BETWEEN THE LINER NOTES
Superchick: The Long Road to 'Beauty'
By Jennifer E. Jones
CBNmusic Producer
CBN.com
– NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When the members of Superchick walked the lobby of the Renaissance Nashville Hotel during Gospel Music Association's GMA Music Week, they were a changed band. In 2005, the Brock sisters and their bandmates were promoting a newly released album that was receiving love mostly from already devoted fans and a few Christian radio stations.
However, by 2006, everything changed.
“We didn’t know how people would react to it,” bassist/vocalist Matt Dally recalls about the release of Beauty from Pain. “It just took off, and we’re excited to be part of something that radio picked up and really appreciated and the kids stepped up.”
The first songs to hit the airwaves were “Anthem” and “Pure.” But the song that really set them off was the inspirational “We Live.”
The increased radio airplay not only fueled their career but also put their first headlining tour into overdrive.
Guitarist and vocalist Melissa Brock tells CBNmusic, “The biggest difference was radio. KLOVE finally embraced us. You can tell. It used to be, ‘I never get to hear you guys on the radio…’ [Now] we just got off tour, and in all the towns we went into, all the people were like, ‘Yeah we hear your song on the radio all the time.’”
Those fans came out in record numbers to see Superchick on the “Anthem” tour. Matt says that the most significant change in their audience is that it’s gotten bigger.
“We sold out shows -- big shows -- for the first time which is kinda weird for us,” he says.
Weird indeed. Superchick can hardly be called an "overnight" success. Over the last eight years, the Chicago-based band had plenty of hit songs (including “Barlow Girls,” “Hero,” and “One Girl Revolution”) but behind the scenes, their chart-toppers weren’t always enough to pay the bills.
“We [wondered], ‘Are we supposed to keep doing this still?’ We weren’t really making enough money to make it a living,” Tricia Brock, lead vocalist, says. “All of us were like, ‘We’re getting older and have to be practical.’”
“It’s like when you step out and [pray], ‘Okay God, I’m gonna trust that You really want me to keep doing this. You said You’d take care of me, and You know where it’s going,’” Melissa says.
Things have definitely progressed, and the group that was often sampled by major networks like MTV was finally given center stage.
The network chose Superchick's "Anthem" as the theme song for the highly rated Survivor-esque reality show Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Gauntlet II. It was a divine appointment that put Superchick’s music into the homes of millions of teenagers every week.
And that’s not all. In 2006, Superchick signed a deal with Columbia Records, and Beauty from Pain 1.1 was released. It featured the best songs from the original as well as the mega-hit remix of "One-Girl Revolution" and the breakout single, "Stand in the Rain".
Such success is a long time in the making, and Tricia is particularly reassured by the response to Beauty from Pain. “People loved the album. So yeah, this is where we’re supposed to be. It’s very encouraging. At times I felt like we were always the underdog, the little guy. We worked so hard… So it’s like wow!”
With larger arenas and prime airtime, one wonders if Superchick will lose that personal connection with their audience. However, fans have nothing to fear.
“We’ll always hang out with the kids after the show,” Melissa says. “As long as we are ever able to do that we will.”
Everything -- from the sold-out shows to the major record deals -- has built an even larger platform for this group to share its message.
“You can make a difference. It’s a big world but our lives can change it,” Matt says. “A lot of times we think our lives are so small and we’re insignificant. God has put everyone in their situation to impact their community. There’s a purpose for your life. Quit sittin’ on the couch and do something about it.”
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