Canton Repository:
Relient K's Bumpy Road
Dan Kane - November 2001
What a break for a hungry young rock band, to be anointed cool by Abercrombie & Fitch — the clothing brand of choice at high-school and college campuses nationwide.
It was a considerable and unexpected break when it happened a few weeks ago to Relient K, a Canton-based quartet with a fresh pop-punk sound in the Blink-182 vein. What made Abercrombie’s endorsement so startling was that Relient K is a Christian band.
Highly popular with young people, Abercrombie has attracted attention — and come under fire — for its quarterly catalog, containing provocative photo layouts featuring casual nudity. The catalog also includes album reviews and celebrity features.
Through no effort of its own, Relient K was poised for the full Abercrombie treatment. The Abercrombie Web site added a plug for the band and its music, and in-store play of the new Relient K album was planned along with other promotions. The band’s enthused publicist sent out a press release trumpeting Relient K’s Abercrombie tie-in.
What happened next is predictable. Almost instantly, conservative religious groups criticized Relient K and its label, Gotee Records, and hinted at boycotts if the Abercrombie campaign — which neither Relient K nor Gotee had initiated — was not halted. The label gave in and asked Abercrombie to pull the campaign. End of story.
While Relient K’s singer-guitarist Matt Thiessen, 21, is not a fan of the Abercrombie & Fitch image and describes its catalogs as “soft porn,” he’s feeling bruised by attacks made on his band over this incident.
“We’re really bummed about it because we knew we were doing nothing wrong,” Thiessen says. “I understand why people can’t tolerate that (catalog nudity), and obviously we’re not endorsing it.
“But our whole standpoint is, if some frat boy who would never hear of us otherwise picks up our CD because of Abercrombie and gets something out of it, then how is that a bad thing?”
Life can be tricky for Relient K, a foursome of fun guys whose clever and infectious songs sound like MTV material and whose positive Christian message is distinctly nonpreachy.
A fast-rising act on the contemporary-Christian scene, the band could probably have a strong fan base in the secular market if its music weren’t relegated to Christian radio stations and the Christian section at CD stores.
The Abercrombie brouhaha has been instructive. “It’s frustrating when Christians pick apart other Christians and refuse to look at the big picture. Everything we do is so closely monitored,” Thiessen says.
“I mean, it’s human nature to make mistakes but this is on a grander scale because we’re a Christian punk rock band.”
Perhaps feeling too negative, the naturally upbeat Thiessen adds, “It’s weird but it’s all good, you know? Mostly we’re just happy to be doing what we’re doing.”
The band’s chief songwriter, Thiessen doesn’t see Relient K’s songs as specifically Christian but as about life in general.
“The last thing I want to do in this world is shove anything down anyone’s throat,” he says. “We write about what we go through and what we feel. I don’t know how to write for an audience. I just write what I’m thinking about and hope people can relate to it.”
The band’s music obviously is connecting with young audiences. Relient K’s self-titled first album was the top-selling Christian-rock debut album of 2000, according to Soundscan. Its faster-selling second album, “The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek,” has moved more than 33,000 copies in nine weeks. The first-week sales put Relient K at 159 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart.
Near-constant touring has been crucial in building Relient K’s following. Aside from a week off here and there, the band has not had any significant time off since January. After it’s Palace show Wednesday, “we’re going to kick it for a month at home,” Thiessen says. “It’ll be good to chill. We’re maybe going to get ready to do another record.”
Relient K has its share of screaming girl fans. Asked about this aspect of things, Thiessen sheepishly chuckles. “It’s not terrible. It’s pretty decent,” he says. “We get a lot of kids who just want autographs but we really don’t understand why. It’s so weird.”
For all the hard work of playing 200-plus concerts annually, these fledgling rock stars are first and foremost pals touring the country together and doing what they love.
“Me and Matt (Hoopes) and Brian (Pittman) have known each other since second grade,” Thiessen says.
“Matt and Brian are real laid-back and nonconfrontational, which is for the good especially in band touring situations. Sometimes you want them to get excited about stuff, but it’s all relative.
“Dave (Douglas), our new drummer, is really cool, too. He’s the musician in the band. He’s got more ability than the rest of us.”
It must be tough keeping a personal life together while constantly in motion. “All of us have girlfriends except me and I’m kind of working on it,” Thiessen says. “It gets to be a little annoying. You don’t really get to see each other and you’re always counting down the days. We complain all the time but it seems to working out for everybody.”
While the guys in Relient K are probably more business savvy than they let on, they don’t seem motivated by fantasies of fast cars and swimming pools.
“I’m looking to go get some lunch later and that’s about it. That’s my financial dream,” Thiessen says. “We try to keep things pretty low budget. Our recording budget was less than $20,000.
“One of the great things you can say about being in a Christian band is that when you play shows you’ve got old ladies from churches cooking for you. It’s rare that we have to go to a fast-food restaurant.”