MESSAGE FINALLY RECEIVEDBy Steve Arney (The Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL)
March 26, 2006

Andrew Osenga says his band, The Normals, had learned to connect with audiences and produce quality records -- just in time to fold.

At a Christian music festival, the musicians' parking area filled with fancy tour buses. In came a 15-passenger van, hauling a trailer.

The Normals had arrived.

Singing songs about lust and fear and insecurity -- about true lives of today's Jesus followers and about the struggles of Bible characters -- The Normals presented a sound influenced by their Christian roots but also by bands like U2 and Radiohead. Their sounds were crisp and artful. But as headliners, The Normals would draw, at best, 500 people to a show.

So, no tour bus. Instead, the van and the trailer. Exhausted band members. Road weary. Sick. Homesick. The band folded shortly after Forefront Records made it known it would not strongly market their third album in 2002, said singer-guitarist Andrew Osenga. He said the label hadn't really marketed the second record either.

He wonders what would have been if The Normals had been working today, when the Internet is producing an explosion of marketing and sales opportunities for bands that the major producers aren't interested in promoting.

The Normals sprung out of a band begun in the 1990s in Normal. Osenga now lives in Nashville. Co-founder Mark Lockett returned home.

Lockett speaks of a legacy left by The Normals: Music that lasts. People approach him, recognizing him. Osenga, now the guitarist for the Christian folk-pop band Caedmon's Call, said he sees someone in a Normals T-shirt at Caedmon's shows. Sometimes fans call out requests for Normals songs.

But their legacy also is expressed in promoting independent artists.

Lockett runs a Web design business. Among his projects, he helped create the site for SongBird and RadioNet (www.songbird.cc). It is like iTunes' store in that it sells music by the song, and it's radio-like streaming feed allows listeners to sample bands.

Designed to help the independent musician and groups, SongBird lists 28 genres. Three are Christian (Christian pop/rock, gospel and inspirational/worship).

Osenga, when he's not touring and recording for Caedmon's, is making solo records. His third CD comes out in April under the label Square Peg Alliance. The alliance is a coalition of believers making records without major labels. They cross-promote by encouraging fans, friends and Web site visitors to try the other alliance bands.

Such outlets don't guarantee a group's success. But it makes it easier for bands to get exposure after major labels deem they are not a good risk. And it allows Christian rockers to produce without being filtered by the wishes of music industry executives who are driven to produce records they think will sell the most copies.

The dilemma that befell The Normals is similar to that of The Frantics and throngs of similar Christian bands trying to make it in the late 1990s and early 2000s, said Frantics singer-songwriter Chris Shandrow of Bloomington. It wasn't the style or the melodies, said Shandrow; it was the message of what Shandrow labels "nonconformist Christian music."

The Frantics had a run from 1998 to 2001, before road fatigue and disillusionment with the band's record label pushed Shandrow out of the business.

U2 and other secular bands can cross over and write a song with spiritual messages. Shandrow said the industry is reluctant to try the reverse: Christian bands singing about life issues without constantly invoking Christ.

In short, he said, The Frantics, The Normals and others like them weren't producing enough "JPM" -- Jesus Per Minute -- a musicians' term that is derisive of corporate Christian music's emphasis on happy songs. Not enough JPM means too much real life in the lyrics.

Mark Lockett works on The Normals' second record, "Coming to Live," at a house in New Orleans.

The theme of failure followed by redemption makes the Bible authentic to Lockett. Moses, Peter, Paul and David are among those on a long list of believers with Bible-documented failings. Christian contemporary music (CCM) gravitates to the redemption part of the story, Lockett said.

"The CCM industry wants to market to everything good, joyful," said Lockett. "We went above and beyond to be different. It's dangerous music. It's too brutally honest. ... It's a tad bit depressing."

Shandrow, too, wanted to move outside the happier themes of mainstream Christian music. He distinguishes his style from praise music, as his songs are projecting his emotions outward, while praise music is targeted upward, toward God.

The pressure from the label, he said, was to make his music more overtly Christian expression in the praise-music style. He can understand the industry's concern. Think of the music industry as a pie. Christian music is a sliver. His style is a small sliver of that sliver.

Ironically, The Normals only No. 1 hit on the Christian charts, "Everything," features Osenga portraying a young, despairing Christian who, lacking in self-confidence, fears he has nothing to offer Christianity. There's no certainty of success -- only the decision to try.

Osenga's musical themes changed in his solo career. There's less angst and more maturity in his voice. But this is a result of life change, not a compromise from his principles, he said. He was just 23 when the band amicably parted.

"In The Normals, I was lonely and single. Now, it's how to make a marriage work, how to be a good dad," said Osenga.

It's still the mix of art, entertainment, business and ministry -- Christian performing art, essentially done his way -- that he finds satisfying.

Musically, Lockett and Shandrow find fulfillment in Shandrow's new band, Goodbye Audio. It has minimum touring and no filtering of record labels.

They don't have to sell music or tour; they have day jobs.

For similar work in bands trying to make a full-time living, Lockett believes the Internet options are increasing chances of success many times over.

That said, Lockett emphasizes a key ingredient. He said, "You still have to make good music."

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Most people we talk to say it's a shame so many people didn't ever see The Normals perform. Well, you now have a chance to again. On the Caedmon's tour in 2001, the last show we played was at Texas A&M University. Must've been 3 or 4000 people there, and I think we might have played the best, most emotional show of our career. Well, somebody recorded it...quite well actually. We have converted it to Real Streaming for you. It was compressed for a minimum of 128 Mbs (ISDN). I just couldn't bring myself to sacrifice any more quality of this amazing performance. Technically, this file is downloadable (not on a streaming server). Feel free to copy and distribute. Also, if you are interested in the master (which is MPG 352w), please contact me here.

- The Best I Can (live)
- Black Dress (live)
- We are the Beggars (live)
- Fake Plastic Trees (live)