Audio Adrenaline

The band’s members — vocalist Mark Stuart, Bob Herdman on keys and guitar, bassist Will McGinniss, drummer Ben Cissell and guitarist Tyler Burkum — have been on the road since early this year doing a 60-plus city tour in support of their latest release, Some Kind of Zombie.

Yet, Audio Adrenaline defies the tradition of being the typical everyday, hit-single-overplayed-on-the-radio act. The group remains obscure to mainstream audiences despite playing to some 1.5 million people over the past couple of years. And the band’s Zombie album, its fourth studio release, sold more than 100,000 copies within the first two months of hitting the shelves, according to SoundScan.

So, what’s the reason for this obscurity?

Audio Adrenaline is a Christian band. Since its inception, the band has been spreading the word of Jesus Christ through its music and live performances. As a result, the group has grown-up in a way that is quite uncommon from the pop acts of today.

A distinguishing facet of the band’s coming of age can be seen in the types of venues it has performed in. “We never really played on a club tour,” frontman Stuart confessed to POLLSTAR. “I think the churches are to Christian groups, I guess, what a club is to a mainstream act.”

The group bypassed the club gigs and opted for the churches to maintain the audience it wants to reach. “A lot of churches out there are set up like theatres, which is cool. If you’re a Christian band, it makes it easier for youth groups to come out because a lot of times they’re leery to come to a club,” Stuart said. “And you can’t really pull the youth group church bus up to a club because the youth pastor or whoever gets a little, you know, he gets in trouble.”

Stuart said the band isn’t opposed to doing clubs though. “We’ll play any place,” he said. “But we’ve kind of been weened on theatres and arenas.” The group also regularly performs at county and state fairs.

Audio Adrenaline formed while members Stuart and McGinniss were attending Kentucky Christian College and playing in a local band. The school enlisted the band’s help to recruit students at youth conventions across the country. “The school would basically sponsor us and would give us equipment and a van and we’d go play. All we had to do really, from the school’s standpoint, is say something about our college,” Stuart said. “And that’s kinda how we got started. We built a big following that way.”

The band created a loyal grassroots following throughout the Midwest performing on behalf of the college. They also sold a healthy amount of independent records that way. In 1991, the band left college and signed with Tennessee-based ForeFront Records. On its first major tour, AA teamed up with fellow ForeFront artists Geoff Moore & The Distance.

“That was our first real experience of doing a tour,” Stuart said. “We were the opening act but at the same time we were roadies and we drove those van-bus-things. So it was pretty hard but it was a good time because we were just starting off. It was our first time to experience the whole country.”

Before heading out on their second major tour, this time a theatre tour with dc Talk, the group signed with True Artists Management, which also manages dc Talk. “It kind of helps when we’re going on tour together with dc Talk to have the same management because it keeps everything in line,” Stuart said. “It’s got a lot more momentum that way. A lot of people might think it’s a conflict of interest, but it’s pretty cool. They’ve looked out for us and dc Talk.”

After being pursued by the William Morris Agency, the AA boys decided to join forces. “I think we signed with them in ’94 [or] ’95. And that’s our only agency,” he said. “This is really the first headline tour they’ve booked because we’ve been doing opening slots. They’ve done a great job on this tour.”

The bandmates are thankful for having a well-oiled business team. “Every year it seems like Christian bands get into a rut — doing a tour and then doing all of the Christian music festivals, you know? We like doing stuff a little differently,” Stuart said. William Morris has been able to keep the band occupied with a constant variety of gigs. “They’re really good at booking us at fairs and putting together tours.”

Aside from touring, the group has bigger plans for the future. “We’re gonna start a label and we’re looking for new talent right now,” Stuart said. “That’s something we’re gonna do in the future, just make records and take what we’ve done and help bands reach their goals in Christian music. [We’ll] take them on the road with us and help start their careers with our own label and the idea that we’ll take them out and show them the world, I guess.”

But for now, the band members are feeling tired. “We’re gonna take some time off. We’ve been touring hard for five, six years,” Stuart said. Yet, the summer has a couple of dates on the books. “We’re gonna do summer festivals and fairs and amusement park dates, which we really like to because we get to ride the rides, you know?”