Before we begin, let me ask you a very important question. Do you ever experience the rare moment where you briefly forget you are heterosexual mortals and for a minute, just for a brief moment, wonder what the taste of penis would be like?

Terry: Well, let me think about this one… nope. Sorry Maris.

You dare?!?

Jon: I think having a penis has killed my interest for them.

I do not understand such a statement mortal!

Jon: Mine scares the hell out of me so I can’t see one not belonging to me having any other effect. Sorry Maris.

How pathetic. What about you tasty Ryan?

Ryan: Never. However you are making me hungry for a polish sausage covered in sauerkraut and cum…um I mean…damn it!

Ah ha! I knew it!

Ryan: I mean…sauerkraut and mustard and that’s it! I’m not gay!

Too late!…Most bands want to emulate their heroes when they begin. Who were Nodes trying to emulate?

Ryan: I will still be playing little James and Lars for the foreseeable future. My icons are the older guys that could knock a entire stadium dead, name the list yourself. Those dudes are rare to find nowadays in modern metal.

Jon: Actually we did have many heroes but we understood that we needed to be our own band and tried our best to be somewhat original with what we were doing. At the time in our town there really were no bands playing Metal or Metalcore. We come from a town that has had many amazing bands and the nice thing is that no twp sounded very much alike. We kinda fell right in place with what we were doing. I personally really liked bands like ZAO and STRONGARM at the time and just wanted to be in a heavy band myself.

The band doesn’t seem afraid to experiment with different sounds, which include cool, intricate melodies. Where does that come from?

Ryan: From trying to do something new without being flat out weird. I’ll shoot my dick off before writing a breakdown-fest album like many of our contemporaries!

Jon: The hardest thing for a Metal band to do is try new things. Kids will run you into the ground if your records don’t all sound like your first release. We have always tried to expand on our old albums by continuing to put out new ones. Creating music isn’t always easy and if I was writing the same riffs I was in high school id have to just quit all together. It’s a process of growing as a band and a musician to create things that are new. While Nodes’ is in no way changing the face of music, we feel we are doing something for ourselves in the most honest way possible. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing people enjoy your music when you know its an honest effort to express a personal idea.

Nick: I think that (our willingness to experiment) comes from our diverse musical tastes and trying our hardest to convey emotion into song. Sometimes those melodies you hear just feel natural to the song.

What is the scene like in Sioux Falls?

Ryan: No bullshit. Its fans coming out to listen and watch bands. Now if we could just get rid of our local message board it would be perfect.

Nick: It has its good and bad points, but all in all, we are very appreciative of the people there that have supported this band from the beginning.

Terry: Sioux Falls is about 180,000 people. It is the largest town in South Dakota. I think the combined population is a million. Sioux Falls is very clean, for the most part safe, and there are many job opportunities. Pointless facts of interest of Sioux Falls: We have the largest stockyards in America and also the most restaurants per person/population in America. I grew up in Sioux Falls and was for the most part happy. For about 15 years I was the only promoter there. I had to go through many hoops and court cases to do my shows. Though Sioux Falls is a great city it is also ultra conservative and afraid of change. In the end that is why I moved to Lawrence, KS 2 ½ years ago. The Sioux Falls music scene was its strongest in the early 90’s to mid 90’s then again in early 2000. In early 2000 there were a lot of bands coming out of SF: Billy Music, Caligari, Nodes, Spirit Of Versailles, The Blinding Light, Examination Of The… All these bands toured the country and created their own niche in the US music scene. Now present day, the amount of “notarized” bands is lower (Nodes, Spill Canvas, The Blinding Light) but I think the general interest in music is up and local bands are sprouting more now than in the last few years. Sioux Falls has no stable venue so I think that hinders kids desire to start a band. Nick has two twin brothers that are in a really good band called After The Sun. Be on the lookout for them.

They will die!

