By Jim Barber
As ubiquitous a presence on all forms of audible media as they are prolific in consistently and regularly releasing compelling new original rock music, American rockers Collective Soul have earned a place as revered stalwarts in the annals of popular music over their more than three decades of success.
From their early major label hits such as ‘Shine,’ ‘Where the River Flows,’ ‘December,’ and ‘Heavy,’ through to returning to independent status for the release of a series of exceptionally crafted albums, the Atlanta, Georgia quintet, fronted by the remarkably talented brothers Dean and Ed Roland, alongside their longtime friend and co-founder, bassist Will Turpin, have navigated through sometimes seismic changes in taste, technology, the way music is consumed and marketed, paradigm-shifting changes to the corporate label landscape by returning to their ‘indie’ roots filled with wisdom, and a seemingly never-ending desire to keep composing, releasing and performing music that hits listeners directly in the feels, gets their heads bopping and feet moving.
Earlier this year, the band released their critically acclaimed documentary Give Me A Word: The Collective Soul Story on VOD, as well as physical copies (DVD/Blu-Ray), with it later being picked up by the Prime Video streaming service. It charted the process of writing and recording a new album, subsequently titled Touch And Go, which was done within the confines of Elvis Presley’s former home in Palm Springs, California, as a backdrop to the story of bonding, brotherhood and the band’s history from humble roots to global success.
The band, which also features drummer Johnny Rabb and lead guitarist Jesse Triplett, released Touch and Go in the late summer, and will be touring in support of the album throughout the fall, including shows in Pickering, Ottawa and Kitchener, Ontario in mid-October.
Music Life Magazine’s Jim Barber had an expansive and enlightening conversation with Will Turpin recently. What follows is that conversation, edited slightly for clarity, removing repetition and flow.
MLM – How long was this new record in the works for? Was it something that you’ve been working on for a while or kind of put together fairly quickly?
WT – Yeah, it was. It was fall 2024. We were on the side of a mountain at a, it was kind of a resort type golf course community and we kind of Airbnb’d a home for one month. It had a beautiful view there and we brought in all the gear, and we were just setting up shop and being a band.
It was barely south of Chattanooga, Tennessee and we pretty much had the record done in three or four weeks down there. There’re always a few overdubs and things that we’ll finish up after we’re together as a band and then mixing process. So by the time you give it to the folks that help you distribute and promote records, it’s a year and a half later.
MLM – It’s funny because you were saying ‘we were up on the mountain’ and for half a second I’m thinking, oh yes, they’re in the Himalayas somewhere and they’re incense burning and monks are chanting.
WT – We would have liked that too, but this was much easier. We did have a Tibetan monk come meditate with us before we started the last tour at our rehearsal space. He’s a local in Atlanta that knows a lot of musicians, although I can’t remember his name.
MLM – And you worked with the same producer again on Touch and Go as in the last few releases?
WT – Shawn Grove has been with us well over 20 years now. We met him on the [1999 album] Dosage recordings and the relationship, and his artistic style just is perfect for us. So there’s a lot of friendship there, and a lot of trust. The styles that we’ve created on how we record and how we get stuff done is a team effort, and at this point, we’ve developed a really good way to go about capturing magic together with Shawn.
MLM – In the documentary you guys called him practically the sixth member of the band, right? Because he’s that in tune with what you guys are thinking.
WT – Yeah, for sure. He’s our co-producer and puts it all together for us. So yeah, we’re all singing the same tune and there’s a system in place now, where we all know where to go and how to stay in our lane and be efficient.
MLM – With the music on the new album, I wouldn’t call it a huge departure, but you’re definitely, there’s a distinct tone and a real 1980s vibe to it. Again, is that something that you established before going in to work on this record, or for any record, or is it just something that comes out through the process?
WT – It depends. Sometimes we just go in there wanting to create good music, and sometimes we go in there with a more like a vibe, like on [2015’s] See What You Started by Continuing. For Here to Eternity [released in 2024], we were just looking for good songs, whereas this one, we went in with the idea of 1980s, New Wave, The Cars kind of a vibe that we want to go for. And of course people are saying it sounds like a New Wave record. I am like, no, it sounds like Collective Soul, but it’s tweaked. You hear the different influences and things that we were going for, but it’s still just us.
