The south is alive with pure rock and roll and if you need any proof – look no further than Dallas Taylor of Maylene and The Sons of Disaster. From his days in Underoath to now, Dallas has captivated heavy music fans the world over and we just spoke with him. The conversation can be found below.

J: Dallas, how does the day find you?

D: Just getting ready to play in Detroit.

J: So, you’re out on the road right now, care to tell us a bit about the tour?

D: It’s going great, its a lot of fun and its going well. It’s been a little over 2 weeks and we aren’t stopping until November 15th.

J: Did you have a say in the bands joining you? If so, any reason why you chose a Static Lullaby, Showbread, Confide, and Attack Attack?

D: We were trying to find bands and that fell through. So we handed it to our booking agent and label and such to handle. However, it’s been great and they’re all great guys.

J: It’s been a long time since you’ve put any new material out, why go on the road?

D: We’re not really scheduled to release our record until May of next year. So we didn’t want to sit at home. Nowadays, I think you have to stay on the road to keep people into the music and let them know you’re still going. A lot of it was a big push from our label and management to get back out there one more time. We trust them and their opinions.

J: When will you be hitting the studio next?

D: December 1. Jason Algen will be producing. He’s from Birmingham like us. He’s done a lot of rock bands and such, but also our last two records. He’s a great friend and a great producer.

J: What has changed about MATSOD since II?

D: A lot more grown up now. We have some new guys writing with us as well. Our old members didn’t want to tour anymore, btu we’re still tight. Now it’s a lot of old friends that I knew and we’re just staying Maylene, but being more thought out and grown up.

J: Lyrically, how do you approach songwriting?

D: It always varies. I write in a journal a lot on the road. Sometimes I will just take a bunch of chunks and put them together or I’ll be inspired by something. Sometimes I’ll have something inspired by the heart, but I’ll make it fit our band and our style. A lot of people I look up to write in story form and that’s something I think I’ve begun to use. Tell more stories and try to be more visual. Try because I’m not sure I do that too well. Also, sometimes I write lyrics and they only make sense to me, but I don’t know, it’s what I like. We’re happy with where we’re at and we’re out making friends instead of trying to be cool. So, we’re good with it.

J: I know you have an exclusive t-shirt with Hurley in the works, can you tell us a little bit about that?

D: Hurley will sometimes get behind bands and sponsor things. They did sponsor this tour and got really behind this. They have a label called Science Records which carries Confide who are on this tour. They’ve just supported us a lot and we like to work with them. I think they did something similar with Norma Jean.

J: So you just shot a new video. What song was it for and when can we expect to see it?

D: I think it’ll be online pretty soon. It’s the last track on our second record. Just an acoustic track with no vocals. It’s a live footage clip that Hurley really wanted to do and work on. It’s pretty cinematic I guess.

J: Random: What’s a hobby of yours most people probably wouldn’t expect?

D: I’ll give you 2.

Taking care of my yard and the plants in it. I’m big into my flower bed, shrubs, trees, growing, etc.

I’m also pretty into cooking. Actually, anything with food is a big hobby of mine. I’ll try anything.

J: We don’t believe in final questions, just closing statements. The floor is yours:

D: I guess what I’ve been dealing with a lot is how lucky we are to be in any position as long as we’re breathing. If you’re handicapped or have cancer or anything it’s easy to be down, but you still need to appreciate life. I have a lot of friends in wheelchairs an whatnot and they’re crazy about life and I just want us to think about how lucky we are and not just mope or get down about something petty.

My last statement is just: make the best out of life and try to find something good in every situation. God Bless Everybody.

**Written By: James Shotwell**

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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