Artist description THE CHOIRFLAP YOUR WINGS"If you can make a record, you ought to—why not?"That’s the response of Steve Hindalong, lyricist/percussionist for The Choir, when asked about the release of Flap Your Wings, the band’s first studio album in four years. "Ultimately," says Hindalong, "if you get to keep making records, you win. You’re fortunate. At this point in our career, with all of us hovering around age 40, we’re astounded that we get to keep making music and that people want to hear it. Whether it’s a million or ten thousand. That’s a lot of people that you receive feedback from and get to establish a rapport with."To understand the band’s motivation for recording Flap Your Wings, one needs to look back to a reunion concert The Choir performed at a festival sponsored by KLYT in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the summer of 1999. Hindalong has a similar response to a query about what coaxed the seminal modern rock band out of its three-year long, self-imposed retirement."Somebody asked us to play a concert, and we said ‘yes,’ the drummer explains, a sly smile crossing his face. Guitarist/vocalist Derri Daugherty, Steve’s friend of over 20 years (and creative partner for 15) offers a bit more elaboration on the subject. "There’s always been a tremendous amount of good will toward The Choir—nobody’s ever said ‘please stay retired!’ That was definitely one motivation for doing the reunion show. We had been away from the band long enough that the business stress didn’t bog us down." Perhaps saxophonist "Buckeye" Dan Michaels nails it best: "We had all grown so much as individuals since we last performed as a band. Maybe we simply wanted to rock."But as is often the case in matters of The Choir, "simply" is never quite that simple. Rewind to 1996, when Tattoo Records released Free Flying Soul, the band’s previous studio outing. Michaels, then A&R Director for Tattoo, persuaded the band to mount a tour in support of the album and in the spring of 1997, Free Flying Soul received the Dove Award for Best Alternative/Modern Rock Album. Regarding the award, Hindalong says "It was quite an honor, but an odd footnote to be given that award at the conclusion of what you’ve announced is your ‘farewell tour.’"So with Michaels newly married and working as a record executive, Hindalong and Daugherty immersing themselves in songwriting, production and engineering, and bassist Tim Chandler returning to his computer education gig in California, The Choir was once again dormant.But a peculiar thing happened since the 1996 tour—the Internet became an increasingly viable method for artists to remain in touch with their supporters. As a loyal cadre of fans kept the reputation of The Choir alive, Michaels decided to construct a band web site. The site serves as a place to keep fans abreast of band members’ activities, provides a little "Choir community" through a message board, and offers a means for fans to acquire hard-to-find product directly from the band, rather than being forced to succumb to the exorbitant demands of collectors. One of the questions most often asked on the message board has of course been "When is The Choir going to make another record?" So as members’ schedules opened up, the target date of Thanksgiving Week 1999 was set to begin recording the all-new Choir album.Enter Tim Chandler. "Tim was the creative crux, the fulcrum point," explains Hindalong. "When he came out for Thanksgiving, I had not one lyric in my head. I didn’t even set up a drum kit." Daugherty continues, "We thought, ‘why don’t we make a real indie-sounding record?’ With Flap Your Wings, Tim and I sat and exchanged chords and rehearsed guitar ideas and Steve literally wrote down lyrics as he heard us play. We wrote five songs during that weekend, then Tim came back in May and we wrote another five songs. So it was basically two long weekends and a few days to finish it. It was so easy because we didn’t feel a need to prove anything. We were just having fun with melodies and words."A desire to make their faith known through rock music was what first drew Hindalong and Daugherty into the recording studio in 1985. On their debut album, Derri provided both words and music, but by the second Choir record, Hindalong, a literature major in college, assumed the role of lyricist. That combination found the band hitting its stride with Chase the Kangaroo (1987) and yielded two other classic albums, Wide-Eyed Wonder (1989) and Circle Slide (1990). Chandler, whose friendship with Steve and Derri pre-dates The Choir by several years, once again emerged as a creative force on Kissers and Killers (1993), Speckled Bird (1994) and Free Flying Soul.Although Kissers and Killers and Speckled Bird were fueled by angst and internal tension, those elements are noticeably absent from Flap Your Wings. "In my on-line journal, I made reference to this record being stranger and more sentimental than ever," says Hindalong, "but if you look at any of our albums, you’ll see that those elements have always been present. The songs are full of emotion and life. But we get away with it because of the odd arrangements, the musical twists and such. We just go into a room and record what comes out. This time, it was Thanksgiving, our friend Tim was with us; Derri’s wife had just been through cancer surgery, so we were feeling very nurturing and very caring. There were a lot more important things going on than making a record."But don’t mistake that relaxed attitude for a lack of concern regarding the quality of the songs. Flap Your Wings contains writing as sharp and incisive as any ever to come from the pen of Hindalong. "Shiny Floor" displays Hindalong’s ability to combine both literal events and metaphors into a seamless (and hilarious) lyric. "I actually did spill a drink on someone’s floor and wiped it up with my shirt," explains Steve. "Then while we were recording a few days later, I tripped over a mic cable and made a comment about needing to be ‘agile as a lynx.’ But the song also became an allegory for our relationship to the music industry, sometimes feeling like the unwanted guest crashing the party.""Mercy Lives Here" is one of the few songs Derri has written in the past ten years that have been featured on a Choir album. "I actually had that in mind for a solo album," says Derri. "It’s also a very literal story about a strange club we visited in Ohio. We were walking through this deserted downtown area in Akron, and we stumbled across this club that was completely decorated in an Egyptian motif—all mementos taken from the owner’s trip to Cairo. It was fitted out with old-fashioned Naugahyde booths, and the jukebox was stocked with ‘crooner’ records from the 40’s. There was a midget sitting at the bar in a clown suit who would burst out laughing for no reason, then stop. Next to him was a gentleman who appeared to be Amish, who would shake uncontrollably for a few seconds, stop, then shake some more. Behind the bar was a woman who was probably 70 serving drinks, and there was a prostitute off in the corner trying to pick someone up. All I could say to the band was, ‘this must be where Jesus is. Right in the midst of these peculiar people with all their quirks.’ It was a very spiritual moment for me."When The Choir convened for the second Flap Your Wings session in May 2000, it was only a few weeks after the death of Gene "Eugene" Andrusco. In addition to being an intimate friend of the members of The Choir, Gene’s career as a musician, producer and engineer had been closely intertwined with the band for many years. Still devastated by that loss, Hindalong, with assistance from Michaels, wrote the moving tribute, "Hey Gene." Says Hindalong, "Whenever we do a record, I talk about what’s going on emotionally; the most intense things that are going on, for better or for worse. I put my finger right on the sore. Talking about Gene was something we had to do. When I heard the music that Derri had laid down, it immediately took me in a very positive, whimsical direction. That felt good, rather than something dark and heavy. It’s not an overwrought song; it’s a warm reflection. Also, Dan had written a eulogy for Gene that he read at the graveside, so I used several of those lines as well."Also unflinching yet oddly compassionate is the ironically titled "Sunny," which touches on both Eugene’s death and Marlei Daugherty’s bout with cancer. "It’s really hopeless on the surface," Hindalong admits. "There are things that happen in our lives that there’s just nothing good about. There’s nothing funny about chemotherapy. There’s nothing good about losing a friend at a young age. All you can say is ‘sure is sunny today.’ There is hope, but sometimes you just can’t make things better. It’s just reality. Musically it really captures that feeling. There’s a lot of tension in the song. The Choir does tension really good. But I think that tension is reality."No Choir record would be complete without a least a couple songs that directly address Hindalong’s relationship with his wife Nancy and their kids. "With ‘I Don’t Mean Any Harm’ I’m apologizing to them—yet again," Steve confesses. Just like with ‘A Sentimental Song’ and so many others, I like to think I can make everything all right with a song. Of course, you can’t. Thankfully, I got another shot with ‘A Moment in Time,’ a song about my very first date with Nancy. I’ve never strayed away from writing about my family, my marriage. Things are going really well for us right now. We’re lifers. I’ve got a great family. We’ve survived. We’re all really committed to our families. We’re very involved in our churches. Remarkably stable for musicians."Those only familiar with The Choir’s reputation as one of most critically acclaimed modern rock bands in the history may be surprised to learn that Hindalong and Daugherty composed and produced At the Foot of the Cross, Volume One and Two. Released in 1992 and 1995 respectively, those albums placed elements of the traditional liturgy in a modern musical setting, presaging the current explosion of modern worship music by several years. Since they never actually recorded the song as The Choir, the band decided to revisit "Beautiful Scandalous Night" for this album. "We will probably never write a song like that again," says Derri. "It was well received in its day and has gone on to become a very popular song of the modern church. We’ve been extremely blessed by that."The release of Flap Your Wings finds Daugherty, Hindalong, Chandler and Michaels more settled and content than at any time in the history of The Choir. "For awhile, I think we felt kind of bitter about the path our career has taken," Derri admits. "That’s probably true of a lot of artists, if they don’t achieve great success. But it’s been tremendously gratifying to work with bands like Third Day and Jars of Clay and Caedmon’s Call and have them express how much they’ve admired your music and looked up to you as a band. I feel really god about our legacy. A lot of people have listened to our music and been inspired or moved by it. It’s great to look back on your career and see it as worthwhile."###The Choir is still:Derri Daugherty—Guitars, VocalsSteve Hindalong (Skinny)—Drums, Percussion, VocalsTim Chandler—Basses, Guitars, VocalsDan Michaels—Saxophone, Lyricon

