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Superchic[k], a rock group run as a collective, is so open to welcoming new members that it bears more resemblance to Bob Dylan's sprawling Rolling Thunder Revue than to most other CCM bands.

Of the eight members pictured on the band's debut album, Karaoke Superstars (2001), half no longer tour with the band. But they haven't necessarily quit. At concerts, the number of musicians on stage has varied anywhere from five to nine.

To compound the issue, Superchic[k] has loose definitions of who is actually part of the band. In fact, maybe you are without realizing it. "We are more a movement than a band, really," founder Max Hsu says. "The onstage lineup changes all the time."

Hsu's original concept was to represent the band with animated characters so that the focus would be not on the performers but on the message. Instead, Superchic[k] chose to operate as a collective. Some members appear on stage; others make musical, technical, or conceptual contributions behind the scenes.

Emphasizing a few players as rock stars, Hsu says, would work against the band's message that everyone has gifts.

"Such thinking encourages kids to think some people are more important than others," Hsu says. "We don't make a distinction between the guy who sells merchandise and the lead singer. The person who vacuums the floor of the Christian bookstore where our album is sold is making a difference."

Even without counting bookstore custodians, Superchic[k] is a large organization. The central touring group of the band includes bassist Matt Daly, lead singer Tricia Brock, her sister Melissa on guitar, Hsu (who plays keyboards and turntables), drummer Brian Fitch, guitarist Justin Sharbono, and, as the album says, "whoever's in the van when we leave."

On its Web site (www.Superchick.net), the band jests that it may soon become "a 30-person carnival." It might not be a joke. The band is constantly recruiting. There's even a specific audition section on the Web site. Hsu has been known to recruit new members in fast-food restaurants and at concerts (where the Brock sisters joined the group).

Superchic[k] isn't out to just increase its own roster. It wants to start a revolution of garage bands. If you don't join Superchic[k], members say, then start your own band. They did. Hsu and company recorded Karaoke Superstars in a basement, built their own Web site, and managed themselves before signing with inpop Records.

"We are not the most amazing musicians in the world" guitarist Sharbono says. "But we are able to do it, and the way we see it, anyone can."

Superchic[k] doesn't just tell kids to go start a band—it teaches them how. The Web site's "band camp" section offers tutorials on playing instruments, home recording, designing graphics, self-management, and more.

Together for over three years, the band released its first album last year (the second is due in August).

Hsu conceived of the band about five years ago as he met thousands of teens while touring the country with his former group, Church of Rhythm. "It was basically a year of watching people feeling miserable," he tells CT. He was shocked to hear so many stories of low self-esteem, peer pressure, eating disorders, anxiety, and attempted suicide.

"It is brutally hard to be in high school today," Hsu says. "You feel like it is a bubble and nothing matters outside of it. What makes it worse is that the values are so set in stone by TV and Hollywood. We've created this global village that only beautiful people live in."

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May 21 2002, Vol. 46, No. 6