Catching up with NEEDTOBREATHE
04-21-2006
by Brenten Gilbert

NEEDTOBREATHE released their debut major label album, Daylight, earlier this month. They've created somewhat of a buzz within the Christian music community because they were first signed to Lava Records before essentially crossing back into the Christian market through a deal with Sparrow Records.

CMCentral.com managed to catch up with the group during GMA week on the day that their album released and had a conversation that included a discussion of the album, the group's intentions and the purpose of music in general.

Below is our exclusive transcript of that conversation for your reading enjoyment.

CMCentral.com (brenten gilbert): How are things going today? Busy?

Bear Rinehart: Yeah, we're doing well, pretty busy. . .

You know why? Because you're on the cover of CCM Magazine right now and that's all over the place.

(laughs)

You guys feel a lot of pressure because of that?

No.

Intimidated?

(laughs)

Bo Rinehart: We feel honored

Well, the thing is, there are tons of great artists - artists who we've grown up with, even - who have great records out. And there are tons of great new artists, so for CCM Magazine to put us on there is really an honor. We feel very undeserving of it but we are also very proud of it and proud of the record. We have a secular and a Christian deal too, so in some ways, I'm really glad it came out for the GMA Week, because it validates us a little bit. It tells the story that people might not know. You might hear something from the secular label, but you don't know about the band. At least this tells the story right up front.

Yeah it's pretty cool. So the album came out today . . .

Well, we don't know we haven't seen it yet.

(laughs)

We've heard that people have bought it.

It does exist!

(laughs)

Do you want to talk about the album a little bit?

Sure. We went to England to record it, which is part of the story. When you pick the producers, you put your top five together and Andy Green, the guy who did the Keane record was one of our choices. He flipped for the record when we sent the demos over to him. It's hard when you are a band, because a lot of people will say that your songs are good, but you know that's not true - some of them think that and some of them don't. You really have to learn how to judge who is being sincere. In his case, it was very obvious. Things that he liked about the demos were things that we were really proud of. So that was that. We were sold and we were going to England to make a record. It was a cool experience and now we are really excited that it's finally out. We've been touring for the last four years or so in the southeast. We toured really hard, sold a lot of EPs, and did our share of driving around in the van with no air conditioning. . .all of that kind of stuff . . .

Painful

Yeah

Florida in the middle of summer, it's 110 degrees and we are all wearing Speedos trying to stay cool. . .

(laughs)

Joe Stillwell: No pictures of that, thankfully.

So from that perspective, it's pretty wild. This whole thing is kind of a culmination of our last four years, so we are excited about it. We are proud of it. We came into the record with about sixty songs. We had our own studio and we tracked a lot of those songs before we narrowed it down to eleven. So I think that is one of the things we are most proud of on this record. We really like all of the songs. It wasn't like we needed something for a certain slot. We really liked every single song.

I always things it's crazy when you hear artists say that they started with fifty or sixty songs. It's just like, "so you have five albums come out?"

(laughs)

Yeah. Well, we feel like we've got three quarters of the next one already written now and this one just came out today.

Very nice.

We thought going into the studio with a producer, that they were going to rip the songs apart and try to change everything, but he didn't. On this side of that, I guess we are really proud that it didn't happen that way. Our input was heard the whole time and we weren't pushed around at all.

So what is the deal with the lion?

The lion is kind of the band's symbol. We've had it in different forms over the years. You know that it's a Christian symbol, but it's not like a cheesy little fish or something.

(laughs)

For the secular market especially, we wanted to keep that stamp on things. It's sort of like our logo. We have several representations and one of the representations is the tatoos on our arms. We've made t-shirts and Bo actually painted that cover

Oh, that's cool.

The lion is obviously symbolism, but then the record is called Daylight. So we thought it would be kind of cool to incorporate the two things and, in an abstract kind of way, the mane . .

. . . looks like the sun.

Yeah, so they are sort of collaborated together in that way. . . symbology. . .

Synergy

Yeah. Synergy. And obviously the sun has more symbolism there so I combined those two things. I think some people will get it and some people won't. But if they don't then it's no big deal it's a cool image.

Yeah. And it's cool that you painted it. You are talented in many different ways.

Well, those are the only two things I can do.

(laughs)

So how did the writing process go?

It is interesting in some ways. Me and Bo write all the songs, but the band really kind of goes at it in a backwards way because they were all in the studio. We write songs all together, just jamming together, live and in the traditional way. But, once we've butchered it live and run it through the ground in a live setting, then we'll put it in the studio and work on it. Sometimes we'll track Bo's guitar and vocals first and then we'll bring in drums, guitars and stuff. Or, we'll let Joe play out in the studio, just to the scratch track and then we'll just focus in. "Let's make that verse better," or "let's make the verse more interesting," or "Let's take out that drum and put this one in." Really kind of like work on things in a micro. . .

Deliberately.

Yeah. And then same thing thing with bass, keyboards, any of that stuff. We would play a lot, then get together and try it out to see if it was the best thing possible. In that way, I think we are probably different than some bands. Our writing process kind of goes forward first and then we back it up and head back into the recording. That way, we decided what was the best way to record each demo, so the songs definitely got a good looking at. And I think something else that's interesting about it is that we're brothers. So if we think something sucks, we say, "I think that sucks."

Arm wrestle over artistic differences?

(laughs)

Yeah, we are pretty tough on the songs. So I think that how it works between us as brothers also translates to the whole band.

Seth Bolt: We're all brothers in Christ.

(laughs)

When you are writing, since you are hitting both markets, is it difficult at all to find the appropriate middle ground to try to say things?

No. . .

Actually, I think a better question is: Do you care about that?

