“We painstakingly crafted those songs, and the production efforts that they specifically called for. I don’t think we would have the timelines or patience to make a record like Jesus Freak today.”

Track 1: “So Help Me God” (Listen)
Todd Collins: This was not one of the first songs we demoed. The whole intro/guitar part was lifted off of a cassette. We liked the crusty/grainy sound. It was definitely one of the ones where we knew we had to start the record with a “wall of sound.” It sounds vastly different than the demo, which was a lot more intimate. It set a perfect tone for the record.

Kevin Max: It’s a great album opener because of the riff. It immediately set the album apart from Free At Last, yet still retained some of the funkiness to what that album is about… Opens up with a pretty intense shift, but still playful.

Track 2: “Colored People” (Listen)
TC: This song ­was the “badge of honor” as an interracial band. Toby wanted the track to have more of that “urban feel” to it, as an homage to the R&B music he grew up with. We then built the more non-urban stuff on top of it.

KM: It’s obviously a declaration, and we as an interracial group, lived it out. It was a subject that was very close to all of us. It’s one of my favorites because it has a feel to it that was like arena pop, like a huge anthem… We saw first hand so much of the ignorance that still happens. We lived it everyday, like a skin kaleidoscope.

Track 3: “Jesus Freak” (Listen)
TC: That’s just Toby listening to Nirvana and liking the energy on ”Smells Like Teen Spirit” and saying, “I want to make a song like that.” We tried to be artistic on other stuff, but we made no bones about copying that song. “Teen Spirit” was a very well written, very well structured song. Our difference was on the bridge, the rap part. It was a copy. We were trying to copy that because they do it better than anyone, and we understood that.

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