Jon: At one point it was one of the stronger scenes in the Midwest but has since died down a bit since, as Terry said, Sioux Falls does not have a “real” venue. Shows still happen a lot but there isn’t like a staple place to go to see national acts and tours. It’s all very “in house”. We have seen a lot of new faces at shows lately as many young kids are looking for live events. The scene is there, we just need someone or someplace to fully embrace it.

Most bands feel the need to move to New York or California to get noticed. What gave you the desire or confidence to remain in Sioux Falls?

Ryan: Cheap living, a house, close to family, a job that has stuck with me after countless tours and I don’t need to learn another language. I’m worried that if I moved to Cali I’d become a seashell necklace wearing, pretty boy prick!

Jake: When you just start a band, everyone is just “starting” a band in Cali and New York. So it’s easier to do our own thing and get noticed in a place where not too many bands are. It is also easier to get on shows and everything.

Terry: Living in the Midwest makes you work a lot harder for what you have. We do not have labels, big bands, or venues close by to help bands. What you want, you have to hit the road and get. Most of the guys have family based out of SF and family is very important to this band. We have all mentioned moving at one point or another but when it comes down to it, Sioux Falls is the band’s home and I am pretty confident that’s where the band will always be based out of. Even though I live in Lawrence and the rest of the guys live in Sioux Falls, I am originally from Sioux Falls.

Jon: This band is all about doing what you can with what you have. We have established lives in our hometown and while there are many other places I wouldn’t mind living, touring satisfies my craving for that adventure. If we have to drive home from one of the coasts (which we do all the time) we are glad to live smack in the middle of the map as it would be twice as far to drive to the opposite coast. It seems to work well.

How has coming from a smaller location benefited you as a band and as people?

Ryan: It keeps you honest and it makes you feel like you need to put in that little bit of extra effort to blow people away.

How has it hurt you?

Ryan: Putting in all that extra effort sucks!

Nick: People are definitely surprised when they learn that we are from such a place. So people might find that intriguing. Then again since we refused to make the move, we may not have the connections or opportunities that bands from those high traffic places might have.

Jon: Coming from a small area means you disappear when your not on tour. It’s vital to keep your name out there and in front of people. Setting up shows is something that we kinda have to do on our own when we are home. The nice thing about being from Sioux Falls is that it really has everything you need and its fairly clean and quiet. The town is one big square so getting places is easy. I personally enjoy coming home from tour and touring has made me appreciate where I’m from a lot more than when I was growing up.

Tell me about some of the coolest gigs the band has ever done.

Nick: Wow.. well their is nothing like playing a big festival show and seeing a see of people. We are very fortunate to have played some very good shows, with very good bands and we really hope that continues.

Jon: I can remember back to the very first tour we did with a California band named Falling Cycle. It was really both bands very first tour so everyone was just excited to be on the road. The tour sucked hard but there were a few shows that stood out. The tour was to end in Southern Cali at the Famous Showcase Theatre and would also mark Nodes’ first time in California. The show was beyond packed and it was a dream come true to be playing on that stage in which so many of the bands I grew up on had performed. It was surreal in a way and for five guys from Sioux Falls, SD, it was a dream come true. After the show we drove straight home 30 hours…….we still do that.

Jake: Well, my first show with the band was probably the most awkward show ever!! we somehow got lined up with a show on a sunday after noon in a small town not too far from here. We get there and it turns out its a church gymnasium and the Catholic Mass is coming straight from church there to eat. So we ended up playing for tons of old people that were just trying to enjoy their potato salad (laughs). I mean old. Some of them were walking in with walkers and everything. it was one of the funniest things i’ve ever been a part of.

Ryan: Yeah, we got $200. We set up on the stage in the auditorium, the church bells finished ringing and the entire congregation file through the doors. The worst part was that the sound system was for announcing basketball scores so the speakers were in ever corner and the only thing coming out was vocals. These people couldn’t go anywhere to eat their rice crispy bars in peace without getting blasted with screams. Think Spinal Tap at the Air Force base! (Laughs)

How did you get the deal with Face Down?

