The secret of staying alive in the music business is bucking the trends, according to guitarist Dean Roland. "Collective Soul has always done its own thing," Roland said during a phone interview from his home in Atlanta, Ga. "The (trend) of the music today is boy bands. But we've always not worried about finding a particular niche in music. We just play what we feel.
"No matter what happens or what is written about us, we find we need to keep ourselves bulletproof, so we can focus on our music. We've been making records for six years now and I think we kind of know what we're doing."
Collective Soul — Roland, drummer Shane Evans, bassist Will Turpin, singer/guitarist Ed Roland and lead guitarist Ross Childress — will return to Salt Lake City with a concert at the Huntsman Center on Monday, April 9. Fastball will open the show at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at all Smith'sTix outlets or by calling 467-TIXX or 1-888-467-TIXX.
Back in 1994, Collective Soul was written off as a one-hit wonder with its single "Shine," from the album "Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid," which capitalized on Seattle grunge and classic rock. But after its self-titled sophomore effort in 1995, Collective Soul" hit a nerve with the snappy rock of "Where the River Flows," "December" and the ballad "The World I Know."
Then came "Disciplined Breakdown" and the hits "Precious Declaration" and "Listen," in 1998, which solidified Collective Soul's place on rock-album radio.
The follow-up albums, "Dosage" and the more recent "Blender," have kept the band busy with tours all over the world.
"I think our biggest accomplishment is being able to say we have released five albums in about six years," Roland said. "And having young bands looking up to us, and even covering our songs."
Roland said he imagines Collective Soul will be around awhile because of the pressures the band members put on themselves. "We don't change to fit the trends. But we do have high expectations. We try to better ourselves each performance. And we make sure we're not pulling the wool over anyone's eyes, especially ourselves."
"Blender" is an example of trying something different than the last album, said Roland. "It's not as meticulous as 'Dosage.' We tried to get back to our spontaneity as a band. If it felt good, we left it in."
E-mail: scott@desnews.com