This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
John Cooper grew up in such a strict Christian household, he was originally forbidden to listen to not only secular, over-the-radio rock music, but religious-themed "Christian rock" as well.
"It wasn't just that rock 'n' roll was full of sex and drugs, but that rock 'n' roll was full of demonic instruments — like drums and guitars were from the devil," Cooper said in a phone interview.
Given that upbringing, how is it, exactly, that he went on to become the singer and songwriter of the multiplatinum rock band Skillet?
Well, pretty much, because even as a child, he didn't believe it.
"I always had a problem with that view. … I looked at the Bible and thought, 'I must just be really misunderstanding this; I don't know where you guys are having such an issue with rock music,' " Cooper said. "… At a very young age I thought, 'This makes no sense.' "
These days, Skillet's music is religious enough that the single "Feel Invincible" recently became the group's first No. 1 song on Billboard's Top Christian Songs chart, but mainstream enough that it's not eligible for the Contemporary Christian Music categories at the Grammys.
Cooper would just like music fans to know that while his band's brand of rock 'n' roll isn't exactly full of sex and drugs, neither will you encounter a tent revival in the parking lot at Friday night's show at Saltair in Magna.
"Really, what it means is, we have fans from all sorts of walks — Christians, atheists, Muslims, Jewish people. I meet all kinds of people at our shows, which is what I love about a Skillet concert — there's all sorts of different folks," Cooper said. "To me, it's really like a wonderful community of people who disagree on a whole lot of things, except for Skillet."
That said, he does acknowledge there's a tricky balance sometimes that arises from having some people ascribe the "Christian rock" label to his group.
On the one hand, he said, "If I just meet somebody for the first time, and they say, 'Oh, I heard you're in a band. What kind of music is it?' I don't say, 'We're a Christian rock band.' I just say, 'We're a rock band,' because sometimes it's a little too pigeonholing, and I never wanted to play music to only Christian people."
On the other hand is the desire not to downplay his true beliefs just to appease someone who thinks the words "Christian" and "rock" are inherently antithetical: "I'm not somebody who, when I get asked, 'Are you a Christian band?' I start dancing around the issue: 'Oh, no, no, no, no — really, we're this.' People really don't like the smell of that kind of disingenuous dancing."
His solution, then, is just to remind people that "there's a lot to sing about in the world besides explicitly religious material."
He would also have you recognize that perhaps you simply shouldn't be overly serious about a band named after kitchenware.
What's the story behind "Skillet" anyway?
Cooper was in a different band at the time and decided to form a side project, which would include a guitarist from a second band and a drummer from a third, and an acquaintance remarked, "Hey, it'd be funny — it'll be like cooking, throwing a whole bunch of ingredients into a skillet, you know?" Also, "In the '90s, it kinda became cool to not care about things. So band names were really silly," Cooper recalled.
"So we called it Skillet, and I never really liked it, but I didn't think it would go anywhere," he added. "And here we are 20 years later."
He added that he briefly considered changing the name three or four years in, but the band already had enough of a following that it wasn't a viable option. Which is just as well, considering not only that, for better or worse, "Skillet" carries some cachet with devotees now, but also because any potential alternative would likely be as bad or worse.
"I've never been good at band names anyway. All my ideas for band names when I was a kid were really dumb," Cooper said. "I had a band for fun called Funky Dynamo. It was kind of a Red Hot Chili Peppers-meets-Parliament kind of funk band.
"Actually, Funky Dynamo is a pretty good name for a funk band," he joked.
Cooper would like to think that whatever he lacks in naming bands, he makes up for in making music with them.
He said he took a deliberate left turn when writing the band's latest album, "Unleashed."
"It's really a fun record, an easy record to listen to. I'm not saying our other records weren't as good, or maybe even better — who knows; that's not for me — but I wanted to make a record that was fun," Cooper said. "… When we were making previous records, I always felt it was important to talk about really important world issues — the issues that we're going through in America, at home or abroad, the wars that were happening, economic devastation, poverty, racism. … But I found myself in a position after our last record ["Rise"], where I didn't want to listen to that record. … I thought it was good, but … it was very heavy. …
"And so, I decided, 'I want to make a record that doesn't talk about all the terrible things happening, but is an escape from those things,' " he added. "… Writing the music was fun — it was the first time that we didn't nitpick every single word. … It feels like you're at an arena singing Bon Jovi songs. That would be a good goal to have!"
Then again, there are those who would argue that Bon Jovi songs are more "demonic instruments" than any guitar or drumkit ever was.
Twitter: @esotericwalden —
With Sick Puppies, Devour the Day
When • Friday night; doors at 7, show at 8
Tickets • $25 advance, $30 day of; Smith's Tix
*Note — Event was originally scheduled for In The Venue, but was moved to accommodate greater demand. Saltair parking for this event is $5, cash only.