With Ed Roland at the helm, Collective Soul have been banging around since 1992. And that’s with good reason, as songs like “Shine,” “December,” “The World I Know,” “Listen” and “Precious Declaration” have soundtracked a vast segment of the population.
There’s no denying it: Roland, who was born in Stockbridge, Georgia, loves vinyl and possesses the sweetest Southern drawl you’ve ever heard, has penned tracks that can be heard everywhere from elevators to doctors’ offices to alternative rock radio, and maybe more than a few episodes of VH1’s Pop-Up Video.
With Roland’s monster vocals out front, Collective Soul were part of not one but two 1990s Woodstock festivals: one of which did its part to harness the magic of the first (1994), and the other (1999) that went horribly wrong. Along the way, they’ve dropped 11 classic albums — often unfairly lumped in with grunge and post-grunge — with a double album titled Here to Eternity set for 2024.
The cast around Roland has changed — his guitar-playing brother Dean is still by his side — but his passion hasn’t. Roland is a young 60, not just in mind but body and spirit, and in the face of a malfunctioning camera, which left me unable to see him, he opened our interview by saying, “Ah, no worries. But by the way, I look really good, in case you were wondering.” Laughing, he continued, “I look really handsome today. I’m going full-frontal nudity!”
Roland’s personality is effervescent, and judging by the sounds heard on Collective Soul’s new studio album Here to Eternity, so is his voice. But in conversation, what that means comes into greater focus. Collective Soul’s 12th record — which was recorded at Elvis Presley’s house (no, not Graceland) in Palm Springs, California — isn’t just about songs; it’s about a vibe via vinyl.
Digging into that notion, meaning his love for vinyl, Roland tells , “There’s a difference between when you see a band live; it’s just a different vibe. And that’s what vinyl does for me more than digital. I’m a music junkie; the experience is based on vinyl.
