Oh Sleeper’s Micah Kinard Likes Weapons and Christian-Themed Metal

Vocalist Micah Kinard of Oh, Sleeper loves to research weapons and shoot guns in his spare time! "One year for Christmas, I bought myself and three of my friends hand-crafted English Longbows with hand-crafted arrows. I'm a nerd, and I have nerd friends," Kinard told Noisecreep.

When's he not geeking out over weaponry, he's making a joyful noise in his Christian metal band, which takes its name from a line of scripture. "'Son of the Morning,' in our opinion, is a huge step up from 'When I Am God.' It's a much more mature and focused record than our previous release," Kinard said. "Sonically, the album is much more technical and heavier, but at the same time, it contains the most melodic events we have ever written.

"Our new drummer, Matt Davis, adds a new, precise and exciting feel to our sound as well. Lyrically, the record is written as a concept record, a full story from start to finish, and is written using much more spiritual metaphors, whereas 'When I Am God' was more metaphorically and mythologically based. Our new record is much more honest and blunt."

In terms of the Christian market, Kinard thinks the scene is expanding and isn't sure what to make of the growth. "It's growing substantially, which I cannot say I believe is an entirely good thing," he reasoned. "A lot of people are starting to use Jesus and the love of God as a marketing ploy and are starting to fall into a very shallow and redundant genre. We are very excited to see the interest in and acceptance of Christian artists growing. We just hope that people remember that the God that we serve is not the God printed on a poorly thought out, secular ripoff T-shirt that only leeches off of someone else's hard work and trendsetting vision, but the God interested in personal relationships, forgiveness, and outreach."