LAUNCH:
When did you realize that you'd finally "made it"?

VANDERARK:
One defining moment that made me think I'd made it? I don't know if there's ever going to be a point where I sit back and say, "We've made it." In fact, we played a little acoustic set in Canton, Ohio, and right across the street from where we were playing was a children's school and there was a big fire truck over there. And the firemen were there showing the kids the truck, and letting them climb the ladder and stuff. The DJ from this radio station sponsoring our gig says, "Hey, wouldn't it be nice if we got some kids and brought them over here to listen to you perform?" So he goes over there, and says, "Kids, there's a band called the Verve Pipe over there, do you want to come watch them play?" And one of the kids says, "Are they going to play 'Photograph'?" I mean, what a thrill! I never in a million years would expect a kid to pipe that up. That was a time when I thought, "Wow, I've made it." Of course, the next place we played was some shitty, dingy club with two people there, so it kind of brings you back to earth. So I don't know if there will ever be a defining moment where I think I've really made it.

LAUNCH:
You put out a few independent releases on your own. I'm curious if you feel your music changed at all since you signed the major label deal with RCA.

VANDERARK:
I don't think that the deal has changed the sound of the Verve Pipe, but it's definitely changed our attitudes. We'd thought up to this point that being on a major label would be a negative thing--as far as not getting enough attention from the company--and as we've discussed amongst the band, we can't believe the amount of attention we're getting. It's been beneficial to us.

LAUNCH:
Would you call this your "big break"?

VANDERARK:
I don't think we've ever even thought of that. And while it's true that this is a big break, it's more of a push to us. It's more to excel us into the next realm of attention from areas where we haven't played yet. And so, while I would call it a big break, it's really more of a push for us.

LAUNCH:
Is there one particular song on Villains that you're really proud of, one that really stands out?

VANDERARK:
I like "Veneer" a lot. It's the best song I've ever written--lyrically and musically. I'm really pleased with the way that song came out.

LAUNCH:
You been in other bands before, how does this one compare?

VANDERARK:
I've been in a handful of bands. The Verve Pipe is the first band where we took songwriting as seriously as we wanted to--where we actually sat down and tried to be songwriters and crafted songs. Whereas being in a band before was a great way to meet people, get on stage, act goofy. This band was the first band that we all actually took seriously.

LAUNCH:
Did you always want to be a musician? Did you think this is what you'd be doing for the rest of your life?

VANDERARK:
I think that growing up as a kid, I liked to listen to music more than perform it. I did have a guitar and I did play. I bought the big Beatles book of songs and tried to figure out all the chords, never thinking I'd be in the public eye to do that.

LAUNCH:
Did you have a band or anything when you were growing up or did you do other music-oriented things?

VANDERARK:
I actually auditioned for a musical in high school, for the Sound of Music. I couldn't sing at that point--couldn't project--I didn't get the part because I couldn't sing. Now I realize I could sing, but I just couldn't project. I thought at the time I would never be a performer. It really brought me down.

LAUNCH:
Is there any hidden meaning behind the name, the Verve Pipe?

VANDERARK:
Actually, it doesn't really mean anything. It's just two words on their own: verve is energy, pipe can be any condensed, cylindrical object. When you put them together, I guess it's an energetic cylinder of some sort. [Laughs]. We wanted to come up with a name that didn't have any meaning.

LAUNCH:
That's pretty random.

VANDERARK:
Yeah, well, the original idea was Industrial Verve and that was five years ago before industrial music was popular. And thank God we didn't name it Industrial Verve or people would think we were an industrial band. So we wanted two words that don't really fit together, but might be interesting to hear.

LAUNCH:
What's it like to go back home now after all the success?

VANDERARK:
The really great thing about everything that's happened to us, is that we've always heard horror stories of hometowns and home states dissin' you after you've gone to a certain level. It hasn't been that way at all. We've had nothing but great support from everybody.

LAUNCH:
So Michigan's pretty cool.

VANDERARK:
I'm very proud of Michigan. We're definitely plugging Michigan all we can. Everyone's embracing the thrill of the national spotlight. It's got one of the most fabulous music scenes because it's very eclectic. On any night you can go to a club and hear a different style of music and they're usually from that state.

LAUNCH:
A lot of good music has come out of Detroit.

VANDERARK:
I don't think at the time you're growing up that you realize these people are from Michigan, though, like the MC 5 or Iggy Pop because at the time that I actually started to listen to them, they were already huge and it didn't matter where they were from.

LAUNCH:
Were you influenced by them, as you were growing up?

			"The Freshman"
			"Photograph"
			"Veneer"

VANDERARK:
What I grew up with was Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, Sting. It's still around there.

