Relient K Anatomy Of Tongue In Cheek

[Oswalda Shutte]

Fiverock, punk and hip-hop acts from the contemporary Christian music scene will be rocking and the kids will be dancing at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium at 7 p.m. Monday. OC Supertones, Relient K, Pillar, John Reuben and Sanctus Real are on a 45-city tour, which has already sold out shows in Detroit, Lancaster, Pa., and Philadelphia.

Videos for the OC Supertones, Relient K and Pillar are on the Top 10 of the "Sound of Light" program Saturday nights on Newschannel 7. All of the groups are on the "Sound of Light" radio program's Top 25.

Pillar has just signed a mainstream record deal with MCA. "They are along the lines of P.O.D. and Linkin Park," Moore said. "Relient K is comparable to Blink-182 and Good Charlotte. The Supertones have a huge following. They started out as ska and are now a cool rock band with horns. Sanctus Real is one of the top-selling new rock artists on Sparrow Records. John Reuben does very unique hip-hop that is very funny, tongue-in-cheek. These are some pretty hot bands."

"Sound of Light" will be at the show, taping interviews for future broadcasts. The auditorium has sent out a mass mailing to churches in the Upstate and is promoting the show on Christian rock programs on radio stations New Rock 93.3 and Rock 101 WROQ-FM.

"Each of these groups are going to present the message of the Gospel in their own way," said Diane Hall, manager of the music department at Christian Supply. "It's a mostly alternative show from light rock to a heavier rock sound. It's an excellent opportunity to hear the message. Relient K is a very popular group with us, and Sanctus Real's record rocks."

Relient K was named after a car one of their guitarists used to drive. And the band's career is definitely in overdrive. Their album, "The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek," is the fastest-selling punk pop album in Contemporary Christian Music history. It has sold more than 200,000 copies and has spent more than 75 weeks on CCM's Top 100 chart. The band's latest album, "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right . But Three Do," was released March 11.

Thiessen was also pretty excited about the group's new CD. They came up with the title in the van. "We were trying to think of something we didn't hate. It's one of the first times we collaborated on anything."

The theme of the album is relationships with friends and girls. "I was writing it while I was going through some things," he said. "Trying to keep friends close is hard to do when you are on the road. We are really happy with this new record. We like it a lot better than previous records. We try to stretch every time we make a record. We are a pop punk band who have a lot of Ben Folds Five and The Beach Boys influences."

The first single, "Chapstick, Chapped Lips and Things Like Chemistry," is about relationships with people. "It's a weird song. I was instant messaging my sister who is a pre-med student in Miami and asking her advice on song titles, and she said she only knew 'things like chemistry.' Chemistry is how people get along."

They recently released their fifth studio album, "Hi-Fi Revival." The group has performed in front of hundreds of thousands at events such as the Billy Graham Crusades, Harvest Crusades, World Youth Day with Pope John Paul II and Victory 2000 in St. Louis with then-Super Bowl Champions the St. Louis Rams.

"This is a Christian tour, and we've always feel a responsibility to keep it real," said 29-year-old Dan Spencer. "The night is about fun and having a great time, and while it is very important to explain our faith we don't want to shove it down anyone's throats.

"We are five very different acts. Sanctus Real has this really great Jimmy Eat World sound. John Reuben has this unconventional hip-hop. Pillar is the hardest rocking band on the bill, and Relient K has a pop punk rock kind of thing. They are the best band out there. We are ska-influenced rock 'n' roll with horns and trombone. We're pop rock, punk and ska."

Spencer said "Hi-Fi Revival" is the group's best effort yet. "We tackle themes of redemptions, restoration of the soul and just a dependence on God. Its got funky influences, including Sly & the Family Stone and James Brown."

The band has been together nine years. Half of the band lives in California, and the other half lives in Nashville. "Our band is about having a good time and sharing our faith. Our band name describes who we are musically and who we are as people."

