Interview with Feel, Never Real guitarist and vocalist Tim Jones

Guitarist/vocalist Tim Jones of the Dallas based hard rock outfit Feel, Never Real, spoke with me recently about the bands newest release, VS. The Sea Of Disease. The band successfully melds tons of melody with a hard rock edge resulting in what I feel is a very solid disc. Here is what Jones had to say about the band, the new disc and the unusual band name.

The name of the band, Feel, Never Real, is interesting to say the least and sounds as if there is a story behind it. Where did the name come from and what is the story?
Tim: It came from when Shea and I lived in Orlando Florida, we were looking for a band name so I saw this “F N R” on a piece of machinery I was working on at my job at the time, I thought cool, so just messing around I came up with “feel never real” out of it. I brought the name home to Shea that night and he thought it wasn’t bad, more and more as we thought about what the name meant to us which is that reality doesn’t seem real it never seems real to us or I dare say to most folks for that matter. So overtime we just really grew fond of the name, as it seemed to depict as well.

Now that your new CD, VS. The Sea of Disease, is complete how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome?
Tim: We are very satisfied with it we are very very proud of it, definitely the most proud I’ve been of songs that we’ve written thus far.

What was the writing process like for this CD? Did you guys all write together? How long did it take?
Tim: It took us about a year to create the album and we have been touring on our first record for two years previously, we’ve been ready. Perfecting this record took a year but the actual writing process no more than two months. The writing process was definitely different this go around as we co-wrote three songs with Johnny Andrews, the co-writing thing was a first for us, we were really pleased with the outcome.

Give us some insight into the record and the meaning behind its title?
Tim: The title reads like a fight poster, Feel, Never Real Versus The Sea Of Disease, its meaning applies to so many different aspects of life in general for us and most people, such as anything from industry folks for us, or bosses for everyday people, because so many of the songs on this record deal with the tribulation and struggle of everyday life.

What can fans expect when they pick up a copy of VS. The Sea of Disease?
Tim: An eclectic multi-genre record.

Are there any tracks on the disc that are personal favourites or that have good stories behind them?
Tim: Truly, I love every one of the tracks and they all have a specific story behind them, but probably my two favorite to play would be “Come Too Far” and “Drunkstar Anthem ” for a couple of different reasons; number one they’re fun to play live, number two because “Come Too Far” is one of those songs that is specifically dealing with our struggles as musicians in our personal lives with our personal goals. And “Drunkstar” really says it all; we like to get wild and party.

What kind of touring plans do you have in support of the disc?
Tim: We’re taking that one day at a time as of right now, as we are continuing to accept possibilities of a record label home for the album.

When playing together and ultimately recording this CD did you find that you could express yourself creatively enough?
Tim Yes we know each other quite well at this point; we pretty well know what each other are going to do musically at any given moment, which should be expected after seven years together.

What artists would fans be surprised to find on your iPod?
Tim: Probably the two most out of place would be Huey Lewis and the News and Hank Williams Sr.

If you had not become a musician what other career path would you have liked to attempt?
Tim: Probably high school janitors. No, personally myself I like to build things from motorcycles to airplanes (if I had the money) that could be cool.

What three words best describe your band?
Tim: Eclectic, party, Santa Claus fan oriented! I think that’s too many.

If you were a superhero, who would it be and why?
Tim: Superman, is there anything that guy can’t do?

Any closing words?
Tim: I appreciate you taking the time to interview us, thanks again.