THE WAITING: Brad Olsen (lead vocals), Todd Olsen (lead guitar), Clark Lealce (bass), Brandon Thompson (drums). Tony Cummings takes a closer look at the American Rockers.

The Waiting

Co-produced by Steve Hindalong - whose The Choir have been almost honorary granddaddies of Christian alternative rock -and the band's Todd Olsen, who formed his first rock band with brother Brad at age 17, 'The Waiting' is a thoroughly satisfying fusing of alternative rock attitude and engagingly tuneful retro pop. It's also a culmination of years of dues paying for The Waiting who since their first indie release 'Blue Billy Sky' in 1995 have played nearly 200 dates a year and built up a reputation as one of America's most popular Christian alternative bands. Their approach to their music is the precise opposite to the defiantly secular stance of an MxPx or a LSU.

Said the band's Brad Olsen, "The focus of the music is definitely our personal relationships with God. We try very hard not to write 'message' songs. We try to write from a perspective of 'Where are we at with God at the moment?' If I happen to be angry at God at this particular moment in my life, or maybe I'm not understanding something about God, I still write about that. We try to write as honestly as we can and balance that with our responsibility to be scripturally accurate."

Clark, who had a hand in writing five songs on 'The Waiting', explains how he uses portraits of his personal life to craft lyrics which he feels will relate to listeners on a larger level. "Sometimes, you get a song that's very personal, but maybe it doesn't mean much to other people. So, you keep working at it until a deeper meaning comes across. 'Indian Summer' is a good example. It could be interpreted as the reunion of a man and woman. And part of that song is about communion, which for me is one of the highlights of life on Earth. It's when you and God are one. But the song's not specifically about either of those things. It's about how God longs for us to be with him."

One thing you won't find The Waiting doing is wingeing about the hardships of a rock band on the road. Commented Brad, "You have to give even when you don't feel like it. One thing that you can compare to being on the road is missionary work. Sometimes in missionary work, you are in Africa, sleeping on the floor on a straw mat, with bugs in your face, and all kinds of things going on. This is just a different form of that. And we try to take it that seriously. We are serving the Lord when we are on the road. The only difference is that we're here in the States; we're not out of the country. But it's still missionary work."

Even though The Waiting seems poised for success on a larger scale, Todd admitted that, in the beginning, the band's goals were very modest. "As teenagers, Brad and I admired the influential West Coal Christian bands like The Choir, Adam Again and Undercover. We always thought, 'If we could just make a record that would sell 10,000 or 20,000 copies, that would be so cool.' When that happened with 'Blue Belly Sky' we had to dream a bigger dream!"