Relient K has a mature tone

By Kristin Torres

Published March 7, 2008

Matt Thiessen is in a peculiar place.

The founding member of Relient K says that when the Christian pop punk band got its start, following in the footsteps of bands like blink-182 was a chief ambition. And while Relient K never ran naked through the streets, crooned about poo or released an album with a cover shot of porn star Janine (for which they totally wouldn’t have won all of those fancy Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association), Relient K is settling down. At least a little bit.

“I’m a lot older than I used to be,” Thiessen said. “I’m 27 now. I’m not going to be writing dumb songs all the time. But I’m not exactly the most mature guy, either.” With Thiessen’s personal growth, it’s only natural that his musical brainchild would follow suit.

What were once lyrics so immersed in pop culture references and silly hooks that somehow managed enough Jesus references to clinch the Christian label, the band has started to produce records which read less like an homage to Thundercats and more like the reflective journal entries of a guy admitting he isn’t the teenaged pop rocker he once was.

“It’s changed a lot,” Thiessen said. “When we started, we were like every other band that wanted to be blink-182.”

With the band’s last two records, 2004’s MMHMM and 2006’s Five Score and Seven Years Ago, the signature pop punk sound has simultaneously gotten heavier and gone Billy Joel on fans. Minimizing the power pop riffs that defined Relient K for so long and juicing up the guitars were only the first steps. The next required a bit of daring.

The band brought out the piano on their second record and has been incorporating it gradually with each new release. Ever since then, it’s been a process of slowly breaking in loyal fans to a new component and eventually a new musical structure. The release of MMHMM marked the point where the piano was here to stay, and fans could take it or leave it.

Overwhelmingly, they’ve taken it.

“Fortunately for us, we’ve been able to carry our fans over the years,” Thiessen said. “We have a loyal base.”

For Thiessen, the band’s last few albums have been a chance to show fans the band was growing up and that they were “not being such goofballs all the time.”

And if breaking in an entire fan base wasn’t big enough, Thiessen’s now breaking in a new drummer. The band’s had its fair share of drama in the drummer department over the years, with drummers picking up and leaving almost as soon as they started sitting in. Now, the band welcomes Ethan Luck onboard, who was formerly of the Christian ska outfit The O.C. Supertones, and will split his time drumming for Relient K and playing lead guitar for the Christian metal band Demon Runner.

When Thiessen and his band take the stage at The Blue Note on Tuesday, it’ll be Luck’s first live show as a full-fledged member of Relient K.

“We’re breaking him in,” Thiessen said with a laugh. As for the show, Thiessen says audiences will benefit from the small venue.

“It’s going to be really intimate, and I think that’ll be the best part about it,” he said. “They’re going to have a good time.”