(laughs)

Right. So why would you do that in your songs?

Right. We grew up in the Christian market early on, but since then have been involved in the secular market. So we've seen both sides and the differences between them. In some ways, we just don't interact with people like the way things are described in some Christian songs. It doesn't mean we don't love them, but it's definitely more natural. Somebody asked us a question in a written interview something about our music being "decidedly Christian." We actually didn't answer the question, because music is not decidedly anything. And if it is, it's not you. It doesn't come across as real and passionate. So, it's not relevant, in our opinion. I think this record reflects what we were living through and what we felt. If we didn't feel it we didn't write it.

That's why I think the album will probably do pretty well because the themes are very relateable.

Some of the things that we tried to write on the record were things that anybody could go through. The song "Daylight" is about being in a place where you feel like telling the truth might incriminate you. I think we all feel that way as Christians - especially us as a band, since we're Christians in the secular market. When you are a rock band that grew up in the church, it's not cool. It's cool if you're rap artist, but not if you're a rock band. So that was something that we kind of dealt with. And one of the decisions we made early on was that we are not going to censor this record. If we write songs that are the most blatantly Christian songs, then we're leaving it. It's just about what really comes out.

And it works the other way, "Hayley" wasn't a song that was written for the Christian market. It wasn't really written for the secular market either, but it's a song that is from us. It's about real issues about relationships. There is a kind of spiritual sense to it, but. . .

It's not blatant at all, it's like a love song. . .

Yeah, and we didn't think twice about putting it on the record. It's a great song. It's real. It's a song that we all have been through and this is something that we can say.

You can write about universal issues and it can still be a Christian song.

Yeah, because you're coming at it from a Christian perspective. But, even the fact that there is a "Christian" genre. We've talked about it a lot today. It is kind of a weird market in the sense that it's the only market separated by lyrics. It's so obvious when you look at the bands that are here [at GMA Week] or on Christian radio at any given time. A rock band, the hardest rock band cannot be on the same station as the softest worship band or singer/songwriter. It just doesn't fit. There are some different formats of Christian radio, but they are not very broad. It's a very fine line. I think that because it's set up like this, you're having a lot of bands like us going outside of that market. Or there's even the MercyMe thing. They weren't trying to have the secular single, but a lot of the bubbles are bursting. Christian music is getting out of the bubble of Christian subculture.

A lot of the lines are getting kind of fuzzy.

It's almost like, "Yeah, everybody else is doing this specific thing, but that's not really what we want to do."

Right.

And the thing is that there are tons of great Christian artists who either have a secular deal or not - it doesn't matter. The fact is that they are making great music. And the world needs to hear that music. From another perspective, our last two presidents both claim to be Christians. Christianity is widely accepted - more than you think it is. However, Christianity that is full of shaming and attitudes that are blatantly unloving is not widely accepted. Not to say that the Christian market is that way, but just to say as long as Christians make relevant music that has power, I think it's going to get out of the bubble. It's going to reach other people. We came in with the idea that we didn't want to have it be limited to any one format or subject or whatever.

Real art is actually just a reflection of real life not a reflection of an ideal life.

Exactly.

We've been reading Blue Like Jazz, by Don Miller as a band and we don't believe everything in it, but some of the questions raised are definitely important.

That's a great read.

Yeah it is a great read, but it's like one of those things. "Are we selling God as a product?" That was very eye opening question for me, not just as an artist, but as a Christian and a church member. It's not just about highlighting all the great things and not the bad things. It's deafening to me to hear people that aren't real because it's a standard that you can't live up to.

That's very cool. So you two played football.

Yeah I played football in college.

I played football on TV.

Yeah he was in [the movie] Radio.

I played in high school but I didn't play in college.

Do you guys still follow football?

Big fans. Big football fans.

Pro and college. In NFL we do the fantasy football thing.

Who wins?

Bo has won 2 years in a row. We have a trophy that we pass around but it's only been at Bo's house so far.

So what are "your" teams?

In college football, we live close to Clemson. . .

So we root for them, but not always. . .

But it's Bear and his real name is Bryant and we are from Alabama, so we are huge fans there.

And then it branches out to the whole SEC.

(laughs)

Pretty much whatever game is on, you are watching.

Yeah, and we love to root for the underdog.

The first year I played fantasy football I won the super bowl, but then I haven't won since. . .

We seriously get into it.

Yeah it's bad, it takes too much time. We are always driving the night before on trips trying to get somewhere we can stop to watch the game that afternoon.

Our tour manager gets so mad at us because we stop at one o'clock for three hours.

(laughs)

Timeout! Time to get lunch.

Yeah, we get a long lunch today.

So if you could describe the band as a position in football, what position would that be?

I'll say wide receiver.

(laughs)

Because you were a wide receiver?

Explosive, quick, savy, manual dexterity.

That is a good question.

We are running the plays

We are taller than most. . .

that's true, everybody I meet I'm like, They're so short

Sometimes we sit a couple of plays out

(laughs)

frequently breathers

ooooh. . .

Very punny. . .

(laughs)

Is there anything else you wanted to say to the readers? The album, Daylight, comes out today, obviously.

Check out NEEDTOBREATHE.net and our MySpace is a big thing. We've got like 25,000 members on that now. It's a big kind of community for our fans and we are on there all the time trying to stay connected to everyone.

There is kind of "behind the music" thing on there. Kind of a background on the band.

We call it an EPK but basically we have a redneck guy from our redneck town in our redneck state that we love. He actually narrates the story from tractor with a great big hat. So it's like Dukes of Hazzard-esque. So it's pretty funny.

There is a lot of stuff on myspace that's current too..