Reinventing Superchick

CBN.com - With three new songs and nine remixes that cover the band’s entire career, veteran contemporary Christian recording artists Superchick recently unveiled their sixth album Reinvention.

They will be hitting the road this summer to support the new record with John Reuben on their Alive Tour.  But before heading out to Cincinnati, San Antonio, and many other venues in between, the entire band sat down recently with CBN.com Program Director Chris Carpenter on a pre-flood Wednesday morning to discuss their latest project.

You aren’t the new kids on the block anymore.  You have been together for 11 years now.  A lot of groups come and go in three to five years.  What do you attribute your longevity to?

Tricia Brock (lead vocals): Being stubborn and determination.  I guess part of it is that we feel really strongly about what this is that we are doing.  It is more than just a job.  All of us feel like we could go get another job when this is over but we don’t want to.  We really do love what we do.  On every new album our attitude is kind of like let’s see what happens.  That is always our thought process.  Maybe radio will play it, maybe it won’t.  But if we still love it and our fans still buy it and we can still tour then we will do it.  We still like each other.  That’s a big deal.  All of our relationships are good.  We are still like a family.  When we are not on tour and we are all doing our own things, we actually miss each other.  We appreciate what we do and we see that being able to do something you’re passionate about as your job is such a big deal because so many people are kind of miserable in jobs that are just paying the bills.  I recognize that I am lucky to be able to do this.

Your new album is a collection of remixes called Reinvention. It is your sixth. Congratulations. Why a re-mix album at this time?

Matt Dally (bass): For us, because we have always owned our own studio we have always done it ourselves.  Because of that the process doesn’t always stop when you turn it in.  A lot times you are like, ‘Man, I wish that chorus was better.  I wish this song had been different.”  It is what it could have been and should have been – what we think is better now.  It’s just fun to be able to do that.  I feel for a lot of people who don’t own their own stuff.  They go into a studio; they record it but don’t have control over it after the session is done.  So, for us, being able to pull up just the vocal and trying to rehash these songs is a benefit.  It is funny when you take the songs from a different perspective musically.  Sometimes they can have the same melody and the same words – a total pop song on the record that when you darken it up it becomes really serious.  The serious side of those lyrics come out.  That is what is exciting about these songs.  A lot of times people say, “Oh, I know that song.  This is a great tune.  It is fun.”  Then, when they hear the remix of it they say, “Wait a minute.  That’s serious and life changing.” 

What is the term Reinvention symbolic of?

Dally: I think it is symbolic of constantly moving forward and reinventing yourself.  I think even as Christians – when you become a Christian you are a new creation but as you start this relationship with Jesus Christ you are constantly changing.  You are constantly being sanctified, constantly being set apart every day through this journey.  I think we are constantly re-inventing ourselves as people and as a band.  As we take this journey of life together with Jesus Christ I think it applies here.

What went into the process of selecting the ten tracks you eventually ended up with for this record?  You obviously have dozens and dozens to choose from.  Why these ten?

Dave Ghazarian (lead guitar): Sometimes there is a song that you do on a record and you really pour your heart into it.  The band as a whole, we just really connect with it but it just doesn’t seem to be one of those standout tracks on the album.  Some of the tracks we chose were the ones we really felt connected to on old albums.  We thought this … we put a lot into this one.  We really wanted people to hear this.  So this gives us a chance to reinvent it and showcase it the way we didn’t get a chance to before.  We definitely chose a couple of tracks for that reason.

There are a couple of tracks that weren’t on this remix that were huge hits for you.  “Stand in the Rain” is a prime example.  “Beauty from Pain” is another one that comes to mind.  Why did you leave those off?

Tricia Brock: I think we were completely happy with those songs the way they were.  “Stand in the Rain” has been our number one single.  So, I don’t really know where we would go with it.  I felt really happy with that one.  That was not one where I thought we could have done anything different with it.  Even for me vocally, there have been times where I have really wanted to re-do the vocals on certain songs because I wasn’t as good when we originally recorded it.  After 11 years you just get better at what you do.  (A remix album) is really fun for me … Max will be like, “I think we can live with these vocals.”  I’m like, no.  I can do it better.

You have a couple of new tracks on the album.  One is called “Let It Roll” which Max and Dave wrote and Matt sang.  It is the first single.  What can you tell me about it?

Dally: It’s funny because I think my whole life I have been kind of a carefree guy who doesn’t struggle with worry or anger.  There are times in my life though when you come home from school and your mom is like, “Hey, I have cancer.” Your whole life kind of just switches.  You go from this carefree person to all of this heavy stuff.  You naturally ask God what He is doing.  The thing is, God is the same on the days that I’m carefree and on the days I’m worried.  The fact is He actually calls us not to worry.  I need to cast those cares upon Him because He is in control and He is ultimately the one who can save me from these issues.  Amazingly, my mom was healed from cancer.  So, then you go through life like life is great.  Then, you get married and all of a sudden you realize you are the provider for your family.  So you start thinking I am afraid to fail my family.  That is a worry that affects me as we speak.  I feel like everyone has that.  Everyone has something in their lives where that type of worry can ruin their day.  It can ruin their month or year.  We need to be constantly reminded that we need to take those things and cast them on the Lord because He cares for us and He is in control.  We are not supposed to let it affect us because we don’t know what tomorrow is supposed to be like.  We might not even have a tomorrow so there is no point in worrying.  I have to say this to myself literally every day.  That is what “Let It Roll” is about.

I realize that this is a very abrupt segue but what is your deepest hope and passion for your music?

Melissa Brock (guitar, vocals): For me, it is what I have seen happen already.  What kind of confirms it is when you have a kid who comes up to you and they say a certain song meant something to them.  It could be something silly but they love the song because it makes them feel happy every time they hear it.  Or maybe it’s because they have gone through some traumatic experience and one of our songs spoke to them specifically in that moment.  For me, you can just do music and it can be great music but it doesn’t necessarily affect people’s lives or change their life.  But we still continue to hear stories from kids where it has.  For some people it has literally saved their life at a moment when they were making a choice between living and dying.  You hear those things and you think what God had for us and told us at the beginning – that this music is for a reason and is still true today.  Eleven years later there are still people being affected and changed.  That is why I still continue to do this and will continue for however long because if not for that it would just be music.  I just want to affect hearts with our music. 

After people listen to Reinvention what is the one thing you want listeners to take away with them after the experience?

Dally: For all of us, everything we do we just hope that we shine a new light to the listeners that changes their lives forever.  Every day we want to experience God in a way that changes us – that brings us closer to Him.  That somehow people will realize that He shapes our future.  I just feel that those songs, even a song they have heard before, that maybe, they would hear it in a different context and new words will stick out.  When God is writing songs through you it is amazing to see how, like Scripture, a verse that you may have read a million times suddenly speaks to you in a different way today than it did ten years ago.  That is my hope for this record.  A verse, a sentence, a word, a song might speak to them and they will say, ‘Wait a minute, that is what Superchick is trying to say.’  And when that happens my hope is that it would change their lives forever and hopefully further the Kingdom of God.