Skillet ready to ‘Jam’
Christian rock group Skillet will headline the 2018 Winter Jam concert set for March 17 in Oklahoma City.
Skillet, the contemporary Christian band known for its hard rock vibe, will headline Winter Jam 2018 on March 17 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Grammy-nominated, Billboard Music Award-winning band will perform in concert, along with Building 429, Jordan Feliz, tour creators and hosts NewSong, Kari Jobe, hip-hop recording artist KB and comedian John Crist. Author evangelist Nick Hall will give a message while worship artist Dan Bremnes, singer-songwriter Mallary Hope and Westover will perfom at the Pre-Jam Party.
Skillet is a quartet made up of husband and wife team Korey and John Cooper, along with Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison. [Photo provided]
In a recent telephone interview, John Cooper, the group’s lead vocalist and bassist, recently discussed the popular concert tour and the ways fans have responded to the rock band’s 2017 album “Unleashed Beyond,” a deluxe edition if its popular compilation “Unleashed.”
Q: What can fans expert from you at this concert? Will you play some newer songs or songs from older albums or both?
A: It’s a pretty good mix. You try to play the hits, if you will, the songs that people will be really mad if you don’t play, but you (want) to play a lot of new stuff, too. You want to win over new fans and a lot of people have probably seen us play before and maybe haven’t seen us play songs from the new album, so you want to kind of mix it up. In terms of what people can expect, Skillet is kind of known for doing a big production with lots of energy. We’ve got some cool production on the tour, things we’ve never done before and it will keep people guessing a little bit.
Q: What is it like being on tour with so many other recording artists and groups?
A: Well, it’s cool. It’s a good opportunity to make new fans because it’s so eclectic, and there are so many different kinds of people coming. I like that. I like that there are people there who might not have heard of Skillet or maybe they know a song or two and they came to see someone else, so you try to win over new people. It makes for a fun night, and it’s part of what’s unique about this tour. There’s not a lot out there like it.
Q: Let’s talk about “Unleashed Beyond.” I know that it’s a deluxe edition of “Unleashed” that you added five new tracks and some remixes to. What was the idea behind releasing this deluxe edition?
A: I think it was mainly that we wanted to put some tracks on there that didn’t go on before. Fans were asking when they would be getting a deluxe version. It was like, “Well do we release them as singles or just on iTunes? How do we get the fans what they want?” We thought, “Why don’t we do a lot of tracks and just give them a lot of music.” That’s why we decided to record so many songs. We did some fun things. I really like the song “Breaking Free.” That was the first time we did a song where we had a guest vocalist (Lacey Sturm) come on. A lot of our fans had asked if we would ever have a guest vocalist, if we would ever do a mash up, so that was fun. And we ended up with all these really great remixes. Sometimes, remixes can be not good or just boring or just add ons. But we have really good remixes, and I thought it was a really cool package. That’s why we called it “Unleashed Beyond.” Halfway through the record cycle, you’re kind of getting a mini album. You know, five tracks is a lot of songs.
Q: Let’s talk about “Feeling Invincible,” a track that really went up the charts and has been popular with fans. Why do you think it has resonated with people?
A: I guess it’s catchy, I hope. It’s kind of fun, and we set out to make a fun song. That might sound kind of silly, but I think Skillet is not known for what I would call fun songs. We’re known more for dramatic songs. Our loud parts are loud and our soft parts are soft, and there’s a lot of emotion and a lot of thought in the lyrics, and sometimes typically Skillet songs can be very topical about what’s happening in the world and they can be emotionally draining. That’s what we’re known for, and I think that’s what Skillet fans like. But I said “Why don’t we mix it up a bit? Why don’t we make a song, and a record, in fact, that is a little bit fun to listen to?” Maybe it’s a little bit of an escape from what the world is going through rather than talking about the issues. It was fun and chanty. You could imagine it at a football game as a fight song for your favorite team. I think people probably caught on to a lot of those feelings.
Q: Years ago, people didn’t often put the concepts of “Christian” and “rock band” together. What has it been like for Skillet to be a Christian rock band?
A: I grew up listening to Christian rock music, and it always meant a lot to me because it was safe. Now if you turn on the radio, what people were singing about can be very dark and very violent, it can be angry, it can be sexual. I thought that Christian music was a great way to write songs about life but through my faith world view. Not all my songs are religious. I write songs about having a good day or having a bad day or just having fun or being silly, but some of my songs are religious. Christian music to me was a way to write songs to give people hope and let them know they are not alone.