Tell me about the new record. Dan seems to be pretty excited about it.

 Mark - "We all are really excited about it. We've played it for people, and their
 reactions have been positive. They say the songwriting and the songs themselves
 are better, lyrically and musically, and all around better. It's kind of a natural
 progression. There's 14 songs. I think there was more freedom to experiment and
 do what we wanted to do. I don't think it's as heavy as the last record, but I'd say
 it has depth. We do have some rockers on there, you know, and spiritually, I feel
 like, you know, this is an overall . . . Derri Daugherty engineered it, and Steve
 Hindalong produced it. Overall, we're very proud of it."

 Drew - "I listened to it again last night, actually. I put on the ol' headphones, and
 made it through about the first side, and the second side, I was asleep. I was just
 really tired last night. It's interesting when you don't listen to it in a while, and you
 go back and listen to it in somebody else's shoes, like going into a store like
 Camelot or Tower and seeing it on the shelf, and thinking, 'How are they gonna
 listen to it?' And I know it's different for different people. But it's pretty cool, just
 to listen to it, and if you've heard Skywire, it's definitely a jump above Skywire . .
 . more mature, more radio-friendly, but at the same time, right next to a mellow
 song, you have the classic rockers from Common Children: the screaming from
 Mark, and all that. So, we still have some of that stuff. I'm really excited about it.
 There are so many treats. You listen to it about the third time, and you pick up
 something you didn't catch before. It feels, overall, more mature, like there's been
 some growth. It's kind of weird, because we're already thinking about the third
 album. I wish we had a budget, we could go ahead and do a third album now. But
 we've got to let this one live a little bit. Other than that, I'm just real excited. I
 went and saw the packaging, you know, what it's gonna look like, and the photos
 always make you look younger. We don't look good all the time! (laughter) It's
 cool to go see all that stuff, and the people who are putting their all behind your
 album."

 Hampton - "Yeah. I think it's a little more approachable, I guess, or listener
 friendly. I think before, the album had some cool songs for like, and it had a lot of
 melody and stuff going on. People were going still, 'It's so hard,' you know. And
 this one's a little more driving, still melodic, with more kind of driving, straight
 ahead. I think it's gonna be interesting to see. I think there are gonna be some kids
 that'll be, like, going, 'Man, what happened to the heaviness?' And there'll be other
 people that'll be going, 'Yeah, this is more like it.' I don't know. There still are
 some pretty intense songs on there as well, you know, like the 'Hate' song, or
 whatever. It's more song oriented, and just kind of driving."

 I can pretty much understand what you mean by "driving," I think. I
 wouldn't know how to describe it, really, but I guess "driving" would be a
 good word.

 Hampton - "Yeah, it's not quite as indulgent, you know. It's more around the song
 itself, as opposed to musically and emotionally being indulged into your own thing,
 you know what I mean? You're trying to get something a little bit more
 approachable for the audience. And maybe we won't get quite criticized as badly."

 What were you criticised about before?

