All of the “buzz” surrounding This Beautiful Republic is definitely well deserved and easily heard due to their big, heavy sound and catchy yet poignant lyrics. TBR caught the attention of Christian label Forefront Records and signed the group as their first new act in five years. I had a chance to get up close and personal with the band on their tour stop in San Antonio, TX, and find out a little more about this Ohio-based rock band.
TBR was formed as a fusion of two bands when lead singer Ben Olin joined after his original band broke up: “After we broke up, I took some time off to visit friends. When I visited a friend in Columbus, he told me about a band who had signed with a label in Nashville and lost their lead singer. I emailed Adam and said if he needed a temporary replacement, I’d be happy to do it. We met for lunch and realized we just clicked and were on the same page. Then everything happened from there. We later met and added Cameron Toews (the drummer) to the band. When then became This Beautiful Republic” Olin said.
Christianity today has compared their sound to Jimmy Eat World and the Foo Fighters: “Jimmy Eat World is definitely one I would be proud to say we are influenced by. There is really just a wide variety of musical influences. Each of us like a lot of different styles and that comes in to play when we are writing our songs. We don’t intentionally mirror our music after anyone,” said guitarist and band member Jeremy Kunkle. “Some of us like Norma Jean, Underoath – pretty hard core stuff. Other times, some of us will turn on Sarah McLachlan or Kelly Clarkson. We even like Britney Spears at times. I think the wide range of interests make for a pretty interesting combination because you come into the song writing process with five very different approaches to the same idea, explained Olin.
The band released their sophomoric effort Perceptions in 2007 and was aptly titled based on a common theme that there are always two sides to every story. “We named it after we had written a lot of songs. We looked at the overall theme that the songs had and we found that more often than not, songs were talking about how the same issue was being looked at from two different perceptions—how we see ourselves versus how God would see us. In reality, we are all sinful human beings but because of what Jesus did for us, God sees us as pure and as his people,” Guitarist Adam Smith said.
The band admits that life as musicians present some major challenges and struggles, but also emphasizes that it has been well worth it. “It’s shocking to see that God can use the smallest little bit and use it to impact someone’s life in a grand way. There was a girl who recently wrote us about a show we had just done. She said that during the show, God convicted her to come back home. He reminded her how He loves her and wants her back. Those are the moments when I realize that everything I give up is worth it in the long run. It’s not the earthly gain that we seek. It’s very tough because we make almost no money, we are ridiculously stressed at times, and we are away from our families a lot. But if we take a step back and look at the fruits of our labor, it has definitely been worth it,” explained Olin.
This Beautiful Republic is another name for “the church” and signifies a body of believers united and strengthened through faith and love. To the band, it’s not about the ubiquitous word that also means a physical structure—it’s about a community and a kinship that exists between believers. “If your heart is not in the right place and you come to church for all the wrong reasons, I don’t really see the benefit of going to church anyway. It doesn’t help much. For us the definition of the church is a body of believers, so we are in church all the time,” said Guitarist Jeremy Kunkle.
