>Deas Vail is Wes Blaylock (vocals, keys), Laura Hudson (keys), Kelsey Harelson (Drums), Jonathan Childs (Bass), and Andy Moore (Guitar).

During the song writing process of your new record, where did you look for inspiration? Are there any artists in particular from which you draw influence?

>The inspiration for our music tends to come from varied sources, but generally speaking, situations and events in our lives are the inspiration for our art. Situations including the untimely death of a friend, family struggles, and overcoming hypocritical attitudes have all influenced our songwriting for this album.

In your opinion, what is the most rewarding aspect of being a part of the music industry?

>Other artists do inspire us to take on new challenges artistically. Some music that we are currently listening to range from Copeland’s new record, Sufjan Stevens, Mew, Leeland, Anathallo, As Tall As Lions, and Brand New. There are so many bands whose music we admire, it’s difficult to list them without sounding a bit self-indulgent, but those are a few.

As young up-and-coming artists yourselves, do you find it difficult to keep up with the ever-changing new music scene?

>The most rewarding aspect of being involved in the music industry for us is the opportunity to play music for a variety of people and to have our music touch people’s lives in a way that music has effected our own lives.

How do you feel about being a part of this scene when media attention unfortunately relies so heavily on the artists’ image rather than their talents these days?

>Being a new artist in this industry is turning out to be quite a blessing in that independent artists have so many opportunities to take the bull by the horns and get involved in directing their course in the industry. Thanks to Myspace and other networking tools that are constantly developing, we have new opportunities every day to expand the reach of our music. Thankfully, our label is really staying on top of the constant flux in the industry and they make sure we are aware of what is effective for promotion and what is not.

What major goals do you have that you’d like to accomplish in the near future?

>We would like to continue increasing our fan base and getting our music in the hands of as many people as we can. As far as milestones, we are excited to have released our first record, which is being distributed nationally. We would like to see our music take us to other countries; a European or Asian tour would be amazing.

What is it like working on Brave New World Records. Is it more challenging as a band on an indie label to grab media attention and spread the word about yourselves and your new album?

>Brave New World Records have been such a blessing and vital part of our music growing as much as it has both in maturity and in our fan base. It is exciting for us to be involved hands-on with making contacts for distribution, management, marketing, and other important aspects of the industry side of our music. Although it does require work on our parts, the freedom that we’ve been given with an independent label is well worth the effort.

Do you have any plans to look into signing with a major label anytime soon?

>We don’t have anything in motion at this time as far as major labels are concerned. The audience that a major label offers is something we would definitely love to influence. However, as we are just now releasing our first album to the market, the move to a larger market may take some time

Of all the songs you’ve written, which are you most proud of, and why?

>To be honest, we’ve had time to be very selective on this album and we are very pleased with every track on the record. We have been able to stay away from filler songs and really put our hearts into every track.

If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

>We probably would be best suited with Snoop D-O-double-G on a collabo. It would be such a boost for our career to have a song say “Deas Vail feat. Snoop Dogg” kinda like Akon. We’re hip to that. James Taylor is a good choice, too; either of those two.

If you could have any super power what would it be?

>Flight, definitely. That’s easy. But, apart from the obvious, like if everyone could fly, then it would probably need to be producing focused low-frequency sound waves that could be directed at the bad guy’s colon. It would have a lot of stopping power, but would leave the perpetrator unharmed, with only a bit of shame to deal with.

Pick your craziest tour experience and describe it please.

>Our craziet experience so far happened just before the John Reuben tour started. We had just played a show with Edison Glass in Arkansas and an ice storm had blown through during the show. We braved the weather only to turn a two hour drive into a nine hour drive along with a pit stop in the median and a tow-truck expense on top of that.

If someone asked you to live tomorrow as if it were your last day, what would you make plans to do for that day?

>If it were the last day for us to be a band, we would probably try to book some amazing show … say with Prince or U2. But that would probably take more than a day, so I’m guessing we would put on the biggest show we could, hire a film crew to shoot the concert and maybe have it aired live on Myspace or YouTube.

What song still makes you want to dance in front of your mirror when no one is watching?

>Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” But, with five band members, we would all be able to watch each other, so it would be difficult to pull off the “while no one is watching” part.

Any last words of wisdom?