 Hampton - "I don't know. It's just weird. I think it's interesting, the way Christian
 music works. It can something totally heavy, musically just heavy, and just,
 'Wrahhhh,' and doing that, you know, whatever it would be called. I don't know
 what kind of musical style it would be, but as long as you're sitting there saying
 lyrics that are very obtainable, you know, like 'Jesus, Jesus loves us. You know,
 Jesus, He loves us, today!' You know what I mean. It can really be just thrashing
 music, and people will go, 'Okay, that's Christian,' you know. Or, it can be, like,
 something that musically, it's just kind of groovin' along, and it feels good, and
 musically it's kind of nice, but then the lyrics can be a litle more vague, and not
 saying 'Jesus' all over it, or anything, and people will go, 'Oh, that's nice. That's a
 feel good kind of thing,' even though the lyrics aren't quite as obtainable. So, the
 first album had some pretty heavy things on it, and then also, it had people kind of
 digging. It was a very Christian album, but it kind of challenged people to dig a
 little bit more into what we were saying. And maybe the vaguness, or the poetic
 aspect of the lyrics, with the intensity of the music, along with that, kind of,
 maybe wasn't that good of a combination. I don't know. You know what I'm
 talking about with the people who are accepted, and do well. A lot of times, their
 lyrics are very gung-ho, and their music can be just as intense as what they want.
 But the combination of the two, you know, more poetic lyrics with intense music,
 I don't know if people just kind of assume, 'What is this doing as a Christian thing,
 why do they call themselves a Christian band?' But you can obviously see why
 somebody who's playing feel good music, and their lyrics are vague, but oh, it
 feels so good, so they're a Christian, and it's not offensive. Or, if somebody's over
 here playing this other thing, and it's very obvious it's Christian. It's weird, you
 know. I want people to be able to dig our music, and to dig, even if it's like, you
 know, sometimes we play in a club or something. I want somebody not to be
 totally, 'guilt,' you know, when they're out there drinking their beer, or doing
 whatever, that I'm not persecuting them, or judging them, or making them feel
 bad about themselves. And hopefully, you know, I mean, it's just like U2. When
 U2 came out, and had some cool stuff going on, you know, boy who knew
 they were Christian? Were they Christian? What was happening? You read the
 lyrics, and a lot of people, they didn't know what they were talking about? It just
 sounded very idealistic, and it felt very idealistic. I think people were drawn to
 that, and a lot of people found out they were Christian, and that there was a
 Christian perspective going on there, and accepted it, and appreciated it, because it
 was more approachable, without having to be under conviction every time they
 listened to it. Maybe . . . I don't know."

 Dan says it has more of a redemptive tone to it.

 Mark - "Yeah, the last one had kind of an angry vibe to it, but at the same time, a
 very honest vibe, and it also offered the hope that we have in Jesus. But this one's
 definitely more centered on redemption, grace, mercy, the idea that God is an
 empathetic God. He came down in the form of Christ, so He relates with us, He
 loves us, and He knows what we go through. I know that first hand. I've
 experienced this - myself and the guys in the band - an overall rush of grace. I
 think the songs are just more natural than anything you've heard from us. Songs
 like 'Stains of Time' and 'Eyes of God' speak of a need for God. All that we can
 do when we're in trouble, is just to cry out to Him, when you're at that breaking
 point, you're at that point where you're broken, that's where you need His grace
 to shine on you."

 Drew - "Yeah, much more. It's weird. You know how you'll listen to a song, and
 you feel this sadness, but at the same time, there's just this joy, and the two are
 just so close togetrher. I don't know. Listeing to some of the songs, it kind of
 gives me a sense of well being, and that things are gonna be alright, and still have
 that kind of feeling of hope. It kind of represents what might go on in our heads. I
 think, as far as the redemptive part of it, with God's grace, His eyes are shining on
 us all the time, no matter what condition you're in. He's always watching over us.
 And just to know that and accept that, and acknowledge it, it's very different. A
 lot of people would rather not have God's eyes shining on them, because they feel
 guilty. But it's good to know that God is always there. He's definitely watching
 over us." Delicate Fade, the title itself, talks about fading out. You know, we're
 only gonna be here for a little while. But it's a delicate fade, a beautiful sort of
 thing. It's something God set into motion, and I sort of feel like He's just asking,
 'What have you been doing with what you've been given?' You've really got to sit
 down and search your soul and your heart, and make sure you're being real and
 honest - on both sides of the spectrum - you know, not being ashamed of the
 Gospel, but at the same time, not just throwing out all the pat answers. I've gotta
 say, Tattoo has been great about not saying we 'have to' write anything. I think it's
 just kind of naturally progressed that way, to where we didn't constantly sit down
 and say, 'Okay, we're gonna go this way, so that people will like us more.' It was
 really a natural progression of what's going on in our lives. We've had a rough
 year. This last year there were a lot of different things going on. I think it's just
 God working through us, and taking us to a different level.

 What kinds of things have happened in your lives to really cause you to
 come to a point of brokenness?

 Mark - "Well, you know, Hampton got married, and we've had other personal
 things go on, but as far as, like, overall, as a band, just being on the road, and
 having your life change, you know, to go from being an unsigned band to a signed
 band, and going on tour around the country. That's quite a strain financially . . .
 holding on to the original vision of our faith and cling to that purpose, and
 understanding it. I think, overall, our level of faith, our level of understanding
 always, somehow, makes this thing workout, and help's us keep on going."

 Were you worried about what they call the "sophomore slump," and what
 did you do to avoid it?

