Collective Soul Guitarist Dean Roland on New Music + More – Interview

2018-08-02

Story by Anne Erickson, photo by Joseph Guay

Dean Roland of Collective Soul chats with Anne Erickson in this in-depth interview

Collective Soul is keeping quite busy on a blockbuster summer tour with 3 Doors Down and Soul Asylum, and the guys also recently released their first-ever live album, “Collective Soul – Live.” That said, the alternative rockers still have new music on their minds and are on the cusp of finishing a new album.

During a recent tour stop, Collective Soul rhythm guitarist Dean Roland spoke with Anne Erickson and Audio Ink Radio about the summer trek, new music and more. The band also features Ed Roland (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Will Turpin (bass), Jesse Triplett (lead guitar) and Johnny Rabb (drums).

Anne Erickson: Congratulations on your first-ever live album, “Collective Soul – Live.” What were you looking to capture with this live album?

Dean Roland: That’s a great question! You really want to capture that moment of the feel every time you go onstage. It’s five guys, onstage, having fun and sharing out passion, and hopefully we captured some of those moments on this album.

I hear you guys are working on a new album. What’s the status with the new tunes?

We’re actually pretty close to having it finished. We started writing it last year, and we’ll probably put it out sometime next year in conjunction with our 25th anniversary to celebrate that. Our approach to writing and recording is to try to be honest and write from our perspective, so there’s no real direction—we just go into the studio and try to be honest and see what happens.

Collective Soul is out with 3 Doors Down and Soul Asylum this summer. What makes this tour a great fit?

Hopefully, it’s just good music. Each band brings its own style and voice, and each one of us is doing our own thing. We’re a couple of weeks into it now, and we’ve played shows with these guys before, but this is the first time we’ve done a tour together. Aside from the music, all the guys in each band are very cool. That’s 90% of a tour– having chemistry that works when it comes to the personalities. It’s been fun.

Your song “Shine” was obviously a huge hit in the ’90s and has withstood the test of time. What kind of impact do you think that song has had on music, in general?

I have no idea! (Laughs) We have fun with it. We love playing it. I don’t sit at home and practice it or anything, but when we’re on the stage and playing that song, it takes on a life of its own. People enjoy it, and there’s this reciprocal exchange when that happens.

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Anne Erickson
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Posted by Anne Erickson | Alternative, Features, Interviews, Music, Rock

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