Spencer said there is a dog named Spot on the tour. "We are shooting video footage of the tour for an upcoming DVD, and Spot will be the mascot. Spot will venture through the documentary. It will be totally wacky, light and fun."

"We were very eager to play and definitely nervous," Hoopes recalled about his band's debut at Alive, then held at Clay's Park Resort. "I'm sure it was on the beach stage, or whatever the smaller stage was called at the time. I remember having some difficulties getting things going and cutting our set short."

In 2001, the year of its breakthrough album "The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek," Relient K graduated to the Alive main stage. "It was extremely surreal to be on the stage where we had seen so many shows growing up," Hoopes said. In 2006, after racking up three gold albums, a top-10 hit ("Be My Escape") and a Grammy nomination, the band headlined the festival.

Asked for a preview, Hoopes said, "Our show is gonna hopefully be a lot of fun. We have been trying to acknowledge our past as a band, while still looking ahead, and that becomes most evident when we make a set list. We will have a pretty good mix of old and new, although when we do big jumps during the older songs it may be actually be a bit sarcastic ... tongue-in-cheek?"

While Hoopes and Matt Thiessen, both GlenOak High School graduates, are the only remaining members from the original lineup of Relient K, "we have been so happy to have (longtime member) Dave Douglas back on drums. Tom Breyfogle had been playing drums before this point, and he is such an amazing musician that he was able to move over to bass. And then from there it is somewhat of a revolving door of friends helping with keys, guitar and singing. For Alive fest, we are happy to say that Mark Townsend, our longtime producer, will be joining us on auxiliary guitar as well as singing. Also, our friend Jake Germany is playing keys and singing. This lineup is so talented and we really have a lot of fun together."

"We recorded most of the album in a small cottage behind a dairy farm in Tennessee, but the album feels distinctly Ohio to me, and not just because there is a song about the Cleveland Browns," he said. "It sounds like a creaky piano, old guitars and some unexpected left turns like an auto-tuner and a trombone."

Asked if there's less pressure on Relient K a decade after the band's hit heyday, Hoopes said, "Yes, it is fun! I feel like there has been such a positive revitalization since 'Air For Free.' The pressure being lifted is partially our own doing, in that we get to choose how we approach things like releasing music and touring. One of the most interesting parts of this for me to watch is how many college-age fans that we have gained during this time, some of whom have grown up with us, and also some old fans who were mostly around for our earlier records. I think there is an element of what we are doing now that reconnects us with them in the same way."

The upcoming Alive show will reunite Relient K with Bill and Kathy Graening, the festival's founders and organizers. "They have helped us tremendously over the years," Hoopes said. "We knew them growing up, and when we started the band, they were extremely gracious in helping us do small shows and eventually getting on the bill at the festival. I'm pretty sure that we caught them off guard a bit, as I don't think either of us thought we would continue to grow in the way that we did. We have always been incredibly thankful for their friendship and support."

Bill Graening remembers being flooded with emails from local Relient K fans asking him to book the band the first time. "They were really smart, they knew how to use the internet," he said. "They quickly developed such a passionate fan base. Their music really resonated with that generation. They were like the Blink-182 of contemporary Christian music. Nobody had really done that. They were not afraid to write about normal life and they always had a quirky style and great humor."

From the sound of it, Relient K's Alive show will serve as a festive homecoming. "It feels good to be back at Alive," Hoopes said. "And you can bet that we will bring our families along. My mom always thinks it's kinda cool when we play. I'll also try to figure a way to bring my kids for sure." On July 22 at Alive, Relient K will share the bill with headliner Toby Mac, who first signed the band to his Gotee record label.

Hoopes was a kid himself when he first started attending Alive. "I remember freezing rain at Bear Creek and watching Petra and GLAD, some older gospel bands, when I was about 8 years old or so. I also went just about every year with a group of friends. It wasn't until high school that I even considered that playing in a band was something that I could possibly do, and yes, those festival experiences were extremely formative."

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