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Matt Dally has an axe to grind with Christians who do not share his vision for dominating the music scene. In this the second part of a three part series concerning one of North America’s hottest Christian / mainstream bands, Superchic[k], Dally (vocals, guitar), and Tricia Brock (lead vocals and guitars), discuss the band’s success in bridging the gap between Christian and mainstream audiences.
 
“Quite frankly, I think Christians have dropped the ball as far as the arts are concerned, whether that’s movies or TV and especially in music. We owned it. Do you understand what I am saying? Two hundred years ago we owned it. Music was Christian music and that’s it. It was amazing and revolutionary,” says Dally. He makes the point that too many Christian bands have been content with writing to a formula or writing only what they feel will be popular or fall within acceptable standards. Dally has little patience for people who, in his words, fall into that kind of rut. “The bottom line is, God is the king of creativity. He made the heavens and the earth and we’re so scared to tap into that creativity.” Instead Dally sees many Christian artists as merely trying to copy mainstream bands like Metallica and Snoop who are, “Not tapping into God. They’re just having their own inner thing.”
 
Tapping into godly creativity makes it sound like the band is anti-establishment and will never get accepted by the mainstream media. Not true. Superchic[k] has more than forty song credits in movie and television soundtracks. Songs like “Get Up” were used on the television program Felicity. The band’s songs were featured on the Legally Blonde movies and Disney’s Confessions of A Teenage Drama Queen. Superchic[k] music was used in a J.C. Penney ad campaign, they have been featured in mainstream magazines such as Mary-Kate and Ashley Magazine and newspapers such as the New York Times. In addition, MTV has licensed several of the songs they have written for programs like Road Rules. A video game being released in September has a theme created by Superchic[k].
 
Brock credits a lot of their acceptance by movie and TV moguls to ties band member Max Hsu had with studios prior to his joining Superchic[k]. She says about Hsu, “He’s great at programming and techno stuff and a lot of commercials have that in the background.” Brock also credits their Nashville based management team for doing a good job of promoting their material to major studios.
 
Some would question Superchic[k] allowing their songs to be featured in these types of media but Dally responds with, “I know our stuff is going to be a light in the darkness. I would rather have our record out there in the filthy trash than to have another filthy trash song in there. When somebody buys a soundtrack with a bunch of bands that are unwholesome and disgusting I would love to be a part of that because you know what? When they listen to that record at least there is going to be three-and-one-half minutes of truth that they are going to hear.” The band members do want the public to know, however, that there are lines they won’t cross over and they do turn down offers because they feel it would be inappropriate.
 
The success of Superchic[k] has been their ability to appeal to so many different demographics. The band simply cannot be categorized as one for young teens or adults whose style is hip hop, or R&B, or garage. This is a band that draws upon the diversity of music styles and culture of all of its band members.
 
Says Lisa Morgan of CHRI 99.1 FM in Ottawa, “Their music, production wise and lyrically, is excellent; style wise, it can appeal to a wide audience: songs like “So Bright” will make anyone bounce their head while “Hero” will catch the attention of young and old.”
 
A contributor to one chat board posted this message, “Some view Superchic[k] as speaking only to teenagers. They do address many of the issues and concerns felt so strongly in growing up, but after 55 years I can tell you those issues can continue to arise throughout life. SC has a powerful message for everyone.”
 
The band also has major appeal outside of North America. When we last checked Superchic[k] songs were climbing the charts in Australia and England
 
What is the secret of Superchic[k]’s success? Says Dally, “We have a direct connect with the most creative thing in existence.” He goes on to add, “I want to make sure that we are making music that is truly God focused. If it is truly God focused, it’s going to be revolutionary and simple in people’s minds and I think it is cool to be with a band like Superchic[k] that is doing that. Obviously if MTV and Veggie Tales can agree upon it that’s our goal, we’re bridging that gap.”
 
All the band members agree that because they are not afraid to speak to real issues like pain, and doubting God’s intention or very existence they have made inroads into non- traditional areas for Christian artists.  
 
“We get a lot of flack because we don’t say Jesus enough. We don’t quote enough scripture. That’s sad to me because there are bands that are called to preach to the choir and edify the church but as Christians we are supposed to go out into the world and preach the gospel and we are supposed to be all things to all people and with us we’re taking these Biblical truths that we know to be right and start talking about the issues that everybody is going through,” says Dally. The band’s message is simple “Look we turn to the Lord for this and this is how we get through our bad days.” 
 
In the third and last segment of the series about Superchic[k] their recently released album “Beauty from Pain” will be discussed and why it is so personal to many of the band members.
 
By Joe Montague, exclusive rights reserved

This material may not be redistributed without prior written permission from Joe Montague.