But for heaven's sake, how, and WHY?

"We started buying all these funk compilations and we were just listening to it non-stop, and thought, 'You know, we could pull this off,'" explains Tadpole. "It just sort of morphed into this massive huge project that was supposed to be this cheap, fast disco project, and it took over a year. It just got really big after a while. When it was started, the core [consisted of] me, Rockafeller, and Ruthaford, the drummer, and then it was very natural for us to ask The Diva [to sing lead], because she has been wanting to do something with us for years. She was also in a soul band with Todd from Sappo. And the keyboard player, Freaky O'Neill, we asked him, [because we saw him at] a karaoke bar, and he freaked out so much on stage, and we just walked up to him and asked him based on that. And the guitar player, Chili, is an old friend from L.A."

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Creating a funk/disco band in the year 2000 might seem like a bold move at best. Tadpole, however, does not seem fearful of being cornered or being a flash in the pan. "I don't really think that we're that different. Club music and techno is really big, and hip-hop stations...if you listen to that stuff, most of it is sampled old-school disco and funk records with more of a techno beat, but generally it's the same - it's just a more warm feeling when you have a band playing it. It's basically the same beats per minute, and the same feeling. It's just that house music is more electronic. What we're doing is more song-oriented. And plus, I think that there are a lot of bands jumping on this right now, like Jamiroquai, and Clinton. Every time you hear it, those old songs, people love it. It doesn't matter what you're into. If you're a punk rock kid, or an indie-kid. It doesn't even matter what age. Everybody loves good dance music. We are really hoping that we can get into a lot of dance clubs, and basically get people to have fun with music, instead of taking everything so seriously. That's why we're so tongue-in-cheek with what we're doing."

Citing influences like The Gap Band, Kool and the Gang, and Prince, Tadpole also concedes to his affinity for Stevie Wonder. "I'm a huge, huge, huge Stevie Wonder fan. I was raised on soul music. I'm not necessarily a huge disco fan, but I don't think we necessarily do true disco, like ABBA - not that I don't like them - but I think we're more on the soul tip. But I was raised on that stuff. That's what my folks listened to, growing up. I listened to hip-hop, and soul and Motown, and Stevie Wonder. I discovered Stevie Wonder when I was about five years old. I actually have a Stevie Wonder tattoo on my back. And Rockefeller has always been into R&B. That's pretty much what we learned to write songs from, but then we all went through different punk rock phases. To me, it always comes back to [soul]. Whether it's hip-hop, or whatever, if it moves you when you hear it, if it's soul music."

When asked if he is worried that they will be marketed in a trendy light, Tadpole feels fairly confident in BEC. "Obviously there is a lot of kitsch in what we do, and that's cool, and that's part of what we do. But I would hope that we won't be put out there as a fad, and that we would be allowed to develop with time. I'd hope that would be the focus. I'm not completely positive what their marketing strategy is with us, but we've discussed some options that we might do. We've discussed touring, and we've also done a video. We may possibly go on the road in the next few months. I think they're going to keep us legitimate."

The process of moving nine band members around for touring requires special planning. "It takes more money to put on a show like ours, because we’re so huge. We’re actually looking for new management right now. We’re free agents. So if anybody is reading this, we need someone. But we’re looking for something solid. All of us have been burned in the past with touring and poor booking, and poor management, and came home completely broke. I guess that comes with the territory, but I don’t think we want to make the same types of mistakes with this band, because we can’t afford to. We’d love to tour, but we need someone who’s willing to come behind us and support us."

In the meantime, The Company have been working locally at playing mainstream gigs, as well as Christian oriented functions. Tadpole expresses some different thoughts on the two scenes, "If we play a youth group and people get into it, or we play a bar and people get into it, we don’t really care. Sometimes I think that a lot of Christian bands don’t really get anything across. They try really hard, and their hearts are in the right place, but the message gets lost really easily. We want to put a smile on people’s face. It’s really evident if you listen to the record, or talk to us for any length of time, that we’re Christians, and we want to get that across, but we don’t want to scare people with it. We’ll play anywhere that will have us. I prayed a lot about what we were doing, and the motives behind it. And yeah, it is a ministry. We just want to keep it real. Even though it is entertainment. If you watch us, you know, we’re not running around in bell-bottoms twenty-four hours a day. There should be ministry to anything you do in life. I think that a lot of what’s lacking in a lot of Christian based entertainment is the fun aspect. Nobody can laugh, dance and have fun. You get pushed to take it to the extreme. And that’s fine, and I try and live my life to the extreme, as far as a Christian, no matter what I do. But you need to be real about it, too. Just because you say "Jesus" from stage doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing it for the right motive. We definitely want to keep our motives pure and do the right thing with what we’ve been given. We really feel like this is an opportunity from God, and we do talk about it all the time."