Jon: Facedown was actually not a label that we thought would care for us, so we almost ended up not even sending them a press pack. The packs that we sent out contained the first record “Lost Senses, More Innocence” (which at that time was a burned cd and a homemade booklet that we spent 734 dollars producing). Some of the smaller labels got back to us quickly but Facedown had a very sturdy response. They wanted to see a video from a live show so we hooked it up and the rest is history. Facedown has treated us just like family over the years and are one of the few remaining record labels with integrity emblazoned on everything they do.

When they heard the demo, did they ask you to alter anything?

Jon: Nope. They are not about that. They understand that with bands like us, it’s about sincerity and not image so they in no way tried to alter what we had.

Ryan: I wanted to alter stuff. Heck I wanted to re-record it but they put it out the way it was.

Nodes were a Christian band in the beginning, but don’t appear to be so, now. Tell me how such a stance in the beginning evolved to the point it is now.

Ryan: I only consider bands that have a ministry purpose to be Christian. We have never been that. I wont disregard anyone who took something from our early material, I think its cool but we’re just playing what we play to play it.

Jon: Early on we were three guys in a band room looking for a bass player and just felt lucky to have other people that wanted to write some Metal. Our singer at the time wanted to write some very honest lyrics about his personal life and what came out was his Christian faith. We were not going to sit there and tell him he couldn’t sing about that stuff and we just went with it. Today, not all of the members are Christians. We have never tried to be a ministry and would honestly rather not. Nodes of Ranvier is a band that wants to write the best music it possibly can and play it for people who want to hear it. To us that’s what the stage is for. Some people would contend that its an issue of denying what or who we are but that not the case. As a band we’re a unit but as people we are five, very different guys.

Do you ever have old fans come up to you and complain that you’ve disregarded what you originally stood for spiritually?

Ryan: Yes, we have plenty of people come up to us with that kind of complaint. If you can’t appreciate this band solely for its music first and foremost, then don’t support us!

Terry: We get a lot of questions about the spirituality stance of the band. This is something we like to address more on a person to person basis, rather than an interview situation.

Jon: No one has really been that brash in person but some emails do indicate that people like that do exist. Personally, I am a Christian and have no problem what people think about it. What I do have a problem with is people thinking that because I am a Christian I have to then be in a “Christian Band” and say stuff about my faith on stage. My faith is very near and dear to me so it’s not something I really feel like preaching about. I’ve spoken with kids about it on a one on one level and that’s where real conversation takes place, not telling a room full of people what you think about something and then playing a song. That’s not how we roll.

How do you see your first, two CD’s in retrospect?

Ryan: As evolutions of the sound we now have. Every consecutive album we put out I see as a refinement of previous material. Like the new album or not, it kicks ass, and don’t deny that or I’ll cut you!

Jon: Being that I wrote a lot of that stuff I see them this way… The first album is a very scattershot musical endeavor on behalf of young dudes who didn’t know what sound they wanted yet. I love some of the stuff we did back then but I wouldn’t want to still be writing songs like that. The second effort (The Self Titled album) was much better in my view. Things took like what seemed forever to write though. It was a long winter for me during the making of that baby. I think its cool that we have been able to do all of our records with the same producer and that allows you to hear how the band has grown since its first days. What we come up with is all us and very little outside input affects the ways our songs sound.

Your first singer, Thomas, was kind of beefy and hot. Have any of you ever get to see his wanky dong?

Ryan: Way too damn much! I remember once, on our very first tour, he once got some kind of rash on his choad and had to put lotion on it. Rather than going somewhere private to do it, he would strip completely naked, except for some cowboy boots, lay on a bed- spread eagle-right in front of us and rub the lotion on!

Well I think that’s about the hottest thing I’ve ever heard. Was he a hairy mortal?

Ryan: Yeah, fairly.

While he was naked and spread eagle, do you recall if he had a hairy choad?