 Mark - "You know, you always worry about the sophomore slump. They always
 say you have a long time to write the first record, and a short time to do the
 second. And that is true, and with us, at least, we've been a band for five years
 now. So, we did have a longer time to work on the first record. But, as far as
 suddenly going from being just a weekend club band, to going on tour, and playing
 together every night. When you get home, you want to be home, and you want to
 spend time with people you're supposed to spend time with, but at the same time,
 your have to be writing songs. So that was a challenge, but at the same time, it
 turned out that we can definitely sense a level of songwriting maturity. We
 definitely had better songs on this record. So, knowing that, it was cool, but at the
 same time, when you're going into the studio, a band relies heavily on organic
 energy, like jamming in the room, as opposed to having each track perfect for the
 studio. I think this record had more of a vibe of knowing what we had to do, and
 bring it out the direction we wanted, but keep the energy. So I definitely think we
 have the rock energy that we need."

 Drew - "Well, as soon as Skywire came out, we went on tour, and we did the
 Choir tour and all that. And there's so much stuff goin' on. We lived in the same
 house, but yet, we were always going different places. And it kinda seemed like
 we would never have the time to write. Yeah, of course, there's that worry about
 it. There still is. I just knew though, that this was gonna be better, because we
 worked with Steve and Derri again, and we're more comfortable with them. Last
 year, we had just kind of met 'em. I think that we've really grown, and I'm real
 confident about it. I know that with what we put behind it . . . Mark worked on a
 lot of lyrics, and I offered up lyrics for the album, as well as Hampton. Hampton
 had about five songs ready that he'd written himself, and we were considering
 putting on the album. And we just had so many other songs. But you just try and
 do your best, and you don't want to settle for less. It's like, this album is gonna be
 around for a while, and you can't go back and change it later. So you put your
 best into it. It almost makes me want to get a house together again, because we
 used to live in a house together & we had our stuff set up in a room, and we could
 just go in and practice when we wanted to.

 Hampton - "I hadn't really heard about that too much, to be honest. But I think
 that we just really have a love for the music, man. It's kind of an element of
 feeling your purpose, and doing what you're supposed to do, andyou know, all
 you can do is hope. Rush is a great band. They're an incredibly talented band.
 And when they went off, like, after Moving Pictures, people are like, 'Oh Rush
 lost it from there,' but to them, they were like, 'Oh man, this is the greatest thing
 we've ever done.' It's basically the consciousness of people that control whether
 something is good or bad. Once the whole wave of consciousness happens around
 people, you can hear something that, a year ago, would've been incredible. But if
 perspective has changed, then all the sudden it doesn't quite seem as good, or
 sound as good. So, I don't know. It's just something, you have to love the music
 and love what you're doing, and feel what you're doing. And we're fairly an
 emotional kind of band, so I don';t think that we're really trying to necessarily
 appeal to what's going on. 'Is this gonna be stylistically what's happening here or
 there?' It's just kind of our own growth, still reflecting some of the same
 versatilities as the first album. I think sometimes people have a sophomore slump,
 but you never know, things might have changed. Nirvana had their second album,
 and if you don't try to change and try to grow a little bit, and do what you're
 supposed to do musically, then it's already been done. I don't know. I hope it's
 pretty cool. It seems like a pretty cool album. Once again, it has a little versatility
 to it, which I like. But then sometimes people that like specific styles of music,
 you know, for example, ska - and nothing against ska or anything, or punk, you
 know. You go get into that, and it's like, the whole album will be somewhat of the
 same thing, you know, not really showing much versatility, which is nothing bad.
 People love it, and you get a good complete album of that style of music. Where
 we have people, you know, we'll play 'Hate,' you might hook 'em with the song
 'Hate,' from the aggressiveness, and then it might open their minds a little bit to
 listen to some other tunes, of some other styles. So once again, I hope it's a cool
 album, and I hope people enjoy it."

 I like it a lot. I like the fact that a lot of it is very atmospheric. The way I've
 heard a lot of artists say it, is "If people want to hear music like was on the
 first album so bad, they can just go buy the first one." I think I might even
 like this one better than the first one. I'll have to listen to it a couple more
 times.

 Drew - "On this album, it seems like we had a whole bunch of people helping us
 out.

