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(Interview conducted with Jeff Jacquay of Unashamed on October 28th, 2009 in Aliso Viejo, California.)
Why did you guys decide to get back together?
After a series of events and a lot of conversation we both couldn’t think of a reason why not to do it. It just made sense to pick up artistically where both of us were at in our lives and our thinking. We had very specific direction in mind and things have come together far better than we expected. I’ve always been open to picking Unashamed up again and I’m glad that I now get the opportunity. As we were fishing around with the idea of picking it up again, it we were met with a general enthusiasm and a lot of support. The mere idea seemed to make people smile and that was enough reason for me. Things are pretty tough around Southern California these days and so reforming Unashamed seemed like a good opportunity to spread around some encouragement and hope that’s both definable and tangible.
Why aren’t you playing with the original lineup?
Now being over a decade removed from officially playing shows most members have moved on to other life pursuits, while others want nothing to do with it. Anyone who knows the history of this band will be able to testify that it has always been evolving in nature. The band has always been guided by a few key principles. The line-up today, in my opinion, embodies these principles in a way that is relevant to what is happening in the world today.
How did you decide on picking the new members?
As we began fishing the idea around in some circles there were 2 names everyone was referring us to, Dom Macaluso and Matt Mentley. I had been playing in a few projects with Randy Baranosky over the past 4 years. After a series of chats and prayer we all testified to the validity of the ideas put forth and the principles in mind. We instantly clicked both philosophically and relationally and never looked back. Bobby actually dug up some old photos of Dom and Matt at our shows from yonder years so that had a big part in the process as well. We wanted strong roots from people who had a solid understanding of where we were coming from and Dom, Matt, and Randy were the obvious choice as we began playing.
Will you be playing any shows?
Yes, we already have confirmed dates for January 8-9 at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA.
What songs will you play or not play and why?
I know this is going to disappoint some people but we actually won’t be playing “Awesome God” for a couple of reasons. First, we wanted to keep some things sacred so we decided to put that one to rest in order to preserve the memory of its past place within the history of the band . We all love that song and have no problem with the content. Second, because it’s a cover song we wanted to focus on original material. So thanks Rich Mullins, you wrote a wonderful song that will forever be in memoriam. In terms of our set, we each picked a list of the songs we enjoyed most and came to find almost all of our lists matching. That was actually the easiest part of the whole process, deciding on the songs. There’s a good balance of both albums thrown in there with some little twists and turns along the way.
Will you be writing or recording any new songs?
Yes, both. We’re already working on some rough ideas.
What will the new material sound like?
In a lot of ways I feel like I’m picking up where I left off. I just finished 8 years of college this past May. I’ve never stopped making music this entire time. When Unashamed stopped playing in 1996 I was 19. I thought it would be a good idea to get an education and then (hopefully) return with more qualitative content. Time will tell. Since all five of us are very active in the writing process we’re all enthusiastic to dive into new material.
Will you be touring at all?
When we first announced that we were reforming emails from all over the world started coming in asking when we were coming to their country. For the time being, we’ve talked about weekend shows and festivals but in terms of heading out for months on end it might be difficult since we have jobs, wives, kids, etc. We’re just excited to get out there, start playing and see what happens.