LAUNCH:
So there's more going on in Michigan than most people might think?

VANDERARK:
Michigan in some areas can be quite remote. A lot of deer hunters, farmers. They love Bob Seger and Ted Nugent. It's a lot different than the music we play. Though we appreciate them for their songwriting, and I've heard Bob Seger appreciates our songwriting, too. It's a great thing that we can bridge that gap.

LAUNCH:
Jerry Harrison produced this album, and he's also produced Live. Do you worry about being compared to them, or to other bands?

VANDERARK:
It's so funny because one of the reasons I was leery of having Jerry work on this album was that I didn't want to be compared to Live. I appreciate Live for what they do, but I knew if we made the record with Jerry it would be easy for a journalist to say, "They sound like Live." Me, in particular, they think I sound like Eddie Vedder, and I don't hear that at all. We get that all the time. In some ways, it might be laziness on the part of critics. Instead of trying to exactly describe our music, it's easy to say "they sound like this band or that band" and be done with it. That's one problem we've had is to be compared with those bands. I've listened to those bands, too, and I'm not trying to say anything bad about them, but we're trying to do our own thing.

LAUNCH:
Can you describe the different guys in your band?

VANDERARK:
Musically or personality-wise? Personality-wise we're all so different. It's funny because I like people a lot, and Brad--who's my brother--doesn't like people at all. He doesn't talk much, he's pretty withdrawn. And AJ is a bit anal retentive. He's a technical guitarist, one of the best I've ever known, but he's a little bit anal retentive. Things have to be "just so" for him. Donnie is the opposite of that: Donnie you can pretty much tell by looking at him that he's pretty relaxed. Dougie's got a very dark side to him.

LAUNCH:
Guys in rock bands must see a ton of really wild stuff. What's the weirdest thing that's happened to you so far?

VANDERARK:
Once we played at this place in Baton Rouge. It was a little theater. This girl came downstairs and she was on something, I don't know what she was on, but she was all hyped-up on goofballs or something. She came downstairs, and you couldn't even talk to her she was so out of it. This was down in a cellar, a back room under the theater. There was this big iron door, like a freezer door. We all went upstairs, and Donnie, for some reason, was lagging behind. This girl was downstairs by herself, and Donnie was kind of peeking around the corner to see what she was doing. She was opening up that door. She opened that door and the door closed behind her. Donnie goes: "Oh My God." She had fallen down about three feet into a pile of dust bunnies. She was so embarrassed and Donnie's screaming for us to come down there. She comes out of this thing all screwed up and all covered in dust. From then on we called her Dusty Cellars--that was the Dusty Cellars story. If no one had seen her there, she would still be in there...and probably stinking.

LAUNCH:
What a joker.

VANDERARK:
I love jokes. But I'm into very clean, very old-fashioned jokes. Wanna hear one?

LAUNCH:
Sure.

VANDERARK:
Okay. Thomas Edison had this great new invention. He called up all the people in the media and said, "You have to come check it out." So all the media came and people came from all over. He had this light bulb on a stand, and he had a little crank generator, and he cranked the generator up and the light illuminated. The crowd went nuts! And he goes: "Wait that's not it." And he went up to the light bulb and goes: "Helloooo." That's a Bob Newhart joke.

LAUNCH:
Nice. Who would you say is the coolest band out there today?

VANDERARK:
As far as coolness goes, as far as being cool, I would have to say...that's a tough one. I think Oasis comes off as the coolest band because of their personality. I think they're great musicians, one of the best bands out there right now. On a cool factor, they think that they're incredibly cool, and they capture a lot of audience because of that. They captured me because I think they're a cool band. They do things I would never in a million years do--as far as outside of music--but musically, they do a lot of things I would like to do. Definitely.

LAUNCH:
What do you see yourself doing in five years?

VANDERARK:
I feel like an actor who wants to direct, but I'd love to produce other bands. I would certainly get a thrill out of taking over other people's music and trying to achieve what Jerry Harrison achieved with us. I'll always write music on top of that. But that's something I would like to do, definitely.

LAUNCH:
If all this was taken away tomorrow, what would you most likely end up doing to pay the bills?

VANDERARK:
I would be in retail. I've always worked retail. I used to be a clothing store manager and a sporting goods manager, and I think that's where I got my love for people. I just think I'm destined to always sell something.

LAUNCH:
Hey, do people ever tell you you look like anyone?

VANDERARK:
Okay, where'd you get this from? Who told you to ask that?

LAUNCH:
No-one, I swear!

VANDERARK:
People say I look like Quentin Tarantino for some reason. I get that quite a bit. And I just don't think he's an attractive man at all. He's not someone I would kiss on the mouth, I'll tell you that.