 Hampton - "Well, the first one, too, it kind of stretched people, you know, people
 that didn't quite dig kind of more rock & roll, it kind of stretched them a little bit
 more, where they go, 'Oh, that's pretty cool. I kind of like that.' And this one's
 gonna be a little more obtainable for them, and the heavier crowd that dug the
 heavier songs are maybe going to maybe have to stretch a little bit further the
 other direction, maybe." I think something that's unique that goes on with
 probably a lot of bands, but I know within our band, the struggles, just within,
 possibly some of that within the band, but also just the progressions through life.
 That's what, in the band musically and lyrically, it ends up being an emotional
 outlet for you to kind of convey to the audience and put to music, because it's
 your feeling, because it's your emotion. And it's not like we're over here sitting on
 top of the world, behind ten foot brick walls, and a little oasis home. You know,
 we have to live life, and experience it, and that makes for a lot of emotion, at
 least."

 Fans love to know, too, that their favorite artists are real live people, instead
 of being some inaccessible...

 Hampton - "Yeah, and we definitely are that. And it's like, and if and when, this
 becomes some big thing, where you can't. But until that point, we'll probably drive
 ourselves crazy trying to keep up with all of 'em and be personable with 'em. I
 don't know. I just enjoy it. I enjoy the kids, man. I enjoy just meeting people, and
 trying to challenge the Christian kids and love the Marilyn Manson kids. I guess. I
 don't know if you need to put that in there or not, but you know what I mean."

 How do you feel the first album was received overall?

 Mark - "Overall, I think that our fans are very loyal. And that's very important to
 us. I'd rather be a band that has a loyal fan base, and have a longer lasting album
 career, than a band that hits it big, captures a wide audience, and then fades away.
 I seriously appreciate every one of our fans, because the emails that we get, from
 people who have the album, and have seen us on tour, they really, really seriously
 try to get into the lyrics. They'd have questions about certain lyrics, and things like
 that, but overall, people really understood our music. I think that the whole
 influence that made us go in the direction that we did on this record was from
 talking to fans. We got pegged as a post-grunge band, like one of the Nirvanas or
 something. We got pegged somewhere in between Nirvana and, say, Radiohead.
 But talking to the fans, 'Broken Smile' and 'Skywire' are some of their favorite
 songs on the record, versus all the other ones. It made us realize that people, at
 least our fans, liked the album. And that's very important to us, you know, that
 when we make an album, people would listen to it and take an hour of their day,
 and listen to the whole thing, both sides, an hour of your day. So I feel like it was
 well received by the fans that bought it. And that's fine."

 That's a cool attitude to have, rather than, "I wish more people would've
 bought it."

 Mark - "Well, you know, financially, you always wish that, but, you know..."

 Yeah. Well, after having two albums under the belt now, what is having a
 record deal really like, as compared to what you thought it would be like?

 Mark - "It's different, because for us, you know, our record label got bought.
 We're on Tattoo, which is under Benson, which got bought. And to see that
 happen was very shocking. To find out that ultimately, the system you had
 working for you was not being nurtured and cared for, but rather was being
 pitched to different people to buy. It was hard to understand that. Maybe if we'd
 had different owners, it would've been different, but I'm very excited about this
 new ownership. I think it'll open up more potential for more people to hear our
 music. But overall, it's a bittersweet thing. It's got good points in that like
 thousands of people now have your record now, which is always a good thing.
 But at the same time, there are lots of sacrifices. I think that we're waiting to see.
 Yes, it's been worth it, to touch people, and we're doing what God's called us to
 do. But as far as other areas of our lives, it's trying in a lot of ways."

