What a great way to get out of the office on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon! I was meeting Dean Roland, guitar player extraordinaire for one of Atlanta's most respected and successful groups, Collective Soul. Dean's band has accomplished something very few acts can ever achieve, continued success. The band has 4 records under their belt, each one going multi-platinum for a total of over 10 million records sold. I was curious to know how this phenomenon started, how they coped with struggles in the local music scene, and to ask for some advice on how other local artists can learn from their success.

The lunch started out innocent enough. Dean was right on time and he was as open and friendly as I had remembered when we spent some time together on the road back in August. We started out chatting mostly about music bizz stuff and local bands with whom we were both familiar. It's a good thing I felt comfortable, the restaurant Dean chose to meet at was an awesome Sushi place and I don't eat Sushi! Dean was working his chopsticks like Edward Scissorhands sculpting a bush. I, on the other hand, couldn't even stab my shrimp with the stupid wooden stick. I finally had to confess my lack of skill, as obvious as it was, and reach for my fork. For the record, the food was great! After lunch, we got down to business.

Mark: Thanks for taking time out to meet with me Dean. Our site, localmusic.com, will be running a series of articles in which we interview successful local artists to find out how they got their start, the evolution of their success and offer advice to the new crop of emerging artists in Atlanta and Athens. Can you give me a little background on how Collective Soul got started, wasn't it in Stockbridge, GA?
Dean: Stockbridge, yeah, we grew up together and went to the same High School. Obviously, Ed and I are brothers, so, I've known him quite a while. The band, as you know it, started 7 years ago. We’ve had the same line-up since then. Before that, Ed and Shane played together in 1989, Ross joined the band in 1991, and Will and I joined in 1993.

Mark: Once the band was formed, what happened next?
Dean: Initially, we would always go out and play locally and in the Southeast. We would play wherever we could get gigs. Then we started getting some label interest.

Mark: Right away?
Dean: Well, no. There were points throughout 1988-1991, we would have A&R guys fly in and watch us perform and listen to the demo's. Nothing came of it, they didn't "hear" anything. We went on with that for a few years and the band decided that we needed a break from it all. Ed went and started doing a songwriter demo thing. Eventually, we started getting back into the groove. We started playing again and compiling all the old band demos and some of Ed's songs from the songwriter demos. We started sending them out to radio stations, management, lawyers, record labels, you know, doin' it all over again, one last hoorah type of thing to get some label interest. I was going to Georgia State at the time and I took a couple of the songs to WRAS. They started playing "Shine" and people started calling the station requesting the song immediately. It was just one of those things. They asked us to play at their Christmas charity event that year. Basically, from that point, things started happening really fast. The song took off on College radio. We released it independently.

Mark: So, "Shine" took off on the CMJ (College Music Journal) charts?
Dean: Yeah, we released that demo which was called Hints, Allegations & Things Left Unsaid. We just threw it together, never intending it to be something that would sell 2 Million copies. It was actually something we were trying to use to make a real record. It was just a compilation demo. "Shine" took off and we immediately had record label interest. By the end of January we got signed and we hit the road by the end of February.

Mark: When you were recording these demo's, did you have a home studio?
Dean: Actually, we had a guy that had put a little money into it and helped finance us to keep us going, keep us breathing. Will's father owned a studio in Stockbridge, so his dad was our first "manager".

Mark: Did you have any other assistance, from friends or acquaintances, as far as helping you book shows, handle business, promotions in the early days?
Dean: We would just use local connections, other bands. We also had a guy named David Butler, who has always been with us. Now he is our lighting director. He would call up and help us book shows. Also, Michelle Keplinger, who is now a publicist, helped us out early on.

Mark: What advice would you give local bands, just starting out, concerning booking gigs?
Dean: In the very beginning? Play wherever you can for the simple fact that the more you play the better you get. You also get more comfortable with being on stage. Songs will develop more and you can improve arrangements.

Mark: The early years of Collective Soul were still all about calling your friends to come to the gig?
Dean: Yeah! We would play shows in Atlanta where, literally, it was just our girlfriends at the time, you know, 6 people!

Mark: ...and the bartender and the door guy?
Dean: Exactly! But, out of that time came, I think, some really good songs and the band developed. That's the key thing in the music industry these days. The way the public and labels are right now, it's so hard! The major labels don't have the time to wait for, or develop, new bands. So, if you have not developed your band to a certain level and then you go out and make a mediocre album, there's a good chance you will fall to the wayside and get dropped.

Mark: You won't get a second chance?
Dean: Very few bands, nowadays, will get another chance. It's hard to convince young musicians to be patient. They need to step back and develop their craft, from a songwriting aspect. They have to understand that they have to do it themselves. The great thing now is that technology has made it easier. Studio equipment is so much cheaper. You can record your music and immediately upload it to the internet. All those things are so key in the development of a newer artist. I can't stress enough how important it is to utilize this technology, keep an open mind, and get feedback.

Mark: What were some of the things your band did to promote yourselves in the developing years?
Dean: We have always been so bad at self-promotion. We're 6 years into this and 10 million records later and we still have a problem with it. We still have a hard time saying to people that we think we are great. We are getting a little more comfortable with it, but it's hard. If you can do it, you know, be shameless to a certain degree, let people know that you are really proud of what you do!

Mark: What was the local scene like for you? Was it supportive?
Dean: I think so. It was hit and miss. Atlanta has always been supportive of its local acts. It's also close to Athens so you have a lot of diversity and opportunities.

Mark: The explosion of the internet and MP3 technology in recent years has certainly provided local artists another avenue to reach music fans locally as well as all over the world.
Dean: Yeah, that's a HUGE thing!

Mark: You mentioned earlier that you used local contacts and other bands to help you along. I think Atlanta/Athens bands have a great reputation for supporting each other, your band included.
Dean: Thanks! Early on, we had a band that would let us open for them. We needed that. Younger bands need that. Everybody needs to try and help each other out. We used a few local bands on our last tour like Trinket and Another Man Down, and spent a good part of the tour with The Marvelous 3. You can look to other bands that are further along in their development and learn from their mistakes. Everyone needs someone to look up to, to learn from. You can go out and figure it out for yourself but if there is a short cut, use it.

Mark: ...because you're still going to make plenty of mistakes on your own...
Dean: Absolutely! You're going to fail and be rejected, over and over again. That's the thing about this business. You gotta have pretty thick skin and a lot of endurance to stay confident in what you do. Endure the rejection because it is definitely going to be there. We are looked at as a veteran, successful band but we still have to deal with rejection all the time. Be passionate about what you do, write about what you know, and believe in it!

Mark: Thanks Dean......pass the chopsticks.......