From left: Mac Powell, Brad Avery, Mark Lee, Tai Anderson, and David Carr (sitting)

For the first time in a while, Third Day has released a pure rock 'n' roll album. The band, known for its driving, Southern-fried rock for its first few albums, started leaning a bit in the pop direction, then released back-to-back worship records, the critically and commercially successful Offerings I and II. Now the band goes back to the beginning with the recently released Wire, which rocks almost as hard as those early albums. We caught up with frontman Mac Powell and drummer David Carr to talk about the new CD.

What would surprise people about this new album, Wire?

David Carr: That it's not another worship album. It's a lot more rock and roll from the beginning. The first song is an in-your-face rock song, and it doesn't really let up for a while—but hopefully not to a point of annoyance where a listener would think, Okay, enough. I want to hear something worshipful. There is a lot of worship in the album, but it's not like Offerings or Offerings II. We set out to make a rock album.

Also, I hope they're just surprised at how good it sounds. We had some great people working on this record to make it sound amazing.

What were some of the biggest challenges in putting this project together?

Mac Powell: One was that we spent a lot more time on this record than any other one we've ever made—which was great; it was something we wanted to do. We actually made an album before we made the album; we recorded about 17 songs and we lived with those songs for a few months. That was great, because instead of going into the studio, recording things, putting the record out, and later thinking, Aw man, I wish we would've done this or that, we were able to be sure about the songs we chose.

That's not to say there aren't still things on the finished project that we wish we would've changed, but overall, we had a lot more time to spend with these songs, to develop them and bring them to the place they need to be musically and lyrically.

Other challenges on this album?

Powell: We worked with a new producer, Paul Ebersold, who's worked with a lot of mainstream bands and has had great success in mainstream radio. It was great getting out of our comfort zone from working with Monroe Jones in the past. We love and adore Monroe, but we wanted to do something different, just to throw a wrench in things, spark things up a little bit.

Also, we left Atlanta and went to Memphis to record; we were there about a month. We didn't record in the studios we are used to recording in; we were also away from home. We recorded in different ways in which we hadn't done before. Those were some of the biggest challenges, but our saying has been, "You get out of it what you put into it," and we put a lot of time, sweat, hard work, and patience into the record. I think we got a lot out of it also.

Of all of the band members, who do you think was stretched the most?

Carr: That's a good question because we've actually used the term "stretched" a lot. Creatively it's some of the best stuff we've ever done, but I don't remember a lot of stretching—it was something else. Especially with me, because I thought I was going to be stretched more than anybody.

I think it's easy for any musician, especially a drummer, to get into a rut thinking, This is how I play. But there were a couple things Paul Ebersold suggested to me; I'd try them and sometimes they would or wouldn't work. But he was so encouraging, saying things like, "You guys have been doing this a long time. You're professionals. I'm not here to make you do something you can't do or that isn't you. I'm just here to orchestrate and arrange these songs and make sure what's going down sounds good."

So, you trusted his judgment?

Carr: Sometimes we'd question things. One arrangement sounded like the same thing we had done six months earlier on the demo, and we said something like, "You're producing this album, so why aren't we changing it all up?" But he reminded us that because we'd been doing music for so long, there wasn't a reason to change a good arrangement. Then we focused on the fine-tuning.

Can you think of a specific song that stretched you all the most?

Carr: "Blind" definitely was the biggest stretch for all of us. It's a really cool song. We wanted to put an edge on it to make it an in-your-face rock song. Before that, it was more of a pop/rock type song. So, we were in there all day hashing that one song out. We had this cool riff the guitar guys were playing, and it just never quite jelled as we were jamming on it. It didn't feel right for some reason.

It was getting very frustrating. Then we hung it up that night and didn't get anything recorded. We decided to start from the ground up on that song the next morning, from the way we originally did it on the demo. That's when we realized how good it felt the way it was. All that time we were going down this rabbit trail, but it was supposed to be like that—a pop/rock song—all along.

But what we had been working on the previous day was a really cool piece. The music sounded awesome. So, we took that and made a whole new song out of it, and it ended up becoming the first song on the album, "'Till the Day I Die." The stretching was well worth it for us.

Mac, how were you stretched?

Powell: I believe I stretched myself quite a bit in my songwriting. There are several songs I'm proud that I wrote, because they're totally different than anything I've written before. I'm not saying they're so much better or "out there" different. It's just that most of our have been serious as far as talking about or faith. They haven't always been very personal.

But on this record, there are quite a few songs that are a lot more personal, because I've studied our past songs, looking for what I need to be doing that I'm not. We've had a lot of songs that are right in the middle, and not a lot that were on the ends of the spectrum—personal songs on one end, and fun, tongue-in-cheek songs on the other . This record hit both ends of that spectrum more than any other record we've done. There are songs called, "Rock Star" and "Billy Brown" that convey those ends of the spectrum. So, if anything, I think we were stretched more in the songwriting process than musically.

"Rock Star" is a fun song, but I heard an important message there too. What would you say it is?

Powell: There are many times kids come up to us and say, "I want to do exactly what you're doing." I was the same way growing up. But "Rock Star" is a song that hopefully encourages people where they are. There's so much more to life than being a rock star or movie star or some sort of celebrity. You need to know who God created you to be and to learn to be content in that. That's what I hope the song says to people.

That leads to this question: Do you think being a role model is something that happens by default or by choice?

Powell: I think both. Many stars have said, "I'm not a role model, your parents are," and I agree with that 100 percent. But I believe that if you're put in this place and you have this voice, then of course you're a role model by default, because what you say is going to affect people - either in a positive or in a negative way. And we grab hold of that role, because we have some things in our hearts we want to share.

On the other side of it is that people will put you in that place. Choosing to be in that role is important, but people will put you there anyway.

Carr: I can understand how somebody famous might not want to be a role model. But it's a shame when people want to skirt off that responsibility because they just want to do their own thing. Still, I can understand that struggle, especially if you aren't a Christian.

But how much more should we try to live on our foundation as a Christians, and be excellent role models? Everyone looks up to somebody. If people are looking up to Third Day, then I want to lead them in the best way I can. I don't want them to be like me, because I know my dark side all too well. Instead, I want to point them to Christ. I want people to see Jesus. We've got to do that as Christians.

For more about the Third Day, visit the band's artist page, where you'll find previous interviews and reviews, including their latest, Wire. To listen to sound clips and buy Third Day's music, visit Christianbook.com.

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