Underoath and Norma Jean: Believe it or not
Christian rock on a high tide
Even as religious influence in politics wanes with Bush’s fortunes, it’s blowing up in the music business. A slowly blossoming Christian punk scene that began in the mid-’80s has reached critical mass, producing a stream of popular acts that run the gamut from power-pop/punk (Relient K, Anberlin) to alternative/emo (Emery, mewithoutYou) and hardcore/metal (As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage).
With Georgia’s Bible Belt sentiment at a fever pitch as most of the state remains staunchly conservative politically and culturally, acts such as Norma Jean push the sound locally. But no one epitomizes the spread of this surprising movement better than Underoath.
Together for almost a decade, Underoath was far below the radar prior to 2004’s They’re Only Chasing Safety. The summer before its release the group dropped off the Warped Tour because its singer, Dallas Taylor, left the band. Safety, Underoath’s first album with new lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, sold more than 350,000 copies – an absurd total for an indie label. Last year’s follow-up, Define the Great Line, was its Tooth & Nail label’s first gold record, selling more than 500,000 copies.
“We’re at a point now where I never thought we’d be,” says keyboardist Christopher Dudley by phone from Dallas, Ga., where he moved with his wife last year. “We never aspired to be where we’re at right now for the simple fact we didn’t think it was possible.”
No one did. But hard rock has given way to blends of emo, hardcore and metal, opening the door for a melodic metalcore band such as Underoath to seize the stage. Its incendiary live show probably makes a difference. And while you might be surprised to discover a keyboardist in a hardcore act, doubts dissipate watching Dudley bang his blond locks and pound the keys like Snoopy on Adderall. It hardly matters that it’s a Christian band.
“The Christian music scene as a whole is getting more to the point where people aren’t so freaked out by it,” Dudley says. “The people that are the most, I guess, freaked out by it are Christians that grew up in the ’50s and ’60s where this style of music we’re playing wasn’t even around, and the fact that we’re playing it and saying we’re Christians is like, ‘Oh, no. You can’t scream and be a Christian at the same time.’”
Of course, it wasn’t always this way. Despite, or perhaps because of, the outsider status punk accorded itself early on, hardcore has always been notable for its strict orthodoxy. Sure, they were outcasts, but if you didn’t dress right or appreciate the right bands, you’d be ostracized (which naturally produced an increasingly insular and stale scene). You certainly didn’t want to announce you were a Christian.
When teenagers MXPX signed with the fledgling Tooth & Nail in ‘93, they were naive high school kids just happy to have a label’s support. But they ended up catching hell from both Christians – who didn’t like tattooed punks – and their peers, who couldn’t cotton the label’s religious bent.
“We didn’t know anything about Christian music, we didn’t even know it was an issue,” says MXPX frontman Mike Herrera. “It’s funny because there are so many bands today that are really pretty big that are doing exactly what we did – but we happened to be one of the first ones that did it. So we got everybody’s vitriol and still do to a certain extent, while everybody else kind of slid in after.”
Indeed, in the mid-’90s, as hardcore’s formula grew stagnant, bands began incorporating elements of death metal, noise rock, post-punk as well as hooks and vocal melodies. With this broader palette also came a heretofore unwitnessed level of acceptance. Even metal kids were welcome. “I remember going to hardcore shows when I was 14, and if there was a kid there wearing a Marilyn Manson T-shirt or something like that, it was over,” Dudley recalls.
Ultimately, punk’s strident nature – from agitprop to straight edge – makes it ideal for the subject of faith.
“We’re doing what any other passionate band is doing; whatever they feel strongly about is naturally going to come out in their music,” says Norma Jean drummer Daniel Davison. “Punk and hardcore have always been about that – what you’re passionate about, what you live for – and not hiding it.”
Like MXPX and Underoath, locals Norma Jean started when they were still in high school. Starting a Christian band at such a formative stage in life naturally leads to conflict. Underoath dropped off the Warped Tour early again last year with rumors of intraband conflict regarding their beliefs. Norma Jean’s Davison can relate.
“It’s hard to keep [Christianity] the center, when we’re all changing in our own lives, and some of what we believe changes,” Davison says. “Lately it’s getting harder. I’m 24, so a lot has changed in my life in the last few years.”
Considering the number of lineup changes Underoath and Norma Jean have endured over the years, perhaps attrition is one of the prices of faith. The benefit is that it’s led to hardcore’s embrace of a more expansive worldview.
“Nowadays kids have gotten to the point where it’s OK to like whatever you want,” Dudley says. “That’s a very important step. It’s something that hasn’t really been in our scene very long, and I’m glad to see it because it’s breeding people to be more accepting and open-minded.”