A discussion arises about the music industry, in general. Tadpole has been affiliated with Tooth and Nail/BEC in the past, and is pleased with his working relationship with them, but he frankly addresses some of the 'glossed-over hype' that makes him angry. "There are a lot of bands in the Christian industry that almost smack of blasphemy. My parents do praise and worship at their church, and they get these magazines, and there was some ad, I think it was for [Keyboard Company], and it said ‘Powered by [Keyboard Company], inspired by God.’ I see stuff like that in these magazines, and you know, it’s like you have to have a Jesus-quota, and it sells records."

Another story that he recalls disgustedly is about a large, unnamed label, "At one point, I was in a band, and we were in a meeting with a record label, and I’m not going to mention them, but they were very big in the Christian industry. I mean, BIG. And this is bad, but he told us that he wants ‘Jesus anthems.’ Songs worthy of t-shirts and bumper stickers to sell to youth groups. And he had these gold records behind him on the wall. He said, ‘That’s how I make my money, and I could care less about your ministry, that’s how I know how to make money, and that’s what will put my kids through school.’ I was just sitting there with my mouth open. And then he said, ‘With that said, let’s hear some Jesus anthems.’ And he played our demo, and he said to me, ‘I’m not hearing enough Jesus Christ anthems. I’m sorry, I’m gonna have to pass because of that. Your music is great, guys, but I can’t put it on bumper stickers.’ And this wasn’t some small indie guy. It was a big label guy."

After having witnessed the tainting power of money in the music industry, Tadpole and his fellow band members say that they work hard to avoid that sort of attitude. "I remember coming home from tour, once, just never wanting to do it again. I don’t understand how people think they can [be that greedy] without thinking that they won’t be judged for it. I don’t get it. I don’t understand. And these kids don’t get it either, and they’re buying these records, and they think it’s real, but it’s not. I’ll be the first to admit that The Company is a show. We’re not doing a show about what we believe, but what we’re doing is a show. We hope people have a really good time, and that they are really touched by it, but it is a show. It’s almost like these people, like their Christianity is a show. That Christianity is just one more part of the package that sells records. The truth is that I think once you’re in the game that deep you don’t even see what’s going on. And a lot of the people don’t see it going on. A lot of the bands don’t have the conscience where they see it."

He does reaffirm that not all is lost in the world of Christian music. "There are some labels that are out there that are trying to do the right thing. People like Jeff Cloud. People like Mikee Bridges. They get a lot of respect from me, because they seem genuinely called to what they’re doing. And I think that in the coming years we’re going to see a lot more of that. And I think that a lot of our ministry, the fact that we’re so tongue-in-cheek works to our advantage. I want people to be able to laugh at themselves for once. And laugh at the hypocrisy. I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to say, but I know that our band has talked about the fact that we’re so showy. We have discussed if that is going to be a hindrance to people. But we hope that people can see it and have fun with it and laugh at it for once. God didn’t come down here to make us somber, depressed people. I think that would be our biggest ministry, is to get people to have fun and stop being so serious. There’s issues, and places for hardcore things. We support Rock For Life. We put that on our record. And we support them. And there’s places for that. But there needs to actually be times when people can just laugh. And I see very little of that going on. I think it’s weird, because being in the scene, and I’m not the only one that would say this, but being in a Christian band, and trying to do the right thing, and not be accepted as human, or have someone waiting in the side lines, almost praying for you to do something wrong that they can argue with you about, and then having to sit there and argue with someone about something that you don’t feel is wrong, but they have issues with. And most people wouldn’t even think twice about it, but you’re so scrutinized, and put under the microscope. And even if you are in an indie-band there’s someone out there who’s waiting, just sharpening his fangs to have a big debate with you about dogma. We’re trying to avoid that; we’re trying to stay non-controversial, just because of the nature of what we’re doing. There’s probably going to be a time when we wouldn’t mind being controversial, but with The Company we don’t want to be controversial. We just want to be able to have fun. But there are people out there whose ministry is to be controversial, and I support them. I think that’s rad."

