Creed

Lead vocalist Scott Stapp and bandmates Brian Marshall (bass), Scott Phillips (drums) and Mark Tremonti (guitar, vocals) have been in charge of their own destiny since they formed Creed in 1995. The band recorded its debut record, My Own Prison, for less than $6,000 in the home studio of producer John Kurzweg.

During the recording, the members of Creed met the man who would become their manager, Jeff Hanson. Hanson heard some of the tracks the band was putting down and immediately recognized that Creed needed representation.

At the time, the band had been performing locally and developed quite a following. The band was booking all of its own shows and having a great time performing for ever-increasing audiences. But when Hanson said he’d prove that he was serious by getting Creed added to the playlist on the local radio station, the band agreed to give the relationship a shot. Two weeks later, the band’s music was in heavy rotation on that Tallahassee station.

Hanson helped the band land its record deal with Wind-up Entertainment, which is distributed by BMG. The label released My Own Prison in 1997 and today, the band is rapidly breaking on a national level.

“This is exactly how fast we always imagined and dreamed that it would happen for us,” he said. “We were real naive. We didn’t know that this doesn’t happen to everyone who gets a record deal.

“We thought that once you got a record deal and got on the radio, that you had sold out shows every night and your life changed dramatically, and you played five, six nights a week and you traveled all over the United States.”

Creed eventually crossed paths with enough of its peers to realize that success in selling out clubs and theatres doesn’t come that fast for many acts. “So that kind of puts it in perspective and it helps us appreciate more of what’s going on,” Stapp said.

Developing a fan base by touring locally is a strategy that Creed plans to carry forward now that it is a national touring act. “We started out playing smaller rooms and we’re progressively leading up to bigger rooms,” Stapp said. “We’re trying to do the same thing on a national level that we did in our hometown and it seems to be working out pretty good.”

The relentless touring is helping the band members become better musicians, Stapp said, but it also is taking an unexpected toll on the singer’s body. “You really have to stay healthy,” he said. “A lot of people think that our lifestyles are one party to another — every night drinkin’….. But I think I’m living healthier now than I’ve ever had to live in my entire life….. I can’t afford to get sick. If I get sick, the tour stops.”

In an attempt to say healthy, Creed makes sure its contract riders always include a lot of veggies and fruit juices. Helping the band get its vitamins — and its great gigs — is Ken Fermaglich at Artists & Audience Entertainment. Stapp said Fermaglich has blended well with the band’s existing business team of family and close friends. “We were talking to ICM and they wanted to work with us,” Stapp said. “[Signing with] Artists & Audience was just another way we stayed true to how all the decisions were made in this band — staying away from big corporate entities.”

Stapp said the band told Fermaglich early on that it wanted to remain in small buildings when it first went into a market, despite the potential to sell out venues twice that size. Fermaglich is helping the band achieve its goal. For example, Creed insists on playing two nights in a 1,000-seat venue if it has never been to that market before, rather than jump up to a bigger building just for the bucks.

“I think it’s important that the first time you see a band that you’re in love with, you can see the sweat dripping off my face and the spit coming out of my mouth. You can reach and almost touch our feet,” Stapp said. “And I want to be able to see them too. I want to be able to make eye contact with everyone in the room…. It’s a show for the band too. We’re looking at all these faces in the crowd and they’re putting on a show for us.”

Stapp said the band would love to eventually sell out arenas, but it is not necessary. “We said from the beginning, and all of us kind of agreed, that if I could make enough money to pay my house payment and my car payment and play music for the rest of my life, then that’s all I need to make,” he said.

“Sure, we all want to improve ourselves and do better, but you’ve got to remember why you’re doing this. This is a lot better than shuckin’ oysters and that’s what I was doing seven months ago.”