1) "A Prayer in the Night" is really great. I kept hearing it was goingto come out for a long time. What held up the release?

Rich: "A Prayer in the Night" was completed nearly a year prior to it'srelease date but our record label decided to delay it so that it wouldnot compete with Benestrophe's "Auric Fires" which, at the time, had just recently been released.
James: To be honest with you, I really don't know why Ric took so longto release our album. There were a lot of promises that weren'tfulfilled.

2) I saw the cover art for the album a while ago and it was differentthan what is on the cd cover. Why did you change it?

Rich: To me the cover art seemed more like a natural progression ratherthan a different cover. For promotional purposes we merely improvised acover for the Ras Dva catalog which we later decided to enhance. As amatter of fact, the cover art was actually derived from a piece of artin my apartment.
James: It was a photograph that I had taken and had been manipulated bya friend of mine Chad Authier.

3) What did you do with the time you had between the completion of theCD and its release?

Rich: To be perfectly honest, we took a long welcomed vacation anddidn't work on music for quite some time though we always listen to it. Aside from that I did some consulting work for a small firm and deployeda custom, client/server database solution which happens to be myfull-time profession.James: I spent a lot of time focusing on my career (NetworkAdministration) and have been working a great deal with my PC. I havebeen spending lots of time remastering / editing a lot of my music aswell as Gary's (M&tF) music. I have also been working on new materialfor the next release.

4) Your lyrics on "A Prayer In The Night" are very dreamy and at timesnightmarish. What influences you lyrically?

Rich: I am inspired greatly by religion, parapsychology, folklore,legend and myth which probably best describes the majority of my lyricalcontent.

5) Another thing I noticed about your lyrics is that they are like shortstories. Do read a lot? Or do you also write stories?

Rich: Ironically, I really don't read much at all nor do I write shortstories.

6)Musically, the music is very ambient and atmospheric. Any musicaltraining?

James: The only musical training that I have had was when I took pianolessons for a month around six or seven years ago. I can read music alittle too. I quit after the first month because I felt I couldaccomplish more by writing music and playing a lot by what I heard. Other than that, I taught my self all that I know. I also read through alot of my father's old notes that he had taken when he was my age, andlearned how to play guitar on my own.

7) How long have you been writing music? What was the first instrument?you ever played?

James: I have been writing music for nearly ten years now. The firstinstrument that I played was a piano. I really like the sound of a good quality piano.

8) What influences your music?

James: I would have to say that a lot of the music I listen tosubconsciously plays a very big part in the outcome of my music. I don'tbelieve any of my music sounds like anybody else in particular, in myopinion. I listen to some electronic music, along with some new wavebands and even some blues at times. I can honestly say bands thatrequire live musicians who actually play an instrument (Woodwind,Stringed, Percussion, etc.) really attracts my attention, and I respectthat a great deal. I sometimes get tired of listening to an abundance ofelectronic music. Don't get me wrong. I really dig lots of electronicmusic, but just not all of the time.

9) There are many similarities and differences between Jihad andBenestrophe. Do you ever get tired of the comparisons?

Rich: Personally, the comparisons don't really bother me at all. Rather listeners provide me with unbiased opinions and help me to putthings into perspective since their opinions are the ones that reallymatter. Consequently, some degree of comparison has to be expectedconsidering that I am a contributing artist on both projects.

10) Did the amount of coverage you got from doing compilation trackssurprise you in any way? It seems that you had a lot of attention beforeyour debut even came out.

Rich: Yes, the amount of attention was unexpected and very surprising. We simply decided to record a few tracks to submit for the Ras Dva"There Is No Time" compilation just to see it on a compilation andsuddenly there was talk about recording a full length.

11) How did you get signed? Did you have many offers?

Rich: We were extended an offer from Ras Dva after the compilation recordings and decided to entertain it. This was are only offer sincethis was probably the only label that knew we existed at the time.

12) Have you been writing songs for the next Jihad album?

Rich: My brother has completed several compositions for the next albumthough we have yet to work on anything yet. We are planning to get backin the studio very soon.
James: I have finished a number of songs that are to appear on the nextrelease. We just need to schedule some time to get together and lay downthe vocal tracks.

13) What will the newer material be like both musically and lyrically?