Tadpole thinks that being in this band is sort of like having a large accountability group. "It’s probably easier [to stay on track], because you’re around a core of people all the time. Everybody in this band has seen people mess up pretty bad in this band. I think we know each other enough that it’s probably actually easier. Some of the people in this band are my best friends. So it acts as a support group. So it is probably easier. I’ve known some of these people for several years. We get along really well, and a couple of us are married, and we all hang out. I find it easier, than not. It’s kind of a blessing that way."

This summer, the band performed their very first live show at Tomfest 2000 in Stevenson, Washington, near Portland, Oregon. After a week of music that had primarily been oriented toward hardcore, punk, and emo, The Company blew in like a gale wind of fresh, funky fun. Kids of all hair colors, and styles crowded into the huge metal building and boogied down.

"I think it was the sound," muses Tadpole. "We started to play, and the place just started to fill up. I think we were the only disco or funk band there. What I thought was really cool about that show was that everybody was dancing. You could see kids with spikes dancing. There was no barrier to the classes, or what you were into. You could be totally into Living Sacrifice or whatever, and I’d see these kids get into it. And that’s definitely what we want to see."

Hoping to take this adventure as far as possible, the band says they are trusting in God to lead them in the right direction. As far as future albums go, even though they just released their first album, the band is already considering the next step. "I’d like to push it even further with the next record we do," says Tadpole. "Because this first record, for what it is, is really straight forward. The next record I think we would like to branch out a little bit more. Play with different sounds and stuff. I’m very pleased and very excited. We talked about doing different flavors of what we’re doing. We don’t want to change things completely; we want to keep that original feel, because it turned out really good on this record. We’ll keep that same formula, so we’re going to incorporate that on the next record. I think we might possibly incorporate some hip-hop, possibly some more R&B. There’s six members, and we all have differing opinions of where we should go with the next record. It will probably have some more modern touches to it, but it will still have that warm, live band feel to it."

The future, of course, could take any number of turns, and Tadpole discusses some of the potential roadblocks that he could foresee. "Well, the fact that we do disco-funk... At one point it was hated so badly that I could see that coming full circle again. But one thing would be if we are unable to secure proper management and booking. Because all of us are so freaked about just jumping out on the road. Some of us have families, and I’m afraid that could seriously block us, if we were unable to secure that kind of thing. We’ve worked really hard, but now we’re at the point where we’re having to think about options, and ways to promote this and bring the music out there. It’s kind of scary, to be honest with you. Being that there’s nine people in the band, if there’s one bad move, we could virtually end up homeless. So if we were unable to get good management, things could really get bad on the business end of it. I also think that as long as we give the band to God, to do what he wants with it, I don’t really think that he’s going to let us die. I’m just leaving it up to him."

Wrapping up the conversation, Tadpole offers up some advice, "I would basically like to get a message out to Christians in America, especially. Be nice. Be nice to each other, and realize that not everyone is going to be at the same spiritual level as you all the time. There are ups and downs, and I very rarely meet a person who is genuinely nice, or who really has pure motives, or is operating out of a pain-based mentality. It doesn’t end with the church. People think that your problems end when you become a Christian. And I think that the greatest mistake that western Christianity has made is not assisting people when they have issues. If someone has an anger problem, it doesn’t go away when they accept Jesus. They still have an anger problem. People need to get back to the core of who they are, the core of who God made them, and the purpose that Jesus made them at. We all are on different levels, and we all have different calls on our life, and we’re all genuinely different. We have a song about that on the record, 'All Around the World.' And if someone is in sin, don’t hate them because of that sin. Don’t necessarily say, 'I accept that person’s sin,' but accept the person, because the person’s problem isn’t the person. That is my message that I’d like to bring out."

Check out The Company at www.boogiepolice.com.

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Reprinted with permission from Bandoppler.

Bandoppler is a monthly independent online magazine, covering relevant [...and sometimes not so relevant, but just kinda fun...] underground and mainstream music, musicians, art, issues, and culture, from undogmatic, open-minded, open-hearted, sometimes satirical, Christian perspectives.

Sucre Musique is the Reviews Editor for Bandoppler.