Skillet leaves Atlantic after two decades: 'It's time to kick us out of the nest'

After nearly 20 years on Atlantic, Skillet has left the label and is stepping up his Hear it Loud imprint to independently release his new single — “Unpopular,” which arrives Friday (Aug. 9) — and his new album , RevolutionNovember 1st is coming.

“After all this time, we've learned enough about our audience to know what they want to hear,” says Skillet frontman John Cooper. Advertising sign of the Christian and mainstream hard rock band. “We've got a pretty good handle on it now, so it's time to be kicked out of the nest or maybe jump the nest.”

Cooper admits that taking the leap wasn't entirely comfortable for him. “There's a part of me that didn't like it because I don't like new things. I don't try new food. I don't like going to new destinations. My wife makes fun of me,” Cooper says with a smile as he sits in the living room of his spacious new hilltop home south of Nashville, where he and his wife/partner Corey moved from their base in Wisconsin.

“I had some really good relationships, so that was the hard part is that I really liked the people I worked with and I learned a lot from them,” says Cooper on his departure from the Atlantic. “But it was like a new season. I just feel like it's time for a change.”

This trust is well earned. Since its release in 1996, the Grammy-nominated and multi-award-winning band Dove, which also includes Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison, has placed three albums in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200, two No. 1s on Billboard's Alternative Albums chart, and a pair of chart toppers on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart. They have one of the most popular rock songs of the 21st century with the five-time RIAA certified platinum “Monster,” while their 2016 hit “Feel Invincible” made Skillet the first Christian act to top the chart. Advertising signMainstream Rock Songs chart since the chart's launch in 1981. They also scored 11 No. 1s on the Christian Rock Songs chart before that chart ended in 2018. The veteran rockers tour non-stop in the US and abroad, and their songs have been licensed by the NFL, Marvel, ESPN and WWE.

The Coopers and Skillet manager Zach Kelm created the Hear It Loud imprint a decade ago. Artists LEDGER, Colton Dixon and Fight the Fury have all released albums on the imprint through Atlantic Records (Dixon and LEDGER remain on Atlantic through Hear It Loud). Now, as the imprint transforms into a full-service company handling all aspects of Skillet's marketing and promotion, Kelm has hired independent radio promotion, social media and marketing teams to work on the new music. Vydia will distribute Hear It Loud.

Cooper says the band hasn't considered signing to another record label. “If we did that, I would have stayed [at Atlantic] because we had 20 years of very successful history with good people,” he says. “They knew the band and we liked it.”

Cooper says one of the factors that made Skillet, whose last album was 2022 Sovereignty, the choice of independence was the desire to move faster in terms of recording and releasing music. “One of the things about being independent is being able to make quick decisions,” he says. “There's not that chain of people that has to be weighed down by that. The system takes a long time. Instead, I wrote a song and we recorded it eight days later. This is a huge benefit. With the change in the pace of technology and the industry, it was important for me to be able to make quick decisions.”

Securing a bigger piece of the pie was also a factor in going the indie route, especially when it comes to streaming. “We looked at the amount of international streams the band gets from touring, festivals and shows around the world,” Kelm says, “and just by getting the international part, it would be worth it financially. point of view to proceed alone”.

“The international stuff is really a big part,” agrees Cooper. “I don't know how Skillet became an international band, but it happened. It was like we woke up one day and said, “Oh my God, we're running like crazy overseas.” We're trying to catch up and that's a major advantage of what we're doing now.”

As for whether they plan to sign additional acts for Hear it Loud, Cooper says they haven't decided yet. “Let's see what happens,” he says, “but if it goes well, there's a natural progression that seems obvious, and I like that.”

Cooper's immediate priority is to launch “Unpopular” to pave the way for Revolution. “I think people listen to a song like 'Unpopular' and feel the same way,” Cooper says of the single, which encourages the listener to stand up for what they believe in even if it's not popular. “That's one of the things I hope people take away from the record is courage. I think when people know they're not alone, they go, “Oh, okay, then I can stand up.” Fans can pre-order the song here.

The 10-song album, produced by Brian Howes, Seth Moseley and Korey Cooper, is a mix of incendiary rockers Skillet known for poignant moments like “Happy Wedding Day (Alex's Song),” which Cooper wrote for his daughter. “As I started writing it, I was like I can't sing it at the wedding. But on the day of the wedding, I woke up and felt like “I can do it,” says Cooper. “Corey never heard of it. Alex had never heard the song. My manager was at the wedding and the next day I said, “You're not going to hurt my feelings at all, but I think we should record the song. What do you think;' It was like, 'Oh, sure!'”

Cooper says the title track reflects the spirit of the album. “'Revolution' is really the primary theme of what we want to say. We really need a revolution of love,” he says. “This song sounds a little different to us too. It's a small alternative. The cool thing about doing an independent project is, “Okay, let's try something new! Why not; And don't be afraid.”

The band, who also launch a new app, addresses these fractured political moments in “All That Matters,” which Cooper describes as a patriotic song. “Thirteen or 14 years ago it was a very different time, and part of the message of the song is that if we could go back to that time, it really wouldn't matter if you were on the right or the left, because people got along.” , says. “There were things we agreed on, like faith, family, freedom. There were things that mattered in life, and we were going to stand up for those things, fly the flag, and be patriotic. We live in a country where you are free to chart your own path. Free to worship the God you want or not to worship God and raise your family. This was just kind of live and let live. It was really great and that started to change.”

Cooper says that independence had a big effect on the way the new album was written and recorded. “It was a really incredibly liberating feeling,” he says. “We only wrote songs we loved and recorded only songs we loved, and we did it all super fast. If this wasn't independent, I think it would be another year before we released new music. If you look at Skillet's timeline, you'll see that it was every three or four years. It was a long time between albums.”

The band will perform music from the new album on their fall US tour with Seether. Then in November, they'll embark on their first tour in the Middle East before wrapping up with dates in the UK “It's pretty amazing that 27 years into our career, we're opening up new markets around the world,” he says. . “We spend half the year abroad now and I would never in a million years dream of that.”

Nearly three decades into their career, Cooper is pleased with Skillet's journey. “I always tell people, 'We're the biggest band you've never heard of.' I laugh about it,” he says. “I'm by no means living in disappointment about it, because I'm very blessed. The truth is, I can't believe I'm still playing music. I am so lucky. How can I request more?

Cooper believes the band's underdog status has helped their longevity, noting that according to their Instagram data, Skillet's No. 1 audience is ages 25-34. “That plays right into the strange story of Skillet,” he says. “That's why, in a way, this move to become independent is not the most shocking thing in the world, because we've always done things outside[side] of the box. So why not try to pick it up and be the underdog again? This is the story of Skillet.”