Relient K

Relient K
Relient K live in May 2007. Left to right: Jon Schneck, Matt Hoopes, Matt Thiessen, Dave Douglas, John Warne.
Background information
Origin	Canton, Ohio, United States
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Christian rock Piano rock Pop punk
Years active	1998–present
Label(s)	Capitol Records Gotee Records Mono Vs. Stereo EMI
Associated acts	Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes Agnes Gypsy Parade Guerilla Rodeo Ace Troubleshooter Demon Hunter Inhale Exhale
Website	RelientK.com
Members
Matt Thiessen Matt Hoopes John Warne Jon Schneck Ethan Luck
Former members
Todd Frescone Stephen Cushman Brett Schoneman Jared Byers Brian Pittman Dave Douglas

Relient K is an American rock band formed in Canton, Ohio in 1998 by Matthew Thiessen on guitar and piano, Brian Pittman on bass, and Matt Hoopes on guitar^[1] between the band's junior year in high school and their time at Malone College in Canton, Ohio. The band is named after guitarist Matt Hoopes' Plymouth Reliant K car, with the spelling intentionally altered to avoid trademark infringement over the Reliant name.

The group is associated with the Contemporary Christian Music culture, most notably the Christian rock and Christian punk scene. Despite being a Christian band the group has performed alongside secular artists, and has had critical success with mainstream pop punk. The band's sound incorporates piano rock and acoustic elements; and the lyrical content often refers to God, Jesus, and the terms "you" and "Him" are used in reference to The Divine. Since its formation, Relient K has released a discography consisting of five studio albums, seven EPs, two Christmas albums, and one collection of rarities. The band has received numerous awards including a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Rock Gospel Album and two Dove Awards.^[2][3][4]

Relient K is best known commercially for their two studio albums which peaked in the top 15 of the US Billboard 200 chart. After signing with Capitol Records, they broke into the mainstream in 2004 with the release of Mmhmm, which debuted at #15 on the Billboard 200. In 2007, their fifth album brought the most success for Relient K, Five Score and Seven Years Ago debuted at #6 on the US Billboard 200 and sold 60,000 records in its debut week.^[5] The band has sold over 2 million records, with three albums being given Gold certification by the RIAA. The band is also highly successful throughout the Christian Albums and Contemporary Christian Music charts.

History

All Work and No Play (1998–2000)

Matt Thiessen (left) and Matt Hoopes (right), two of the band's founders, performing at Purple Door in 2006.

After Relient K was founded in 1998^[6] Todd Frascone joined for a short time in 1998 as a drummer. However Frascone left the band after recording first demo, All Work and No Play. The demo was recorded by Mark Lee Townsend, the former live guitar player for dc Talk. Townsend had met the band members because his daughter, Danielle, was friends with the band.

All Work and No Play caught the attention of Tommy Ranzdc Talk's Toby McKeehan (tobyMac), who later signed the band to his label, Gotee Records. With the label Relient K released their debut EP entitled 2000 A.D.D. in 2000, with Stephen Cushman on drums. Soon after, they released Relient K, their first full-length CD. It was distinctly Christian rock and featured lyrics with a wide range of pop-culture references.^[7] Cushman left later that year to join the Christian metal band Narcissus. Brett Schoneman of Christian rock band Philmore filled in temporarily,^[8][9][10] followed by Jared Byers, drummer of the Christian rock band Bleach, until Dave Douglas joined in December 2000.^[11]

In an interview Matt Thiessen said that when the band started, he was the only one who sang, but he knew Matt Hoopes could sing as well. Hoopes was reluctant, but Thiessen said he "got it out of him". Hoopes became the primary back-up vocalist from then on.

The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek (2001–2002)

The band released their sophomore album, The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek, in 2001. The album launched both Relient K and their sound to a whole new level. Though there were still plenty of pop-culture references on this album,^[7] it contained many more softer songs and slightly lighter guitars.^[12] They would continue chords through tracks in order to fluidly transition in between songs, a trend that continued on their later albums.^[12]

Anatomy landed them in the Christian rock limelight, and Relient K was offered a clothing deal with Abercrombie & Fitch in 2001.^[7] Gotee, their label, accepted the offer on Relient K's behalf; Pittman recalls, "The choice was never really given to us. The label made the choice."^[13] After significant pressure from conservative Christian organizations such as Focus on the Family, Gotee backed out of the contract.

