Bye Bye, Britney
ZOEgirl a rock band? Well, not quite. But they've left teen pop behind—while still reaching teens with a message of hope and purity.
by Andy Argyrakis | posted 8/18/2003
 1 of 2
When Britney Spears, boy bands, and teen pop topped the mainstream charts at the turn of the century, ZOEgirl went for a different message—and a radically new look. Rather than singing about sex and showing lots of skin, the trio of Chrissy Conway, Alisa Girard, and Kristen Swinford addressed typical teen topics like self-esteem and sexual purity. Today, ZOEgirl continues exploring similar themes, but with more of a band-driven pop/rock sound for Different Kind of Free (Sparrow), their new CD coming September 16.
You've put out four CDs in four years, and when you're not writing or recording, you've been touring. What's that been like?
Chrissy: It can be overwhelming. Sometimes I think we're so used to being overwhelmed, it sort of gets to be the norm. When we're not overwhelmed, it's like we've got to go do something.
Alisa: It's almost like we're always so busy that when we do have a few days of down time, we almost get depressed because we feel like we're not accomplishing anything. We do really like to work, but I think we need to realize that it's okay to just have some down time once in a while.
Kristin: I have a hard time allowing myself to relax. When I do come home, I just want to watch movies or chill, but I have a hard time allowing myself to do that. There are a million people that I have to call to get back in touch with since I've been gone so long.
How do you balance the schedule with seeing friends, family and maintaining relationships?
Chrissy: I still have my core friends that I've known for years, and they're all very understanding. They understand that it takes me a week to call back. But we definitely enjoy what we're doing as ZOEgirl, and none of us could imagine doing anything else. We're going strong and we'll keep going strong until God says different.
You have changed so much from your beginnings to now. In your shows and on last year's remix CD, a song like "I Believe" got a total facelift from a dance beat to a rock beat.
Alisa: That's really where our new record is really going—more in the vein of that remix of "I Believe." There will still be a lot of pop and there's going to be some R&B beats, but a lot more rock guitars too. Even lyrically we're incorporating a lot more songs that shoot straight to God on edgy issues, just expanding and growing in every territory. As much as a jump as the second was from the first, the third will be from the second.
Was that a conscious decision? How did you grow into it?
Chrissy: We had some of those elements when we first came together, but the vision was to do more of a Britney Spears pop thing, which was really a void in Christian music. Now that the musical climate is changing and we're hearing from our audience, we're learning what issues they are going through and how their tastes are changing as they get older. That's given us more room to grow. Plus, we've established ourselves a little bit more since we first came out, so I feel like we have more liberty to put more of who we are individually into the music. Music is going in so many different directions now that I think you can experiment a little more.
A long time ago, you could develop a sound and stick with it for the course of a career. Now you have to keep changing just to keep up. Is that constant change a burden?
Alisa: No! In fact, I'm glad it's that way. It's exciting to be able to progress because your own tastes change, the way you view music changes, and you hear new things that inspire you. If we were trapped in this box of having to do the same thing over and over again, I think it would have been extremely frustrating.
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free!
|
 |
|
Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required.
Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only.
If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