 Hampton - "Um, well . . . I think . . . um . . . I mean, I don't know. It's
 interesting, once again, you know, your popularity a lot of times, is controlled by
 the consciousness of people, and what's happening. You'd hope the listener would
 dig your music, and you would kjind of relate on that universal plane of thinking
 and emotion, and sometyhing that somebody can relate to, you know. I think the
 first album, we kind of new that it was gonna be, there was a little bit of hype
 about what all would be potentially done. And we used Ames Marketing on the
 first album. We charted on college radio. They wanted to go to mainstream radio,
 because they really dug the album, and a few things kind of fell short. And we just
 kind of have to pat ourselves on the back. it's like it wasn't our deal. Technically,
 the record company did want to go . . . I mean, they poaid Ames Marketing. We
 got on the CMJ sampler, and had some cool things going on, but then there's a lot
 of things that come into play - and I hope this doesn't hurt me, by me saying this -
 but if we would've went to mainstream radio, and started charting on mainstream
 radio, that would've been great, but as far as distribution, things kind of have to be
 in place to do that. So you go, and next thing you know, you're chatrting on
 mainstream radio around the nation. That's a great thing, but if the distribuytion's
 not there to back it, it's like combing your hair before walking into a wind storm or
 something. People hear the song on the radio, and go, 'Hey, I dug that song. Who
 was that? Oh, that's Common Children. I'm gonna go to the record store and get
 that.' And then they can't get it, but like, my brother in Seattle went to the record
 store, and he wasn't even really looking, and he saw Common Children. We had
 our own divider in the rock section, and it had one CD in it. And so now, he goes
 back and bugs the people for the CD. But now, the record company has been
 bought out by Zomba, and now there's a totally different thing going on, and we
 feel much more part of the whole company itself. Tattoo was kind of a little
 independent thing off of Benson. And this thing, it seems to be much more like
 the whole company working with us. And if it's a good, decent product, hopefully
 they have their cards a little biut better hand. This time, hopefully, they have all
 their cards in place and ready to do the deal. I don't know. I'm not, like, a poker
 player, so I'm using all these sayings, 'Do the deal, cards . . . give the hand.'"

 All the ducks in a row.

 Hampton - "All the ducks are in a row, and ready to swim!" But I think that's
 something that hopefully is happening with this album. And depending once again,
 I know that first and foremost it is the product itself, the album. You know, how's
 it sound? What's it gonna do? Do people dig it? I think with the first album, that
 kind of got proved with the college radio, and with Ames Marketing and all that.
 And we could've gone to mainstreeam then, but would all of our ducks been in a
 row? Probably not. So hopefully, on this one, I think they have their own kind of
 approach. So, fingers crossed, or bended knee, you know . . . but not to be any
 kind of, you know rich, or anything like that, but just to be a little bit more secure,
 maybe. That would be nice. But if not - and this may apply to your question -
 artistically, I think it was cool to go and have that much money and that much
 incentive put into making an album. The first album, I was very satisfied with the
 sound and the engineering, and how it turned out, and I think this one will be the
 same. And I think that's cool, because you just can't go and, like . . . you can go
 and do a pretty good demo, but at the same time, it'll still be lacking some bit of
 quality. So, if anything, that was something that was gratifying and rewarding
 from it."

 Drew - "It's a lot more normal than I thought it would be. But people are willing to
 work around you, and there's not a lot of forcing you to do what you don't want
 to do. But that might be the record label. They've been really good about letting us
 be creative, and listening to our ideas, and really wanting to work together, instead
 of having some A&R creative control guy coming in there and whipping out some
 idea that they think is good. It's not as glamorous, definitely, as people think. It's
 hard to understand. You can't put a lot of hope in what people say, and what's
 gonna happen, like, 'Okay, you might play on Conan O'Brien.' And it doesn't
 happen, and you're disappointed.

 Do you feel that Nashville has changed you or your music?

 Mark - "Do I feel that Nashville has?"

 Yeah.

 Mark - "No, we don't fit well in Nashville. We really don't. We never have. We
 have played clubs around town, and we have played Rocketown, and we've never
 had a big audience. We've never said, 'Ooh, man, there are so many people here.'
 We're not Nashville players, we don't make our albums like Nashville people
 make their albums. We definitely have a lot of areas of vulnerability, and we have
 failures. We just try to capture a lot of emotion, instead of, 'Wow! Did you hear
 that lick?!' So in that sense, we, I think, have surrounded ourselves with musicians
 who feel that way, because it's about music, you know. It's not about your
 political position, or your image or necessarily how many gatherings or social
 events you go to, or industry. It's about saying focused on what God's called you
 to do. Franklin's supposed to be the big place in Nashville. We had this video thing
 there yesterday, and I realized I'd only been there, like, once in the two years I've
 lived here - which is a good thing. I think that, if anything, being able to hang out
 with the Choir more, and musicians who help you grow, challenge you, help you
 really appreciate music, instead of, like, 'Okay, we have to have this many hits on
 this record. We have to have this kind of stuff go on to make it a Nashville
 accepted record.' If we have a hit, it's not because we said, 'Let's put that 'God'
 word, that 'Jesus' word in, because we all know that's the cash word right now.'"

