Hailing from Greenville,SC, this Christian band has more than just catchy tunes. They have advice for you. Known all over the country for their debut single “Your Love Sets Me Free” The Advice is quickly capturing the hearts of the contemporary Christian music audience.

Comprised of five members Matt (lead vocals/guitar), Jared (guitar), Jeff (bass), Sanchez (drums), and Aaron (keys), the group formed in 2003 but didn’t debut nationally until 2010. As a recent addition to InPop Records (Newsboys, Superchick, Jimmy Needham, etc), they are preparing to release their first full length album.

They took time out from finishing up the album, touring, and everything that accompanies professional recording artists, for BREATHEcast interview!

BREATHEcast: What’s the meaning behind the name The Advice?

Jared: “The meaning [of] The Advice came through Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, Exodus 18:18. Go look it up. He gave Moses the advice to bring in help, as far as judging all the people and he said you need to appoint elders and leaders over all the tribes of Israel to help you lead because you can do it all on your own. So that’s kind of the meaning of our band. You can’t handle this life alone, and everything that gets thrown at you. You need help. So, actually, the inital name of band was Jethro’s advice, but everybody came up going, ‘Uh, ya’ll a country band? Which one’s Jethro?’ So we dropped Jethro and went with The Advice.”

BREATHEcast: What’s the story behind the song “Your Love Sets Me Free”?

Jeff: I was kind of wanting to figure out a cool way to express that God’s love is able to set us apart from everyone else. And I wanted to figure out a way to bring it a cross and have a ‘motowny’ feel to it. Long story short --

Matt: Jeff invented that word by the way (interrupts Matt as they laughed).

Jeff: So anyway, I kind of came up with this cool chorus and it was talking about how God’s love can set us free and I brought it to these guys and Aaron came in and Aaron had this gorgeous verse. It kind of just came together like that.

Matt: He’s known as the song bird of our generation (as they laughed).

Jeff: He saved my behind. I’ll say that (as he chuckled).

BREATHEcast: The song has a mix of soulfulness and rock. How would you all describe your sound?

Aaron: “Our sound is just a melting pot of different genres of music. I know we have a lot of gospel and motown influence, especially in the rhythm section. There’s southern rock and blues influence. I know my dad grew up listening to Almond Brothers and The Houstons as well. Its just a blend of sounds, but we love to have a soulful edge to everything that we do. Matt added “We call it rock and soul.”

BREATHEcast: The song says “You’re All I Need”. How did you guys come to Christ?

Sanchez: Well, being that we’re all preacher’s kids, we kind of had no choice being raised in a Christian home. But over the years [as] we became teenagers, its one of those things [where] we found our own personal walks with God and ultimately we all decided that was all we needed. And that brought us here, to where we are now.

BREATHEcast: What’s the overall concept of the album?

Jared: When it comes to the concept of the album, we didn’t really try to reinvent the wheel. We just took the whole idea of becoming a Christian, and our EP actually goes through the process, the three songs that are on it. With “Forever Changed” (a song on the EP), when you become a Christian, you actually are forever changed, just as the song says. Then it goes to “Your Love Sets Me Free”, which is kind of the realization of, when you become a new creature, its all because of His love -- the reason we can become new creatures, and then the last song on the EP, which “Your Light Shines”. It just kind of calls us to be disciples of Christ. As Matthew 5:14 says, we’re like ‘a city set upon a hill that cannot be hidden.’ So we’re supposed to shine our light wherever we go.

BREATHEcast: What do you hope your fans will ultimately take away from the album?

Jared: I hope they like it. I hope they really like it (he chuckles). You know, we make music that we love and of course that’s why we write. Its what God gives to us to play and record. But ultimately, we want them just to take away that its something that’s fresh and new and kind of take that approach in their lives. Be the peculiar people and always be fresh and new even with your walk with God, trying to keep it fresh and trying to keep it new -- you know mixing things up with how you serve Him. One day it might be going down to the homeless shelter and helping people out and the next it might be just leading in the devotional at your church or something, but keeping stuff fresh and new. That’s what we’re all about.

This fall, you can catch The Advice on the Freefall Tour, which will also include Rush of Fools and Jimmy Needham. The Advice’s EP can be purchased on AMAZON or iTunes . The full length album will be released this fall. Stay tuned to BREATHEcast.com for further details!

click here to watch music video for "Your Love Sets Me Free"