Blessid Union of Souls
Hitmakers bounce back amidst a changing industry

By Marion Olea, North Central College; Kate Seesholtz, Belmont University and Jim Simmons, Arizona State University and Andy Argyrakis

Between the socially conscious ballad “I Believe” and the pop culture reference-laden rocker “Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me),” hardly an hour goes by when a Blessid Union of Souls song isn’t spinning on a radio station somewhere in America. Add in a slew of other singles throughout the 1990s and front half of the 2000s, plus tours with Goo Goo Dolls, Bon Jovi and Sister Hazel, and the Eliot Sloan-led foursome’s built a fervent fan base, even if record releases have tapered in the second half of this decade. In spite of some time off, the band is back with the new CD Close To the Edge (Torque Records/Sony/Red) and is hitting the college touring circuit to promote the project and recall its past catalogue. The familiar front man recently checked in with Hear/Say via a conference-styled interview with various Campus Correspondents, which included insight on the band’s reemergence, its ongoing stance against racism and thriving amidst the music industry’s ever shifting state.

Argyrakis: After coming off an extended break, how does it feel to be back on the road?

Sloan: We love playing live and that’s probably our first love. Even though we haven’t had a record out on the airwaves in awhile, we’ve never really stopped touring. We’re always playing out as much as we can and I think that helps in so many different aspects- from songwriting to us being together constantly, getting on each other’s nerves, making up and then coming up with some cool music from that or another cool experience [from the road]. It’s always cool to get in front of the fans and play. They are the reason we’re even in existence. Beyond the scope of what happened at radio with our first record getting a lot of airplay, it’s the fans and the connection of the music.

Seesholtz: Over the years, you’ve changed members, management and labels, but do you feel like you’ve finally found the right fit?

Sloan: Yeah, in a sense. The things have happened naturally as far as band member changes, and for the most part, there’s not a lot of animosity. It’s [come from the changes of] life and you have to just adjust to it. I think a lot about the days when we worked on our first record and when things were just fresh, pure and brand new. Of course you wish it could last like that forever just like in a relationship, but everybody knows change is pretty much the only constant and you have to adjust to it. We’ve kept basically trimming the fat of who really wants be involved, who really loves it and who would bleed for this- willing to go through the valleys and the good times. The core band members that we have now are definitely in a good, happy and peaceful place and I think it shows on this latest record.

Simmons: How has the band evolved and expanded its sound into the late 2000s?

Sloan:  Well, you hope you’re always trying move forward and progressing in the right direction, but when you’re in the studio writing songs, you never know how it sounds until you have it mixed and listen to it on the way to Starbucks. You might say “yeah, that sounds good,” or “let’s change this or that,” but it’s so hard to predict. A friend of mine who used to manage a band equated writing a hit to being probably harder than hitting the lottery. He’s probably right and I’d guess the odds are equally the same. All you can do is trust what you have inside of you when the four of us come together. When we’re working on a record, we’re way over recording 20-30 songs just to try to get the best 8-11.  

Olea: The new song “Back from the Dead” is about a struggle with addiction. Was it written from personal experience or from the perspective of someone you know?

Sloan: Yeah, someone I know. I’ve spoke to him a few times and he’s always said it’s appropriate and okay to talk about it, but my bass player deals with the addiction of alcohol. He’s been kind of going back and fourth with that over the years, but he’s doing a lot better. One night we were sitting in a hotel room and just talking about life- just the different things he and I experienced being in the band for as long as we have. We were sitting in the hotel room probably until about 3 or 4 in the morning and I got out my acoustic guitar as he was talking about it…That song is kind of like therapy for both of us. I also believe that song can affect lot of people. I think everybody has something in their life, whether it be alcohol, drugs or whatever it is. There’s something to overcome constantly in our lives and we wanted to come up with a song about hope that you can get through this, move on and have a better life than what you had before. That’s the hope, and I truly believe that and try as much as I can to live that day by day as well.

Seesholtz: Your song “I Believe” was a huge hit when it was released in the mid ‘90s. Do you feel the world’s progressed away from the racism you addressed across those lyrics?

Sloan: I believe that it’s still there, in fact, I know it’s still there. There are some personal instances I can tell you in my life that’s shown me that it’s still there. I never thought I could change the world with a song, but just provide some healing and some thought to help open people’s minds a little bit. It may not be as prevalent and as vocal, but it is [still there] and it’s not just black and white- it’s all races obviously. You just turn on CNN and you see some crazy chaos going on and I believe it’s all just deep rooted evil. I always say I think that racism is probably one of the devil’s biggest jokes in the sense that he can actually get someone to be mad at somebody else because of the skin color as if anybody had anything to do with it. It’s hilariously pathetic to me that one person can look at another person and say “I don’t like you because of the color of your skin.” It doesn’t get any more stupid than that! You put a bunch of babies all around world into a room and they’re just gonna play together and have fun. During the course of the world [people are] taught to hate this person because his skin is this color. The healing process is a lot longer than one band and one song, but we do our part in bringing a positive light into a very long, ongoing problem and we’ll continue to do that with our music. [“I Believe”] was one song that’s gotten tons of emails, whether it be from a black guy or white girl or vice versa. They say “you summed up something I was dying to say to my parents” and it just spoke for them.

Olea: There’s been a lot of debate regarding the future of the music industry and where it’s going. To what degree does the uncertainty affect the band?

Sloan: Well at the end of the day, the “business of music” is still to me the “music business.” The music has to come first, and God willing, there will still be a demand for live bands. We’re all human here and we want something that’s real…One thing about playing out live is we interact with people and hear fans’ thoughts. They’re all telling us the same thing and that’s they can’t stand what’s on the radio. There’s good and bad just like there always has been, but people want something real and that’s one thing we have going for us. As long as there’s a demand for that, I feel like you can make it somehow. There’s always a different climate in the record industry and you can’t be intimidated by it. It will be different ten years from now just like it was different from ten years ago. We want to play music, whether that be theatres, clubs, colleges or wherever. It’s what we do and that by-passes record labels, publicists and promotional companies. It’s the band and the fans, which is the bread and butter of everything. If you can do that and have a genuine love for it, than any band really can survive, but you have to completely believe in it. If you’re not willing to bleed for it, believe me, there are a million other bands who are willing to and they’re wanting it worse than you. It’s hard enough [to make it] when you give 110%, let alone anything less. We love what do and are gonna adjust somehow. We know the challenges that lie before us and we’re preparing for them, but things are moving forward for us. At the end of the day, people just want to be touched with a song or with a melody that they can take with them. To be a part of that is what success is to me, and if we can keep delivering that, than we’ve done what we’ve set out to do.