impotent about God at all, I just want it to be genuine. I think that's what's first and foremost in our band is our songs need to come from our hearts or else they're just songs. Kinda silly.

Maggie: Oh, no, that was perfect, that was a near-perfect answer.

Daniel: (Laughs)

Maggie: Is there anything you'd like to ask me?

Daniel: Yeah, I'd like to, uh.. know who you're excited to see here. (Laughs)

Maggie: Oh man. (Laughs) Haste the Day. I love Haste the Day.

Daniel: Yeah.

Maggie: And Norma Jean. The whole main stage line-up tomorrow.

Daniel: Oh, they're on main stage?

Maggie: Yeah. The whole line-up for that stage tomorrow is, like, perfect for me. Like, As I Lay Dying – amazing in my eyes, you know?

Daniel: That's gotta be huge.

Maggie: But I also love, like – I actually just got done listening to Showbread.

Daniel: Oh, yeah.

Maggie: They were amazing. Most of the bands on Encore. Pretty much everybody here! (Laughs) I was just so excited to be here in general. I love heavy Christian music.

Daniel: Yeah, I was going to ask you – what took you so long to get to Cornerstone? (Laughs)

Maggie: I don't know!

Daniel: (Laughs)

Maggie: Well, I came with my youth group this year. Last year I was old enough to come, but I had no money to come separately, you know? So I guess that's the explanation.

Daniel: Yeah, it is expensive.

Maggie: Yeah, and it took me a while to get into enough bands to actually come here and enjoy the Christian music scene as a whole, you know? Because two years ago, all I wanted to see who was playing here was P.O.D. This year, I'm here for Underψath but also like – Demon Hunter and those bands.

Daniel: Well, yeah, they never tour. (Laughs) You gotta go to where they are.

Maggie: (Laughs) Yeah.

Daniel: Well that's cool.

Maggie: Yeah. Well.. I looked this up, but were you aware that Daniel means "God is my judge" in Hebrew?

Daniel: No, but.. I don't know. (Laughs) But that's cool.

Maggie: Awesome, is there anything you want to add?

Daniel: Yeah, you know we're still a new band so if you haven't heard The Fold, you can log on to www.myspace.com/thefold. You can get our CD cheaper than anywhere else at www.thefoldmusic.com and we suggest that you do so. (Laughs) And we're excited to hear from you guys, so you can say "hi" on My Space.

Maggie: Thank you so much!

We'd like to thank Daniel for being so open and to the camp of The Fold for making this interview a possibility!

Links