STRYPER's MICHAEL SWEET: Why I Left California For Massachusetts Twenty Years Ago

IndiePower.com recently conducted an interview with STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On why he decided to leave California, where he grew up, and move to Massachusetts:

Michael: "My wife at the time, Kyle, she grew up here [in Massachusetts], so we had two kids, and we wanted to kind of start over and raise the kids in a better place. We were living out in California. I grew up out there; I was born out in California. And we just made the move twenty years ago, in 1995. I've been here ever since. I'm remarried now. And I thought about leaving Massachusetts and going somewhere else six or seven years ago, and then I just felt like this feels more like home to me than other place, even my hometown. So every time I go to California, I can't get out of there quick enough, to be honest… I mean, we all live in different areas. The drummer and the guitar player live in [Las] Vegas, the bass player lives in Nashville. I live in Boston. So… I'm not a Nashville kind of guy or a Vegas kind of guy at all. So it just feels right to stay here, stay where I am."

On people who criticize STRYPER and other bands online:

Michael: "These people that chastise and go in and make all these comments, you've gotta wonder: who are they? I mean, apparently they think that they know what they're talking about, and obviously many of them don't. Yeah, they're opinions, and everyone has a right to their opinion. But that's the downside of the Internet — nowadays everyone can go on Facebook and they can say whatever they want. And I go onto some of these Facebook pages, and I just think, 'Gosh, I would never in my lifetime consider going into VAN HALEN's page and just ripping the band apart.' I just don't understand it. Everyone has an opinion and I guess they feel they can express it, but, unfortunately, a lot of times it's negative and it's nasty.

"I'll continue being who I am. I do my best to just stay humble. I don't carry the pride flag around at all; I can't stand that. I'm not into the ego thing. But I'm a very opinionated guy. If someone asks me a question, I'm not gonna lie to you. That doesn't make me cocky, and that doesn't make me prideful; it just means I'm being honest with you. I'm shooting straight."

STRYPER's new album, "Fallen", entered The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 43 with first-week sales of just over 10,000 units — nearly all from pure album sales. The set follows the No. 35-peaking "No More Hell To Pay", which was released in 2013.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

"Fallen" was released on October 16 via Frontiers. The CD was tracked at SpiritHouse Recording Studios in Northampton, Massachusetts and includes a cover version of the BLACK SABBATH classic "After Forever".