 Drew - "When we moved to Nashville, it seemed everything was so clean and
 professional, and it's hard to figure out where you fit in. That's why I love touring
 around the country so much. We play colleges and clubs, and there are so many
 different types of people, that we realize, 'Man, we're just a drop in the bucket.'
 But at some point, we are making a difference. People are being touched. That's
 really cool. I really love touring and being out on the road."

 Hampton - "Um, I got married a year ago, and I live in apartment, so I think I've
 grown in other ways drumming-wise, as opposed to being this self-indulgent
 player that's just kind of going crazy. It's like, once again, just kind of putting that
 same intensity into trying to just represent the song, and playing. I don't get to
 shed as much, at this point, but I do play some acoustic guitar, and write some
 tunes of my own. So that's something that's been going on, probably since I've
 lived in Nashville. I've pretty intensely as a - I don't want to use the word
 'songwriter,' - but I've grown in that element. So that's kind of been rewarding.
 Yeah, I think so. I mean, Nashville's a cool place, as far as a lot of opportunity
 here, and it's still kind of a decent town. It's not like real overpopulated and
 metropolitan, and I can appreciate that. It's a cool city, but it's kind of got that
 kind of small town element to it, but it's a city with opportunity. It's pretty cool."

 My next question was gonna be kinda similar. What's your outlook on the
 Christian music industry with regard to ministry?

 Drew - "I think in a lot of cases, we're there to turn up the soil to make it fertile
 for the seed to be planted, and we've never felt like it was our job to go out there,
 and - at every show - try to lead people up to the front and to the back room, and
 stuff. I just think that most of your time talking to kids comes after the show, and
 we end up spending two or three hours tearing down everything, because we're
 talking to kids. And that one-on-one thing is a lot more personal, and the kids get
 to tell you their stories. Even if you don't get the chance to lead somebody to
 Christ, they take home your CD and they take home the experience. And maybe
 the lyrics will minister to them. Some bands are called to do that, and some bands
 are there for entertainment - or maybe both. It's really hard to say, because there
 are a lot of people there who really want to read one answer to that question. And
 they feel like anything else is a compromise. I really don't feel that way. I don't
 see anything wrong with making an album just because you want to make a
 quality piece of art. I know God's gonna shine Himself through our lives, if we let
 him. But I don't believe a song doesn't have something evangelical in it."

