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So the change in approach is not you saying, "Since Wire didn't cross over as expected, let us go back to what we used to do before."

Avery The crossover thing was something God told us we needed to do. At what level it happened, who knows. As far as the process is concerned, it's not something that we came together and said, "Hey, this is where we're going and this is the story we're going to tell." These are the songs that came out because of what God was doing in us. We don't do anything unless we hear a clear calling from God. We all needed to broaden our scope and communicate in a different way. But as far as this record, the songs that came out are the songs that came out. We found out after the fact why the songs came out, and this is where we are in our walks and emotionally.

You co-produced Wherever You Are with Brown Bannister, who is a pop producer at heart. Coming from a more Southern rock background, what was it like working with him?

Avery It was interesting. It was very cool. Brown is a tremendous person, a tremendous artist. He has an incredible ear; it's very perfecting and defining. He comes from a non-instrumental Christian church background. He used to sing a cappella, so he hears notes and harmonies and layers that most of us only dream of hearing. What's so excellent about Brown is his sensitiveness, his ability to capture what you know and what you do, but also expand upon it and make it your best.

Powell A lot of people know about the pop stuff he does, but he's done a lot of rock stuff as well. That gave us confidence that he was going to do a great job. For years we had been talking to management and the record company about working with him. He's an amazing guy. Wonderful musician with such a great ear. But above that, he's just such a strong believer and a wise man.

Brad, you went through some difficult times recently. Tell me about that.

Avery I lost three family members in the past year—an aunt and two grandparents. I also had some friends who lost loved ones and who endured divorce. There's been a lot of loss; everything was coming at once. When life happens, it happens. There's no rhyme or reason sometimes.

For me, it was numbing and surreal at first. I didn't know how to deal with it. I guess I dealt with it the way that I've dealt with most things in my life. When I was growing up—as a teenager and an adolescent—the way I dealt with things was by playing the guitar. It was therapeutic. It was God's way of meeting with me. And that's how I dealt with this, just spending time with my guitar. And that's really where the songs that I wrote came from.

Were you alone in this process, or did your Third Day brothers reach out to you as you grieved?

Avery That's the great thing about being in a band. We're friends. We're family. We're a church. We're five personalities, five denominations, five different belief systems coming together trying to advance the gospel and loving each other. We've been together 13 years now. We've been there for each other, seen each other at our worst, and also at our best.

Powell We're not just a band on stage. We're a band of brothers. It's five guys who share each other's burdens and share what our families and friends are going through. A lot of this comes from hearing those stories from each other. Hearing about friends that Tai [Anderson] has, or friends that Brad has, and praying about these things. It's more of us coming together and carrying each other's burdens.

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