What you see is what you get with these passionate rockers from North Carolina, who’ve already hit the top of the radio charts twice since the release of their debut album, End of the Grey, last summer. Take an inside look at the group as BREATHEcast interviews frontman Caleb Oliver.

Caleb: So where are you guys based out of?

BREATHEcast: California, but I’m in New York right now.

Yeah, we were up in Massachusetts when the snowstorm came through, we got all that stuff, so it was pretty crazy.

Yeah I was reading about that, you guys got into an accident right?

Yeah we did about a week or two ago, and we totaled our van (laughs). But it’s been a blessing just seeing people come together and donate, and so we’re in a rental now, and hoping to buy another soon.

I heard you guys are looking to get a bus this time.

Yeah, we’re looking into it, seeing what our options are, because we’ve got a lot of touring; were doing over 200 shows and 46 dates in 4 countries. It was pretty intense here for us last year, and this year we’re looking to be even doing more.

How are you guys coping with the incident, since you guys do tour so much, and then all of sudden not being able to tour.

Yeah, it was crazy there for a little bit, but we actually didn’t miss much. And it was such a quick turnaround - we found all the details, and we upgraded management, and we didn’t miss a beat really with the whole accident. So it was a real blessing to continue without really getting set behind.

That’s awesome. So can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved with the band personally?

We were actually in another band, 3 of us – Chris and Josh and myself were in another band before this one. And we’ve been together since the beginning, about 9 years, but we started this band about 5 years ago when Chris, our other guitarist, came on board and kind of cemented our sound and so we’ve been in this band for close to 5 years now. And Josh, my brother and the drummer, we’ve just always been playing together, so it kind of worked out that way.

Do you write most of the songs?

We kind of write them all together, musically – we’ll get an idea, just a guitar riff or something like that, and kind of piece it together and start getting the arrangements, and then everyone meets up and kind of goes through it. And usually what happens is that I’ll take the music and go back and write melodies and lyrics on top of that. And that just seems to work best for us. And it’s amazing just to see everything kind of pull together like that.

Are the lyrics also a collective effort?

It’s more individual, just myself. But it goes through the gauntlet - everybody’s got to be down.

You guys carry such a strong message with your music, and you’ve already received some pretty amazing testimonies from your fans. Did you guys begin with an intention to reach out to people on that level?

Well from the very beginning we’ve always been in a ministry kind of thing, since our stories, our past could relate to so many different people on so many different levels. And with all of our different backgrounds kind of joining together, it’s been from the beginning a ministry kind of thing. It hasn’t ever really been something where we got together and were like, “Hey we want to start a band and be successful,” and do this that and the other. All the accollades and the radio success and all the touring success that we’ve had, it’s all kind of an icing on the cake for us, and what really is the best for us is when we have those one on one conversations with people and see how our music is impacting their lives. And that’s what really keeps us going.

Do you have any particular testimony from a fan that really stands out for you guys?

We have a few throughout the years – individually, sometimes, since we’re not always together when they come up to us. But I remember one for me when we were in Battle Creek, Michigan, and this young lady came up to me. We were just hanging out signing autographs, and she came up to me and was saying how she had an issue with self-worth, and she was really struggling, and she would take it out on herself, and cutting and all that kind of stuff. And she was saying how with our music, especially a song called No Longer, which is our current single right now actually, she was saying how that totally just opened her eyes, and how the stuff that she’s done in her past, she doesn’t have to deal with anymore - she doesn’t have to take it out on herself with the cutting or self-mutilation. And she said that ever since she heard that song, she put down the knife and really turned over a new leaf. And she was just so sincere and kind of crying and everything, and that was an incredible story for me personally.

I haven’t had an opportunity to see you guys live, but do you do a lot of outreach from the stage? I know there are some groups that have a full on altar call at the end. What kind of approach do you guys take?

We’re probably a little less than that. There are so many different tools that you can use, but we’ll share between songs - it depends on the time and what we’re allowed and all that stuff, but it’s really just how the Lord leads, you know. If there’s time and we feel like we should share more or less, and it also depends on the setting. We play a lot of mainstream secular places, bars and clubs, and that’s just really not what they want to hear - they don’t want to be beat over the head with the Bible, and so we’ll just basically say different things that they can relate to, and they’ll see the difference. And later they’ll come up to us after the show and just kind of open up, and say, “My grandmother used to take me to church,” or something like that, and that’ll open up the door. So there is the music, but we’re not afraid to just open and share either. It’s really just how the Lord is leading.

There’s a lot of rock groups these days that I find struggle with identity - whether they are a Christian band or a band of Christians, I guess you could say. But you guys seem to able to work on both ends without a problem. Can you tell us about how you find that balance?

Yeah, there’s a lot of bands really try to push to be in the “main stream” market, but for us there’s not really two different markets - there’s only one market of people, and wherever the Lord takes us, we’re gonna go. It doesn’t matter what venue it is or what the classification of people is. We decided a long time ago that we’re not going to push for either and just let the Lord lead us. And we’ve been in both markets in the past few years and have toured with some really great bands who’ve had a lot of success in radio, and it’s really nothing that we ever decided to strive for - it’s kind of something that we’ve let the Lord lead us to, and we just put out the music that He gives us and let everybody else decide how they want to take it. So it’s always been the same for us, that we just stay true to who we are and how God has called us to portray that and then just let the dice fall where they may.

That’s great. Do you guys any big touring dates or plans coming up for this year?

We’re probably going to hit most of all the major festivals this year. We did probably 20 or 30 of the big festivals last year and I think we’re doing Cornerstone and all the big ones this year, so we’ll be hitting the majority of those. We were on tour with Pillar this past fall and on with Disciple now, and we’ll be going out with TFK later this summer. Yeah, we’re looking to this being a very busy year full of amazing times, and we’re really excited.