Instead of hitting the road to create a buzz for the release of their third album, Cities, vocalist Stephen Christian, bassist Deon Rexroat, and the band's tour manager, Seth Cain, stepped away from their regular musical identities and headed to Calcutta, India. There, they spent a week working with The Emancipation Network, a group that uses proceeds from products made by slavery survivors to provide housing, legal aid, education, and health care to victims of trafficking and prostitution. According to TEN's website (EmancipationNetwork.org), approximately 13 million people under the age of 18 are estimated to be victims of slavery for forced prostitution, labor, domestic work, and other forms of exploitation. Given the dire circumstances these children face, Christian was as happy to provide his energy to help the boys and girls residing in the shelters of Apne Aap and San Aap as they were to receive it.
"To those kids, every one of us who flew over there was a rockstar," Christian says, "whether we were in a band [A Classic Crime and Showbread also made the trip] or not. They were more amazed that Americans were taking time out of their lives, and spending as much of it as they could working with them."
Christian, who went to Haiti in 2006 to help build homes with Habitat for Humanity, says a lot of his hours in India were spent repairing, sweeping, and painting broken down buildings to give children a nicer place to eat, sleep, and learn. The rest of the time was dedicated to teaching music and art - subjects many third-world kids do not get an opportunity to study. In addition to music lessons, Anberlin donated keyboards and guitars for its pupils to enjoy after the band went home.
"My life is so consumed by Anberlin that it was definitely great to be away from the business end of things and teach someone how to play the keyboard and the guitar," Christian says. "It's also nice to be able to come back and share what I learned to try to influence other people to make a difference. I don't care if they fly halfway around the world. I just want people to volunteer and help, whether it's something in their own community, or an organization like World Vision or Habitat for Humanity.
"Anberlin is not the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, or U2," he continues. "We're not going to be here for another 20 years. I understand that we're here and gone, but while we're here and while we have this platform, I just want to convey the message that everyone can play a part in shaping the world around them. It's like Gandhi said - 'Become the change you wish to see in the world.'"
Not only is Christian becoming that change, but he's also attempting to show the rest of the world the difference he's trying to make through a documentary filmed on the trip. Inspired by the 2003 film Invisible Children and the awareness it raised for youth in Uganda, Christian hopes to make as many people as possible aware of just how bad India's situation is, whether the film is released on the big screen or simply posted on YouTube.
"I just want exposure," he explains. "It doesn't matter how big or small. I'm not trying to make money off of this. I'm trying to save lives. I saw a nine-year-old who was pregnant, and a 10-year-old with a child. These girls are too young to even come to our shows, and they're having children. I'd love to start a revolution so people are more conscious about the world around them and less about the little superficial bubble we've created."
In addition to the documentary and its relief-work experience, the band also used the trip as an opportunity to send a message of faith - a faith that thrives on a message of love and service to all people. Although the members of Anberlin, like many of the bands on Tooth & Nail Records, claim Christianity as their faith, they spent a week happily working alongside Muslims and Hindus.
"I'm not naïve," he says. "I don't think the world is entirely made up of Christians. I enjoy working with anyone, no matter what race or orientation they are. The Bible says pure religion is loving widows and orphans, and that's what I set out to do."
Before heading to India, Christian and his mates set out to make Cities their best effort to date. It was a tough decision to stay with Aaron Sprinkle - producer of the band's first two records - because Anberlin was serious about making the album completely different from its predecessors. Christian says taking more control and working directly with Sprinkle, combined with recording at London Bridge studios, yielded bigger, more experimental instrumentals, as well as the use of entirely new elements such as a philharmonic orchestra and a boys' choir. The final product is a building, swelling epic that starts with "Godspeed," a tip of the cap to Anberlin's previous records, and ends with Christian's favorite track, "Fin."