Ryan: I just remember seeing…black.

I think I’m in love…While we are on this topic, the last time I interviewed you, you mentioned the size of your member would rip your mortal pants off if it were to go erect. Were you just yanking the chain of this gay zombie, or is really….that big?

Terry: Ryan, I think you are in for it buddy.

Nick: Unfortunately yes! We have seen his dong and I’m still having nightmares (laughs). Ryan’s member is pant rippingly huge!

Gasp!

Ryan: Maris, all you need to know is that I’ve grabbed beers out of the fridge with it while I’m upstairs. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!!!

I am so hot right now I must have a moment to collect myself….ahem…..so, the newest CD The Years To Come features a number of changes to your sound, most notably two vocalists. Why did the band decide to make this change?

Ryan: We thought it sounded good!

Jon: It was out of necessity as our old singer quite while we were on tour with the (late) Bury Your Dead. Nick was actually playing bass when he took over on vocals and is just another example of us “working with what we have”. We could not be happier with Nicks performance while writing and in the studio. He allowed for a lot of critiquing of his ideas and that speaks volumes for his skill. In the past, vocals were the last thing to be written, but on The Years to Come we wrote all the songs while writing vocals alongside music. This made for a much tighter sound between vocal and instrumental melodies.

Nick: We new that some of the stuff we were writing required sung melody- and I had already written enough screaming vocals to completely put me out of breath in the song, so I knew what I wanted the singing parts to be. So I brought them to the table and Ryan stepped up the plate and was like “I got this.” He had ideas as well. We fine-tuned them, and that is how it came to be.

How is it that Nick got to do all the cool, growly vocals and Ryan got to sing like Nancy Sinatra?

Ryan: Well Nick hates his dad and I drink a gallon of lotion before I go to bed. Don’t get any ideas!

I have plenty of ideas that involve you, me, your large dong and a gallon of lotion!…but anyway, is this version of Nodes of Ranvier the band you always felt you could and would be? Or are we seeing and hearing yet another stage of an ongoing transformation?

Ryan: Are you talking like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly? Or a moth? Then yes and no…what the hell are we talking about?

Terry: This is by far the strongest line up Nodes’ has ever had. I do foresee more changes coming to the sound of Nodes’. We are constantly evolving and trying to stay ahead of the pack.

Jon: This is very hard to answer. The only thing I know for sure is that we want to continue to appeal to the undead by bringing the Metal.

Well spoken, mortal! Lets talk about the songs of the new album. When, how, who was it recorded.

Ryan: The album was recorded at the same place as the last two, Cathouse Studios in our home town of Sioux Falls, SD. And that name is not some fuckin’ joke either, the bag that I carry all my drum hardware in was pissed on like ten times while we were there. WE ARE STILL USING THE STICKY S.O.B. ON TOUR!!! That’s dedication bitches!!!

Jon: Mike Dresch produced, recorded, and mixed The Years to Come over the span of about four months. The album took about three to four months to actually write.

Going through each track, please give me your thoughts about it, any interesting stuff about how it was created, and what you intent was.

“The Renewal”

Terry: This is an intro Nodes’ has been playing for years. We finally decided to give it life and put it out on the new CD.

Jon: We came up with it to open our live sets for awhile. Bands that were on the road with us thought it encompassed all the sounds they would later hear that night in our set and it was always given a warm response from the crowd. We loved it and played around with it a bit for the opening of the record.

Ryan: It was done in one practice, kicks ass, end of story.

“Relentless “

Jon: This song was new ground for us. Kinda groovy, kinda crunchy but all around heavy. We liked the simple diversity within it’s transitions and its pace makes it fun to play.

Ryan: It sounded completely different in pre-production. We changed it the night before laying down the drum tracks. For the better? Well shit yeah!!

What is the subject matter?

