So is Blissed a Christian band like Stryper?
Robert: Well, lets put it this way, the guys in Blissed are Christian but I didn’t set out to copy what I did in Stryper. Stryper and Blissed both stand out on their own way but I guess you could say that Blissed is in the same spirit as Stryper. I wanted to take up where Styper left off but also do the things that never quite totally happened the way I wanted them to in Stryper. I wanted Blissed to be very heavy. When we did a lotta the records with Stryper we wanted them to be heavy but with the producers we worked with it came out all poppy and stuff. So with Blissed I wanted a heavier version and I think a lotta Stryper fans out there will also want to hear something heavy.

How did Blissed form?
Robert: I hooked up with the guys one by one in Ontario (Canada) when I flew up to do a session. I saw this 25 year old guitar player that was simply shredding and a singer I’d met years ago. The guitarist and bassist I never knew and they both turned out to be Christians. Maybe it was coincidence, maybe divinely planned. Sometimes there are no coincidences in life and things kinda happen as they should.

Would you say Stryper’s success owed a lot to the counter reaction against Satanic Metal and the so called ‘evil’ it stood for?
Robert: I think that its kinda stupid to say that any kind of music is evil - its just silly. If one painter creates an evil picture does that make all painters evil? Its not an idea I subscribe to. True, there’s been a lotta metal that has been dark. True, a lotta metal lyrics can be taken as negative. True, you’ve got all these anti-Christ superstars especially with the heavier, darker metal but to say a form of music which is about being young, being happy, playing aggressively and loud is evil is really silly. And nobody got that more than Stryper y’know? We didn’t beat anyone over the head with the Bible. Sure, we threw a lot into the crowd but we literally got beat up by the community of people who said that metal was evil and Stryper were these dark men setting out to corrupt and ruin a generation. Its so silly. Music is not evil, its what you do with that music that matters.

So lemme get this right, you were not accepted by the Christian community?
Robert: As Stryper, we either had people who loved us or hated us. I found out that once people got to know us as people, they really liked us. We’re not the freaks or tele-evangelists that the non christians perceived us to be and there were Christians who liked us. And of course those who didn’t. You can’t have it all and even to this day there are on line wackos who call themselves Christians who slam me and every other Christian artist. When I was in Stryper and when I started Blissed I wanted to bring a good thing to our culture. I didn’t want to see music slanted lyrically and message-wise all in the same direction. I think thats whats ruining this world and people are crying out to really hear something positive. I mean, you can only hear about death and destruction for so long.

So you don’t like the darker end of the metal world?
Robert: I wanna say that although we were described as ‘the light of the metal world’ I have nothing against the darker bands. I remember years ago when we at a rock music convention and I went up to King Diamond and shook his hand and all these people were shocked because they didn’t realise that Stryper was really about love. We don’t hate anybody or look down upon anyone. We’re all created in the image of God. Its not a religious thing but a love thing. Although my king is Christ it doesn’t mean that I don’t like getting on a drumkit and busting a hundred pieces out’ve it - or driving 110 miles per hour and not getting caught for it ha ha!

What does it mean to be a Christian and play metal in terms of keeping to values. I mean, rock n roll values aren’t exactly religious!
Robert: Sure. But I don’t think that being a Christian necessarily means that you’re religious. I think that Christianity is something set apart from religion. A lotta times when the holy spirit has left, religion is what is left. But yes, there are a lot’ve things out there that are appealing like girls ha ha but when you read the words of Christ you are tested with controlling yourself and your behaviour. Like holding back when you would want to lash out at someone. Or loving someone who hates you. These are not easy things to do and at time you’re right, there is a conflict. Temptation is always there for everyone be it in the things people do or say. But I think that if you put God first, and you really mean it and you’re really sincere in what you do then I don’t think that anything would be at odds with each other.

How has the work David has done with AIDs orphans in Africa gone down with Christian community, where many say AIDs is the scourge of God
Robert: firstly, you can’t believe everything the media says and secondly, AIDs for some people may be a consequence of something they did like using dirty needles. That wasn’t God saying “oh, you’re a rock star, I’m gonna nail you with AIDs”, but them doing it to themselves. These are consequences. But some people take things too far, be it on the religious right or the liberal left, they go too far either way. Sometimes its not an issue which is black or white but a gray area, like a someone catching AIDs from a blood transfusion. Thats not because of their sins! Jesus said “the heart of the law is mercy” and I strive to be nice and mercyful and unjudging of others.

What about your infamous slogan ‘Praise the Lord - and pass the ammo!” ha ha?
Robert: Yeah ha ha, stuff like ‘Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition’ was humourous but it did get us pegged as weirdos when in reality we weren’t even extreme certainly compared to some the black metal bands that I know you’re interviewed in the past. Sometimes Christians are portrayed by the press to be wackos or freaky when they’re really not. What you have is a few wackos out there and I don’t think they are really Christians. They just make the rest of us look bad.

So did you always want to be in a band?
Robert: The idea of Stryper was in my head since I was 19 years old. I was at a Van Halen concert and I was thinking “God, I know your’re there. I don’t see you. I don’t hear you but help me one day to get up onstage and do this.” Y’know, no one is here forever and I just wanted to leave a mark that was more that how much I drank or how many girls I had but something that gave people hope.

Can you set the record straight of how the downfall of Stryper.
Robert: In one sense it was a downfall, but now its coming into a new thing. My brother left int he summer of ‘92 to basically do a solo tour. I think he had been wanting for a long time to do his own music and step out on his own. He had all these songs and things that he wanted to do that he felt wouldn’t be right for Stryper and wanted a break to do this. My thoughts were different at the time and I felt that the band should stay together but he really wanted to do it. Also, we as a band were coming out’ve a hard period in our career where the record label had gone out’ve business and grunge was coming in. As for his return, well, I don’t think its about fixing the past but more if the right thing is to come back. We’ve got a coupla large shows, one in Disneyland and one in Mexico City which might pull around 100,000 people! After these shows with Stryper, I really want to get things going with Blissed. I don’t know if Stryper will ever be back full time, its difficult to say because Michael lives in Boston and I live in Vegas so I don’t get to see him all that much. But while I love my past with Stryper, I would love my future with Blissed to go thru the roof!

Thanks a lot Robert, I always wanted to know the Christian side of things and I appreciate you taking the time to convey your opinions.
Robert: No problem Shan. I just wanted to say thank you to the press guys like you who search for the truth and the people reading this, as without you guys we could never do what we wanted to do. Our fans aren’t fans but close friends. We’re like an extended family. Gene Simmons and I talked about it one day and he said “the fans are the boss” and I agree. From all the guys in Stryper and all the guys in Blissed we owe it to you, so thank you

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