The Rebirth of a Band
Collective Soul's guitarist Dean Roland talks about the band's album, 'Youth' and why God is a tease.
BY: Interview by Dena Ross
My take on it is that we're here on earth to learn lessons, and I believe the teasing element is that His love for his children is unconditional, but our souls are here to learn and to be elevated. That's my own personal take on it. What [Ed] actually meant, I don't even know if he knows. [laughs]
That song's probably my favorite on the record right now. We have a blast playing it live. It's a good one to connect with the audience.
It seems like it's ok to talk about spirituality in music now-something you guys have always done as a mainstream band.
That's what I loved about U2 growing up. I saw the Joshua Tree tour and it was, no pun intended, elevation. It was a spiritual experience-an emotional thing. That's what we shoot for at our shows. Coming together in fellowship of something greater than any one person here. Let the music take us somewhere.
What do you think about the music industry today?
It's a mess.
Is that why you created your own label?
Yeah. I think there's a lot of really great music going on. But the major channels to hear it have become a small funnel. There's a lot of good music trying to get through but it's being blocked. In the major label industry, there's only a handful of people who are ultimately making the decisions as to what is going out to radio stations. But the Internet has helped music distribution.
You and Ed were going through some tough times before the release of the album [both were going through divorces]. How did you personally get through the bad times?
I leaned a lot on my family. Our family is really close. I have two older brothers-Ed, and then there's a brother in between us. We have a baby sister. I definitely leaned on my parents a good bit. I spent a lot of time alone. [I spent] a lot of time in prayer, just contemplating, searching for direction and looking for the right approach to things.
Do you have a favorite prayer?
Not necessarily. I try to be conscious of allowing things to happen. I try to make each day not about me, but about something greater-something more beneficial to everyone as opposed to just me.
The elimination of fear and ego is crucial in this world. There's so much of it that exists in our culture right now. There's this lack of commitment that's going on in our generation-commitment to jobs, commitment to relationships, commitment to faith. What we really need is a commitment to inter-dependence.
What kind of fear are you talking about? Fear from...?
Fear of the unknown. Fear is just lack of faith. And we all experience it, of course. There is no darkness when there's light. Darkness is the absence of light; fear is the absence of love.
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