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DARREN “CHIEF” METTLER

Instrument:
Trumpet (Schilke X3 w/ Bach 1 mouthpiece); Guitar

Favorite Star Wars Character:
Yoda

Favorite Verse:
1 John 3:1 “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

Favorite Book of the Bible:
1 John, Romans

Favorite Worship Song:
“Hosanna” by Hillsong United

Favorite Supertones Song:
To perform– Unite, Return of the Revolution
To play–Jury Duty
Lyrically–Wilderness, Who Can Be Against Me

Favorite Movies:
Braveheart, Shawshank Redemption, What About Bob, How To Train Your Dragon

Favorite Books:
Tender Warrior, Unbroken, anything by C.S. Lewis, Piper, Horton, Tozer

Favorite Bands:
Switchfoot, Coldplay, U2, Phil Wickham, Hillsong United

Favorite Phone App:
YouVersion Bible, Surf Report, Fart for Free (cuz it makes my kids laugh so hard… and cuz “farts = funny” haha!)

Type of cell phone you use: iPhone4

Approximate # of Songs in your iTunes: 3323 songs

Favorite thing to do on a day off:
Hang with the fam at the beach!

Hobbies:
Swimming, Surfing, Golf, Tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, doing life with my wife, and watching my kids do anything!

Wacky and interesting facts about you that no one would normally know:
I like musicals… and I’m not ashamed to say it!

Best Band Moment or Memory:
Playing Harvest Crusade at Anaheim Stadium. I’d always gone there as a kid and to play to a full stadium full of people worshiping and just going off and jumping up and down and seeing the cement floors of the stadium levels bouncing was amazing. (And to run around on the open field while Audio A was playing “Big House”.) And it is just a great event to be a part of because so many people recognize their need for God and surrender their lives to Christ!

Funniest Band Moment or Memory:
Oh man, so many! Stage “antics” and practical jokes with any and every band we ever toured with!

Worst or Most Embarrassing Band Moment:
I’ve got two. I remember being on stage and playing a few songs and dancing and jumping around and seeing people laughing and pointing at me. I got all self-conscious and thought I was doing something that looked funny or stupid. Then I realized they were pointing to my waist region… turns out I had forgotten to “close the barn door” (if you know what I’m sayin)! To this day I don’t know if I ended up giving a “show” within a show!? Another story… I used to spin my trumpet around really fast on my finger in the early years. Well, one night I was doing that on like the first song or something and my mouthpiece came flying out and disappeared into the audience. I panicked and had no idea what to do. I missed all the horn lines the rest of that song and just danced around wondering what to do. I thought, “I’m hosed if someone decides to hide it and keep it.” Thankfully, someone found the mouthpiece and passed it back up to me! (Thank you whoever you are!)

Favorite Show or Tour and Why:
Chase the Sun Tour cuz it was our first “big-time” shot headlining our own tour… and the bands (Flight 180, Plankeye, Bob Smiley) that we brought out with us were fun to be with. Also the Audio Adrenaline “Some Kind of Zombie Tour” and the Newsboys “Step up to the Microphone Tour” were amazing as well.

Do you prefer beach, mountains, or forest?
Beach!

Short bio of yourself: (including when you joined the band, family, etc).
I had just graduated from Westmont College with a Biblical Studies degree and moved home and was working as the Junior High Director at my home church. I was approached by Jason Carson and asked if I still played trumpet anymore cuz he had a Christian band that was about to record their first album and they’d love to have some trumpet on it. I said let me check it out and see if I can play it. I didn’t particularly love the music (it was a pretty rough demo on a crummy tape cassette haha!) But I decided to play on it just so I could hold up a CD someday and say “hey, I’m on this CD!” So, I had recorded the trumpet parts for the “Adventures” album and then was asked to play a show on New Years Eve going into 1996. After the show, Jason, Mojo, and Tony said it went awesome and they asked me if I’d like to join the band. The rest is history. I ended playing trumpet on every Supertones album and touring with the band for almost 9 years! Along the way, I married my wife Joy, the best (and by best I mean hottest and godliest!) woman ever! We now have 3 beautiful daughters and a very handsome son (Sarina, Caleb, Rylee and Sky)! I stepped out of the band in 2004 to become a full-time Youth Pastor at Pacific Coast Church in San Clemente, CA. I am still there almost 8 years later still leading the Student Ministries!

Ministries, special links:
http://pacificcoastchurch.org/HSM/

Facebook account: Darren Mettler