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Victoria Buzz interview with Dean Roland from Collective Soul

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Just days ahead of Collective Soul’s headlining performance at Laketown Rock, Victoria Buzz concert photographer Colin Smith scored an exclusive interview with the band’s guitarist, Dean Roland.

The popular American band is based in Atlanta and has been putting out classic and alternative rock music for almost 25 years.

They will be the headliners at Laketown Rock in Cowichan on June 30th, with a Main Stage performance at 10 p.m. so don’t miss out!

Q&A with Dean Roland

Colin Smith (CS) – With a few shows to end out June, your new tour starts on July 11th. When was the last Collective Soul tour?

Dean Roland (DR) – We’ve stayed pretty busy, we toured last year, and the tour before that was with the Goo Goo Dolls. We end up doing close to a hundred shows a year.

CS – For this upcoming 2018 tour, will it be all the same members as previous tours?

DR – Yeah, it’s all the same guys. We’ve had the same line up for the past 6 or 7 years now. We have a good time, a good thing going and a good chemistry.

CS – How are rehearsals going?

DR – We haven’t quite started the physical rehearsals as of yet, but we’ve been bouncing around ideas regarding what songs we want to play, passing around set lists amongst the band members and seeing if there are any songs that come up, whether it’s cover songs or songs we haven’t played in years. That kinda stuff is fun and gets the excitement going.
And there’s also the handful of songs that we’ll definitely play.

CS – Do you have a favorite Collective Soul song that you like to play?

DR – Well, it goes back and forth, but as obvious as it might sound, the hits are a lot of fun to play. People always ask, you know, are you sick of playing ‘Shine’ or ‘World I Know’ and no, because every night is a different night, the fans are there and they appreciate it and to have that shared moment … those are always fun.

As far as a personal favourite goes, it’s song called ‘Needs’ off the album ‘Dosage’. I’ve always loved that song in general, it’s one of my favourite Collective Soul songs.

CS – Are you currently taking a break from any side projects to go on tour?

DR – Actually, I just released my other project it’s called ‘Magnificent Ghosts’ – I just released their third record. We won’t be touring because I just got busy but we are going to be releasing some more music – probably in the fall we’ll do some shows with that project.

CS – Is there new music on the way for Collective Soul?

DR – Yeah, we actually just recorded an entire record last year and we have it ready. Then my brother (Ed Roland) decided he wanted to write a bunch of other songs, because that’s what he does, he writes music, so we recorded another record. So now we are talking about maybe doing a double album next year; it will be our twenty-fifth anniversary as a band and we are hitting a nice, healthy creative stride right now. It’s coming, next year, that’s the short answer.

CS – Celebrating twenty-five years as a band is a massive deal. Is the direction of the band to keep touring and making new music in the future? Is everyone all still on board?

DR – Yeah, I think so – I know so. Everybody is in a great frame of mind and we are probably the best this band has ever been as far as figuring out how to co-exist, creatively work together, and go out on a tour – and we’re having fun with it! We’ve always had fun with it. Once you have the experience part down, you can kinda relax a little bit and continually enjoy what you do.

CS – What are you listening to these days? Is there anything that has caught your ear lately?

DR – I’m always trying to check out new stuff, I haven’t been as active lately because I’ve been more focussed on my own recording and I try to stay away from stuff so I don’t rip anything off (laughs).
One thing I have been listening to is recently that I love is ‘Nathaniel Rateliff and the Nightsweats’. That is some really, really good stuff. I’m really digging on that.

CS – One of the last times you played on Vancouver Island was about four years ago and I was wondering if you have any special memories from Victoria or Van Isle in particular?

DR – I have a personal connection there because one of my best friends lives there and is from there so I go up and visit. The shows have always been great – we played the Royal Theatre a couple different times and that is always fun. I genuinely enjoy my time up there. Actually when I saw that come up on our tour schedule, I said, yes! Absolutely! Let’s go do that again.

CS – That’s great to hear. When you guys play here on June 30th, you’ll be playing an outdoor festival (Laketown Rock). Prior to that show you’ll be playing the Commodore ballroom in Vancouver which, as you know, is a night club. Do you prefer playing to a night club type crowd or an open air festival?

DR – To be honest about it, if people like what we do then we are happy to be where we are. But also, there’s something to be said about your own show – we can extend the setlist a bit and play more songs, you’re not constricted by time or other acts going on, but it’s all fun, it really is all fun for us.

CS – I want to thank you from everyone here at Victoria Buzz for your time and we hope you enjoy every moment of the tour. See you in Lake Cowichan at the end of June!

DR – No problem – thank you very much.

Laketown Rock 2018

  • When: June 29th to July 1st, 2018
  • Where: Laketown Ranch, 648 – 8811 Youbou Rd, Lake Cowichan
  • Admission: Tickets start at $149 for the weekend. Click here to purchase.
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Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

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