MLM – Why The Cars in particular? Why is that a group that you guys gravitated toward? I am just curious as to why their influence seems to be, you know, quite prevalent in the music on this album, including the name of the album itself, Touch and Go [a song from The Cars 1980 album, Panorama]?
WT – That would be one of our most favorite bands from that era. We loved a lot about their style, the production on their records. You know, we’ve got a signature vocalist in Ed Roland, but we loved how The Cars would switch from Ric Ocasek to Benjamin Orr. So yeah, that’s one of our overall favorite bands. I’ve put U2 in that genre with them as far as overall favorite bands as a collective band. And then we all love Tom Petty, Elton John, and probably all things Paul McCartney.
MLM – You did an early release of this album for Record Store Day, and I think you’ve done a fair bit of stuff for Record Store Day over the years haven’t you?
WT – Starting about 10 years ago, we realized vinyl’s not going anywhere, and that it’s actually starting to get pretty popular again. We always really liked the idea behind Record Store Day, so we’ve been trying to promote Record Store Day for a long while now with some different little things we’ve done.
MLM – But 10, 15 years ago, did you ever see a day when we would be celebrating vinyl again, as we are, as this unique form of creativity? I would have never postulated that there would have been the concept of a Record Store Day. Hell, I didn’t even think there’d still be record stores, you know, the way that people in the industry were talking at the time. People thought it was dead and buried as a vehicle for putting out music. What are your thoughts on why you think it’s come back around again?
WT – I think there’s a couple of different elements at play there. I think there’s a little bit of nostalgia for a certain age group. For another age group, the younger age group, when Taylor Swift tells everybody she got a new record coming out, she holds up the vinyl, you know, so it’s everywhere. It’s not just the old schoolers, so to speak. I also think there’s definitely a ritual to actually playing a record that’s very nice. I think people like the size of the vinyl and the artwork and liner notes – it’s a complete package and more complete experience, certainly when you compare it to streaming.
MLM – Yeah, all the same reasons we liked it, right? It just took two generations for it to come back around. One of the things that I’m heartened by is when I go to the local record store, and there aren’t that many, and most of them are independent, more than half of the people in there are young.
WT – I know, I go to the record stores too. Over half the people are young, you’re right. And when you go to see, like, local indie bands, they’re pressing vinyl, and the kids are eating it up. There’s always vinyl for sale at the merch booth, man.
MLM – And I talk to some of these young people and ask them why vinyl? And I’d hear stories where they were going in the attic or in the garage and found mom or dad’s records. Or they’d hear some of the stuff on the radio and want to find it and play it on vinyl. They’re saying the same thing you did – they like to have this more involved and intimate experience. Now, it’s not everybody. And it’s probably never going to get back to where it used to be.
WT – I always had a little bit of that. I’ve never got rid of the feeling, but I started really getting the bug again for vinyl about 10 years ago. And, you know, once you start getting 500, 600 records then you got a problem. I’m like, ‘where do I store all this?’ I’ve got it organized real well right now. I know exactly how many records I have because I’ve got the Discogs app. I keep track of inventory.
MLM – Shit, I need to do that.
WT – You’ve really got to do it. You can connect with me on Discogs. We can look at each other’s library. It’s a really cool little app.
MLM – I remember, not that long ago, people were saying that even the concept of the album was supposed to be dead.
WT – And yet here we are. I’ve always thought the concept was valid. People thought it was going to be singles only or whatever. But see, the thing about it is, you’ve got to understand words – vocabulary – as well. The word album doesn’t mean a piece of vinyl that’s been pressed with music on it. An album is a collection of things done over a certain period of time. So the amount of songs, 8, 10, 11, 12 songs for a project for most artists still works out perfect. That’s about how many songs we feel like we can do for, you know, a year and a half or two years of working on your material. And it documents that time, and it becomes an album, an album of songs.