 Hampton - "You know how to drag it out of me, Brian! Just as overall view of it,
 I think that, as the body of Christ, it's sad that it has become such a divided,
 sectioned thing, as opposed to being a full, functioning body. In my perspective, in
 what I feel maybe has been granted or just given to by Gopd or whatever, if you
 look at it, you think about the spirits, principalities that we fight against. So, once
 again, to bring that consciousness thing in there. That's how conquered, was
 through love and through forgiveness. And that's the thing. Everybody turned on
 him, because he didn't come down and do a couple of souffles and kick
 everybody pop off the cross, and have the angels come down, and become some
 super giant or something. He conquered through love, and that's the thing I think
 is going on in battle. I think it's sad that there's a Christian body that is . . . we're
 over here judging and sectioning off, 'Oh, this music is not of Christ.' Maybe
 we're down at the toenail. Maybe we're on the boots of Christ and we're walking
 through the sludge of society, hopefully though, at least to get somebody in touch
 with the body of Christ. I would hope that somebody heard the song hate, and
 then heard another song off the album, and then heard some things, and go,
 'Wow, I feel that way. What are they doing talking about God?' And with those
 seeds being planted, hopefully they would open their minds to praise music, and
 maybe listening to something a little more spiritual, you know? Is there anything
 wrong with that. I would hope that we'd sometimes to create a bridge, to when
 their parents go and put on a nice "Amazing Grace" type album, or whatever it
 would be, or contemporary Christian or something, that they would go, 'Oh yeah.
 That's cool. I love this lyric. I love where he's talking about, you know, blah, blah,
 blah.' As opposed to being just hardcore against any other kind of music, and to
 not feel acceptance from that end. I appreciate so many Christian artists, you
 know, people over here doing, you know, whatever, the new age, Christian,
 spiritual, peaceful waters. I listen to it, and I dig, and that's not quite where I'm at
 in the Christian music business. And you'd hope that you'd feel a little more
 acceptance from their end. We're trying to make the body of Christ more of a
 functioning thing and a beacon of light. I think we need to start functioning as a
 body, and accepting one another. You know, 'You're a Christian, I'm a Christian.
 Here's what you do, and here's what I do. I'm gonna approach you initially with
 Love. I'm gonna try to understand, open my mind, and open my heart about it.'
 And if it really comes down to it, it's God's right to judge. I'm not the one to
 judge. I'm the one who's supposed to love my enemies. If somebody comes up
 and says, 'Hey, I'm doing this Christian goth thing,' you know. Even though that's
 not my style of music. I'm not really into it, I'm gonna try to approach that guy pr
 girl with love and acceptance. I'm gonna try and accept that and understand it,
 appreciate it, and pray for it. I think the more that we would do that, because the
 thing is, within our consciousness, you can see what we've built with society in
 allowing a spirit of selfishness: a spirit of murder, of no appreciation for creation,
 you know, a nation built on lies and weird treaties and stuff. A system built on
 materialism, greed . . . it's like what qualities are those? Of what spirit is that? Is
 that Christ's consciousness? You know, I think it's probably more of a Luciferian
 consciousness. Consciousness is constantly going. It's like, people will go to
 church, and they'll sit there and then they'll go out to the restaurant five minutes
 afterwards, and be talking about, 'Oh, that sermon blessed me so much. Oh, Jesus
 is so good to me.' And the next thing you know, the waited comes up and they go,
 'Look my tea is getting warm, and I need this and that, and I need more rolls.'
 And they treat you just the most impersonal of anybody. And there's a whole
 population of people in America that don't want to wait tables on Sunday
 afternoon, because that's the church crowd, and theyget treated impersonal and
 tipped the cheapest. Now that's supposed to be from a people who are coming
 from a place where they're supposed to give the coat off their back, don't store
 your treasures here, and esteem others higher than yourself! It's not becoming part
 of their consciousness. It's like something they believe on Sunday, and then they
 walk out, and there's nothing being applied. And that's just in one little way, I
 think a population of people is basically affected by . . . I mean, they would rather
 go and wait tables on a Friday night, because the people are drinking, but they're
 treating them with respect, and they laugh with 'em, and they tip 'em well. I think
 that's a sad reflection of where the body of Christ is not shining as a beacon of
 light to other people. And I think that once we would get rid of the inner conflict,
 the inner judgement, and start loving and start trying to heal, love and accept . . .
 and if there is something, if I go somewhere, and it's some kind of gothic thing,
 and somebody's cutting themselves, and they're taking off their clothes, or
 whatever they do . . . If that was happening, I don't know what I would do. I
 would pray for 'em. If I had a kid, I'd probably get my kid out of there. At the
 same time, though, I still would love them, and I would still pray for them. And I
 would try to approach them with the some type of guidance of some sort, in the
 humblest, sweetest spirit. I think that's something that goes on. I think there were
 800 or 900 albums returned because of the song 'Hate,' even though that's
 something from, you know, Paul - formerly Saul - that said, 'The things I love,
 the things I long to do, those things I don't do. The things I hate and I despise
 doing, those things I do. And the third verse, 'This history is my misery. I see you
 die. It's hard to try. I don't know why I hate myself.' That kind of came from, my
 dad dies not too long ago, and that was kind of the vibe I was seeing, like these
 older generations of people who are dying, it's like, what have they left here for
 us? I didn't create any kind of racial crap. I didn't enslave anybody. And it's like
 when the Old Testament says, that we inherit the curses of our fathers, and our
 fathers' fathers, like three generations or something. So I think we're kind of at a
 point where, with the spirit of Christ, and with Christ's consciousness, and being
 aware of things, let's try to break the curse. Let's try to create a new history,
 because it is a curse. It's wrong for us to come in and annihilate a race of people -
 you know, the native Americans - in the name of God, because they're heathen.
 What did Christ do? He conquered with love and conquered with forgiveness.
 What's carrying on out of that? Who still tries to conquer? I don't know."

