Left to right: Chris Rohman (lead guitar, backing vocals), Matt Hammitt (lead vocals, guitar), Steve Goodrum (bass, backing vocals), Mark Graalman (drums)

Toledo, Ohio, isn't the first place you'd look to find new, cutting-edge musical talent, but somehow Sanctus Real revved up local audiences enough to get people talking. Not only did they beat out 75 bands at a local mainstream radio station's "Best Band" competition a few years back, but strong independent record sales and a solid tour following got Sparrow Records interested. After signing a deal with the major leaguer and releasing its Say It Loud debut last December, singer/guitarist Matt Hammitt, lead guitarist Chris Rohman, bassist Steve Goodrum, and drummer Mark Graalman returned to the road, joining the Festival Con Dios tour, followed by another studio visit to record a five-song supplemental EP now packaged with the original Say It Loud album. Here's what was on the foursome's mind during some recent hang time with ChristianityToday.com:

So many bands water down their sound to make them more palatable for the radio, but you guys have kept the heart of rock and roll beating. Why did you guys stick so close to that preservation?

Matt: Even though we've been interested in many different kinds of music over the years, we all dig the real rock bands. We've always been about making really good rock records that have legitimate guitar hooks and stuff that make people want to listen, not just the message. Even though the message is the most important thing, we want to be able to back that up with really cool riffs and hooks musically.

Chris: I remember being in my Dad's Volvo station wagon when I was probably 13 or 14 when I heard Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" on the radio. That guitar riff was just amazing to hear and got me hooked. That was when I started learning to play guitar and, man, I wanted to write music with cool guitar hooks like that.

Why do you think the listening public has really embraced the vintage rock sound, especially as of late?

Mark: Rock and roll has been around since the '50s and I think it always comes back because everything came from that. It's all about the driving beat and that aggression people love. It seems to be more passionate music too.

I had the chance to see you live on the Festival Con Dios tour, and I was drawn in by how much you all got into the show. I'm curious how you felt you fit on that bill, because you were different than a lot of the other bands.

Matt: I felt that was a weird collage of artists, but I think we filled out the modern rock sound on the bill really well. On a personal level it was really cool to make friends with the other bands. The unity was really cool.

Sanctus Real in concert

That was your first introduction to the public at large. How do you think that's changed you guys?

Chris: We've always been based out of Toledo, Ohio, so we always played Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and all surrounding states, but had never been on the road for more than a week or two at a time. To actually be on a real tour where there was a guaranteed amount of people at the show each night with real sound, real production, and real lights was nice to be a part of. Going around on your own, you never know what you're going to get. It could be Radio Shack on a stick.

How were you able to transition from those small independent tour dates to a major tour?

Steve: I think for us it's been a gradual changeover. I've been with the band for almost four years now, going from doing our own production or whatever's available to local youth groups to camps to conventions with several thousand people. When we finally got into big production shows, we were already on the road to being acclimated, but we're still learning.

What's one way you guys hope to grow?

Matt: I think our music on this next album will not only be fresh to outside ears but it will be fresher to us. Six of the tracks on our last CD were ones we'd already written and included on independent CDs previously. I think it's going to be exciting for us to come up with a whole new batch of music that's fresh to our ears too. In the past we weren't real transparent in our lyrics. We wrote about every day life or about God but didn't open ourselves up completely and weren't vulnerable to listeners. I hope on the next album we really open up and pour it out.

If you were to give a thematic summary of Say It Loud, what would that be?

Chris: There are a number of songs that speak about or came from personal experiences—real stuff that we deal with on a day-to-day-basis. Sanctus Real stands for being real people; we go through stuff just like everybody else goes through stuff. On this record I think we had a chance to talk about our struggles with relationships or not feeling as close to God as we know we should be.

If this wasn't what you'd be doing at this stage in your life, what would you guys be involved in?

Matt: I think I would probably be doing worship somewhere in the church—some kind of youth ministry full time.

Mark: Before the band went full time, I played on three different church worship projects, so I'd probably be very similar to Matt in the fact that I'd stick with that. I've got a real heart for speaking too, so maybe I'd go into more of an evangelistic ministry at some point.

Chris: I think I desire to do graphic design work. On the last independent record the guys let me do the design work. That's where I can mess around with Photoshop.

Steve: I'd be involved with ministry somehow, whether it be speaking or playing somewhere. It's the basis of who we all are, so ministry is something we'll be involved in for a long time.

What would you say is the greatest lesson you've learned as a group?

Matt: Every time we started to sweat a situation, God always came though. With issues with vehicles, being tired, and fighting illness we just collectively and personally realized God's complete faithfulness to his promise. God has such an amazing and beautiful undying love for us that I don't think we'll ever totally be able to understand.

Matt Hammitt of Sanctus Real

Did having so many dates on that tour look cooler on paper then actually having to get up and travel each day?

Matt: We got a small taste of that before, but I don't think we really understood how intense it was going to be. So I think Festival Con Dios really opened us up to some of the exhaustion and frustration that can come from being away from home for so long. But no matter how tired we are, when that kid comes up to us and says he didn't commit suicide because of a song we sang or someone says, "I'm a Christian because of you," it makes it all worth it!

Steve: A lot of times God uses the feedback as an encouragement or to personally humble us. One night this little girl came up to me and said, "I don't want to buy any merchandise, but I just wanted to thank you for being part of this ministry. I've been praying for my dad for a long time, and finally, thanks to your music, he got saved tonight."

If there's anything in the industry you'd like to change, what would it be?

Chris: It's not so much an industry thing as it is a cultural thing—I'd like to see that wall of Christian music and mainstream music broken down. It's awesome to be able to walk into a Best Buy and see our CDs, but they're always in the back in the Christian section. That's cool, but we'd rather get our music out for everybody and not have them be intimated by a Christian label. If there was any way possible to break down those walls I'd like to do it, and I'd like the perception to be changed and have everything thrown together.

Matt: We're thrilled to be on a Christian label—we love playing at churches and Christian events—but it's frustrating that if our CD is going to be distributed to a mainstream store, why can't it be under the rock section? It's kind of a safety net and mindset for everybody that we all need to break out of. I'd like to see people not be so afraid of letting go of this bubble we call our Christian industry.

Learn more about Sanctus Real at our artist page for the band, which includes a review of Say It Loud. You can listen to song clips and pick up your own copy of their album at Musicforce.com.

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