Relient K was then asked to do a rendition of the popular VeggieTales song "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" for the 2002 feature length VeggieTales movie Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie. The song was released on three different albums, two in single form. The first version also included their song "Breakdown" being sung by Larry the Cucumber. There was also a promotional version which included the original version of "Breakdown". A cut-down version (missing the bridge) was included on the Christian rock compilation Veggie Rocks!. This song mixes the sounds of The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek and their third album, Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do.

Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do (2003)

In 2003, Relient K released Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do. The album had multiple covers of different colors, each depicting a vehicle in some kind of wreck. As pop-culture references became less specific, sound and vocals became far more defined.^[14][15] Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do (often called Two Lefts by fans) combined the soft, meaningful songs of The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek and threw in fast-paced songs with deep lyrics.^[14][15] It was nominated for a Grammy in the category of "Best Rock Gospel Album"^[2] and won the Dove Award for "Modern Rock Album of the Year" in 2004.^[3]

During this time, Relient K also released a limited edition red vinyl EP entitled The Vinyl Countdown, only released in one printing. The EP included two versions of the song, "Five Iron Frenzy is Either Dead or Dying." The album was dedicated to Jesse Alkire, contest winner and friend of Matthew Thiessen, who inspired the song "The Vinyl Countdown."^[16]

Since Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do was released in March 2003, Relient K released a bonus disc for Christmas, entitled Deck the Halls, Bruise Your Hand. The album was packaged with Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do from November 2003 to December 2003.^[17]

Mmhmm (2004–2007)

The group released their fourth album, Mmhmm, in late 2004. Pop-culture references were even less specific than on their third album, if non-existent. The album was significantly more on the serious side with very few of the silly songs the band was known for.^[18] The album had the band experimenting with their sound a bit more, which included incorporating Piano rock, Hardcore punk and some pop music.^[18] In July 2005, the album was certified gold for shipping over 500,000 copies. It is reported that it has sold approximately 796,000 copies.^[19] Driven by newfound recognition from Mmhmm, Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do was also certified gold in spring 2005. Also, it was announced in 2006 that their second record, The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek, had reached the Gold rank as well as certified by the RIAA.

Shortly before the Mmhmm's release, longtime bassist Brian Pittman left the band, citing that he was tired of touring and wanted to start a landscaping company.^[20] He also joined Christian metal band Inhale Exhale shortly afterward. Matt Thiessen announced Pittman's departure in fall 2004, saying,

"After almost seven years of being in Relient K, our cherished and lifelong friend, Brian Pittman has decided to move on to other things. That IS crazy, huh? Brian decided to leave the band in July, so we've had plenty of time to let the initial shock die down. We're aware that a lot of you already knew, so we apologize for not announcing this sooner. There were many reasons. He thought long and hard about his decision, and he came to the conclusion that he would like to do other things than play bass for the band. We respect him for it. We'd be lying to say that we're not all completely bummed that Brian won't be a part of Relient K anymore. And though we know things won't be the same without him, it must be said that we have always valued our friendships with him more than our on-stage relationship. Anyway, all of us still hang out, and its like nothing is different at all. I feel like that's how you know that you've made a friend that will be there for the rest of your days. We want to thank Brian for all the years he gave the band. You're the best, buddy."

Pittman reunited with the band for one final show, which was the release party for "Mmhmm" at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio on November 1, 2004. John Warne, lead singer and guitarist of Ace Troubleshooter, filled in as bassist for the remainder of 2004 and became full-time bassist in 2005. Also in 2005, Jon Schneck joined as a third guitarist, as well as a banjo and bell player, to create a fuller, more distinctive sound. This was also because the band planned to add more piano, and having another guitarist gave Matt Thiessen the freedom to do that.^[21]

The band covered "Manic Monday" by The Bangles for the compilation Punk Goes 80's in 2005.

