DecembeRadio

DecembeRadio burst onto the scene a few years ago garnering tons of solid press right up front. Billboard stamped the album as an “Artist to Watch,” the band’s self-titled debut garnered a GRAMMY nomination, and snagged the group a few Dove Awards as well. Add in some mainstream exposure with songs like “Dangerous” and “Drifter” and it’s tough to argue that the band’s doing something right.

Now the band has released it’s sophomore effort, Satisfied, and has by all accounts avoided the dreaded sophomore slump. Rocking from the get-go, DecembeRadio’s latest album brings the band’s musicianship to a new level and is sure to garner them a new level of fans. Soul-Audio sat down with guitarist Eric Miker earlier this week to discuss the pressure surrounding their first release, their expectations for the future, and their desire to bridge the gap between artistry and ministry successfully.

Soul-Audio: Let’s start back a few years with the Billboard “Artist to Watch” stamp. How much pressure did that put on you guys right out of the gate? And what about the GRAMMY nod? Still more pressure?

Eric Miker: There was a bit of pressure to be grouped with artists like Akon and the Arctic Monkeys and Chris Brown. Knowing that all these artists had huge labels behind them, it seemed like more of a task to make a big splash on the national scene, being a new band on an independent Christian label. The GRAMMY nod felt like more of a confirmation that people still care about quality and art in music, and it was nice to be recognized for not having a cookie-cutter pop song.

SA: So with all of those accolades, are you guys happy with where you’re at now? Do you feel like you’ve met your expectations, over and above everyone else’s? And, for that matter, where do you guys want to be?

Eric: The only expectations we have are to keep growing and to keep going in the right direction. We want to grow as writers and as musicians and as live performers; and of course, like anyone, we want to see our opportunities expand to reach more people. We are very grateful to be doing what we love…and it sure would be nice to win that GRAMMY!

SA: Looking to that idea of expectations and whatnot, and even though you guys are still relatively new to the scene, is there a band or group of artists that you look to for career inspiration? Essentially what I’m asking is if you look to them for inspiration as far as an overall career arc might go. What are the qualities that you appreciate the most about them?

Eric: This past spring we were fortunate to tour with Third Day. We definitely admire them as they have been around for a while and have had much success. It was great to see guys with the same hearts and same tastes on the musical side. To be on the road with them was an incredible experience, and to get to know them and what they are about—and learn from their many years of doing this—was insightful.

We’ve been doing this a while ourselves, and sometimes it seems like it’s been decades when we load that van and trailer back up! Looking at where Third Day has been and where they are up close was a positive experience for us, and hanging with them was fun since we all enjoy some great guitar!

SA: One might expect that given the mainstream exposure that you’ve garnered with television and more, that there’d be more of a temptation to push your music more into the ambiguous yet this album is very much unabashedly and blatantly Christian from the get-go. Was there ever a temptation to move away from such lyricism? Is it important to you that you stay close to that realm, so to speak? As such, where do the lyrics begin with the songwriting process from you? Do you tend to build from an intentional idea, a “how can we minister to X person?” or rather have them emerge organically?

Eric: We take the songs as they come organically, and then we get together as a group and work them out. If the ideas aren’t coming, we’ll move on and come back to that developing song later. Usually, they come from where we are as Christians—either something we are reading, something we are going through at the time or a concept we are learning. We love it when a song like “Drifter” relates to those both inside and outside the Christian community, but we don’t approach every song with that being a goal.

They come from where we are—sometimes that’s an overt, in-your-face lyric…sometimes it’s a general topic with which most anyone can relate. We’ve had many inspirational stories about how God has touched the lives of those around us through our music, and that is a constant reminder of why we do what we do.

SA: Building from that, what’s your approach to the dynamic of ministry and artistry? Do you view yourselves as artists and ministers or one above the other? Is ministry the goal for DecembeRadio or more of a by-product, so to speak, of the artistry?

Eric: We started in ministry and had a good foundation traveling alongside an evangelist for some time…it was ministry by using music. It helped root us in the ministry aspects of what we do and is definitely key for us. However, musical expertise is also something that we feel is important and something we aim to excel at. We want to be our best at everything, and we want the technical elements of what we do to be done with excellence. We strive to be a band that practices and grows in musicianship. Music AND ministry – they really come as a duo for us, flowing very naturally with each other.

SA: Now, straight out of the gate, this album rocks. That’s tough to argue. Was it a conscious decision to turn up the amps a bit and unleash things just a little bit more? On top of that, the album still manages to offer up some diversity, from worshipful tunes to Kid Rock-sounding southern rock and heavier fare? Where’d all these influences come from?

Eric: Our influences have a broad range and come from a variety of stuff–from our dads’ record collections from our childhood days to more modern sounds from brand new releases. We just enjoy a variety of music. While there are artists whom we all appreciate, each of us individually has our unique influences as well. We try to catch as many artists live as we can when not on the road or recording.

There is certainly a lot of old-school rock that we love, but there may be a modern pop artist who does something live that we admire, or there may be some lesser known singer/songwriters who we think are inspiring. The internet today allows for such a diverse exploration of music as well. You likely see a combination of all of those influences on our album.

SA: Now you guys benefited once again from the influence of the multi-talented Scotty Wilbanks again on this release. What dynamic does Scotty bring to the table that just ups the ante for you guys?

Eric: It’s great to have someone in the studio who doesn’t think like a guitar player and who pushes us to try things on the guitar that we wouldn’t normally think. Scotty is like another band member, and having that ease of relationship also allows for a fun approach to an album. We feel like we already speak the same language, and we know where the other one is coming from. We were able to include more keyboard on this album (something Scotty knows well) because we now have a keyboard player traveling with us ongoing.

SA: So what’s happening tangibly around this release? Touring? Shows? Getting any more songs plugged into television?

Eric: We just played a CD release show in Roanoke, VA, last night. It was basically a sellout of over 850 people…what a great show! It was at the Jefferson Center, a venue where folks like B.B. King have played, so we were pumped. We brought out the back-up singers, horns, etc…. We just played the Hard Rock in Atlanta, showcasing the new CD and got to play for the student body at Liberty University this week. We are finishing off the summer with shows and festivals, and then we head off on the Satisfied tour with bands Ruth and Sevenglory and speaker Billy Wayne in October.

• www.decemberadio.com
• www.myspace.com/decemberadio

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