Petra, needtobreathe & Cool Hand Luke

JOHN SCHLITT (PETRA) - this was one of the very first interviews we did and I hadnt developed the "style" for the doc yet. I set up a gorgeous CSI:Miami looking interview and at the last second we were told we had 20 minutes and the interview had to be done in an old locker room about 10 flights of stairs away...DOH! I have since decided to go very RAW, almost hand-held with the interviews, as many are on the fly. It will annoy some but...I think it works. For those who dont know, Schlitt was the lead singer for Petra after Greg Volz left. There is a big debate about pre and post Volz Petra but I love it all. I always thought it would be great for them to make Petra bumper stickers that said, "Schlitt Happens!" but that was too out of the box then I guess. John was very open about the fact that they were not trying to push the creative envelope, instead, they had their ear to the ground to see what was happening in the general market so they could offer a positive but relevant alternative. Say what you will, but I thought Petra was "the Schlitt." I still have the War & Remembrance box set on my ipod and many of those songs creep into the most played from time to time. You have not lived until you have heard "Beyond Belief" followed by some Imogen Heap. John talked of "other" bands (uhh...Stryper maybe?) who took the wrong approach he thought, especially at the time. Remember, this was at the height of Christian sub-culture... Carman, the Power Team, Bill Gothard, etc. were filling arenas and STADIUMS across the country. There was no such thing as "crossing over" then.

John also talked about a part of his life most Christian rock fans are completely ignorant of, his time as lead singer of Head East, one of the original hard rock bands. They were never HUGE but they went Gold and had a bunch of top 100 hits. The rock and roll lifestyle lead him to the point of drug addiction and even a contemplation of suicide before he became a Christian and joined Petra.

BO & BEAR RINEHART (needtobreathe) - Okay, so a couple months ago, I had no idea who these guys were. People started asking me if I had heard of them, then more people started asking...so I decided to check them out. Their CD is terrific, "You Are Here" and "Shine On" are about as good as pop rock gets. The album seems to have some British influence but after talking to the brothers Rinehart, I am going to say that has more to do with the producer (the guy who produced Keane). When they performed the songs live, I thought they had even more heart than the album tracks. Sorry UK'ers but southern charm speaks louder to me than the Queen's English. At any rate...get this record! On to the interview...

These guys are proud of their faith but also clearly on a mission to reach all people with their music. They are passionate about music and genuinely talented, one brother was the South Carolina Player of the year in 2002 as a receiver for Furman University where he holds several records and the other brother is a gifted actor, I think he had a bit part in "RADIO." They talked about being raised as preachers kids in the small town of Possum Kingdom, SC. They were very into Christian rock and culture as kids and were well versed on all the early bands. Bear indicated that their father was very supportive of Christian rock but that occasionally an evangelist would come thru and talk about the evils of rock music. He talked about how it was the same guys who started the rumors about bands like KISS, that KISS stood for "Knights In Satan's Service" or AC/DC stood for "Anti-Christ/Devil's Children" which we now know is silly. Bear recalls being afraid of the evil that was Aerosmith as a kid, then later laughing when he saw them running around on stage with Run DMC. Bo talked about "The Prayer Chain" as a band that really stood out as cool and creative. He said you could walk into the Christian bookstore and their CD really stood out, "...it was like, cheesy, cheesy, cheesy, COOL!"

Bear had more great things to say but I zoned out for a few minutes because after weezing about 8 Diet Cokes from their dressing room (they were the squatty 6oz cans, so cut me some slack) I had a severe needtopee. He talked about his desire to not avoid the Christian market but to purposely not tailor their music to it. If all we speak is Christian-ese, then who but other Christians can really understand what we are saying? Pretty good point my Possum Kingdom friend. These are some terrific guys with amazing attitudes, I think they are going to be huge, but even if they arent, I think they will be around a long time.

By the way, the SANCTUS REAL guys were there playing with needtobreathe and I had some good talks with Matt, just the normal stuff...how messy it is to eat ribs, abortion, why promoters like to serve lasagna so much, the churches position on gays... you know, just some light chit-chat. Seriously though, Matt is a tender-heart who likes to laugh, we would prolly be good friends if we lived in the same town.

MARK NICKS (COOL HAND LUKE) - Another band I didnt know much about but they are a real hidden gem. No real words to describe CHL, ethereal, passionate, super creative... something like that. So, I am a super-nerd smart dude but Mark is freakishly smart and somehow, still really cool. He talked over my head most the time but this is a guy who loves the Lord and seems to spin everything into how every bad experience or negative is really something that is meant to challenge us. I think Mark will probably end up a preacher and if he does, I will gladly go to his church...