Scott Stevens - vocals, guitar
Freddy Herrera - bass, vocals
Chris Skane - guitar, vocals
Hoss - drums

MUEN: ARE YOU ORIGINALLY FROM THE LOS ANGELES AREA?

FREDDY: Chris and I are. Scott's from Denver and Hoss is from Richmond, Virginia.

MUEN: WHEN DID YOU FIRST FORM THE EXIES?

FREDDY: Scott and I formed The Exies in 1999.

MUEN: SINCE THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE EXIES, YOU�VE ADDED CHRIS AND HOSS, WHAT BANDS WERE THEY FROM?

FREDDY: Just local bands.

MUEN: I READ THAT YOU GUYS ARE BEATLES FANS AND THAT YOUR NAME "THE EXIES" IS SHORT FOR "THE EXISTENTIALISTS" THAT WAS TAKEN FROM A JOHN LENNON BIOGRAPHY. IS THAT TRUE?

FREDDY: Yes it is. He gave it to a group of art students that were into existentialism and used to go see The Beatles play in Hamburg, Germany.

MUEN: YOUR SONG "HEY YOU" IS FEATURED ON THE PLAY STATION 2 GAME "GUITAR HERO" AS WELL AS THE XBOX360 GAME "GUITAR HERO II". HOW DID THAT OPPORTUNITY COME ALONG?

FREDDY: Virgin Records set it up. We had heard about it, but never dreamed that it would take off and get so big!

MUEN: DO YOU GUYS PLAY THESE GAMES? AND IF SO WHO OWNS AT IT?

FREDDY: You know what, we really suck at it! Pretty funny, huh?

MUEN: YOU PARTED WAYS WITH VIRGIN RECORDS AND RELEASED YOUR LATEST ALBUM TITLED "A MODERN WAY OF LIVING WITH THE TRUTH" ON MAY 15, 2007 WITH THE LABEL "UNDER SEVEN MUSIC," SO ARE YOU HAPPY UNDER THE NEW LABEL?

FREDDY: Couldn't be happier. They really let us have complete artistic freedom. Virgin did too, but SO many people had to approve EVERTHING we did.

MUEN: WHAT DO YOU THINK MOTIVATED YOU TO KEEP GOING AS A BAND AFTER YOU LEFT "VIRGIN RECORDS" AND DENNIS AND DAVID LEFT THE BAND, WAS THERE A POINT DURING THAT TIME, WHERE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT QUITTING?

FREDDY: I didn't really, but I know Scott wrestled with it. We talked a lot during that time and I just finally said "We've done so much, we can't stop now" and we went for it.

MUEN: YOU GUYS DID SOME MAJOR TOURING AFTER THE RELEASE OF THE LAST ALBUM, THIS PAST SUMMER, TEAMING UP WITH BANDS LIKE BUCKCHERRY, THREE DAYS GRACE, PAPA ROACH AND SMILE EMPTY SOUL... I ATTENDED THE BAD BOYS TOUR AND IT KICKED ASS!! HOW LONG WERE YOU ON THE ROAD FOR? AND WAS THIS TOUR IN THE U.S. ONLY?

FREDDY: Thanks! Yeah, we just toured the U.S. In total, and last year we toured for 10 months!

MUEN: HOW DO YOU GUYS GO ABOUT THE WRITING PROCESS, SCOTT PROBABLY DOES THE LYRICS RIGHT? AND IS IT USUALLY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES THAT INSPIRE THE SONGS?

FREDDY: It varies but yes, he writes the majority of the lyrics. Chris got quite a few lyrics on the new CD. I had a few too, mostly stuff like "and", "but", "if" and I think the"....... Ha Ha!! Personal is always the best place to write from, not that everything we write is totally something that has happened to us...

MUEN: HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE THE LAST ALBUM?

FREDDY: About 8 months but 4 of that was just trying to decide if we we're still going to do it.

MUEN: IN YOUR OPINION HOW HAS THE MUSIC INDUSTRY CHANGED SINCE YOU STARTED BACK IN 1997?

FREDDY: Downloads and the internet. Nobody had any idea that it would become such a force in music. I know the record companies sure didn't.

MUEN: DO YOU GUYS MAINTAIN YOUR MYSPACE PAGE? SO WHEN WE GO THERE ARE WE ACTUALLY TALKING WITH YOU?

FREDDY: Yes we do. We're a band that thinks that it's really important to keep in touch with the people who like us. I mean, we wouldn�t be doing this without them, right?

MUEN: YOU HAVE RELEASED FOUR ALBUMS IN YOUR CAREER. HOW DOES THIS LAST ALBUM COMPARE WITH THE FIRST THREE? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR MUSIC HAS CHANGED ALOT SINCE THE FIRST ONE?

FREDDY: Yes and no. Yes because it's Scott�s voice and no because we've grown so much as a band and people. I feel SO proud of this record, considering no one really thought we could pull it off and because we achieved a focus and sound that we�d been chasing after since we started and that's fucking cool!.

MUEN: HOW WAS IT WORKING WITH GRAMMY WINNING PRODUCER, MATT SERLETIC IN THE BEGINNING? AND YOU FIRST CAUGHT HIS ATTENTION WHEN HE SAW YOU PERFORM LIVE.. DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR LIVE SHOWS TO BE AN IMPORTANT PART OF WHAT THE EXIES ARE TODAY?

FREDDY: He was great. Very patient and cool. Live is VERY important to us. We have the ethic that no matter if there's 5 people or 5000, we always put on the best show we can!

MUEN: HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH JAMES MICHAEL ON THE LAST ALBUM? AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HIM AS PRODUCER?

FREDDY: Nobody else would do it! Just kidding, he rules! Scott and James started writing together and it went so well that we asked him to produce the record. It was a great experience and James really worked hard for us.

MUEN: YOU SUPPORTED MOTLEY CRUE ON THEIR CARNIVAL OF SIN TOUR ALONG WITH SUM 41 AND SILVERTIDE... HOW WAS THAT EXPERIENCE?

FREDDY: It was heaven!!! Great bands, good shows, great catering.... what more could you ask for?

MUEN: WHAT�S UP NEXT FOR THE EXIES? ANY MORE TOURING IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

FREDDY: Well, our new single, "These Are The Days" goes to radio on March 11th and we just finished a video for it, which is up on our My Space page right now. Oh, we plan on touring so much that we forget what our houses look like! We're setting it up right now so we should be out there soon...

MUEN: THERE ARE SO MANY BANDS IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA. WHAT'S THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING ONE OF SO MANY?

FREDDY: I don't know if there's really anything hard about it. It's not a competition. If you love what you do, you'll find other people that like your music too.

MUEN: IS THERE ANYTHING MORE YOU�D LIKE TO ADD?

FREDDY: Listen for "These Are The Days" on the radio and watch for us on tour very soon in your area. Also, come check us out on our My Space page. It's www.myspace/theexies See Ya!!!!

Interview by Shauna O�Donnell