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The Wrecking

What happens when a childhood idol comes alongside you and says he wants to be your manager? That’s exactly the place that Traa from P.O.D. put the guys of The Wrecking in when approaching them about a possible management deal. He’d already spent time in the studio with them, helping to guide their sound and coach them a bit. So it was a no-brainer on all counts for the Elder brothers, Doug and Darrin, along with Karl Anderson and Joe McCann.

The Wrecking released their first LP, A New Abolition, in 2008 and some songs are just now making waves at national radio. “You Remain” continues to move the album forward to new circles of listeners, giving the New England act a solid build throughout the last year. Now, they hope this newfound business relationship brings them to new heights. Then again, they’re still grounded enough to maintain spiritual obedience as their primary calling.

We chatted up the band’s members recently to hear about the news with Traa as well as to discuss the momentum of the album and how they are obedient in all things.

Soul-Audio: I’d love to hear what kind of life the album still has after a year of being out there. Where are you guys at now?

Darrin Elder: We’re still super-excited about the record. God’s been doing so much with it. We just got a song, “You Remain,” picked up by Air1. They’ve been spinning that pretty heavily and that’s been a really, really amazing thing to see how it’s influenced every other aspect of our ministry on the road.

SA: Can you give an example of that?

Darrin: Yeah, Doug and I are brothers and our parents had friends traveling in North Carolina. Some people were saying how they loved that song and that was a cool wrap-around. We heard the story of a mom who had to go to work and leave her baby and those morning drives were tough, but a song like “You Remain” was ministering to her. Those are two isolated incidents, but that’s just some perspective of what’s going on. It’s great having a song out there where people can know what we’re about.

Doug Elder: It’s a nice shift in the game plan. That can find people where they’re at, in a situation that only radio can reach as opposed to somebody knowing us, buying our record and then having it at their disposal. It meets a very different need on the radio. When people need that connection and they’re on the road, God can just orchestrate that through the radio. That’s a new thing for us. That’s a cool shift in the game plan, so to speak, to get ministry happening.

SA: Is this the first real break into radio?

All: On that level.

Doug: We pushed another single on this record and it did alright. It made it to #39.

Joe McCann: Whatever that means. [Laughs]

SA: Has that been frustrating to not be able to break out to this point?

Darrin: No, it really hasn’t. We come back to the fact that the goal is obedience. Whatever God will do with us, he’ll do with us. It’s really about trying to bake the freshest musical bread that we can. We’re making songs I like and we believe that they honor God. We do want to reach as many people as we can, but we want to be in the now, in the present, and give that moment that we’re in to God. We want to rejoice in that moment.

SA: To discuss that obedience word, I’m wondering if that’s the mission of the band?

Joe: Totally. From the beginning, we’ve really just tried to be in a place where we have certain goals and things that we aspire for and things like that, but the main goal is to do what you feel God is calling you to do in that moment. The mentality that we come with in our regular lives and in this music – in everything we do – is just wanting to do whatever it is God has called us to do and go at it with everything we can. I want to work as hard as I can toward that thing I’m called to do.

I want to put forth the best that I can and give it my all and then, once I’ve done that, I can have complete peace with whatever happens. I can have peace with it if it goes incredibly good or bad. If I didn’t have that with Jesus, I would constantly be questioning or wondering what else I could be doing or could have done. But when you’re following God and you’re in his will and you’re working as hard as you can, you can have that peace. That’s a beautiful thing.

SA: What does that obedience mean to you when it comes to the songs, to pen and paper?

Doug: It’s a willingness to be transparent. Nothing reeks worse than a fake. It’s distracting, to me, when something is not genuine. It can even be something good quality-wise, but if it doesn’t feel genuine then I’m totally distracted. So none of us are interested in that. Sometimes it gets messy and it delves into something as I’m writing it that I would rather not sure. But if that’s where it needs to go then that’s where it needs to go.

