"When I hear our new record, I hear maturity," says Marc Byrd, Common
Children's singer and guitarist, reacting to the big buzz surrounding the group's new
record, which is how much the group has changed supposedly from their hit debut
Skywire. The hype is Common Children have mellowed out on Delicate Fade,
favoring moody soundscapes and lush string arrangements to the aggressiveness of
their debut. Marc says don't believe it.
      "I don't necessarily think there's been a big change. It's got three or four
rockers on there. I scream on three songs and on Skywire I just screamed on two.
But we definitely made a conscious decision to make more of a song-oriented
album. In my opinion, the lyrics are much better on this record. Just overall, I think
the songwriting is better. I don't why people have made big deal about it. To me it's
just a natural progression that we hope will keep our band away from a sophomore
slump."
      Byrd himself has set out to produce what's inside his heart and not what he
thinks people might want to hear. The new album is much moodier than the first,
and at times experimental, but not even as much so as he would like. Most recently,
the band has been finding artistic solace in the music of the Verve, Radiohead and
the Church. On the lyrical front, Byrd (who for the first time shared writing credits
with his bandmates) says his experiences on the road and in the Christian industry
have shaped a new, stark approach to songwriting.
      "I had things that happened in my life that forced me to dig deeper into my
emotions, things that made them come out on my sleeve," Byrd says. "It's been a
very intense time. I listen to moody music so as the chief writer for the band,
sometimes what you listen to comes out. I guarantee some of the younger kids are
going to be disappointed with this record. And that's fine. We didn't intentionally set
out to disappoint them. We set out to be true to ourselves and do what God wants
us to do. We do feel like our audience is more of the 18 to 30-year old crowd. We
have a better response when we're around colleges and things like that.
      Five years ago, Common Children's formation took shape at a Bible college
in Arkansas where Byrd and bass player Drew Powell met. The two later hooked
up with drummer Hampton Eugene and three years later moved to Nashville after
signing with upstart label Tattoo Records. Skywire, the 1996 debut, invoked a
plethora of grunge comparisons although Byrd contends he felt the album's
direction was more closely related to the pop/rock sounds of the Goo Goo Dolls. In
particular, Byrd has tired of hearing the dreaded "N" word used so freely in the
band's press.
      "The thing about Nirvana is they rock, yeah, but Kurt Cobain wrote
incredible melodies," Byrd says. "The Nirvana influence automatically comes from
'I Hate Myself.' It's one song out of an entire journey. I'll admit, yes, we were
influenced by Nirvana. We listened to Nirvana when they came out and thought
they were cool and everything, but our main influences have been Pink Floyd and
groups like that. We just try to be true to ourselves."
      "Eyes of God," the album's first single, has a particularly strong meaning to
Byrd. It's a song he wrote amid some perspective changes that took place in
between records. "Some people think I'm saying that God has a broken smile,"
Byrd says. "Well He probably does when He sees all the sin in the world and He's
empathetic But what I'm really saying is it's a beautiful thing to be broken. 'The
broken people smile and the eyes of God shine on us.' I'm trying to say that you
may wake up every day in a drudgery. You may wake up every day, worn out,
rubbing on a smile, trying to get through life and not laying your pride down before
God. But God wants to break you and humble you. He's there waiting all the while
letting the circumstances of life teach you something about Himself and He's there
to redeem. His mercies are new every morning. We tend to think that brokenness is
a bad thing, but if you read the Bible you find that the people God has broken are
the people He loves the most."
      Like most songs, Byrd also sees how someone might hear "Eyes of God" and
sense some kind of indictment against the Christian music industry in general.
Although he says that's not the case, he certainly sees (and doesn't shy away from
expounding upon) the parallel.
      "People get so caught up in this industry that they actually think that God is
sitting up there saying 'boy I hope your profit margin goes up this quarter,'" Byrd
says. "And maybe He is, I don't know. But there's people who are starving and
there are people who are rich off this industry. I'm not trying to dog it because I'm
very happy that they give me the opportunity to do what I do. But at the same
time, you have to wonder just how important all this is to God."
      Common Children has done its best to stay out of the industry machine by
simply distancing itself from those in the industry. Byrd was amused by one
interviewer who asked if the band's move to Nashville had changed them in some
way.
