Samuel Barker: To start with, what is you name and what do you do?

Jabe: I’m Jabe, I’m the singer for Darwin’s Waiting Room.

Samuel: Alright, I know you guys are from Florida, but what city?

Jabe: We’re from Miami.

Samuel: Are there a lot of good bands coming up there right now?

Jabe: There is a great underground local scene there. It’s really an untapped resource. A lot of people don’t know about it because Miami is more about the Latin flavor, dance music, things like that. Up until recently, people didn’t know about the big music scene, the underground hard rock and punk scene.

Samuel: Who are some of the better bands coming from that scene that people should try to check out?

Jabe: There’s a band called Twice the Sun. They’re good, they’re from Miami. We’ve been on tour since February, so I don’t really know how things have changed. I know a lot of bands that I’ve enjoyed a lot have broken up by now. You know, a lot of local bands tend to break up or split into other bands. The band, Twice the Sun, that I was talking about is like an all star of some of my favorite bands that were from around there. A lot of the bands that were good from down there got signed, like Nonpoint. The got signed 6 months before we did, they’re from Fort Lauderdale, which is 30 minute north of Miami. New Found Glory is another band that comes from that area that is a great band.

Samuel: I know you guys have just done tours with bands like the Deftones, is it fun to get out on the road with some of the more established bands?

Jabe: Oh yeah, it’s been a blast. It’s a great honor to play with people I’ve been listening to since the beginning, like the Deftones. We have a great deal of respect for them. I had only seen them a few times live and now I get to see everyday when on tour with them. It’s awesome. It’s like having Christmas everyday.

Samuel: So you still get out and watch the other bands on the bill with you guys?

Jabe: Oh yeah. I still like to. I think that’s the best way, as a small band, as a young band, to watch the other bands who have been doing it for a decades and to see what experience they can teach us.

Samuel: Have you guys had a good crowd reaction since you’ve touring?

Jabe: Really good crowd reactions. We haven’t had any problems as of yet. We’re a little band, so a lot of people haven’t heard about us, but they come to the live show and we surprise them. They have a really good time.

Samuel: Well, you said you’ve been on tour since February, has it been a case of spreading the word through live performance?

Jabe: Yeah, we did all the Southeast dates with Papa Roach, we replaced Orgy when they got sick on the tour. We did a lot of radio gigs and a tour with Unloco and Simon Sez. Then we did the Godsmack/Deftones tour and now we’re doing the Nonpoint tour. So it’s been great, it’s our second time through the nation.

Samuel: There a lot of dynamics to the bands sound, how has the two vocalists helped keep the fresh feeling with the mix of rap and hardcore and your melodic vocals?

Jabe: Yeah, the truth is, I’d love to be able to scream and to emcee, but I’m just not good at it. It’s not something I can do. I’m happy to have...it’s almost like having two voices. When Grimm emcees and screams, I feel like he’s singing for me. Not FOR me personally, but it’s like we’re one voice. I don’t think of us as two vocalists, we’re like one instrument. It’s almost like I’m the clean sound on a guitar and then we push the button and there’s Grimm.

Samuel: Lyrically, is it something done as band?

Jabe: It’s Grimm and I. Everything I sing I write and everything Grimm emcees or screams he writes. A lot of time, we’ll take a recording of the song and go to Borders or Barnes & Noble and sit down, have some coffee, and just talk about the songs, listen to it together and 99.9% of the time we feel the exact same way about the song. Then we start talking about specific experiences we’ve had that fit the song. Like if something makes you feel sad or angry, then we talk about ‘I’ve had this experience, can you relate to it?’ Most of the time we can relate to each others’ experiences and we both talk about that, so it’s cool.

Samuel: Does it help having your music as a way to express your experiences?

Jabe: Music is like a huge therapy, it’s very theraputic for us. If we’re not on tour, I’m kinda insane. I don’t do well not playing music. It’s the only thing that cures me.

Samuel: So when did the album come out?

Jabe: It came out one month and three weeks ago.

Samuel: Did you guys ever get anxious touring without an album?

Jabe: Not really. When we were touring without the album, we had never really been outside the state of Florida, so it was a brand new feeling, exploring the nation and seeing all the states for the very first time. Also, as a band, when you’re a small band, you feel like ‘Oh wow! We’re doing really well in our area,’ but you never realize how much more learning, how new, and how un-experienced you are then you get out there touring.

Samuel: Has the constant touring helped get the sound together and reach the point you guys would like it to be at?

Jabe: I think the sound has definitely has gotten tighter and tighter, but when we found Eddie, our guitar player, who was the last member, it all fit. It all aligned perfectly and that was it. With the other guys, you know how you were saying did it make our sound tighter? Well, it was never cohesive until Eddie showed up and once Eddie showed up everything came together.

Samuel: I know a lot of bands say that after they play together and hone their sound they grow to where they are their own influence, have you reached that point yet?

Jabe: We’ve never been influenced by any other bands, we’ve mostly been influenced by each other. Because we’re so different from each other. Grimm is a hip hop specialist and he love hardcore music like H20 and Sick Of It All and stuff like that. I would never have heard that stuff if it wasn’t for him, and if it wasn’t for me, he probably would have never heard Miles Davis and really weird alternative bands and garage bands. It’s really cool that we meld those things together. We’re really open minded, but we’re all pretty young and haven’t had a chance to experience all that music yet.

Samuel: How does having two vocalists help the live show? Do you spend a lot of time interacting with the crowd?

Jabe: We love interacting with crowd because it’s like, that’s what the live show is all about. It’s not about us being up there and acting as rock stars, it’s about sharing the music and having that transfer of music from one person to the next. If you don’t interact with them and act like you’re the star, it doesn’t feel to me like you get the full effect.

Samuel: I know on tour with the Deftones, you were playing large venues where you are away from the crowd, as opposed to here where you’re basically in the crowd, was it harder to get up for those shows and harder to get the full interaction going at those shows?

Jabe: It’s definitely less intimate there, but I always jumped out and stood on the barricades and put my face in the crowd and at least get close to them two songs out of the set. I can’t not be close to them.

Samuel: Awesome. Is there anything you’d like to add?

Jabe: I just want to say thanks for doing the interview, and interviewing smaller bands like us. Everyone always jumps on the bandwagon after a band sells millions of copies, but it’s people like you who kinda find the smaller bands and listen to them and keep an open mind. It’s very important, thanks!

Samuel Barker is senior editor. Contact him at suma@rockzone.com.