Mmhmm features two top 40 hits which both made it on MTV's Top Ten. The track "Be My Escape" is the band's most popular mainstream song to date. Its music video entered MTV's Top Ten, and landed them an appearance on The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. "Be My Escape" is also featured on Now! 19, a popular secular and quasi-annual compilation series. It was classified as a gold single in October of 2005.^[22] The music video for "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" has also made its way onto the TRL countdown,^[23] many top 40 radio stations, and was included on Now! 21. Mmhmm was awarded a Dove Award in 2006 for the "Rock Album of the Year."^[4] The band was also nominated for "Artist of the Year" and "Band of the Year" at GMA Canada's 2006 Covenant Awards^[24]

The band did a cover of "Between You and Me" by dc Talk for the 2006 Jesus Freak tribute album Freaked!.

Relient K covered Weezer's song "Surf Wax America" during an Alternative Press radio show in late 2006.

Five Score and Seven Years Ago (2007–present)

Relient K live at the Christian rock festival Purple Door 2006

Recording sessions for another studio album, Five Score and Seven Years Ago, started on June 18, 2006 and continued for parts of July and August. Some tracks on the album were produced by Howard Benson, (The All-American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, P.O.D.). Thiessen had said that the title of the album comes from the fact that it's the band's fifth album, it is the first time all five of them are on a record together, and it has been seven years since they formed the band.^[25]

While the band hoped for a November 2006 release, the official release date was announced as March 6, 2007.^[25] The album is considered, by the band, to be their happiest record to date. On March 2, 2007 the entire album (except the last track, "Deathbed") was made available for streaming on the band's MySpace. Five Score and Seven Years Ago debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling about 64,000 copies in its first week.^[26] The album also peaked at #2 on the iTunes Store chart.

The band's first single from the album, "Must Have Done Something Right," was released on the iTunes Store on November 28, 2006 and to radio on January 9, 2007. "Forgiven" was the first radio single directed at Christian stations. "Forgiven" was the most added song on Christian radio and entered Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart on January 11, 2007. The single received enough airplay to be the fourth most played song on Christian Hit Radio (CHR) stations in 2007 according to R&R magazine.^[27]

Matt Thiessen performs with Relient K at Purple Door 2007

The second single from the album, "The Best Thing," was released to radio on April 10, 2007, taking the 7th most adds in its first week. Thiessen has said that "The Best Thing" is "the anti-Daniel Powter "Bad Day" song. It's straight-up positive." A video was filmed for the single.^[28] The second single released on Christian CHR radio stations was "Give Until There's Nothing Left", which was the 20th most played song on CHR radio stations in 2007.^[27]

In the early morning of June 28, 2007, Relient K's bus caught fire. Everyone made it out safely, but the band lost many instruments, laptops, cameras, phones, iPods, clothes, and merchandise. Matt Thiessen said he lost a laptop that had roughly 100 unfinished songs on it, and Dave Douglas lost his Battlefield drum set. In the midst of it, the band still laughed at the situation, calling it "cinematic".^[29] On a blog post on their website, Matt Thiessen stated that the next day after the fire, the band went to view the damage of their van and found that while 85% of their gear was intact, Douglas's drum kit set was not salvageable.^[30] A member of the Switchfoot forums first announced it, asking everyone to pray for the band. The band had just played Creation Northeast, and had to cancel their appearance at Cornerstone Festival in Illinois, which the band has named as one of their favorite shows to do. They did, however, play their next scheduled show in Greeley, CO on June 30, 2007. In the months following, the band played more Christian rock festivals.

The band released a Let it Snow, Baby... Let it Reindeer, a Christmas album, on October 23, 2007. The CD contained all of the tracks from Deck the Halls, Bruise Your Hand as well as 6 new songs.^{[31][32][33][34]} This Christmas themed re-release has so far been met with success, peaking at #15 on iTunes music store and #96 on the Billboard 200.^[35]

Relient K, Switchfoot and Ruth recently recorded a song together titled "Rebuild". It is available for download on Switchfoot's website, fans can choose between paying for the song (with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity) or downloading it for free.