Nick: This song is about how ridiculous some Christians can be sometimes. – especially to people they care about. How sometimes they take it upon themselves and put themselves on a pedestal of perfection if you will, to uphold everyone else’s beliefs around them. When in reality they are just pushing them farther away from the light by being so pushy about.

“The Dawning Age”

Jon: This is one of my favorite Nodes’ songs. Its got a good display of what this band loves to do. This one really just came together and it’s left of center. The two-part structure reminded me of the things I loved about many of my favorite songs in high school.

Nick: This song touches on many things. The chaos of life, putting up with peoples shit, desensitization, etc.. and how it important it is to not let any of that effect you. To try your best everyday to focus on what’s truly important to you and those you love.

Ryan: We nicknamed it “radio song” before it was given a final title. It ended up not being the first single though. The song plays like an orgasm and leaves you tired and sweaty.

I shall always think of you as such when I listen to it in the future…
“Dolores.”

Jon: Playing this song was a lot of fun and it kinda just fell together. One of the more fun songs on the record and maybe a bit more like some stuff of the self-titled disc.

Ryan: I think it’s about Nick’s Grandma. Not sure.

Nick: No…(Laughs)This song is basically about people who are all talk and no action. We all know someone who is the biggest critic and yet you never see them doing anything that anyone else can criticize. This song is just a pissed off song dedicated to the negative people that try to bring those around them down with their negativity.

“The Years To Come”

Nick: This song is about how the power of love shines through all the hate and bullshit in our day to day lives. For me, I could be having the worst day ever and when I see my baby nieces face it all goes away. Its also about the beauty of not knowing what the future holds, whether that be good or bad, and the importance of maintaining hope in the world around us.

Why did you choose to make it the title track?

Terry: I think the opening riff is just ass kicking. Nick had more to do with this becoming the title track then anyone. This is my favorite track.

Nick: It was just the most powerful song and I think just an overall powerful idea. We thought it just best fit the album as a whole.

Ryan: With the new sound, it make sense that we are forging a different future for ourselves. The title says it all.

“Grave”

Jon: A recycled riff from our first album that Ryan re-wrote into this song that he actually recorded himself.

Ryan: When I first started coming up with the lyrics they had nothing to do with anything, they just sounded good with the music. The still don’t make much sense all put together, but they do definitely put you in a certain mood.

Tell me the truth, this is your love ballad to me, isn’t it?

Ryan: The song is a tribute to Dimebag and Cash

After all we’ve shared, you betray me for two dead mortals?!?

Ryan: As vague as it reads, its more about feeling than anything.

Why don’t you do it live?

Ryan: We haven’t rehearsed it.

Jon: we would either have to strip it down or get more musicians to do it justice.

“Predisposed”

Jon: This song was as progressive as Ryan and I could get writing in a cold basement during a South Dakota winter. Some very odd transitions and timings here and there.

Ryan: Dance it up for all its worth you bastards, cuz this is the most breakdown material on the album.

Nick:This song is actually about overcoming mental disorders and knowing that their is hope and healing for people out there that have suffered and will suffer from these mind and life controlling things that tend to plague us.

“Glass Half Nothing “

Ryan: I guess this is the albums Mmm-Bop? The same chorus three times in a song? What a concept!

Nick: Its just a song saying ” There is no reason to be down and out about the things we don’t know because its gonna get you anyway and how this “cloud over our heads” feeling is just a passing thing.” Everybody gets down every once in a while, but others find happiness in trying to purposely do that to people. It just makes you wonder why they seem so confident, when you know they cry themselves to sleep at night.

Why did you choose it as the first video/single?

Nick: We thought it was a perfect single – a fun one to sing along to. I’m hoping the next one will be “The Dawning Age”

Terry: Jason from Facedown chose this one. My childhood friend Nick Simon (www.nick-simon.com) directed the video. We really just let him run wild with what he wanted to do. The flip book was 100% his idea. When he explained it to us, we couldn’t really visualize what he meant but I trust him, so we let him go for it. I couldn’t be more happy with how it turned out. Nick actually just got done doing a Felt video which features Slug from Atmosphere.

