‘too cool for our old sound’

The Daily Rock: I have never seen negative signs of maturity in bands, what I have seen is a sudden rush of popularity and a ‘too cool for our old sound’ in bands. They try to play what they see as ‘cool’ and alienate all their fans by avoiding the very sound that won them fans in the first place. As far as Anberlin is concerned, I think that there has been a subtle change since the beginning, but for me (and the majority of our fans), it is seen as a good thing. The lyrics challenge instead of simply entertain; the music is majestic and talented instead of what everyone else in ‘the scene’ is attempting. For us we see maturity as a much welcomed change as opposed to something we fear due to how critics will react. We hope that with each record, we improve our song writing and become better on our instruments without losing the ‘Anberlin’ quality of the music (Interview With Anberlin).

Anberlin is an American rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band has consisted of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, and drummer Nathan Young. Members of Anberlin originally formed a band under the name SaGoh 24/7 in the late 1990s, releasing two studio albums before disbanding, with the members having a change in musical direction and name. Anberlin was formed in 2002; within a year of forming, they had signed with semi-independent record label Tooth & Nail Records and released their debut album, Blueprints for the Black Market. In 2005, the band released their second album, Never Take Friendship Personal, selling in excess of 150,000 copies. The band continued its rise to prominence while enjoying a loyal MySpace following and averaging well over 200 live shows per year. The band's third album, Cities, was released in 2007, and became their first album to reach the top 20 of the Billboard 200, selling 34,000 copies in its debut week. After three studio albums and five years with Tooth & Nail Records, Anberlin announced their signing with major label Universal Republic in August 2007. The band's first album on the major label was released in 2008, titled New Surrender. The album peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200, with the first single, "Feel Good Drag", claiming number one on the Alternative Songs chart, after 29 weeks in the chart. Prior to the release of their fifth studio album, Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place, Anberlin has sold over 700,000 albums. In an interview with Smartpunk, drummer Nathan Young commented, "The thing is, some bands that are trying to get out of the Christian market, they get bummed out by questions about it. I don’t really mind it, because I’m a Christian, and I’m okay talking about it. With the whole term 'Christian Band,' I don’t understand how a band can be Christian. We get the question, 'Is Anberlin a Christian band?' and it’s like, yeah, Anberlin is — as humans" (Wikipedia).

RELATED READING:
Official Web-site: Anberlin
Review: Anberlin – Dark Is The Way, Light Is The Place
On Your Feet for Anberlin