20 Questions With Jamie Rowe, 5/16/00

20 QUESTIONS WITH…

Guardian’s Jamie Rowe

This week’s 20 Questions are with Guardian singer and self proclaimed Jesus Freak Jamie Rowe.  For those of you who don’t know, Guardian was a Christian rock band like Stryper, except they didn’t look like glam rock bumblebees.  Jamie emailed us a while back and actually complimented our brilliant and witty site, so we hit his ass up for 20 Questions.  Jamie recently auditioned for Ratt, so we asked him about that as well as his views on a variety of topics, and no matter how hard we tried, we really couldn’t throw him.  He has a good sense of humor, so check it out.

1. What are you currently up to? This is your only chance to plug your CDs, tours, websites, prayer gatherings, etc.
I have been in demo world lately. Writing for my debut solo disk.  Sorry folks, I am not making a hard rock disk..already saw that movie.  It's pop rock ala Smash Mouth/Third Eye Blind meets Duran Duran.  It is what Manowar fans would call "False Metal".  If you are just dying for more info, get over to WWW.JAMIEROWE.HOMEPAGE.COM  Be sure to sign up for the mailing list!

4. Do you really think that when you die you'll go to heaven and hang out with God?
Yes, I do. Not because I am a great person.  But because I have accepted Jesus Christ's biblical offer of eternal life. Nobody, including myself, is worthy of Heaven.  I still sin.  But Christ has made a way for us by his Grace and Mercy.  His offer is there for all of us.  I chose to surrender my life to Him. If anyone cares, I'd recommend a book called "EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT" by Josh McDowell. It answers alot of questions skeptics have about the reality of God's existence. If you are looking at me or any other Christian's life as your evidence..you will be let down...we are people who make mistakes daily.  Look to the example of Christ who was tempted in every way and still remained sinless.

5. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate the following sinners. 1 being somebody who will most likely go to heaven and 10 being someone who will burn in hell. Please be honest!
I will be honest! Since I obviously am not God..I'll have to go 50/50 on all these..except ONE who is obviously DOOMED!!
Marilyn Manson = 5
Howard Stern = 5
Tommy Lee = 5
Pamela Anderson = 5
Lars Ulrich = 5
Michael Sweet = 5
Gene Simmons = 5
Ellen Degeneres = 5
Dana Strum = 5
Ozzy Osbourne = 5
The Staff At Metal Sludge = 10...You are actually going to "South Hell"..it's a little bit further down...it's a little bit hotter.

7. Do you think people who have homosexual relationships are sinners? And what's worse, 2 guys being together or 2 chicks being together?
Sin is an act of rebellion against a Holy God. It's symptoms can be anything from homosexual relationships (which the Bible calls an abomination before God) or something subtle like Greed, Lust, or Pride.
I think sexual sin is no different than any other sin. It's one thing to be tempted..it's another to act on it.  I don't think a homosexual relationship is pleasing to God.  Two guys would be the more repulsive of the two for me but not any worse.  I'd also like to point out that hate crimes against homosexuals are totally wrong.  Those people who say 'God hates fags' must not know the God I serve. God hates sin.

8. You auditioned for Ratt a few months back and then once you got home you announced you backed out of the running. Do you really think they would have picked you anyways?
I auditioned for Ratt at the request of my longtime friend Keri Kelli. I was one of eight hand picked people to audition and they moved auditions to accommodate my schedule.  Out of the eight vocalists..I was absolutely, without a doubt, the best one.  The band will tell you that.  The audition sounded insane.  Warren got it on video.  I think it was highly possible they would have picked me.  I really like Robbie, Blotz, Warren, and Keri...but I just don't think I am who Ratt needs as their vocalist.  I watched a video tape of Pearcy fronting Ratt while I was at Keri's place and I saw what a Polar opposite I was from him.  I think it would have thrown their audience for a loop for me to front them. I do hope they get a singer that is as good at singing as the band is at playing. Ratt with a kickin' vocalist would be pretty dangerous!
FINAL VERDICT:  Yes, I could have done the gig on a 'vocalist level'..but I just wasn't the right guy for the gig.  It wouldn't have been fair to them or me.
NEWSFLASH:  Keri called me from the road tonight.  He was in Cleveland with Warrant...He confirmed that it looks like Robert Mason is 'da man.