What was it like seeing it on Headbanger’s Ball for the first time?

Terry: I remember the first day MTV and Headbanger’s Ball aired. It revolutionized music. I don’t think MTV and videos have quite the impact they used to but they still warrant attention. It was a dream come true for all of us the first day the video aired. It has aired a couple times since then and I am still excited!!!

“What Goes Around”

Ryan: The first song written for “Years to Cum.” It sounds fuckin’ great in your rice burner Honda at 110mph!!! Fast and Furious bitches!

Jon: It was created before our old vocalist quit the band and is a bitch to play live. Everyone gets tired playing this little number. Its our tribute to good circle pits all across the US.

Nick: It’s about someone you may know, that tries so hard to fit in and “be cool” that they conform to whoever is around. Until finally you have no idea who that person really is because they are constantly lying their way out of lies. When you try your best to be there for someone and everyone else around you does too, but that person just continues to crap on everyone and make life hell, then their comes a time when you have to let that person go discover who they are. You have to let them do their own thing and hopefully they will come around sometime.

“Novocain For No Reason”

Jon: This song was meant to be an instrumental and I wrote it as such. The main harmony needed to be up front and the movement did not allow for a song that we really wanted to perform live. It’s a bit laid back but came across very lively on the record.

Was this song an unfinished song that you couldn’t find lyrics for?

Jon: No, every Nodes’ album has an instrumental song on it so this served as the one on this album and was written as such.

Who is that creepy little kids voice in the beginning?

Jon: It is actually the little boys voice from the movie “Identity.” If you haven’t seen it you’re missing out

“Second Hand Syndrome”

Nick: This song is about my frustration with the idea that we are born into this world, and we grow to love those around us with everything we have. In the back of our heads we know that there is always the possibility of something terrible happening. Death is always creeping and I seriously do not know what would happen to me if that happened. I know its very serious, but its very true. So all in all it’s about the fear of time and the inability to stop it.

Jon: This song took its precious time to write. It was hard to figure out how to compliment the opening riff in a way that would allow the song to move into other rhythms and sounds. Nick and Ryan did an awesome job on its chorus, I might add. It’s hard to perform live but if you yell at us loudly enough we can hook it up.

Ryan: Boy are those some high notes to sing while you’re trying to beat the tar out of your drums!

“In Too Deep”

Nick: This song is dedicated to that old friend we have that used to be so close with and over the years things change and you know if you called that person up things just wouldn’t be the same. Although it kills you inside because you want that person to know that you are there for them and that you still care about them.

Jon: I felt myself thinking the way I thought writing some of the first record on this one. It just reminded me at times of some of the ways we constructed songs back then. This song is cool because it has one of the most brutal parts on the record but doesn’t sound out of place with how melodic the rest of the song is. The transitions came across very naturally and I love the way it was produced.

Ryan: It was the last song created for the album, it’s a tribute to the legendary 1980’s power ballad…except with satan’s vocals.

For some bands, they spend much of their formative years dreaming of getting to a point of success. How successful does Nodes’ want to become?

Nick: If we could play music for a living and not have to have jobs.. well I think that is more that any of us could hope for.

Jon: We are looking to do as much as we possibly can. This is our life and it’s what fuels us. We aren’t doing it for fame or glory.

Terry: We have no limits to how big we want to come. If you set limits to how big you want to get, then you limit yourself. Arenas here we come….

Last question, if you were all going to dress in drag, what female mortal would you dress up as?

Jon: Technically I think I could dress like any hair metal band member from the 80’s. If I were to go full on girl, it would have to be a chick with super powers like Storm from the X-Men so I could kick some ass when I got made fun of.

Nick: Whoopi Goldberg

Ryan: Kevin Beacon.

Jake: hmm i have no clue….Diana Ross?

Terry: Definitely Princess Leia. I grew up on Star Wars and had “desires” about her when I was younger.