I was a member of (hed)pe when I met Danny, Sam, and Steve who were in a band together that opened for us. They asked me down to jam with them for fun and when I did, we clicked. We decided to form a new band together. I called hed's management and asked if they knew of any vocalists, and they sent Sean and Chris our way. At the time we were thinking of only having one vocalist, but when we auditioned them we liked them both for different reasons. I believe it was Steve who suggested that they try a song together. I remember as they were singing, the rest of us looking at each other thinking "this is it". And so it was. Clinton has been with us for only a year. Our original 2nd guitarist left due to a high paying job offer.

Where did the name Rooster, Inc. come from?

We wanted to have a simple, easy-to-remember name. Danny came into the studio one day and suggested "Rooster". We pretty much couldn't think of anything better, so we ran with it. We added the "Inc" to it when we found out from my former bandmates, who were on tour, that there was another Rooster out there.

You guys are a pretty tight band to see live, how much time do you put into rehearsing before a gig? Do you practice on a regular basis even when you don't have upcoming gigs?

We rehearse 3 times a week on a regular basis... show or no show.

Where is your practice space?

Huntington Beach.

(That's Ken on the far left, behind the Mustang. The car is a prototype, not yet in production, but the boys seem satisfied!)

Where is everyone in the band from?

Sam, Clinton, Danny, and Steve live in Costa Mesa. Chris and I are from Huntington Beach. Sean is from Long Beach.

How did you end up playing keyboards?

I had bought a Roland sampling keyboard at the same time my roommate, Wes was forming a new band, (hed). I'd never played the piano before, but I had taken a community college class in electronic music. Wes asked if i'd like to be a part of the new project (dropping samples and playing Dr. Dre. type "g" keys) and myself, having never been in a band before, I jumped at the opportunity.

What is that guitar-looking red keyboard you play called? Other than it's mobility, what does it offer you sound-wise? (It's a silly question, but it's cool and I really wanted to know.)

It's a Roland AX-1. It doesn't have any sound but rather triggers a rack mounted sound module. Roland had discontinued making them years ago and then last year decided to make them again (only a limited number) for about 6 months. I had only seen funk bands in the 80's use them, so I thought that it would be different for someone who plays heavy music to use one.

Has the band written a lot of new songs since Eclectic Animals other than the two on your recent demo?

We have written 9 new songs since our cd was released. In addition we also do a cover of "I Want Candy". We play 4 of the new songs in the set.

Any new songs in the works?

We're actually going to take some time off to write and record new material.

I am always curious what the songwriting process is like with bands that have so many members . How do you come up with new songs? Is it a group effort, a jam, or do one or two of you write the songs and lyrics?

Most of the songs start off as jams. It's a group effort.

Do you feel the popularity of the Internet has had a negative or positive effect on your band?

The internet has helped us out a lot. We have shipped cds all over the world, and a lot of fans have found us through sites like Afternight.com and Farmclub.com, along with our own site. In fact our artwork for Eclectic Animals was done by fans in Sweden and Slovenia.

Do you feel you are making that best of your internet presenc, or do you concentrate more on music and try not to worry about that stuff?

We probably could be doing more but at this point we just want to keep on writing,recording, and gigging.

Last but not least… what's coming up for Rooster Inc.? Will we get to see you gigging soon? Give us the scoop- when and where?

As I mentioned before, we are going to take some time off to write and record - but if we're offered a good show, we'll take it. Actually, the Cadillac Tramps have asked us to play a big show with them in November. Until then, we'll just play it by ear.

Check the band out at http://www.roosterinc.com/

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