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The year is 1991. Four guys meet at a small Christian college. They discover a mutual love of music, play together for a while and decide to form a band as a summer ministry. Ten years and over a million albums (not to mention ten #1 hits, three Dove Awards and three Grammy nominations) later, Audio Adrenaline still has the same mission and the same focus: glorifying God and having a great time. With the release of their greatest hits album, Hit Parade, Will McGinniss and Mark Stuart spoke with FamilyChristian.com about their growing passion and the craziness of life on the road.

FamilyChristian.com: You guys are now officially veterans—you have a greatest hits album. How does that feel?

Will: Great! It felt a little weird at first for us, but the more that we've kind of lived with the idea, the more it's really grown on us. We've picked up a lot of new fans with Underdog [so] it's a cool way for people who love Underdog to hear some of our older stuff and some of our older fans to hear Underdog.

FamilyChristian.com: Tell us about the two new songs on Hit Parade.

Mark: One's called, "Will Not Fade," which is about our passion to sing music about Jesus. We're not going to give up doing that. We'll go out singing about Christ. And then there's a song that's a little more pop-rock called "One Like You."

FamilyChristian.com: How have you seen the Christian music industry change in the last ten years?

Mark: I think it's changed for the better. It's gotten more competitive and it's become better musically. I think artists like Stacie Orrico, Rachael Lampa and Plus One are definitely evidence that it's headed toward a youth market.

FamilyChristian.com: What do you see happening with Audio Adrenaline in the next ten years?

Mark: We play day by day and as long as people are being affected by our music, we're going to keep playing. Other than that, who knows? We might be pumping gas in a few years.

FamilyChristian.com: How has your passion changed?

Will: I think originally we were really passionate about the rock of it. We were truly a band, which is why we wrote that song, " We're a Band." We banded our hearts together for one purpose and one mind. We were so excited about being used by God. Our passion was in just getting out there and being the craziest, most joyous, fun rock band that we could be. I think that's still our continuing passion, but I think now more than ever [we ask ourselves], "What does God really want us to do here?" Our passion is to really do what God wants us to do that evening.

FamilyChristian.com: Your lives both personally and professionally have changed a lot in the past 10 years. How has that influenced your songwriting?

Mark: What's cool about being on the road so much is that we're still very much in touch with the youth culture, although some of us in the band are 30. Being on the road kind of keeps us young in a way. It's like we never left college; we feel like we're 21 years old.

FamilyChristian.com: What is God teaching you now?

Will: I think the most important thing He's teaching me now is about His love for me. I have two little kids now: a little boy who's almost two and a little baby girl two months old. Because of how much I love them and how special they are to me, it personifies the love that Christ has for me. It's always been hard for me to accept that love and it's more real now and more special.

FamilyChristian.com: Speaking of the road, I hear Ben Cissell, your drummer, has made a home movie of the band.

Will: It's going to be really, really cool. The video encompasses a lot of Audio Adrenaline life. You go around the world with Audio Adrenaline. We go to Australia, New Zealand, Central America, South America, and Europe. You get to see a lot of stuff behind the scenes. You get to see a lot of personality.

FamilyChristian.com: What's the best practical joke you've played on someone?

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Mark: Ben is the practical joker. In the video Ben takes the [spout] off of the sink. You turn the water on and the thing blows off and it squirts you like a hundred miles an hour in the mid-section, so it looks like you've wet yourself. That's probably one of the best practical jokes played on anyone. Right before you go on stage you go to wash your hands or wet your hair down and your shirt's all wet.

FamilyChristian.com: What question are you most asked in interviews?

Will: The one we're most asked is "How did you get together?" That's been answered about 58 million times in every publication and it's on our website and people still ask us that.

FamilyChristian.com: What is the question you most wish people would ask?

Will: The questions that we love hearing are the deeper questions about why we do what we do—the real heart behind Audio Adrenaline, the real passion behind our music and why we write lyrics. Those are the questions that make us think and put us on the spot and we have to worm our way around them and think for a second. You just can't rattle them off the cuff.

Jen Abbas, a writer in Grand Rapids, Mich., originally conducted this interview for Family Christian Stores' All Access music catalog.

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