As I Lay Dying Fight For Respect

By Jono Hutchison

San Diego band As I Lay Dying have had a successful 10 years as a band, selling hundreds of thousands of albums and being nominated for a Grammy.

All that, while playing heavy metal.

While their brand of metal isn't for everyone, they've won over fans all over the globe – queues formed outside Auckland's Transmission Room tonight, hours before they were due on stage.

But nonetheless, they've struggled to convince family members.

"We have uncles and stuff that are like, 'So you're still playing in a band? When are you gonna finish college?'", says Nick Hipa, guitarist. "It's like, 'No! We're really doing stuff! We're touring and we're putting out albums.' But when you hit 'em with, 'We got nominated for a Grammy,' they're like, 'Woah…'"

The band's been together for a decade, and for most of that time they've been signed to Metal Blade Records - the legendary label which released early Metallica and albums by metal giants Slayer.

"It was beyond any of our expectations with the band, to be, I guess, lumped in there," ways Hipa, "whether it was by success or style - it's just kind of cool to be included in the list."

Their label says As I Lay Dying are its biggest sellers.

"I think that we're probably the most successful, if you put it that way, of their current bands," says vocalist Tim Lambesis, "but I'm sure Slayer at one point or another have sold more albums than we have."

Lambesis says he tries to explore different ideas with his lyrics.

"I feel like typical metal themes are sort of worn out, you know, like hating everybody or singing about wizards and dragons, you know - things like that I just personally can't be passionate about."

KISS Bigger than Mickey Mouse

Well, it's probably better than saying they're bigger than Jesus.

Rocker Gene Simmons says his band KISS is the most recognized cultural icon today and beats out even Disney's Mickey Mouse.

"You don't know how big the image is. By some experts, it is believed to be the most recognized pop culture image on Earth - even above Mickey Mouse,"

he said, contactmusic.com reports. "You know, there's no U2 comic book, there's no Mick Jagger action figure. We have our own Visa card. You can go into Wal-Mart and get sweets with our faces on. We have a Dr Pepper soft drink campaign now. It's unbelievable."

While some might argue with Simmons, his comment is not nearly as controversial as when John Lennon told a reporter in 1966 that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." That statement sparked an outcry from religious groups and some radio stations refused to play the band's songs.

But earlier this month the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said the comment was "meaningless."