The members of Collective Soul spent a good part of their 25th anniversary year in 2018 putting together songs for the powerful new album Blood – a collection of songs that invokes the past glories, current mindset and future artistic aspirations of the beloved alternative rock band.
In 1993, Collective Soul burst onto the music scene with their compelling and ground-breaking debut album, Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid, which was highlighted by the massively popular single, Shine. The band came together a year earlier in the town of Stockbridge, Georgia when brothers Ed (now preferring to be known simply as E) and Dean Roland, along with long-time pal Will Turpin joined musical forces. The current lineup also includes drummer Johnny Rabb (since 2012) and lead guitarist Jesse Triplett, who joined in 2014.
Since this powerfully impactful debut, they have continued to release a string of critically acclaimed albums, building up a following of fans who revel in the band’s compelling melodic hooks, dynamic range of songs, and deeply authentic, emotive lyrics, crafted by E Roland.
Blood was release on June 21, through their own Fuzze-Flex Records/ADA and in an old-school move, the band has included half of the 10 songs into their current set.
“We’re having a blast on this tour, man. I think we did five new songs last night [in Windsor, Ontario] and we definitely have more we can do that are worked up. It just depends on the set. A festival set will probably be 75 minutes, but even our 75 minute set right now has four of the new songs in it. And they go over really well,” said Turpin.
“It’s more fun for us to play the new stuff. I get offended by bands that feel they are too cool to play their hits. And it has nothing to do with that for us, we love playing the hits; let’s face it, the hits are what people have associated parts of their lives with, you know. We have become soundtracks to some people’s lives, and we don’t take that lightly. So, we are definitely always going to play the bulk of the hits. But it’s fun for us to play the new music; it’s exciting and it gets our blood flowing to play new music.”
Currently the set for what has been termed the Now’s The Time Tour includes the song of that same name, as well as the songs Over Me, Observation of Thoughts, Right As Rain and Crushed.
Right As Rain actually appeared on a live album that Collective Soul released in 2018 and was part of an outpouring of creativity activity that lead directly to Blood.
“In the summer of 2017 we were working out some of these new tunes. Most of them came to be done by early 2018 and then we got on a groove and just rode the wave. For us, creating music now is way beyond just keeping the right rhythm and putting your finger on the right fret. It’s about capturing energy, capturing emotion. That’s what we really do, and that energy and emotion has to transcend through the music,” Turpin said.
“We were working at The Barber Shop Studios up in New Jersey and we were there for 10 days in a row and did a song a day and recorded it as a live band. And it really is about capturing the emotion and we caught a great wave of creativity. I think the intensity of the material got captured. I tell people we’re purveyors of emotion. It’s the emotion in the music and in the lyrics that has always attracted people. Ed knows how to write a melody, and Ed’s lyrics are off the charts. We all were dealing with a lot on this last run of things, some family tragedy. And part of the reason why we called the album Blood is the realization of how much we appreciate each other and our brotherhood.
“When we were younger of course we had to spend more time on what we were actually going to play. Now, what we’re actually going to play kind of happens really quick. It then becomes all about the vibe and that feeling, and can we capture that raw emotion in the music. To me, that’s what people are attracted to. That, and a genuineness, which again is no problem for Ed and his lyrics. Blood is about the blood brotherhood of the band, the family that came before, our children and the family that is coming up behind us, what we leave behind when we’re going. It’s a reference to all of that. Along with that there’s the idea the we’re still enjoying and appreciating what we do and within the music on this record, there is also a realization of all that stuff that we have done in our career up to this point.”
The track record for rock bands that have a set of brothers at their core is not great. One need only look at the contentious history of The Kinks (Ray and Dave Davies), The Black Crowes (Chris and Rich Robinson) or Oasis (Liam and Noel Gallagher) to see the detritus of shattered bands. But the Rolands have managed to keep their relationship intact, and the band continually moving forward. Regardless of whether there is a brother dynamic at play, for any band to remain together, vibrant and continually creative for a quarter of a century is an achievement to be lauded and respected.
“We did all grow up together, everybody knows that. I really want to see the quintessential documentary of this band. And we’re working on some of that, gathering material right now, trying to find a production company. I think the fact that we grew up in the same little small town helps. Ed is six years older than me, so he probably didn’t know who I was at the time, but we have always known each other, we support each other, we truly appreciate each other,” Turpin said.
“We have also allowed each other to go and create outside of the band, which kind of helps. Our thinking has always been that creating outside of the band makes us stronger as a band when we come back together. But, to be honest, I don’t know. I don’t know exactly what the secret has been. If I knew, I would write a book and become a millionaire.”
Turpin said regardless of the climate within the music industry and the paradigm-shifting changes in the way people consume music, Collective Soul as a creative unit will always want to issue new music and will most likely always release a collection of songs in an album format.
“I think the record model is still legitimate. Often when you come together to create stuff, there’s usually more than one song. For us, that album concept is still important and legitimate, and a lot of the guys that we respect agree with this – the Dave Grohls of the world and many others. We still think the album concept makes sense and when you put together a collection of your work from a specific period of time, it’s still an album. For us it’s all about the vibe and capturing emotions. We’re going to create art – that’s our goal. We create art and we don’t take it lightly because we’re going to be creating music that is therapy for people’s lives,” he said.
“And we all still have things to say musically. If it was ever stale or stagnant to us, it wouldn’t be right. We would probably still tour a little bit, but it wouldn’t be right. I am telling you, man, when I hear us complete a take on a new song, or when I hear where a song’s going, I literally still have that same adrenaline that will pump through my body, and my hairs will stand up on my arms, and I know it’s right, I know there’s something special happening. And I believe we’re still doing stuff that is absolutely captivating.
“And people want new music. We hear it from fans. They want new music; they are excited by it. But it’s not something where we’re saying, ‘well, we’re going to release a new record and make a bunch of money with it. That’s not really realistic. Obviously, we’re looking for big fish, we have been known to capture some big music placement stuff in movies, so there are big fish where with music you can still make money. Streaming royalties are kicking in and if it were to go up a little bit, it would be almost as good as when we sold a million records, because it doesn’t stop. If people enjoy the music, they go back and keep streaming it. So that’s kind of coming around to where there’s a little bit more revenue involved in the music as well.”
Collective Soul is currently on tour throughout North America in support of Blood with a couple of appearances in the Great White North. They are one of a plethora of top acts playing the Rockin’ The Fields in Minnedosa, Manitoba on Aug. 3. But Turpin said that is not the only time this year that he and his bandmates will be rockin’ in Canada.
“The news hasn’t been released yet because the dates are not locked down, but we will go across Canada in October. We’re going to hit 10 cities at least, and just go straight across Canada and it will hopefully be a three-band show,” he said, adding Collective Soul has always had a great relationship with their neighbours to the north.
“I remember some of our first shows in Canada, there were a lot of magical moments and magical crowds, man. That first show at The Commodore in Vancouver I will never forget. I was a 22-year-old kid and the people in the crowd, the vibe was amazing. And then the first time at Lee’s Palace in Toronto I will never forget that show too. It was special, and we do have a special relationship with Canada. We love coming up there.”
For more information on tour dates and other news, visit http://www.collectivesoul.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
SHARE THIS POST:
