Collective Soul performs at Salina's Stiefel Theatre on Tuesday, Aug. 13.
The group experienced its first taste of success with the single "Shine" in 1994, which came from the debut album, "Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid." Written by Ed Roland, the tune became arguably the group's biggest hit, though there were others, including "The World I Know" and "December" from the 1995 self-titled album.
A series of successful albums followed and the group's reputation as a live unit grew. Collective Soul is one of five acts to have performed at both Woodstock '94 and Woodstock '99.
Part of the outfit's charm is its sometimes unorthodox approach to the music business. Embroiled in legal battles and struggling with financial hardship, the band members recorded their third album, "Disciplined Breakdown," in a cabin on a Georgia farm. Despite having sold millions of albums through the 1990s, Collective Soul opted to leave behind a major label deal and release its own music.
Even the band's latest recording, "Here To Eternity," released last spring, is an anomaly. At a time when the industry is clamoring for shorter albums and when veteran acts insist they see releasing new music as futile, Collective Soul issued a double album, 20 songs recorded at Elvis Presley's Palm Springs estate (said to be the only home he owned aside from Graceland at the time of his death).
The group is spending the summer on the Summer Camp With Trucks tour (featuring Hootie and The Blowfish, and Edwin McCain), while performing headlining dates -- such as the Tuesday's gig in Salina -- as time allows.
Rhythm guitarist Dean Roland recently spoke with KMUW about "Here To Eternity," how hit singles took him and his bandmates by surprise, and about what he'd be doing if he weren't a musician.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
When I found out that you were releasing a double album, I kind of chuckled because many other bands are talking about how they want to release less music: EPs, singles. But then I remembered that Collective Soul has never been a band that does what's expected.
We didn't even actually go in thinking we were going to make a double album. We knew that we had an allotted amount of time. Six or seven days into the process, we said, "Oh, we're cooking." We had creative momentum and just kept moving. Probably two and half weeks into it we said, "We'll make this thing a double album." It happened organically. It was pretty cool.
Was this down to the band just being comfortable with each other, or do you think the environment you were working in had something to do with it?
The environment helps, but the fact that we've been playing together for so long matters. We know our creative ins and outs. Once we lock in, things just start to happen. It's not always the case but on this one it was. It seemed to be relatively seamless.
I've always loved that on Collective Soul albums, you can get into the songs but when you go back and listen a third or fourth time you start finding little nuances you wouldn't catch with just a casual listen.
It goes back to music that we loved when we were growing up. Ed's a huge fan of The Cars. If you listen to some of those Cars records, some of Elliot [Easton]'s guitar solos might as well be a chorus. There's just a lot of fun stuff to hear. Elton John is a huge influence, too. You can't help it. The things you love, you tend to replicate, or they just influence you.
Once we get the guts of a song down, you start to see what else is in there [and add to the basic song]. Sometimes there's nothing; it's done, and it doesn't need much more. But you can find some fun little things to add that we enjoy hearing in music. It sounds a little self-indulgent, but you end up making music that you like. Not that we listen to our music on a daily basis.
Well, you say that you don't listen to it on a daily basis, but you've got to go out and play it for months at a time.
[Laughs.] Right! You better get it close enough at least.
How did you go about sequencing this record?
It's really a feel thing. You want to kick it off with something that's upbeat, at least in our minds, and take you on a little journey. We think about old school vinyl, too.
This isn't a record that sounds dated and yet it fits nicely beside what you've done in the past. I can listen to it right next to the first record and it makes sense.
We're never trying to follow trends. We've never been good at it. We just do what feels good to us and try to make it as authentic in that moment as we can. We just try to find a good melody, some honest lyrics and a backbeat.
You're a band that has always made albums, but you've had hit singles along the way, and when I listen to them, I realize that they're not necessarily obvious hit songs. Were you surprised by the success of songs such as "Shine"?
"Shine" was a complete surprise to us. I was going to school at Georgia State University at the time. Ed had made this demo. Some of it was band stuff, but most of it was Ed doing it on his own. Just songs that he had put together over the years, really just to get a publishing deal or kind of anything, to be honest. The artist's desperation of, "I'm throwing everything out there and seeing what comes back." I had taken that demo of 11 or 12 songs to the radio station at Georgia State, just literally handed it to them and said, "Hey, can you check this out and see what you think?" They listened to it, and they started playing "Shine." They got a reaction. The seed was planted there. The song had that organic reaction. A five-minute song would not have been the thing I thought of as a first single.
When we did the second record, a song like "World I Know," I felt really strongly about that song. I felt like, "This one could really connect with some folks." It has a little bit of that universal thing to it with self-reflection. The song "December" off that record was one that I did not know was going to be a hit. Ed fought for it and still rubs it in my face to this day that he was right, and I was wrong.
You have this incredible history as a band now, more than 30 years. Have there been moments when it looked like the band might be over?
Yeah, there have been. We left Atlantic Records after five albums and decided to go independent. It was our choice. We saw the landscape changing and said, "Let's bet on ourselves and see what happens." We made a couple records like that. Then we hit a mid-career crisis and had to make some changes, readjust our perspective on everything. But there was a short window of time where said, "Maybe this isn't going to work." Sometimes people will ask me what I would be doing if I weren't a musician, and I really don't know. I never had a Plan B. This is what I want, so I'm going to go do it.
