INTERVIEW: Collective Soul have thrived for 25 years, thanks to grit and ‘Blood’
Photo: Collective Soul’s new album is called Blood. Photo courtesy of Lee Clower / Provided by ABC PR with permission.t
Ever since 1993’s Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid, Collective Soul have been amassing a large and dedicated fanbase who continually — and without fail — celebrate the rock band’s varied and prolific output. Headed by E Roland on vocals and guitar, today’s band features the talents of Dean Roland on rhythm guitar, Jesse Triplett on lead guitar and background vocals, Will Turpin on bass and background vocals, and Johnny Rabb on drums and background vocals.
In 2019, Collective Soul are not a classic-rock band that travels around the world playing their gems from a bygone era. They are actively recording and challenging their fans, showcasing new tunes and putting unique twists on dusted-off deep tracks. Their latest recording effort is Blood, featuring the songs “Right as Rain,” “Them Blues” and “Good Place to Start.”
“When we create music, it still has that magic feeling,” said Turpin in a recent phone interview. “We’re always still creating. It’s all still flowing with us. Heck, we’re still doing solo records outside of Collective Soul at the same time, so we know we have more records.”
This prolific nature will be on full display this fall when the band takes to the road in support of Blood. No doubt fans can expect such hit songs as “Shine,” “Breathe” and “December,” in addition to the newer tunes. They make a stop Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey, and they’re also gigging in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and North Carolina, among other locations.
“We like playing [new] stuff on the road,” Turpin said. “Our fans seem not to mind it. We’ve always done that. We’ve always played stuff that’s right before it’s released. We’ll tell people, ‘Hey, here’s a song we’ve been working on. Nobody’s heard it yet. I hope you like it.’ … ‘Right as Rain’ was on the live record that we released at the very end of 2017, so we played it a number of times all summer of 2017.”
Turpin often has to pinch himself when thinking back to the band’s early days and the successes they have had over the last 25 years. A lot of groups come and go, but Collective Soul continue to rock and evolve.
“I really want people to understand how we grew up together and the whole Collective Soul story, as far as being in a small town and me knowing Ed and Dean my whole life,” he said of CS’s origins in Georgia. “Ed is seven years my senior, so he was a head engineer at my father’s studio. And he was working on his craft while we were coming up.”
As soon as Collective Soul formed, the band members knew they had something special. There was a particular chemistry that formed when they took to the stage, and Roland proved to be an excellent songwriter who led the band down a memorable path.
“We knew that the chemistry and our idea of what we wanted to do was laser-focused,” Turpin said. “When we were young we thought we deserved everything. We thought people needed to hear who we were, but as you get older and all of a sudden 25 years come around, you’re like, wow, it’s a totally different mindset. And I’m still confident about what we do and extremely proud, but it’s a different mindset then when you’re kids. I was 23 years old that first year. You couldn’t get ‘Shine’ off the radio. By the end of that year, we’re playing Woodstock and opened up for Aerosmith.”
Success came quickly for Collective Soul, and they refused to stop, releasing such well-received albums as 1995’s Collective Soul, 1997’s Disciplined Breakdown and 1999’s Dosage. Other recordings over the years have included Blender, Youth, Home, Afterwords, See What You Started by Continuing and Live.
Over the years they weathered many storms, but the core of the two Rolands and Turpin always remained in place, and the band speaks highly of the additions of Triplett and Rabb.
For Turpin, music has always been a part of his life. His father ran that music studio and raised the family on paychecks from the business, which is not an easy feat.
“So I remember one day I was in my fifth year of music school, and I decided to commit to the guys full time,” Turpin said. “I was like, you know what, it kind of feels like it’s happening. Now is the time. It’s now or never. What I decided was I was going to do bass. … And I told Ed I would play bass, and he’s like, ‘Are you sure you can play bass?’ I’m like, ‘I think I can play bass.’ So, yeah, I really didn’t buy my first bass until ’93 when I joined the band, but again I was raised in music. My best friend is sitting there on drum set. I knew the songs like they were part of me. We all felt the same way. … I think some people don’t understand how you can do that, but it really wasn’t a big stretch. Like I said, I knew those songs. I knew the chemistry of the guys, and as far as the rhythm section goes, it wasn’t going to get any tighter than me and Shane on bass and drums.”
He added: “We’ve always been supportive of each other. We always thought the same thing. We’ve got other ideas that we go create outside Collective Soul. It makes us stronger, and it allows us to fulfill another artistic side as well. When we get back to Collective Soul, we realize the power and the strength that we have as a group in Collective Soul.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Collective Soul’s new album is called Blood, and they are touring the United States this fall. Click here for more information and tickets.
