Though their name connotes the frailty of the human condition, alternative rockers Jars Of Clay are anything but fragile. This overtly Christian four-piece, which crossed over into the pop mainstream with the hit "Flood," recently followed up their platinum debut with the current release Much Afraid. The guys, whose influences range from Adrian Belew and Peter Gabriel to Marc Cohn and Sarah McLachlan, met in college and got their "big break" when they blew away the competition in a contest sponsored by the Gospel Music Association. That was all the convincing the Jars needed to ditch school and concentrate full-time on a recording career that has taken them from the sheltered confines of Christian bookstores and church gigs into the secular realm of beer halls and Sting shows. It's been a revelation for Clay boy Dan Haseltine, who told LAUNCH executive editor Dave DiMartino that blending faith and career has been a unique challenge.

LAUNCH:

Tell me about the difference between recording your debut album and this follow-up release.

DAN:

I guess the main difference between the first album and this one is the maturity factor. We went into the first record without a whole lot of direction or experience. And with this one, I think we wanted to be seen beyond whatever the novelty of what we stand for is, and to be known as writers, musicians. We tried to be more intentional about being mature in our songwriting and our lyrics.

LAUNCH:

Have you got a favorite song on Much Afraid?

DAN:

I think one of the songs that sticks out is "Frail," which ironically enough, is one we wrote before we did our first record. We expanded on it and created a musical landscape we'd never used before. We brought in string players and used a larger band than we've ever used before. That was a step up and beyond our normal experience in the studio.

LAUNCH:

You guys are not shy about using religious imagery in your songs. What's your experience been like in the marketplace?

DAN:

I think being a Christian--as far as our musical background and what we're honed in on being called--has its ups and downs. People don't understand; they get freaked out and think we're trying to manipulate people into believing what we believe. And that's not the case at all. A good writer will write about their experiences, the things they know. That's what we know. Most of us who've grown up in the church, that's the platform our music has taken. When we go into a radio station or club, a lot of times people don't quite know how to take us. For us, it's just a process of explaining that we're not the people who hang out in airports...Once we break down the barriers, it makes it easier to just do what we do.

LAUNCH:

Why not just be a "secular" band and be Christians on your own time?

DAN:

There's such great imagery and metaphor in the Bible and other religious types of literature that people just don't utilize, and we've chosen to take that route. Even our name, Jars Of Clay, is a metaphor for the human race and how fragile we are. The Bible has all sorts of interesting pieces to latch onto for lyrics and ideas; it's a very unique form of literature, as well as being our beliefs.

LAUNCH:

I know you guys have had some experience writing music for some recent movies, but I understand the music never actually appeared in the flicks. Did your religious background have anything to do with the fact that your stuff landed on the cutting room floor?

DAN:

No! Actually, the movie business is, interestingly enough, far more scatter-brained than even the music industry is, so it's really hard to count on anything. We've had two opportunities to have songs in movies. We had a song called "The Chair" that was supposed to be in The Long Kiss Goodnight, and we were supposed to do the title track for Liar Liar. We did that song, and at the last minute, the investors changed the ending. That was less about flack regarding our Christian fans as opposed to people in the industry trying to figure out what they're doing for their movies. We do get flack every once in awhile. You'll always get flack from people who don't understand what you're doing. Everyone's got an opinion...You should just laugh at it.

LAUNCH:

Tell me about some of your contemporaries on the Christian music landscape. Who's good out there?

DAN:

There's a lot of great groups out there; it's almost like an underground marketplace and a lot of bands get overlooked. There are a lot of great alternative bands: Fleming & John, Sixpence None The Richer. They're really good bands who get overlooked. You hear about Amy Grant or Michael W. Smith...Christianity is a philosophy, it's not really a genre of music. Unfortunately, it's been presented that way. When we write, we listen to other artists, and so many of them have different philosophies regarding their lives and what they believe, and yet it's all a part of one big musical movement. When we were in London, we would listen to the radio there, and it is so eclectic. In the States, it's so much more like "I only listen to R&B..." It tends to build barriers that don't really need to be there.

LAUNCH:

Who do you listen to?

DAN:

Sarah McLachlan is someone I've loved for a long time. I grew up on Abba. That's some of my musical heritage, I guess. Sting, Peter Gabriel, Seal. Adrian Belew. King Crimson. I really enjoy the vocal stylings that P.M. Dawn can capture. Those are all things we tried to emulate a little bit.

LAUNCH:

Does it matter to you whether or not those artists are Christian?

DAN:

I listen to music for so many different reasons, the least of which is what they believe in; I listen for the production, the songwriting, the chord changes, the instrumentation. It's really funny, because I am the main lyricist, and my favorite artists are Toad The Wet Sprocket and Sarah McLachlan. Sarah is one artist who seems very spiritual in her lyric writing. P.M. Dawn is another one. Sting's latest record has spiritual overtones. Bands like the Innocence Mission--they're very spiritual in their lyrics. We toured with a guy, Duncan Sheik, and he's definitely got some spiritual undertones to his music. I don't listen for their philosophies. There are some overtly blatant artists that I know won't benefit me in the end, so I don't listen to them.

LAUNCH:

Now that you guys have crossed over into the pop mainstream, do your Christian fans still support you?

DAN:

When we play in clubs and bars, it's wild to see the range of people there. We did a show in San Francisco and there was a bar fight that broke out on one side, and on the other side, there's people who've never been in a bar before in their life. You do get people who say: "I can't believe you're playing in a place that sells alcohol." It's just part of the learning process. People have to come to grips with the fact that this is what we do. The age range is wild too. We've had everyone from elderly people to 10-year-old kids at our shows.

LAUNCH:

Do you have to keep in mind that your audience is looking for a certain "spiritual" message when it comes to the live show? I mean, you could never appear on the same bill with some foul-mouthed devil worshippers, right?

DAN:

Right. The most important thing is our audience. If we go out with a band that will completely offend our audience it won't help us at all. But I think we spend less time thinking about that really, because ultimately we want to give people a good show--an evening of music. We don't spend a lot of time dealing with who's more spiritual than who. We went out with the Samples for a while, and that was interesting. They were an underground band that everybody knows, but that blend was a little volatile at times just because of our backgrounds. We got through half of the tour and realized, "This isn't really working." Their fans weren't showing up or our fans weren't showing up. The point was for our fan bases to come together, but that didn't happen. Musical issues come up more than each band's spirituality, I think.

LAUNCH:

What does the future hold for you?

DAN:

I just got married, and hopefully kids will be in the plan. Musically, I hope Jars is still going. I've recently dabbled in some producing. I did this record for a band called Plumb. I just really enjoyed that. I enjoy the studio a lot so I see some more of that, for sure.