Skillet promotes its new CD as it plays to secular listeners

The group was previously marketed as a Christian rock act.
By JOHN PATRICK GATTA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
When you hear the word collision, it brings up images of car crashes, shattered glass and twisted metal. But when Skillet's John Cooper describes the name of its latest album, "Collide," like all things related to his band, the meaning attracts a positive interpretation.
"A large part of the record was written with the idea in mind of this world being violent," he said during a recent phone interview. "With Sept. 11, the war and even in our particular country, we're dealing with a lot of issues that younger generations never had to deal with -- that level of violence and fear and hatred. What do you do? Where do you go when your faith and your fear collide?
"I felt like that was the theme of the record. There's some really high moments on the record and some really down moments, just facing reality. I am feeling alone. I am feeling afraid, but at the same time, I do have hope that this world can be a better place. Hope that my life is about a purpose."
Attitude is constant
With his wife, Korey, who plays guitar and keyboards in the band, and their nearly two-year-old daughter with them on tour, Cooper has little choice not to view the future optimistically. Still, that attitude has been a constant, as it's carried him over the past seven years of Skillet's existence, five releases on independent labels and a steady touring schedule of more than 150 dates on the road.
The promotion of "Collide," which includes a stop in Struthers on Friday, should exceed more than 200 dates this year.
As he speaks, Cooper is traveling to another show as the opening act on a bill that includes Saliva and Earshot. He admitted that it's a far different situation for his band, playing to unfamiliar and initially uncaring faces in the crowd, from its days headlining shows across the country.
But Skillet's version of the hard rock formula -- thundering guitar chords and rhythms matched by angst-ridden and screaming vocals -- have turned indifferent listeners into new fans.
While the sound may be familiar, Cooper wants the lyrics to lift listener's spirits rather than wallow in misery.
'Message is positive'
"Our message is positive in a rock and roll climate that's typically not been positive for the last 10 years. So, from that standpoint, I want as many people to hear us as possible."
Previously, the group was marketed as a Christian rock act. Now on a major record label, Lava Records, it seeks to expand its audience in the hope that people will connect with Skillet in the same manner it did with artists such as Creed, P.O.D. and Switchfoot, who attracted a secular rock crowd without losing touch to their core beliefs.
"From a business standpoint, I don't really mind how we're marketed," said Cooper. "I'm very happy to be marketed as a Christian band, but going into this [rock] audience, unfortunately, that has a lot of different connotations to a lot of different people. Most people when they think of Christian music, they don't think of P.O.D., they think of Michael W. Smith. They think it can't be rock music because that's not what Christian music is.
"The record's not a preachy album. Most of those stereotypes don't really exist on this record. Hopefully, people will begin to like us and they'll find out one way or the other what we believe. If they already like us, they probably won't care."