Tony Cummings spoke to the Atlanta rockers THIRD DAY

However, that doesn't mean the band won't continue seeking fresh ways to share the gospel with those outside the fence. "We are trying to step out and present it to the people who really need to hear it," Mark says, "playing venues other than those where Christian artists have appeared. It's pretty exciting. In the past there's been a lot of Christian bands who have been spokesmen for youth groups and pastors and they'll sum up these things into one song, like an anthem. We want to say something different. Maybe at first people aren't going to get it. But, by following us through the whole process, hopefully people will ask questions about their faith and move to a deeper relationship with God."

Recording wise, the band have come a classic route from small-time obscurity -first release a private recording, second release a small independent label, third release a large CCM company and now Silvertone Records will release 'Conspiracy No 5' into the mainstream record shops with Reunion (Word in the UK) handling the Christian bookshops. Drummer David Carr explains the band's recording origins. "When Reunion released 'Third Day', some of the songs didn't quite have the rock edge they needed, so it took a little remixing and manipulation. 'Holy Spirit' and even 'Living For Jesus' were made rockier -basically, they just brought the drums up so you could feel the kick a little more. And we've added two new songs. One of them was the first song I ever learned with the band. It's called 'Praise Song' and that's basically just what it is, but it's upbeat and really cool. And the other one kind of fitted along the lines of 'Consuming Fire' and 'Blackbird', more of a raw, rock edge type thing, that was 'Nothin' At All".

"Our first actual recording was an independent release called 'Contagious'. It had six of the songs that are on the Reunion release, along with four others that were dropped for certain artistic reasons - they were pretty bad. But that is what Gray Dot heard, and said, 'We like this.' And it was gonna be pretty much just released as it was, but touched up a little bit - decided to add some stuff and wiped some tracks off the table."

Walking the talk is a vital principle to Third Day. Says David Carr, "It's so common to see people just get up and say one thing, then do another. I know that in our lives we struggle with that at times. I can get on stage and I feel like, even though I'm not really saying anything, I feel like I'm ministering, playing the drums. We're giving out a message. But it's easy for me to get off the stage and just have a bad attitude, and just let something get to me. The thing is, we all struggle with sin, but when you're kind of in the spotlight, your sin is in the spotlight too. And so, you've gotta really be careful. I think it's good to be honest and to be real with people. But even if somebody catches you messing up, you know, we don't want to do that, but we want to be real, and let people know, hey, we're human beings too, you know, but there's a certain amount of responsibility you acquire when you're put in the spotlight. People don't always know what your intentions are, or what's been going on. They just see that you've gotten up and said one thing, and now they're seeing you doing or saying another thing. And that can be really contradicting and disappointing to a lot of people. We've done things to guard against that. We've got a guy named John Poitedent, who's our road pastor. He's just out there to keep us in line. He's just someone whose main focus is encouraging us to stay focused, to read and pray, and he sets up Bible studies. So that's one of the steps we've taken to see that what we're doing is real, that we're not just getting up and trying to please people by saying certain things. I've really seen a lot of growth since he came on the road with us. We've just gotten along better, and we've started having more regular Bible studies. And he's also organised some extracurricular activities, opportunities for us to minister. We went to an AIDS benefit one day in Houston, and he just kind of helped us get involved with that. And that was cool, you know, just helping us reach out beyond what we normally do."

"How's Your Head" is Mac Powell's favourite song on 'Conspiracy No 5' which is no surprise, considering it was penned for his wife, Aimee. The lyrics reflect perhaps what all four of the band's married members, as well as the engaged Anderson, feel during weeks on the road away from those they love. "Have Mercy" is upbeat, grinding rock that incorporates the background gospel BVs of Alfreda Gerald (also heard on 'Third Day'). "A lot of the songs reflect on us as sinners, but this one dwells on more of the mercy that God has on us despite our sin," Powell explains. "I think that's probably the overall theme of the record, really."

Despite the band members' satisfaction with this new project, one has to wonder how they hope to stand out in the crowd of modern rock acts that have flooded Christian music within the past two years. "I think we're just going to keep being who we are," Powell says. "We would hope that even if we didn't have a record out that we would still be reaching people, whether it's through music or whatever."

And in order to accomplish that mission, Tai Anderson emphasises the importance of not only avoiding Christianese but also communicating the message from a sincere heart. "What's striking to me is that, as Christians, we get so used to these expressions like 'Jesus loves you' and 'saved' that they really start to lose their meaning," he notes. "We can say 'Jesus' and everyone's just going to cheer. But what we really want is for people to think about things. We should never get to the place where the phrase 'Jesus loves you' becomes callous. It's an incredible thing every day to realise that love."