On October 18, 2007 drummer Dave Douglas announced his departure on the band's website due to a desire to pursue his side-project Gypsy Parade with his wife Rachel. There is no animosity between any of the members, and he finished to tour with the band until his last show on December 29, 2007.^[36][37] On February 12, 2008 it was announced that Ethan Luck, former guitarist of The O.C. Supertones and current guitarist for Demon Hunter, would be replacing Douglas as the band's new drummer.^[38] Luck and Warne were in a short lived band together called Guerilla Rodeo.

The recording of The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything Relient K did for the 2002 movie, Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, was reused in The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie.

On July 1, 2008 Relient K released a double EP. The double EP is contained on a single disc and contains the The Nashville Tennis EP and The Bird and the Bee Sides. The Nashville Tennis EP included 13 tracks of new material that allowed the band to explore their sound a bit by allowing other band members, besides Thiessen and Hoopes, to compose/record a few tracks, as well as adding some influences from Country music and Ska. The Bird and the Bee Sides contained tracks which had previously been released on hard-to-come-by records. ^[39][40]

Members

Tours and Live Performances

• Relient K performed in the 2005 and 2008 Vans Warped Tour,
• Between September and November 2006, Relient K played on the Nintendo Fusion Tour with Hawthorne Heights, Emery, Plain White T's, and The Sleeping.^[41]
• The band also took part in McDonald's Summer 2007 music tour. Every band involved in the tour has the chance to be involved in a future McDonald's ad. Votes by viewers will be counted to decide who will win. All live shows are available for viewing.^[42]
• Members of both Switchfoot and Relient K had been talking about touring together, and Switchfoot confirmed the rumors this fall during the Alive Festival. Relient K and Switchfoot will be co-headlining, but Switchfoot will be playing last every night. Ruth will be opening for them. It is expected to be given an official announcement complete with tour dates soon. Matt Thiessen stated in a blog entry on the Relient K website that there will be a fall tour but did not hint at any details except that the two bands are trying to figure out a way to incorporate Habitat for Humanity into the tour.^[43] On July 12, 2007, Switchfoot's website released a new video podcast^[44] and blog, and in the middle of the video podcast there is a short intermission where all the band members of Switchfoot and Relient K announced there will be a tour in the fall of 2007 with more details to come. Relient K and Switchfoot both played at the Los Angeles premier of the movie Evan Almighty on June 22, 2007.^[45] They also played at the Lizard Fair in Midland, Michigan on August 15, 2007 with Chris Daughtry.
• "Must Have Done Something Right" and "The Best Thing" were performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno respectively.
• As of September 8th, 2008, Relient K are now on tour with Ludo, featuring This Providence and House of Heroes. The tour is title "The Uncle Fest Tour" and is during the month of October, with a few in early November. The last tour date is November 2nd.

Live Covers

During tour dates and shows the band has been known to perform live cover songs from various sources. The covers have included the following:

• Relient K covered "The Adams Family" TV Show theme for the Uncle Fest Tour in 2008.
• Relient K included "I Want It That Way" by The Backstreet Boys for some of their sets in 2000.
• The band covered "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain on a tour early in their career.
• In the summer festival season of 2001, the band covered "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, "We Built This City" by Starship, and "Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer.
• At Cornerstone 2003, Relient K played a cover of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" after which Matt Thiessen stated, "That was uh... that was a joke."^[46]
• During the See Spot Rock tour, Relient K covered the eponymous song from the 1996 movie, "That Thing You Do"; "Everywhere You Look", the theme song from the TV show Full House, and Kenny Loggins' Highway to the Danger Zone. They brought back the Full House theme for their late 2005 tour, "The Panic With A K Tour". They brought back "That Thing You Do" and "The Top Gun Medley" for "The Matt Hoopes Birthday Tour" in early 2006, as well as the summer festival season of that year.
• The DVD released with the special edition of Five Score and Seven Years Ago features a video of the band's cover of The Beach Boys' "Sloop John B", which is also a bonus track when the album is purchased through iTunes.
• On the Appetite For Construction tour in 2007, Relient K covered Head Over Heels by Tears For Fears as well as the theme song for the TV show The Office.
• "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley was covered by the band in early 2008.
• The band covered Kanye West's "Good Life" and the theme song from "The Office" on the 2008 Vans Warped Tour and earlier that year.