      "That's so funny because we hardly know anyone in Nashville or in the
industry and the people we hang out with are (the Choir's) Steve (Hindalong) and
Derri (Daugherty) and those guys are as against the grain as you can get," Byrd
says. "There's no way Nashville has influenced us to try and write a slick album. I
think we've just been honest. We're older. We're all in our upper 20's and I can't
scream for the rest of my life."
      Hindalong and Daugherty have been of particular help to Byrd and his
bandmates with both collective and individual reasons. Daugherty has long been a
musical influence with his 'spacey' guitar sounds likened to The Edge and David
Gilmore. Byrd's respect for Hindalong comes from a different angle. The two have
begun writing more and more together and Byrd played on Hindalong's forthcoming
solo project. Hindalong, who has become a well-respected producer took the reigns
of the Delicate Fade project and was quoted as saying that it was, if not the best, at
least in the top three among albums he has produced.
      "That very much a humbling statement because he really does feel that way,"
Byrd says. "He said it all the way through making the record which amazes me
because that man does not put out compliments easily at all. He was saying he
wanted to make something like the Circle Slide of the '90s."
      Byrd and company (along with most Choir fans) list Circle Slide as one of the
greatest albums in Christian music history, so any comparison to Delicate Fade is
almost embarrassing to Byrd who seeks humility on a daily basis. It's not always an
easy task while working within an industry that at times seems to contradict itself.
Artists are often caught in the trap of being asked to mention God in lyrics while
their labels exalt them to God-like status.
      "I wrote 'Eyes of God' way before we went in to write the record," Byrd
explains. "I didn't even know it was going to be a Common Children song and they
freaked out over it because it had God. People in this market and in the audience
feel safer when things directly make a mention of God. And that's cool because I
would never want to hide my faith. My faith is more important to me than it ever
has been. It makes my life real."
      With the release of Skywire, Common Children quickly discovered the
Christian music industry's fickle nature. The semi-controversial song "IHate
Myself," which deals with living self-less before God was partly responsible for
holding another single "Wishing Well" at the #2 position on the rock charts. It was
headed for the top slot but two radio DJ's refused to play any Common Children
song despite Byrd's attempts to personally explain the lyrical content from a Biblical
perspective.
      "It's amazing to me that people still do that," Byrd says. "Jesus came along
and said 'unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you cannot follow me.'
There's a lot of things that Jesus said like that, like 'unless you hate your mother
and father...' Then all of the sudden you come out singing about hating the flesh
and hating yourself and dying to self and that's offensive? It's because Christianity
in America has turned into a self-help crutch, just something to make you feel good.
What's missing is the struggle and sadness that comes from facing your pathetic self
and keeping a humble spirit as a result of doing that. I hope that's changing. It
changes and keeps changing then it goes back to the safety zone."
      Common Children has had it's fair share of struggles within the industry.
Delicate Fade was originally scheduled to release in November, but a huge
corporate buyout which included the purchase of Tattoo Records, bumped the
album's street date to mid-January. Still, Common Children went on to tour with
Grammatrain and Tragedy Ann without any new product, while trying to introduce
new, unfamiliar material. But even the most earth-shattering shakeup is unlikely to
divert the trio's attention for too long.
      "You have to keep your head level and your feet on the ground," Byrd says.
"There's nothing for sure in this industry. The only thing that's for sure in this life is
Christ and His resurrection. Don't put your faith in the Christian music industry or
in selling records because it's not something that's stable. It's a beautiful thing to do,
but it's just not stable."
      Common Children's career has stabilized with the sophomore release and
early '98 looks promising with a spring tour with Christine Glass in the works, as
well as a spring/summer bookstore tour that will include Everybodyduck and Rich
Young Ruler. The road is exactly where Common Children wants to be. After
suffering some spiritual setbacks throughout the past year and a half, the band feels
like the future holds unlimited spiritual growth, and perhaps for the first time
Common Children places the message above a desire for progressive artistic
expression.
      "The most important thing is giving people hope in Christ," Byrd says.
"That's the bottom line. This band is more spiritually focused than it has been in a
long time. We have a sense of renewal. The new album has more of a redemptive
quality to it. Even in it's sad moments, it more like David crying out. I just wish we
could all realize that Christ is at the center and that's what the universal Body of
Christ needs to be based on."

Ricochet Magazine

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