10. Rate the following chicks on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being a chick so ugly it's a sin and 10 being a totally angel.

11. Do you believe the story of Noah's Ark? Do you actually think Noah really rounded up all those animals and put them on a boat? Wouldn't that be a major pain in the ass?
I believe the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible 100%. I believe God miraculously inspired the writers to deliver an error free revelation of Himself. Yes, That includes the story of Noah.  Bonus fact: There are over 2,500 known manuscripts of the New Testament written in the original Greek language from it's original time period in existence today.  Pretty good considering there are like 8-10 of Plato's manuscripts around..why doesn't anyone question the authenticity of Plato's writings?

14. Rumors have circulated for years that KISS stands for Knights In Satan's Service, WASP stands for We Are Satan's People, and WARRANT stands for We Ain't Rock & Roll And Need Talent. How has KISS, WASP and WARRANT influenced your career?
As a child, Kiss was Spiderman/Superman/Batman who happened to play music. I was always into their stage show. WASP didn't do much of anything for me...although Johnny Rod came to see us in Pittsburgh last year. As far as Warrant, I was 19 when DRFSR came out.  It was my favorite disk that summer.  I thought Jani was a really good hook writer and he can sing.  People bag on Jani for Cherry Pie and forget that he also wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.  I think Warrant has unfairly been targeted as the whipping boy for all that was wrong with "hair bands". I still think Jani has the ability to write some good hooks.  But Belly To Belly was lame!
What was the question?

Marilyn Manson or Slayer = Neither one interest me much, Manson in Bowie mode is not as silly to me.
Axl Rose or Nikki Sixx = Nikki...I met him years back and he was pretty cool to me.
Strippers or Porn Stars = I can honestly say I do not personally know anyone who does Either of those occupations.
Ozzy Osbourne or Alice Cooper = Alice! Rumours have circulated for years that he has faith in Christ.  Who knows?
Michael Sweet or Robert Sweet = Oz Fox and Tim Gaines
Sebastian Bach or Howard Stern = Sebastian..Love him or hate him..he's  a stellar vocalist.
David Koresch or L. Ron Hubbard = Deception.  Neither mean anything to me.  Someone told me Koresch listened to Guardian...that is scary.
Christmas or Easter = Christmas...I have kids.  I don't believe Dec.25th was the actual birth date of Christ.  But, it's a good day to celebrate his arrival.  I love the whole santa thing with my children.
Lesbians or Gay Guys = Ha ha! Given a YOU MUST CHOOSE ULTIMATUM I'd choose Lesbians.  Just cause I prefer women.  But I don't actually prefer either one.

18. Please fix the following 3 sentences by correctly rewriting it.

NOTE TO SLUDGEAHOLICS:  We have to briefly explain this next part.  When we were sending out the 20 Questions to Jamie, we came up with some question that was like, "Don't you think" blah blah blah.  We forgot what the questions was, but it was something like that.  Anyways, whoever was typing up Jamie's 20 Questions only sent out the "don'" part and forgot the rest of the question, and then sent it out to Jamie.  Well Jamie responded to it and here it is.  It's kind of funny so we'll keep it in to show you guys that even Metal Sludge is capable of making a mistake every now and then.

20. Don'
I am not sure of the meaning of this question.  It sounds like a man's name with an apostrophe added. You can come up with a better question that that can't you?!    Try again.....

Now we think that was pretty good!  See, at Metal Sludge, you never know who's going to send back a cool interview and who's going to be lame.  Jamie can hang better than a lot of people and put some effort into all the questions, so for that we salute him!  He even managed to talk a little bit of smack too!

Now if you'd like more info on Jamie (and who doesn't?), you can go to WWW.JAMIEROWE.HOMEPAGE.COM.  He's got info on his CDs, shows, and various shit like that.