Metalfan: Hi Sean. I think this is the first time Cage is being interviewed by a Romanian webzine. Can you make a short presentation of the band and its origins and history?
Our band started in 1992 and we were under the assault of the grunge movement. We just wanted to continue the great legacy of the metal masters and have some fun doing it.

Metalfan: What are your main influences as a singer? What are your favourite bands?
I was a late bloomer to metal but when it hit me it took over my life pretty much. I grew up on a good dose of the hard rock stuff like Dokken, Ratt, Black and Blue, Helix and others and moved swiftly to Testament, Judas Priest, Metal Church, Iron Maiden, Early Queensryche, Savatage, Riot and King Diamond. Vocalists I admired were Rob Halford of course, King Diamond for his voices and creative melodies, Geoff Tate back then not now and Midnight from Crimson Glory. I just sang Red Sharks with Crimson Glory at the PROG POWER USA X festival and it was an honor and a dream come true.

Metalfan: There’s plenty of people who love Cage out there, but also some who discard you as just another Judas Priest/Painkiller copycat. What would you say to the latter?
I do not know how they can say that. I do not know how many Judas Priest clones are out there but I would like to know who they are because I would probably love them! Everyone has an opinion but now I think we are probably a bit faster and heavier than Priest and definitely employ a lot of different approaches than they do, like black and death metal voices and falsetto King diamond like stuff. Judas Priest has great songs and that is really important to us. Judas Priest also dressed all in black leather and studs and we have adopted that also.They are the embodiment of all that is good about metal,so we are just looking to expand on those ideas and push the limits a bit!

Metalfan: You’ve had some excellent reviews and fan reception for your last three albums. Has this changed anything? Do you feel the band is getting more attention, has Cage become bigger?
Yes slowly but surely we have been moving up the metal mountains. The more people see us the more fans we get too. We have been touring much more than we ever have and that has really helped us become a bit of an underground legend. We plan to keep pushing the limits and playing more so that the American Power Metal Kings can obtain global domination!!!

Metalfan: Hell Destroyer is my personal favourite from all your work so far. I was especially intrigued with the whole concept and I felt it gave more depth to the music. Can you tell us something about that story? Is Cage a christian band? Any plans of doing another concept album any time soon?
I love doing concept stories as I am a big comic book guy who also played a lot of nerdy role playing games similar to dungeons and dragons. This background has allowed me to use my creative imagination to employ my knack for storytelling to a new medium...metal music. Hell Destroyer therefore was actually easier to write than Science of Annihilation was. We have 5 Christians in the band and the light frequently prevails in my stories. If that makes us a Christian band than that is cool. We are definitely not a satanic band and I think bands that try to show ho evil they are ridiculous. We have received a lot of love from the Christian metal community and it has been a welcome addition to our fanbase. We recently headlined the 2009 Elements of Rock festival in Switzerland and it was amazing and the people were awesome. If no one told you it was a Christian event you would have never known.  

Metalfan: In 17 years of activity, you’ve only had two or three lineup changes. This is pretty rare in metal. What keeps you guys together?
Yes we have Myself, Dave Garcia, and Mikey G the bass player all as founding members. Anthony has been with us like 8 years now and we recently made a definite upgrade by adding Norm Leggio our new drummer, formally of Psychotic Waltz. Hopefuly there will be no more lineup changes. It has been a band of lots of fun and very little drama which is hard to come by.

Metalfan: You have a new drummer, Norm Leggio, of Psychotic Waltz fame. How does it feel to have such an experienced and well known player in your band? Did he have any input on the songs on your new album?
Well he wrote all the drum parts and did a great job. I micromanage a lot of the writing and Norm knew just what to do.  He has been a long time friend before we considered him to join the band and that really helped a lot. We have been having a total blast on the road with him it has been great musically and a big upgrade in the fun factor as well.

Metalfan: Speaking of the new album. Although the furious power metal songs are still dominating, I felt on songs like Spirit of Vengeance or Black River Falls more traditional influences, in the vein of classic 80s heavy metal. Was this something deliberate on your part?
Kind of. I guess we just write from the viewpoint of a metal fan and how it should be delivered in an arena metal type setting. There was a deliberate attempt to speed things up on this record and employ some new beats that we had never used. It really worked out well and the fan reaction has been great. The classic vibe is still there with the songs you mentioned but the live set now includes a lot of power from the new release.

Metalfan: How is the american heavy/power scene nowadays? How about the californian one? Any new bands worth watching for?
I think the scene here is healthier than ever. In California a lot of the young kids are really into the classic metal stuff and we play mostly all ages shows now. California has a lot of places to play and there are tons of metal bands everywhere it seems. A band I like is Holy Grail  they just signed to Prosthetic Records, they are sweet. Check them out.

Metalfan: Is there any chance we’re gonna see Cage live in Eastern Europe, or in Romania, in the near future?
Well I think in 2010 we will be going to a lot of new places so it is highly likely that we could show up there. I will call management and tell them that the Romanians are calling!! We have to get there because like I said our new set list is absolutely vicious!