Cranking out music since 1996, Skillet has been picking up major momentum in both the Christian and general music market thanks to their successful 2003 album Collide. And now the band is posed for even greater exposure and success with their critically-acclaimed new release, Comatose (Ardent/SRE). Igniteyourfaith.com sat down with founders John (vocals, bass) and Korey Cooper (keyboards, vocals) to talk about making music and waking up the church.

How'd you move from Collide to this album?
John: To prepare for this album, I asked myself, "What did I like about Collide?" I liked the heavy guitars a lot. Another definite positive of Collide—compared to our other records—was the lyrical direction. The lyrics were a bit more about issues we all face. Some older Skillet records were written specifically for the church, but Collide was written for anyone. It was universal. I liked that. I also loved the strings and the little bit of piano and acoustic guitar on Collide.

As a band, we decided to take all those things we liked, go an extra step with them, and do them together in a way that's unique. For instance, we liked the strings on Collide, so we added a great deal of string orchestration on Comatose. Not a lot of rock bands are doing that in the same way we did. There are also not a lot of rock bands with a piano unless they are doing a ballad.

I also wanted to go further with the issue-related lyrics because I thought Collide was so relevant to listeners. I wanted to capture that again. Lyrics about common problems, struggles and mistakes make it so you don't have to be a Christian to get what a song is about.

I like to write about stuff everyone has gone through—and then slide in a little nugget of truth and hope. That is my goal. For instance, "The Older I Get" is about my relationship with my dad. It's not totally a Christian song, but if someone identifies with my struggle, they may be drawn to hear more Skillet or come to a show. We're trying to plant seeds of faith and truth in someone's life by making our messages applicable.

How else is Comatose different?
Korey: We wanted a record that everyone could be pulled into. For instance, we have friends who don't like hard rock, but they like Evanescence. So like that, we wanted this record to be accessible to people who don't like hard rock.

John: It comes down to making hard rock with a pop sensibility. Linkin Park is like that. They are hard rock but they have a real sense of melody that pulls in listeners who may not usually listen to hard rock. And that's probably my favorite thing about this record. It is a rock album, but it's so accessible. Already there are people who typically don't like Skillet records saying they really like this album.

What are the hardest songs for you to write?
John: Christian songs about theology or songs that challenge someone's walk with the Lord. I feel like every word has to be right. I want to be theologically correct and spiritual, but not clichéd. It's so hard to write a theologically based song that can impact someone, but also sound cool. There are times where you don't want to say 'Give your life to Jesus,' because it sounds clichéd. It's not original. Or maybe it just doesn't sound cool. Sometimes, this kind of thing can also sound pretentious or too easy. There are a couple of times where I feel like I've done OK with Christian lyrics—like "Locked in a Cage" and "Gasoline." But many times, it's just a struggle to write these songs.

I find that issue-based songs can be easier to write. Songs like "The Older I Get" or "Say Goodbye" were easier because it's just the way I feel. I don't have to over-think how I say it. It just comes out of me and is real and honest. I struggle with over-thinking my lyrics. I try so hard to make them unique or just perfect. Then, I hear a Nickelback song on the radio and I think, I could have written that lyric. That's so easy and straight-forward. The difference is that the songwriter is not over-thinking what he's writing. He's just saying what everybody wants to hear. The Beatles were like that—just writing simple things that sounded good.

Reaching out to the hurting has been on your heart—and shows up on Comatose in a big way. How did this come about?
John: We were doing a mainstream tour and my eyes began to open. I've been a Christian since I was 5, and this is the first time I'd been in these mainstream clubs before. I'd never been around drunken people before. It was my first time seeing that lifestyle, and it was very eye-opening.

We are often asked, "How do you guys resist temptation on mainstream tours?" It was the opposite. I wasn't tempted. I was saddened. It's just depressing. You've got these girls at shows so desperately trying to get with someone from the band. They think their life will be fulfilled if they can get with you after a show. It is so weird. And so sad.

I've always talked about how unfulfilling the worldly life is. But you know, that was all theory until I saw nonbelievers' real lives on that tour.

While I was being impacted by this in such a major way, we had Christians telling us we shouldn't be on tour with non-Christian bands and we shouldn't be in clubs. I was annoyed by that. These people in the clubs are the very people who most need us. We have to be there.

I was also annoyed by people suggesting that we were only on that mainstream tour because we'd sold out our calling for riches and fame. We were getting paid $225 a night to do the tour. It was costing us about $1,000 to play each shows. So obviously, we weren't doing it for the money. I knew God was calling me to be in these clubs. He wasn't just using us there in these lives, but he was using the experience to open my eyes.

Through all of this, I realized that Christians, including myself, were still comatose. We'd been asleep to the world's problems. We didn't know what worldly people do because we'd never been there. We'd been safe in our world when we needed to wake up and help them. I saw how important it was for us to be in those dark and sad clubs. No, we weren't preaching. We were playing music. But for us to come on stage, not ask girls to take their shirts off for us, not cut down the crowd, not drink, and just hang out with them and be real—all this was a huge witness. They could see the difference.

Big News from Ignite: Ignite Your Faith has partnered with Teen Mania's Global Expeditions to offer a mission trip to Mexico July 28 to August 4, 2007. Special guest: Skillet! Look for more information soon on how you can join Ignite and Skillet in Mexico.

Read more from 'Bands & Artists'

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