Art of Dying- 10 Questions

Jonny Hetherington, frontman of the five piece Canadian rock band Art of Dying, answers 10 Questions.

1. Do you collaborate when writing material, or is it a solo effort?
Collaboration is a brilliant thing. I’ve done so much of it in the past couple of years, but mostly with other artists and writers for different musical projects.
When it comes to Art of Dying we like to keep it within the band.

2. How do you prepare for a show? Any specific things you do to get in the right headspace?
I have a ritual where I find a dark (usually quiet) corner in the basement of a club or an alley out back where I take about 20 minutes to warm up my voice. We usually have a couple of beers to loosen up. Pre show you can find the band in a hack circle… it’s really good to get your blood flowing.

3. Where is your favorite place to perform?
We just did a large club tour with Disturbed in the US. That size of venue is really cool. 2000-3000 people every night. We did a similar tour with Seether in England. I love that size of venue! It’s big enough that you’re blown away on stage by the size of the crowd, but small enough that you can relate to everyone and actually meet a lot of people after the show. My fave venues have been The Astoria in London, Sloss Furnace House in Alabama.

4. What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened at a show?
We we’re about to go on stage in Saskatoon, Canada and the power on the whole block went out. So we lit a ton of candles, grabbed our acoustic guitars and played our hearts out with no microphones or amps… it turned the worst night into the best!

5. What’s your favorite art besides music?
Paintings. I paint myself and I love going to galleries and checking out new stuff. Seeing Jackson Pollack’s work at the Tate in London was a thrill.

6. Do you have any guilty pleasures?
Too many to mention…. Cuban cigars, Gin & Tonic, Sour Cream and Onion chips.

7. What’s your favorite Chinese-food dish?
I haven’t had chinese in sooo long… more of a sushi or Thai man. Tuna Nigiri all the way.

8. If you were compared to an animal, what would you be, and why?
I’d love to say crow (because that’s our band’s symbol) but, I’d have to say more bear. I’m big and clumsy… and I’m always getting big tubs of honey stuck on my head! Mmmmm honey.

9. What’s the weirdest thing a fan has ever done at a show?
I had a guy come up to me in Amarillo TX and he shook my hand and told me that our song “Get Through This” stopped him from committing suicide. He said that we saved his life. That was one of the best moments of my life… it was weird in a very good way.

10. Where can people find more about Art of Dying?
www.artofdyingmusic.com, www.myspace.com/theartofdying