Tony Cummings spoke to Peter Szczepanski of Stoke-on-Trent's PETER118

Peter: It is pronounced s-shuh-pan-skee. Szczepanski is my Polish birth name. I previously used my mother's surname growing up but felt it right to go back to my Polish roots when I married Janine.

Tony: How did you get on with No Lost Cause and have you played a gig with them yet?

Peter: I met Rob, the singer from No Lost Cause, last year in Nashville at an event called The Objective which was run by The Extreme Tour. No Lost Cause played on the same day as ourselves and we actually borrowed some of their equipment for the gig. Rob and I became friends and decided in Nashville that we should do a split EP. Now it's happened.

Tony: Your church in Burslem gives the band excellent support. Are there any other churches in the UK prepared to allow a punk band to play a gig in their building?

Peter: There are two or three churches I know which support Christian punk. One is a Methodist church in Boston, UK which was putting on Punk For Homeless gigs run by Gary Eagling. Another church is in Stroud and is the home to another UK Christian punk band called The Trinity Boys. We played in Stroud last year with the Trinity Boys. They're great guys. I think in the UK most churches lack cultural insight and do not support Christian music other than mainstream worship. Non-worship music like punk, rock and hip-hop/grime I find is not supported by a lot of churches. I'm sure many of them would be open to it, particularly as alternative music is a great way to reach young people. But unfortunately many Christians have not experienced a ministry band like ours before. However with the growth of festivals like Creation Fest, Meltdown and KingsStock, there could be a revival of Christian alternative music in the UK.

Tony: Tell me something you have learned spiritually in the last six months or so.

Peter: God continues to pour out his grace abundantly, which does not have any conditions. When you see God more and more, doors start to open.