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T
he project, Rock What You Got, produced by the band’s own Max Hsu (tobyMac, Newsboys), finds the
band honing a “rock-o-tronic” sound, an electro-punk mash-up of slashing guitars, pulsing keyboards
and grit-pop vocals. While Superchick’s last album, Beauty From Pain, sought to empathize with
listeners’ pain, band members have since walked their own dark, lonely roads with relationship splits
and cancer touching four of their families. Rather than expound upon these personal hardships, Superchick
turned Rock What You Got, into a battle cry to charge onward. The disc resulted in Superchick’s highest ever
first week sales numbers, and its current single “Hold” is climbing up the CHR charts at No. 5 this week,
according to Radio & Records.
Bill Lurwick, host of NewReleaseTuesday.com’s New Christian Music PodCast, recently spoke
with the group’s lead singer Tricia Brock about many of the band’s personal struggles and how
they transformed the pain into new a direction and focus.
Bill: We’re excited about the
release of Rock What You Got.
What an awesome project! I
was recently in the car with my
two girls, who are thirteen and
twelve, and the first thing they
said was, “Turn it up!”
Tricia: Nice! That’s a good
response.
We all enjoyed listening to it
together. Now, from what I
understand, there were some
rough times for you guys
between your last album, Beauty
From Pain to Rock What You
Got. Fill us in on what’s been
going on.
The songs on Beauty From
Pain were really personal and
dealt with a lot of suffering and
brokenness that we were going
through. Most of the members
in our band had experienced a
breakup, so we were dealing
with the emotions that are
associated with a broken heart
and the changes that come when
a relationship ends. When you
become single again, you’re just
trying to figure out the opposite
sex and looking for a new
perspective on the situation.
Throughout the recording
of Beauty From Pain, all of
us worked through a
lot of things we were
struggling with. We felt
like we learned so much,
and the interesting thing
was that it just kept on
happening. At one point
during the recording process,
Matt’s mom had a scare with
cancer when she was told she
had a lump that needed to be
removed. They felt like it was
pretty far along, so she went to
the hospital that day for surgery.
The doctors looked around, but
they found nothing there!
My mom had a pre-cancer scare
as well. She was able to have
the lump removed, and it didn’t
spread. She just needed radiation
treatment, but I spent six months
worrying about her while we
were on tour.
Tragically, our guitar player,
Dave, lost his dad within a year
after being told he had cancer.
His cancer was pretty far along
and it spread really fast.
And then, while we were on
tour promoting Beauty From
Pain, Melissa and I receive a
phone call about news of a
divorce in our family. We’ve
seen how divorce tears families
apart, and the emotional pain
that kids experience is real. It felt
as though every phone call we
got, we were like, “Oh gosh, what
now?”
God really used Beauty From
Pain to heal me. I would sing
those songs about first loves
and broken hearts, while going
through it myself, and honestly
it really made the process of
healing so much faster and easier
for me. This was a really cool way
of feeling connected with our
fans.
It is beautiful to look back
and see the process that He’s
taught us. God really does give
us wisdom through those painful
times as we seek it, and He really
does help us learn for the next
time around.
Wow! That’s a lot to take in. I
understand you personally went
through a hard breakup as well
during this time.
Obviously, He brought the
right man into my life—finally!
I did. It was a two-year
relationship that ended about
a year ago. I really thought we
were going to get married, but
that didn’t happen. When it
ended, there was this moment
when I told myself that I didn’t
want to have to write another
album called Beauty From Pain,
because I didn’t want to go
through another year like that. I
just said, “God, I can’t handle this.
I need my heart to heal faster this
time. Please don’t make it a long
process.”
of us. But he’s doing well and
he’s actually engaged, too. He is
getting married in December, so
the four of us will be married by
the end of the year!
It’s a different chapter in the life
of Superchic[k] the band, isn’t
it?
It is. It’s been really neat. Max
got married last year, along with
Matt, so we’re dropping like flies!
Well come on now, you still have
a bright future and you continue
to make great music as we’re
hearing on Rock What You Got.
You’re headlining tour started
earlier in September, but you’ve
been playing a few of the songs
off the record for awhile now,
right?
Yes. Our tour earlier this spring
was called “Cross The Line,” and
we were performing the title
track. We had really hoped to
have this album out in time for
that tour, so it was somewhat
of a disappointment to have
it delayed. But you know,
everything depends on your
perspective, and it worked out for
the best.
The tour was great though. It
was forty-seven dates with very
few days off. It was pretty tiring,
but we had amazing turnouts.
We performed at some of the
biggest shows we’ve ever had,
selling out churches in these tiny
little suburb towns. People were
just so excited. That means the
world to us, and it gave us so
much energy to keep going!
Speaking of better things ahead,
I hear you have some big news to
share!
I do! I’m getting married in three
months.
You are? Hey, that’s good to
hear.
You can find a true
“beauty from
pain” there.
Praise the Lord!
That is awesome!
Now I’ve got
to say Tricia, you
mentioned every band member
except your drummer, Brandon.
How is he doing?
Well, Brandon actually went
through a breakup as well, but I
think he was the most untouched
by the process. Maybe he had
some things about God figured
out a little better than the rest
So now you’re energized!
We are! We feel a certain sense
of pride in the work that we’ve
put into this album. I think we’ve
become better and I think we’re
pouring our hearts into it even
more. We don’t just write a song
to say pretty things, but there’s a
lot of emotion and truth behind
what we do.
We talk about the things we’ve
experienced in life and the fun
songs really showcase where
we’re at now. There’s just a joy
and a peace that we’re all feeling
which has resulted from the end
of a couple tough years.
Who did most of the writing on
this project?
It was all collaborative. Max
was definitely more evident in it
lyrically than on our last album.
The boys all worked together
on the music a lot of times. Max
would come up with a lot of
ideas while we were on tour, and
then the rest of us would take
those songs and make them as
awesome as we could!
Is it fun writing a song like that?
It is, especially working with
really talented people. I always
feel really blessed to have the
opportunity to work with Max on
songwriting, because I feel like
it’s going to college. He teaches
me so much about producing and
being in the studio. As much as
we want to be there, he invites
us over everyday. It’s like this
experience that we would never
get if we just had a producer that
was for hire. Max is so humble
about what he does, and he
wants our opinions.
And judging from the album
cover, Max is a gymnast as well.
[Laughs] He is! He’s got
Superchic[k] Albums:
Reinvention Rock What You Got
Beauty From Pain
Regeneration Last One Picked 2010
2008
2006
2003
2002
For more information about Superchic[k],
including tour dates, go to:
www.superchickonline.com
some energy. He actually really
did the hand-stand on that stereo
too!
It wasn’t photo shopped?
Nope. And the boys were all
really jumping that high.
Wow!
I mean, it was put together from
separate shots, but otherwise
we really did do all those things.
Hyper boys.
Hyper girls too! So what is your
favorite track on this project
besides the first radio single?
My favorite song on the
album is definitely “Crawl.”
I had somebody really
close to me that was going
through depression while
we were recording that
song. I remember being
in the studio and the
weather was pretty
dreary outside. I wasn’t
feeling quite up to par
vocally and my heart
was just really heavy
for this person in my
life. Whatever we
were doing for this
pop song just wasn’t
working, so we moved
on to “Crawl.” I knew
this prayer that I was
singing was a song that so many
people could sing. We all get
to that point where we’ve just
been broken and we’ve screwed
up and we are so humbled and
so low.
I always want to fix things
first and then go to God. But I
realized through this song that
I have to crawl back to
Him immediately.