Bay Area Backstage recently caught up with SIX FEET UNDER frontman Chris Barnes. The following is a brief excerpt from the interview:

BAB: You just released Commandment about a month ago-- how would you compare this new album to previous releases? Would you say that it's your favorite album thus far?

Barnes: "Well, I don't have a favorite really, but I think it's a good record. I think the songs fit well in our catalog. I'm definitely happy with it-- I think we came up with a good CD."

BAB: What were your inspirations behind this new album?

Barnes: "Just my own imagination I guess. I'm really inspired by the music that I'm presented to write to, so that's really my main inspiration when I'm writing lyrics. I just dig into my imagination and listen to the music and riff, and I try to accommodate the riff with the best story line, vocal pattern, and vocal tone."

BAB: I've read that you don't really care what people write or post on message boards about your work…

Barnes: "Well, the people that post on message boards, about 90% of them aren't really fans. I don't know those people and personally I don't really care what they think of things. There's always some ulterior motive behind why people post on message boards-- whether it makes them feel important in their daily lives or what not. But for the most part, there's nothing very useful as far as peoples' opinions go, to me anyways."

BAB: So you just make music that you love, and you don't care if people like it or not?

Barnes: "Yeah definitely. I write, I put it out, I enjoy it-- I wouldn't put it out if I didn't. And whether someone else enjoys it or not doesn't change my opinion about what I like. I'm not going to let someone else's opinion sway me into telling me what is good or bad. I'm the one who invented it, I came up with it, I enjoy it. Whether or not someone else feels the same way doesn't really affect what I feel about my own music. It really holds no value in what other people think. It only does if you're unsure of yourself or have low self esteem or something like that where you would let someone else's opinion influence you and change your mind about things. I really like what I do. No one's going to change how I think about that. Why do I need someone else's affirmation about what I do? It's great if you like it. Enjoy it, but you're not going to change my mind or opinion about what I do.

To read the entire interview go to this location.