Hi Steve, thanks for doing this interview. A lot of people remember you from your past teams of 0e, DoP, GX, X3, eU, and Riotsquad. The last we had heard, you were leaving competitive cs in order to focus on your band "Blisstripp." Now, you have been competing in the Kode5 Online US Qualifying event. What spawned your return to competitive cs?

Recently I decided to move on from music and finish college. I decided to pursue something a little more stable then getting into the music industry. On top of having more time because of leaving my band, I also tore my ACL playing soccer. I had been playing soccer, basketball, and other sports quite often but with that out of the picture for a year I decided I would spend a little more time playing cs.

What has the experience of making a comeback been like? Do you still feel rusty?

It's been tough; everyone is so good these days even if you're cal-o. I'm still definitely not back to my full potential. I just got a new computer a couple weeks ago and I'm still trying out some different settings and working on my aim. I think the mental aspect has always been my strong point and I can keep up with the best in that part of the game. I just want to continue to increase my aim to make those big shots.

Who are your current teammates, and where do you know them from?

As of after the kode5 tournament teamArt's lineup is now Tree, Collapse, E-machine, Primal9, Wade, and I. And it's quite weird I don't know any of them lol. I had been playing with some old friends and other random people and collapse asked me to play with them. Instead of scrimming they went into a server and started doing strats. At first I was going to leave then I decided to stay and see what would happen. I really liked their style of play and their approach to practice. Soon after that I decided to join.

If you can maybe elaborate on 1 quality of each of your teammates, what would it be?

Tree - All around good player, helps lead in game.
Clp - Crazy chinaman with awesome terrorist strats and a very good ak.
E-mach - The crazy kid who doesn't care about much and gets big entry kills.
Primal9 - Never played with him, I hope he doesn't suck lol.
Wade - Is sexy and eats pizza.

When you first joined teamArt, did you really think you'd make it as far as you recently did?

I thought we had a chance in the k5 qualifier. I expected top 4 with all the practice we did that previous week.

How did it feel to beat Canada's #1 team EG?

That felt good, we all kind of let out a "hooray" on vent when we clutched the last round. After that I think we knew we could beat top level teams. We have a lot of work to do, we still play sloppy every time we play a good team, but the potential is there. If we can stop making lineup changes and practice a little more on a consistent basis, I think we have a shot at placing high in big events.

If you don't mind explaining, what was the main reason behind the recent releasing of 'hotstepper'?

That's tough for me to answer. Trev did well at k5 and is really a good all around player. Not speaking for myself but some others on the team, I don't think things meshed well overall. I personally like Trev and still chat with him and hope he finds a solid team to play with.

Do you have any plans past Kode5? Are you planning on attending any other events?

Yes, definitely winter wsvg and if we can afford any other major events that have a prize worth attending, then we may be there. Other than that cevo this season and probably CAL next season.

In your very first online match, you were banned for cheating. You were never officially cleared for that demo, but later on (after driving to a CPL event and proving yourself in front of head league admins), you were unbanned. Was there ever any doubt in your mind that Frank Nuccio would have you unbanned on your way to the CPL? How much pressure were you under that first match to perform, since your entire cs career hung in the balance?

I was nervous for sure. But I knew just by meeting people and the effort I put into getting unbanned that I would be after CPL. Certain people you can meet and you know they don't cheat, I like to think I'm that type of person.