So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star?
by Andy Argyrakis | posted 7/01/2003
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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:
Left to right: Chris Rohman (lead guitar, backing vocals), Matt Hammitt (lead vocals, guitar), Steve Goodrum (bass, backing vocals), Mark Graalman (drums)
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.
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.
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