 Mark - "I think if ministry is completely heartfelt and balanced, that's what's
 important. That's what it's about. But when it is used to sell something, you know,
 like 'You need to use the word Jesus in your songs,' it's like . . . It's okay to be
 honest. It's okay to be . . . Tattoo is a cool label, in the sense that they really allow
 the artists to be creative. That's a very cool thing.

 What a lot of people do, is they'll say, basically, "This is my art. You can't
 hold me accountable, because this is art" - whereas, you've taken it and
 said, "Yeah, this is art - and we hope God shines through it. Well, people
 have called the band a "true crossover act." How do you feel about that?

 Drew - "Well, I think that in a sense, I feel like we've crossed over into the
 Christian market. When we didn't have a deal, we were in Arkansas, playing
 clubs, and not really doing 'Christian gigs.' Not that we didn't want to, but we
 were just hittin' it hard trying to hit the general market. You know, we were
 played on radio shows. We got to open up for a couple mainstream bands, and
 this was all in Arkansas. We were trying to get a major deal. So, in a sense, I feel
 like we crossed over to the Christian market. But now, if something were to
 happen, I'd be like, 'Alright, this is more of what we were wanting to do in the
 first place. We'd still be the band that we are, and we'd still say the things that we
 say. Maybe that's what their talking about being a crossover band. If you were to
 listen to us, would you be able to tell that we were believers? It's hard to tell. But
 yeah, I think we could 'crossover.' Depending on who you're talking about, I think
 the music's just as good as a lot of the stuff on the air out there today. And now
 that Benson's been bought out by Zomba, there's more chance of it happening,
 getting into the mainstream market. I sure hope something happens where a lot
 more people can hear this music. I believe that it's good enough."

 After having toured with The Choir, having Steve and Derri produce and
 engineer your records, and of course, having Dan running the label, how do
 you feel you've been influenced by The Choir, both musically and
 spiritually.

 Drew - "I really always liked that song from Circle Slide that goes, 'When I turn
 from your face, render mercy and grace . . .' I love that. When I was working
 radio back in Arkansas, I'd play that all the time. They've influenced me a lot,
 probably a lot more after having met them, and working with 'em, and really
 figuring out that they're really not that different. They're a little older, and they've
 been through many years of all this, and they've got a lot of good advice. I've
 looked at 'em like friends, but at the same time, they've got great advice.
 Spiritually, it's been really encouraging because we've had a lot of deep
 conversations about God, and relevance to the culture. It's cool to be associated
 with 'em or compared, or whatever the word is, because I feel like we're kind of
 like 'em. They never sold that many albums, but at the same time, the music was
 probably the most respectable music in the Christian market - definitely for that
 genre. If that's the way we're remembered, then I would be more than honored,
 because it's not about record sales - although it would be nice to have money. I
 would rather be remembered for the music and the art, and the passion of what's
 going on, whether we're to make three more albums or if this is our last album.
 What would really be cool, is if our third or fourth album, we broke, and then all
 the other albums would sell."

 Yeah really. Sell through the back catalog.

 Drew - "Yeah. But it was cool. I remember sitting there watching them mix a song
 for a Christmas album or something, and seeing 'em mix it and watch them work.
 It was really cool. And you know, of course, it changed when we went on tour
 with 'em. Once you become friends, then it's not really like that, but the respect
 level is definitely still there. The interaction is very cool, being able to help each
 other and support each other. As far as being on the road, we're really trying to
 focus on being positive and putting 120% into it - into the music, into traveling,
 and working with each other, everybody pulling their own weight. We do so much
 better when we pray before our shows. It unifies us, and when we don't get to do
 that, we can tell the difference.

 Is there anything else you want to...

 "Also, I just really want to push the online thing. We're available for people to
 write in and ask questions. The mailbox (Commonc1@aol.com) is there for that
 reason, for people to write in. I know when I sign on, I'll get, like, five instant
 messages! But I want to push that. We really want to remain accessible, because
 we really are.."

 So, there you go. You decide if redemption is the overall theme of the record.

Ricochet Magazine

CCM