Music Style Modern Rock

Musical Influences U2, The Church, REM, The Choir, Neil Young, The Beatles,

Similar Artists The Choir, Jars Of Clay, U2, The Police, REM, The Church

Artist History The Choir started around 1984 in Los Angeles. They've release nearly a dozen albums and have toured extensively around the US and Canada. The Choir has performed overseas in Germany, The Netherlands and England. The band currently resides in Nashville, TN.The Choir has been heralded as one of today's leading Christian modern rock bands. They topped the CCM Magazine readers' poll as Favorite Alternative Band, and received awards for Favorite Alternative Album and Favorite Long-Form Video. Campus Life named 1990's Circle Slide Album of the Year, and the group took home the Syndicate's Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year awards. The question may arise, "alternative to what?" There are as many styles of alternative music as there are garages in which these underground—and often under-capitalized—bands discover their own answers. Typically it has meant guitars as opposed to keyboards, drums as opposed to machines, experimentation as opposed to formula, and abandon as opposed to restraint. For The Choir, it has also meant faith as an alternative to fear, love as an alternative to self-interest, hope as an alternative to despair.When, in the early '80s, drummer/lyricist Steve Hindalong and guitarist/vocalist Derri Daugherty decided to form a band, the subsequent union was the marriage of a realist and a romantic. In working with materials close at hand—both conceptual and percussive—Hindalong creates a lyrical and rhythmic realism that avoids both the superficial excesses of literalism and the iconic overkill of much of religious music. Daugherty's guitar palette makes use of distortion and exaggerated colors to convey maximum emotional impact, while his vocals betray an interest in exploring the existential experience of the song far more than delivering an exact reading.Together, they have achieved a rich and allusive body of work which the L.A. Times described as "magical songs that combine strains of murky psychedelia with pure pop" and which Billboard heralded for its "dark poetic leanings, effects-laden guitars and strong melodic hooks."Early on The Choir emerged as the leaders of a pack of new Southern California Alternative bands, and were the first to get signed by a major Christian label. Daugherty and Hindalong, plus sax and lyricon player Dan Michaels and bassist Tim Chandler have always made up the core of the group, augmented at times by substitute bass players (Mike Sauerbrey, Bill Batstone, Robin Spurs, Bill Campbell) when Tim was called on by other commitments and Billy Wilde on second guitar. Tireless road-warriors, the group relentlessly played an assortment of venues ranging from church basements to small clubs to huge international festivals. They shared the stage with The Alarm, Rage Against The Machine, Mercy Seat, Peter Case and Rev. Horton Heat, while regular appearances at mainstream clubs in L.A., Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta and New York earned thema loyal following. Their tours with Steve Taylor and Russ taff, plus their performances atCornerstone and the Greenbelt Festival , are legendary.Ever-prolific, the group spawned several other recordings and touring ensembles. Steve recorded a solo album, while Derri co-founded The Lost Dogs. Tim anchored the constantly-morphing Daniel Amos, while the ubiquitous "Buckeye Dan Michaels" made stage and studio appearances with Adam Again, Crystal Lewis, Bryan Duncan and Larry Norman.In their down-time, the boys started Glasshouse Records and released half a dozen projects by Ric Alba, John Austin, Rev. Dan Smith and The Throes, plus the fabulously inventive worship series, At The Foot Of The Cross. With all of this production work, it was only natural that they would need their own recording space. At the two locations of Derri's Neverland Recording Studios (L.A. & Nashville) Daugherty and hindalong have produced albums by over 30 artists, including the Prayer Chain, The Throes, Hoi Polloi, Between Thieves, Common Children and Christine Glass.One of the pleasures of listening to the music of The Choir is that you begin to discover some of the patterns in the Hindalong/Daugherty song writing process. Steve is an architectural daredevil, erecting a scaffolding of inter-locking rhythms that constantly shift while maintaining a basic amorphous shape. Derri is a structural anarchist, destroying all but the most lingering sense of order, proportion and symmetry with wave-upon-wave of multi-layered guitars. Together, the music they create has a structural ension so great that its disparate elements sometimes seem on the verge of flying apart. Further, like most good architecture, there is no one "right" vantage point from which the whole structure can be understood, thus providing the listener multiple perspectives and a dynamic of meanings. Never one to use a 2 by 4 when a metaphor will do, The Choir's lyrical approach eschews the popular insistence on a linear narrative, refusing to dealin the opiate of the obvious. In a moribund genre whose artists could never be accused of an excess of honesty, courage and individuality, the music of The Choir has provided a life-giving alternative.

Group Members Derri Daugherty, Steve Hindalong, Tim Chandler, Dan Michaels

Instruments Vocal, Guitar, Drums, Bass, Lyricon, Sax

Albums Voices In Shadows, Shades Of Grey, Diamonds and Rain, Chase The Kangaroo, Wide-Eyed Wonder, Circle Slide, Kissers & Killers, Speckeld Bird, Love Songs & Prayers, Free Flying Soul, Let It Fly, Flap Your Wings

Press Reviews It's pretty good!- The Croatian Daily News."Better than hanging drywall"- Akron Beacon Journal.

Location Nashville, TN - USA

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