| "When I was about eight years old, I distinctly remember tossing around the idea of being a 'rock star' when I grew up," says Matt Thiessen singer/guitarist for Relient K. "Immediately after the thought entered my mind, I felt very dirty for having such an idea. That, of course, was 1988 and the tail end of MTV's spandex wielding hair band era. My definition of a rock star was a guy (resembling a girl) with long wild hair, skin tight leopard print clothes, and a keytar (keyboard guitar) in hand. All of this accompanied the fact that I was forbidden to watch MTV, and that all of these impressions of rock and roll were illegally snuck into my mind under mom's ever-present radar. After those 30 seconds of absolute rebellion, I submitted to the respected aspiration of being an astronaut." About eight years after that premonition, Thiessen joined up with friends Brian Pittman and Matt Hoopes to start Relient K. The boys wrote some songs that were under the influence of bands such as MxPx, Ghoti Hook, Five Iron Frenzy, and Slick Shoes. In January 1998, with the addition of drummer Todd Frascone, Relient K started playing shows. One month later, as a favor, producer Mark Lee Townsend recorded "All Work No Play" (Relient K's first demo) for $200. While on tour with DC Talk, Mark played the demo for DC Talk member and owner of Gotee Records, Toby McKeehan. Toby heard some raw promise in the demo, and eventually signed Relient K to the Gotee roster. Relient K's first album (self titled) was recorded in the summer of 1999, and released in April 2000. The self titled album was received warmly and has since racked up 100,000 units in sales. Their second album "The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek" was recorded in January 2001, and released late August of that year. This album showed that the band had maturing potential as well as an ever expanding fan base, selling 300,000 copies. In March of 2003, Relient K released their third full-length LP, "Two Lefts Don't Make a Right�But Three Do" debuting at #38 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart. "It's cool, I'm glad that it exists and that we made it," says bassist Brian Pittman. "In addition to our three nationally released recordings," adds Matt Thiessen "We've always released an EP before every album to allow some new and exclusive material to leak-out in between LPs." Relient K has become very well acquainted with a touring lifestyle, being on the road on average 150 - 200 dates a year. Touring has been a key element in the band's development of their fan base and strong record sales. Being a part of tours featuring bands such as Switchfoot, The O.C. Supertones, Five Iron Frenzy among others, have helped to put the band in front of over a million people to date. In addition, Relient K has ventured out on two very successful headlining tours. So what's next? The boys continue to do "band" things such as touring, recording, writing, and practicing. They do anything and everything they can to keep having a good time with the band, and not take their rock and roll too seriously. "In reality, we know we've been extensively blessed to get to do what we do, and we just want to make sure we don't take it for granted. We're really thankful that tomorrow always looks pretty good." |
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