MLM – Turning to the documentary, you guys talk, and Ed talks about this obviously too, about how he is always sort of writing and wanting to make new music. I assume when he gets the itch, you guys are all willing to jump in and scratch that itch? Is that the way it’s been for 30 years?
WT – Yeah, pretty much. He’s really prolific. So even on the road, we’re working on ideas or talking about ideas, and working stuff out at soundcheck. We have moments where we tell him, that’s enough. We can take the foot off the gas a little bit. I mean, I don’t want to stop making music. We all have that creative bug. I love playing live, but it’s a 50-50 thing for me. I am also drawn to the studio, to that creation process. It’s one of the most fulfilling things that I get to do in my life. But every now and then, when we have a record completed, and Ed starts talking about trying to go record on time off, I’m like, ‘maybe not, maybe not.’
MLM – How much of a role do the other guys play in the compositional process?
WT – It always depends on the song. There’re moments where Ed comes to us and he’s got a really good idea of exactly where the song is going to go. But for the most part, we don’t know. We start out with either a riff or sometimes a verse and a chorus, but we have to create the song. We have to get in there as a band and figure it out, I mean, there’s no bass lines on these things half the time. And Collective Soul is kind of known for not just mailing it in on the bass. We try to find stuff that makes a song interesting without just playing the basics.
MLM – A lot of bands aren’t, especially after 30 years, so prolific in terms of writing songs, recording albums and touring. And it’s not like you’re doing it every five or 10 years. It’s a lot more regular than that. This new one was a year and a half or so after Here to Eternity. Why is that prolificness and consistency so important to Collective Soul?
WT – I think that’s more internal for us. I don’t think we feel like that’s something we have to do to please someone else or because of external expectations. I feel it’s that we want to keep the work ethic up, but more, even more than that, we genuinely feel like creating is something that we thrive on. We do it because it’s something we’ve always done our whole lives. And we love it. We absolutely love it.
MLM – I think, gauging from the personalities that I saw on display in the documentary, you guys don’t come across as the types that would be satisfied on nostalgia circuit anyway. You want to have something new to try and incorporate it in with the rest of the bigger hits and older material.
WT – Yeah, I didn’t even think about that. You’re 100 per cent right. We enjoy playing the hits, but we’re also not a band that plays the same way every night. Everything’s a little different. Sometimes we’ll even call an audible on stage and try to make something up or try something on the spur of the moment.
Me and Johnny are always doing different stuff rhythmically, even if it’s ‘Shine,’ you know. We’re doing subtle stuff in the background and we’re having fun with songs. We also enjoy performing those songs because, obviously, the fans give us that joy back. There’s a really cool give and take there. But we get fired up playing new stuff, too, man. So yeah, there’s that element as well, when it comes to creating and releasing new material.
MLM – I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the world’s a little messed up right now. It always seems that when things are tough, whether it’s in a person’s individual life, or collectively, we turn to art and music, and maybe just again, as someone who sees that response from people, you see the catharsis that people when they see you live and hear those songs that they know and love. Talk about the importance of music and art, but music in particular to help people get through these tough times.
WT – I’ve even heard certain people describe art, especially music as something that’s kind of protected from things like politics and the economics of the world, as far as the popularity. That’s because people turn to music in times of trouble. In times of a financial depression, or big conflict they still need music. They still love going to a show to go forget about how bad things are. Because it does give you an escape. And it’s also about the memories that are tied to the music.
I don’t know what that magic is. I can’t really explain the technical side of what that magic is. But the good times, the bad times – all those things are tied up in there, in the music. It’s an absolute force in humanity. But you can’t really put your finger on why or what that is. But you could ask yourself, where would we be without songs? Without songs, without poems, without melody, without art? Where would we be without that? I can’t imagine what that would be like. So yeah, it’s true. There’s something magic about the music and how it interacts with your memories and also what’s going on right now in your life.
MLM – I know it’s been out for a while now, but what sort of feedback have you got from folks, fans, otherwise, to the documentary?
WT – I think overall, people were really pleased with it. I think the whole call by the production team to show a 30-year-old band working on new material in Elvis’s house was pretty unique. And then you know, let’s rewind and see how we got here, as opposed to just a straight-up history lesson. That approach went over really well. And I think people got to see a little more of the personalities without just getting a history lesson on what we did, you know, to get there.
