Their debut, Skywire, was one of the best albums of 1996. Their upcoming second album, Delicate Fade, is sure to turn the alternative scene on it's ear again. Drew would probably tell the story better than I could, so here goes (whirl)'s exclusive as all get out interview with Common Children.

What do you think Common Children, as a band, stand for?We stand for a mutual respect among all types of people. We all deal with the same inner struggles, for the most part, weather we are a lawyer or a garbage man. I think we're all looking for our own slot in this life; somewhere to fit in and feel like we have purpose. We all are common children and each person has his/her special gift and purpose. We share our hearts through music and hopefully people can be touched, in some way, by the honesty. Just because we play music doesn't mean we are better than anyone. We're all in this together and I feel like we are offering hope in a messed up world.

How did you guys meet Steve Hindalong, who produced your album?We met Steve and Deri at one of our shows. I (drew) had met Deri while I was working at a watch stand in the mall. I told him about the band but that was premature I guess. We played Cornerstone on the 7-ball stage and Gene Eugene heard us and told Steve and Deri about us. (Gene offered us a deal at the show which we considered).

Then one day, Steve came to get a burger, at Marcs' work and Marc gave him some tickets to a show. Steve asked about the band and realized that we were the band Gene was talking about. He, Deri, Dan Michaels, and Mike Porter came to the show, at the Cannery and really liked us. We then started talking with Tattoo, hashing out a deal. Our manager at the time, Terry Sasser, really got us a good deal.

It was so great to be able to meet Steve and Deri, after having been so influenced by them. I remember our first real meeting with them. They were mixing a song for the Noel Christmas CD and there we were,sitting in the back of the room, beside ourselves. Then, we got to got on tour with them. God really blessed us.

Now we're friends and this second album is going to be so much better. We feel a lot more comfortable and we are closer so we're getting work done faster.

Keep us in your prayers.

Do you remember the first concert CC played? The first concert we did as Common Children.....let's see.

We were working with a local church in Ar. and held a big parking lot show in downtown Hot Springs. It was right where all the kids crused in a circle so we ended up having a lot of people. Man, I just remembered how long our songs were. They were epics. I bet we wore them out.

I wish I had that on video now. Oh, I almost forgot. At the show, there were your usual punk kids(cool) and then there were the cowboys. I guess there was some taunting or something but about half way through, a fight broke out between one of the cowboys and a punk kid. You know us, always stiring up something...

Give some facts or interesting tidbits about the upcoming album?We are currently working on Delicate Fade with Steve and Deri. It took about a week for the drums and I did my parts in a day and a half. We still have to retrack the title track. Marc is doing guitars now so it looks like we have about 4 more weeks left. I'll let Marc say more about lyrics, but I know they will be very close to home and personal for us. It's been a very trying year to say the least. It's weird cause the music seems so much happier but I know some of the lyrics will be on the darker, gritty truth side.(whatever that is)

As we progress further into it, I'm sure there will be some more interesting bits of news, but that's it for now.

What means more to you, critical raves or incredible album sales, if you had to pick one?At this point(cause I'm close to broke) I'd have to say sales but I know I'd really, much rather have people respect the art and have it live on, than to just sell records.........there is nothing wrong with that...

I think about how our music could have an affect on our childrens children. Maybe it'll make their lives a little bit easier. "Aww , that's grandads old group....that stinks." Who knows.....I just hope I have kids (gotta find a wife first).

What is your dream tour (bands, etc.)?I'd love to tour with Failure and Kings X. Now that's a tour.

How did it come about that CC get played on the Dennis Rodman World Tour?There was a guy at MTV Sports,who got us on a couple of shows. I think it was the same guy that pitched our CD for the Rodman show. They ended up using us on 4 different episodes. ("Skywire", "Man", "Domesticity",) (i think that's it) They may have used some more but I didn't catch all of them.

What is (are) your favorite song(s) off Skywire, and why?My favorites off Skywire are...

1. "Wishing Well" (it's so sing-a-long)
2. "Last Time Out" ( it's so lush)
3. "Dual Lens" (trippy) 4. "Drown" (the ending is cool for me and Hampton and it's so circular) 5. "Broken Smile" (because it's "Broken Smile")

Number one inspiration (besides God)?One of my inspirations would be....the Choir. They've stuck it out and definitely deseved that Dove.

What is the correct answer to this question:"do I look fat?"Now honey, how could you look fat when you are the furthest thing from it?