"'Fin' is the climax of the achievement we were aiming for," he beams. "The whole album is chapters of a story, but this is the epic battle of the self and God. It's you trying to figure out, with all the belief systems you have, how you feel about God. It's kind of like a final battle. It sounds like a mythological tale, but it's not meant to be. From drug use, to atheism, to Buddhism, to whatever religion, everybody has to confront what they believe in."
While God does play an important role in Christian's life, he admits that there is a potential downfall of being on the Tooth & Nail imprint. Despite the success of labelmates such as Underoath and Mae, he feels some people have trouble distinguishing bands whose members happen to be Christian from Christian genre bands such as Jars of Clay.
"It's almost funny because Christians get a stigma of being close-minded," he says. "But in all actuality, it's working both ways. People say, 'Oh, you're a Christian? Then we discount your talent.' I don't preach a hell fire and brimstone message at our shows, and our songs aren't topically about one thing. It's a bit of a conundrum that people assume Christians are automatically this way, and can't be anything else."
For more details on Anberlin's trip to India and the documentary, visit Anberlin.com or visit the band's Myspace page (MySpace.com/Anberlin).
Random Questions for Stephen Christian
What kind of humanitarian trip will you be taking next?
We're heading to Africa, to Nairobi, Kenya. We're going to be teaching communities how to farm. We'll show each group one area of farming from watering to planting, etc. At night, we're going to teach them the truth about AIDS - how you catch it, and how you abstain from it. It looks like Dustin [Kensrue] from Thrice is going too, and Underoath is really excited about it. Even if they don't go, they're going to sponsor it in some way.
What do you guys do for fun on the road when you're not handling business?
Nate [Young, drummer] and I usually get up around 11 and print out a list of the local Starbucks. Then we go there to hang out or read for a while, and go online to find places to explore in whatever city we're in. Deon [Rexroat, bassist] and Joey [Milligan, guitarist] love movies. When they leave the bus, it's to go to Best Buy to buy more movies. It's kind of funny because our personalities are the same when we're at home. Deon and Joey live together, and they stay at home and watch movies, while Nate and I try to find things to do.
Would you rather play to a room full of emo kids or a room full of hipsters?
Probably emo kids, to be honest, because hipsters are too cool to do anything, so they'll definitely be too cool to like our band. I'm not in the business of trying to impress people. This is my art. This is my passion, so I don't want to sing music to a group of people that is going to be critical regardless of what you do.
If you could be an opening act on a huge stadium tour, what band would you like to go out with?
The Rolling Stones, for sure. They had such an influence on music. The entire stage show is built around Mick Jagger and his ability to control an audience. With the history that they have, I would just love to watch that band every night.
If Anberlin blows up and does a stadium tour, who are you taking with you?
It's cocky, because they're freaking huge, but I would reunite the Smiths and ask them to come out. That's a reach. But actually, Jimmy Eat World is one of the more influential bands in our scene, and I'd feel weird asking them, but if they would go out with us, they'd be doing us a favor. That would be huge, as much as it would be humbling.
What was the last book you read?
Fire in the Belly by Sam Keen. It's actually a psychology book about the nature of men. I remember one of my professors in college told us to read it, but naturally I avoided it then. It's a commentary about masculinity in America and it talks about how we used to hunt, fish, and gather for survival, but now we program computers, and where has our masculinity gone? It doesn't make you want to go out and camp, but it's really good.
Of all the lead singers you've come across in this business, who would you most like to see on American Idol?
Schuylar [Croom] from He Is Legend would be awesome. He looks like a vampire trucker, and I'd just love to see their reaction when he walks in. Or maybe John Bunt from Sense Field/Further Seems Forever. He probably has the most beautiful voice of anyone I've ever encountered, since I've never met Morrissey. One of them, or Jimmy Gnecco from Ours. He's a little scrawny guy, but his pipes and range are just amazing.
Growing up near Orlando, Fla., what was your favorite ride at Disney World?
The Haunted Mansion. I always loved it. It was so cool. They had these statues that would talk and move. That was definitely my favorite ride.
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