Other projects

The Complex Infrastructure Known as the Female Mind

In 2004, Relient K released a book entitled The Complex Infrastructure Known as the Female Mind. The book clues in the confused male Relient K fans on some of the inner workings of the female species. The band gives advice on the opposite sex through personal experience, stereotypes (including Rocker and Vanilla Pudding), and Biblical advice—presented in the attitude found in their music. The title of the book is taken from the last line of the song "Mood Rings," which is found on their third album, Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do.

Woodland Forest

In June 2006, Relient K released the first episode of their own flash cartoon. The cartoon features all five band members, and takes place in a fictional land known as Woodland Forest. It is animated by bassist John Warne. There have only been two episodes thus far, and can be found on YouTube.^[47][48] The cartoons also feature "Merle the Squirrel," (who is now on Relient K t-shirts, and has his own MySpace page)^[49] as well as "Crosby the Reindeer".

Podcasts

Relient K has made a total of nine audio podcasts and five video podcasts. The nine audio podcasts were made during the band's time on the Matt Hoopes Birthday Tour. They included interviews with the band members, their guitar techs, and various other people who help them on tour. There were also interviews with the other touring bands, The Rocket Summer and Maxeen.

The five video podcasts include various scenes in the studio, as well as the band doing things outside the studio, much like the video podcasts made by Switchfoot. The first two video podcasts showed the band in the studio preparing for the recording of Five Score and Seven Years Ago, and Dave Douglas recording the drum parts, respectively. The third video podcast was a collection of footage and discussions from the Nintendo Fusion Tour, and a Mario Kart DS Tournament between the five band members. The fourth video podcast showed Jon Schneck and Dave Douglas preparing for a boxing match (which is also included and completed in the Wal-Mart "Devastation and Reform" video), and the fifth video podcast showed the completion of the battle. There is a sixth unreleased video podcast including John Warne fulfilling his lifelong dream of walking into a room with the AutoZone Theme Song playing. It shows Warne recording the song with the assistance of Dave Douglas and Jon Schneck. It can be found on YouTube at the present time, and it is currently unofficially released on the site, as it has not made it to the band's official site.

Related Projects

Outside of Relient K, Matt Thiessen has a piano-focused solo project called Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes. He started it in 1998, around the time Relient K was started. He has released seven songs either online or on various CD releases. Thiessen also has The Makeout Girls, a less serious side project that features himself and his friend, Kevan Peden. They have released one known song, which was the hidden track known as "Silly Shoes" from Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do.

Former drummer Dave Douglas created a project called Agnes, a solo rock project that somewhat resembles the sound of Relient K's earlier music with his own twist. Douglas also started a project called Gypsy Parade, a softer project that he started with his wife, Rachel. They have released two demo songs on their MySpace with more expected. Douglas amicably left Relient K to further pursue this project.

Ethan Luck, the current drummer, is involved with the Christian metal band Demon Hunter, but he also has a side project called My Red Hot Nightmare.

Three tracks were featured on the compilation album My Other Band, Vol. 1 on Mono vs Stereo records in 2006, from Matt Thiessen's side project Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes, Dave Douglas' side project Agnes, and Ethan Luck's My Red Hot Nightmare project.

Discography

Main article: Relient K discography

Studio albums

• Relient K (2000)
• The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek (2001)
• Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do (2003)
• Mmhmm (2004)
• Five Score and Seven Years Ago (2007)

Online Scavenger Hunt

Relient K held a scavenger hunt for tracks that were meant to be made available on The Bird and the Bee Sides, but due to various issues the band decided to release them in an Online Scavenger Hunt.^[50]. There were originally meant to be five songs, but only three have been released thus far. The clues lead to Hope For Every Fallen Man, Where Do I Go (Acoustic), and Just Between You and Me.

References

External links

• Official site
• Relient K at MySpace
• Relient K at MyPraize