Lifehouse on Fire: Most-played Single in Nation
By: By Chris Macias -- Bee Pop Music Writer - Sacramento Bee
December 14th 2001 9:47am
The magic number for Lifehouse is 420,000. According to Broadcast Data Systems (BDS), that's the number of times the group's single "Hanging by a Moment" was played on the radio in 2001, making it the nation's most-played song of the year. It's simply been a doozy of a year for the pop-rock band with a Christian bent. In addition to the monster-size success of "Hanging by a Moment," the group -- which features singer/guitarist Jason Wade, drummer Rick Woolstenhulme and bassist Sergio Andrade -- sold 2 million copies of its debut album, "No Name Face," and toured with Pearl Jam and Matchbox Twenty. On Saturday, Lifehouse performs with Sugar Ray, Shaggy, Blu Cantrell and other groups at the Jingle Ball concert, sponsored by KDND (107.9 FM). Before a recent show in Detroit, Wade had a few minutes to chat on the phone with Pop Life. Here's what the 21-year-old pop sensation had to say about Lifehouse's roots, its whirlwind year and its upcoming album. Pop Life: I hear that an early version of Lifehouse was called Blyss. What was that band like? Wade: It was a lot more acoustic. I think the Lifehouse record rocks a lot more than we used to. We basically started with acoustic guitars, bass and a drummer. It wasn't that heavy; it was more folkish-type stuff, and then we took it up a little bit when we started growing up and getting to be 16 to 17 years old. We got involved with listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but we had a big influence by the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel. Pop Life: Have any of those old Blyss songs made the cut with Lifehouse? Wade: Actually, yeah. There's a couple of songs that we're going to revamp for the next record, which we haven't recorded yet. I think that songs can always be brought back to life with good production and if you actually rearrange stuff. Pop Life: Was there ever any consideration in signing with a Christian label in your early days? Wade: It never really occurred to me to even have a record contract. Me and Sergio started off at a youth group playing church worship music, and then they found us, really. We met a producer who was really plugged into the mainstream, and Michael Ostin (an executive for DreamWorks Records) ended up coming to see us play at the church three or four times. So it was one of those things that found us. We didn't pursue it. It wasn't like, "All right, let's get a hit record and be famous." We just wrote songs, played our music, and it just kind of happened. I think a lot of people are in music for the wrong reasons, and I think that's why there's a lot of frustrated, middle-class bands out there. Pop Life: When do you plan to get the next record out? What do you expect it to sound like? Wade: I think we're going to get back in the studio in March, and it should be out after next summer. I'm concerned with not just re-creating ("No Name Face") just because it was successful. I want to continue to grow musically and keep following the inspiration. It seems like some of the stuff I've been writing is a lot more up-tempo, a little bit more lighthearted with some of the issues. Pop Life: Are you nervous about following such a successful record? Wade: Yeah, I am a little nervous. But I'm just gearing up to not write for the radio or the record company, but just write for our band and our fans. That's what it comes down to. I'm just going to try and make a real honest record just like this one, except different. Pop Life: Many of your lyrics are open to different interpretations. Do your new songs have a more direct approach, or do you plan on keeping the lyrics open-ended? Wade: Yeah, I think that's my writing style. Sometimes I don't even like to know what I'm saying when I'm writing because I like to let it unfold and have different meanings for me. It just seems that when people try to put the whole meaning of what they're trying to write in a song, it sometimes turns out kind of contrived, or fake almost. So I just like putting different words together that can mean different things, and it kind of evolves and changes with you as you get older. Pop Life: So what do you say to those fans who come up to you and say, "Your song spoke to me, it helped me get through a tough time," etc.? Wade: That's why I like writing like that. Obviously, everyone doesn't lead the same life and have the same experiences. So if I can reach someone on a level that they're going through -- yet I don't know anything about -- but the lyric touched them, then that's amazing. It's like you can speak so many different languages in just a few lyrics. Pop Life: It must be pretty exciting that "Hanging by a Moment" was the most-spun song on radio this year. But does that also mean that you're ready to give the tune a rest? Wade: I just think that it's unbelievable that we're even in that position. I know how much music comes out every year, and not a lot of people have a shot at that. It's kind of like our little piece of history, I guess, and I'm just blown away and thankful that we got to take part in that. To see more of the Sacramento Bee, or to subscribe, go to http://www.sacbee.com
 Copyright 2001 Sacramento Bee. All Rights Reserved.
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