Rich: You can expect our debut squared but with a lot more upbeattracks since clubs are where most music is heard. The tempo on the lastalbum pretty much disqualified on the dance floor.

14) Who are some of the bands you are listening to these days?

Rich: These days I have been listening to a lot of Electronic (a sideproject that derives from New Order), Heavy Water Factory (whom I findto be infinitely talented), and Raymond Watts' PIG and SOW projects which are affiliated with KMFDM.
James: I listen to a lot of Depeche Mode (Older & newermaterial-Especially 'Songs of Faith'), David Sylvian's solo work(Vocalist of the band 'Japan'), Cause & Effect, Mentallo & the Fixer,Tears for Fears, Bjork, Recoil, and some Raymond Watts' side projects as well.

15) James, I heard you were in a band with Robert of Fektion Fekler.What was it like?

James: Yeah.. That was a very long time ago. I feel that those weresome of the best days. We used to work on music together all of thetime. We also used to get together at his place every Friday andpractice. That went on for over a year or so. Back then, we wouldactually play all of our parts live along to an old rhythm box. I still have every song we both wrote and worked on. The way we used to recordour songs was by hanging a cheap microphone from the ceiling and placingstereo speakers around the mic to record into an old jam box that I usedto have. We both played all of our songs live, until we were introducedto sequencers. That is when we both decided to go our separate ways. The name we used to go under was 'Fury and Fear'. Kind of cheesy, but those were our roots.

16) A lot of bands have come out of Texas. Necrofix, Mentallo, Fekler,Jihad, all the side projects in between. Is there any kind of scene there?

Rich: Honestly, I haven't been out in quite awhile so I don't reallyknow if there is any kind of scene here in San Antonio or not thoughI've heard about some things here and there from my brother. Actually,Austin Texas may still have quite a scene.
James: There is somewhat of a scene here in San Antonio, but not as bigas others would like to think. Like Rich said, there is a much biggerscene / support in Austin than here in S.A. Not very many industrialclubs here in town either. Maybe one or two, and that is only on certainnights.

17) Tell me about your Trial by Fire project. It pre-dates Jihad. Willany material be released under that name?

James: Trial by Fire consists of vocalist Jaime Chavez (Responsible for'Flesh Decay' lyrics on Benestrophe's 'Sensory Deprivation') and myself,who composes all of the music. Back in '92 we started working on a lotof music. Jaime has maintained a music setup of his own for a very longtime as well and has been writing music under a different name. He iscurrently involved in a project titled 'Circus Diary' which consists ofJaime (On keys), and Holly Nelson (On vocals). It is a very intricate /beautiful project in my opinion. All electronic music, and is notconsidered industrial music in any way. We both decided to collaborateon a few tracks at one time and continued to work until a full-lengthdemo was completed. Much of the music is very different in comparison toany Jihad material. There are even two songs that consist of onlyacoustic guitar and vocals. The rest of the material is pure electronic. Trial by Fire is something I can express my thoughts in any style ofmusic and use for the band. It is not any particular style I've heard ofas well. Recently, we have re-recorded three tracks from the originaldemo tape, along with some remixes as well. We are both trying to maketime to finish up the rest of the re- recordings along with some newmaterial as well. We plan to release our material, but never again underany record label ever. I have had a very bad experience of being rippedoff and I won't tolerate it any more. We will independently release allof our material.

18) Are the two of you involved in any other musical projects?

Rich: Not me. Benestrophe and Jihad are all I can handle.
James: Just Jihad and Trial by Fire. I wouldn't mind working on another side project as well.

19) Do either have you have any belief in religion or any that you follow?

Rich: I am a firm believer in the laws of Karma and tend to still follow the oldest religion.
James: I do not practice any particular religion, but I do believe in God. My theory is that as long as other people respect my beliefs and me I will treat others the exact same way. Common sense says a lot. In other words, treat others, as you would like to be treated.

20) Thanks for your time. Best of luck to you. Anything you would liketo add?

Rich: As usual, I would like to thank our listeners for their continuing interest and support without whom none of this would be possible.
James: I would also like to thank everybody who has supported us and hasbelieved in us. I just want to say that we are NOT responsible for ANY of the label's actions, so please don't hold any negative responses the label may have caused. Thanks a great deal.