MLM – So which came first, the idea to do the documentary like that, or were you already planning on recording there and the documentary came along secondarily?
WT – Actually, they started out as separate entities. It was when we partnered with Phonetics, the production company. And when we partnered with Phonetics, we were getting ready to come out to Palm Springs to record a record. But as soon as we all heard the idea, we bought it right away. And it probably came from just a session where we’re all sitting down talking about how to do the documentary. So I’m not sure exactly who said it, but it was one of those things that as soon as one person said it, we’re like, that’s the idea. That’s the idea!
MLM – Because you’re in the middle of a creative process, did you find it intrusive at all? Or after a little while, was it a case of you didn’t even realize the guys had cameras and lighting and everything there?
WT – No, they were great at staying out of the way and being flies on the wall a little bit. And we would put them off every now and then, like, ‘no, I’m not going to do that one-on-one interview right now. I’m just not in the right headspace. I feel like I got to work on this bass track,’ or ‘I just don’t even look good today, or feel good,’ whatever. But the schedule was very wide open, and there was always work to do for them, because we were working in the studio. Even if it was going out and getting B-roll of Palm Springs, there was always something for them to do. They did not get in the way at all, and it worked out perfect.
MLM – Who came up with the idea to do a doc in the first place? Why was the timing right to do it now?
WT – I think everybody would think about that if they’d been around as long as we have. It’s kind of the era of documentaries at this point now. I feel like I’m watching a new documentary once every couple of weeks.
MLM – Was the plan all along to go to this place, Elvis’s California house? That must have been a trip just to be in that place. That scene where Ed got the call from his mom and took the call in Lisa Marie’s bedroom to find out that she, Lisa Marie herself, had died, you couldn’t have scripted something like that. Nobody would have believed you.
WT – This didn’t make the documentary, but it doesn’t really rain a lot in Palm Springs at all. It’s a desert. It rained that night, and there was previously not a leak in Lisa Marie’s ceiling. But when it rained, water leaked through the ceiling and didn’t hit any of the gear, just landed on the table. It’s a nice little puddle on the table, right next to all the gear. So it was like, wow. Kind of weird. Somebody’s trying to tell us something here. Is she watching? I don’t know.
MLM – I really did like the fact that you were using the recording of the album as a premise for a historical documentary on the band. It was very seamless that way. Also, I thought they did a really good job at the tone and emotional balance of the film. It was very truthful and honest and very emotional, but it wasn’t salacious. It wasn’t headline baiting or click baiting.
I’ve talked to a couple of you guys over the years, and that doesn’t seem to be your style anyway. Yet, it’s still very honest and still very emotional. There’s the moment where Ed is talking about his friend, the photographer’s brother who passed away. Then there’s you guys talking about each other and the importance to each other and even the newer guys. It was just very real. I think that’s what you want people to know about you, right?
WT – I think sincerity is hard to fake. I can tell when somebody’s trying to fake that kind of stuff. When it’s real, it transcends, and it connects with people.
MLM – What do you want people to take away from that film? Not to get all highfalutin, but what sort of message would you want people, if they were asked about it, what would you want them to say about the doc?
WT – I’m going to say ‘Collective Soul’s a hell of a rock band.’
MLM – I like alliteration, so I wrote down. Family and fun were the two very simplistic but powerful themes of the film. The notion of a band as a family, but also the family within the band. You practically are a third Roland brother in a way. I love the way they incorporated Ed and Dean’s parents a bit in there, but also your dad. I didn’t know anything about your dad before that, and I’m like, wow, and how he’s paid tribute as being so important to the band.
WT – There is definitely no band without him. We wanted to be ourselves, but we didn’t know how the production and editing was going to be able to pull it off. And they did pull it off. We wanted to be ourselves, and when we saw the first cut, we thought, okay, all right, that’s kind of the way we wanted it to be.
For more information on the documentary, the new album Touch and Go and the band’s fall tour, visit https://collectivesoul.com.
