Russ Smith: "Hokus Pick" is an old expression of surprise that we picked up through the Canadian bible college circuit. If you were to open up a gift on Christmas morning and it was exactly what you wanted, you'd say "Hokus Pick! It's just what I wanted!"

Russ: Three of us (Russ, Rick & Dave) went to the same high school and we were all involved in music there. I met Matt at a summer camp and we started a band together, but it wasn't until a year later that I hooked up with Rick and we did some recording together. We talked about starting a Christian band and that's when we got Matt and Dave involved too. That was back in 1989 in Vancouver, BC, where we all grew up.

Russ: Pop/rock with a touch of Canadian hockey and much fun.

Russ: We all grew up listening to different stuff, and that has helped shape the sound of our band. We always enjoy listening to U2, although we tend not to sound that much like them.

Russ: Good old fashioned rejection. I'm sure anyone who's ever been dumped can relate.

Russ: We just like to have fun. We feel like God should be taken seriously while everything else should be taken lightly. Life is usually quite funny anyway. (if this is a lame answer, feel free to ditch it.)

Russ: We enjoyed making Snappy because we would spend a week writing a few songs and then go into the studio to record them. This was nice and it made the studio process less tedious. Steve Taylor also critiqued the songs for us and gave us pointers, so that helped a lot.

Russ: Just a simple song about having a great day. Did you notice the reference to the Vancouver Canucks?

Russ: I think we got back to our roots on Snappy after releasing "Bookaboom" and Brothers From Different Mothers. This was more of a return to our usual style of going all over the place like we did on Pick It Up. (let me know if this answer stinx...)

Russ: Originally, Shoney's approached us about doing an advertising campaign for them, but since we don't like their food, we decided to do a radio drama about them instead. The radio drama became less about Shoney's and more about Hokus Pick.

Russ: We love going on the road and the best thing is meeting new people.

Russ: At this point, my favourite Hokus Pick song is "I'm So Happy" because it seems to make people so happy!

Russ: My witty responses to interview questions. Actually, I hope people will remember that we helped them laugh and be closer to Jesus.

Russ: So many movies. All four Hokus Pick guys agree that the worst movie ever was Robin Hood: Men In Tights.

Russ: Can't beat Captain Crunch.

Russ: Have the members of Hokus Pick ever considered adopting a pet poodle? -- Ironically, no.

Russ: There's some great music out there by The Kry and a fellow Canadian band called Emerson Stone. Watch out for them!

Russ: We love it when people drop by our web site (*no longer available*), so tell people to come visit us there. We always make a point of answering e-mail, so we invite everyone to drop us a line (hokus@sprynet.com) We're always on the road and people can check out the concert listing on our web site to find out if we're coming to their town.