Darrin: It’s just about telling the truth. If we’re sincere in what it is that we put out there – people can disagree or agree with it and not like it or like and that’s cool because I can respect that and there’s certainly things I don’t care for that are out there and I can respect the sincerity behind it – but we just want to tell the truth as best as we can. That’s a delicate, vulnerable place to be in. Karl’s a really good arranger for us and he does the same thing with the music. Augustine said to only use words when you have to and we’re just wanting to tell the truth with our instruments or words.

Joe: We have an instrumental song we’ll play live and it’s interesting in regards to using words, because we had somebody come up to me after a set where we played that. It’s a worshipful song called “Prayer Language” and it’s about that speaking to God without saying anything and listening to God. Somebody came up and said, ‘I’ve always gone along with the idea that Christian music was really only Christian lyrics. But tonight you changed that. That was Christian music with no lyrics. It was music designed to speak to God and speak of God without words.’ So a song can bring a spiritual experience without words.

SA: Karl, did you want to weigh in on this since everyone keeps talking about you?

All: [Laughs]

Karl Anderson: Well, I think the guys have touched on what it’s like and how we write songs and our mindset when you write. Honesty is what we try to convey what’s really inside of each us lyrically and musically. It’s not always right or it might not always sound good, but hopefully it’s honest in every aspect.

SA: Sure. I do want to go back to the first question because I wondered if you guys are thinking forward to the next record yet?

Karl: We actually recorded the next record mostly. We went into the studio with a producer, Dustin Burnett, from Franklin. He came up and we started working on a record and we’ll do a few more songs, but it’s mostly done. We have looked to the future, but our feet are still on the ground with A New Abolition. We are excited to put that out.

SA: So there’s no timeline on that?

Karl: First quarter of next year.

Darrin: Probably first quarter of next year. Something else we’re excited about from yesterday is that we’re signed with Traa from P.O.D. to manage us. We just signed. We’re blessed to have that. He’s obviously a guy we look up to greatly. He gets us. He’s not going to waste his time, since he’s far too busy. So that’s Vitamin B for us. That’s amazing that someone of that caliber would be in 100%.

SA: What does that entail?

Darrin: He’s going to help take who and what we are and bring that to the next level. We play a lot of mainstream shows, too. I mean, we’re an openly Christian band, but we’re from New England. We refer to it as an atheistic tundra, so to speak. So Traa is pumped for the next record. He’s been in the studio with us and Dustin.

SA: Wow, that’s a really big moment for you guys.

Karl: Dude, when he came into the studio for this record… I drooled over Fundamental Elements of Southtown. It was such a defining moment for me in music. To be working on the record and see Traa sitting there was strange. But he’s such a nice guy that the glitter feeling or whatever wore off quickly because he’s so genuine and nice.

Darrin: And he’s a virtuosic bass player.

Karl: Oh man, the stuff he was playing back then is still so amazing.

Darrin: Karl and I were talking him being in the kitchen in the studio and I have the biggest urge to go up to him and wanting to go, ‘Why are you here?’

Joe: I wanted to ask him just to go back and play some of their songs. “Play ‘Hollywood’ please?”

SA: When he sits you down, does he tell you specifically what he sees?

Doug: Yeah, he’s the type of guy who says in one of our first meetings, ‘I’m the type of guy who likes to do things that people tell you can’t be done.’ I think that’s just part of his personality. So when we’re in the studio recording the songs we’ve done thus far, it was that awkward first few hours, but he put everyone at ease. But even before I was starting vocal tracks, he said everything was coming along nicely but vocals will make or break this so make it count. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ [Laughs]

He is sitting there listening while I do it. But then again, I know he’s on our side and has our best interest at heart. He’s an honest, genuine person, so even something to that effect, that pointed of a truth, he could deliver it in a way that you still know he’s on your side and believes in you. So fast forward a few months here and, as of yesterday, we have this management deal that feels good.