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Biography (courtesy of R/S/E Records)

"We feel like we're just getting started", says Kevin Young, lead singer of Disciple. Yeah, right. Just getting started. Disciple has been together for over 10 years—since the band was in high school—having played over 1,200 concerts to hundreds of thousands of hard-core, devoted fans. They released 6 albums, their last one selling 35,000 independent units, garnered 6 number one rock hits and received 4 Dove nominations for Best Hard Rock Song and Album of the Year. They managed and booked themselves. Their email database goes on for days, and they have thousands of fans post to their message board every week. In their free time they head for Europe to headline tours. These are the kind of statistics that many major label artists would be proud of, but Disciple is that rare band that has done it on their own with little help from the machine called the music business.

Drummer Tim Barrett and vocalist Kevin Young started playing music together in their early teens. The pair met guitarist Brad Noah in December 1992 and assembled Disciple as a three-piece band. In October 2003, the trio added bassist Joey Fife to the ensemble, rounding out the current Disciple roster. "We are brothers in the truest sense of the word. We have loved each other, argued, fought, made up and done it all over again to the point where we know each other so well. We have sharpened each other over the years, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for us."

Disciple went into the studio in early 2004 to record their next independent project with long time producer and friend Travis Wyrick (POD, Pillar). "When we made records in the past it was all about how fast we could play, how hard, how much can I scream", says Kevin Young. "But this time we were listening to a bunch of different music. We felt like we could keep our edge, but sing melodies. We felt like we could write a hook. We sat down with Travis and asked him to really dig in and help us. We were blown away by the results." Those results are bold choruses, rapid-fire drum rhythms, huge guitar riffs, and passionate vocals—a 14-song combination of true progressive rock tunes. Well, a lot of people were blown away. Tim Barrett says, "Some of the stuff we were recording started to get out. All of a sudden people were calling us. We signed with a management company and found ourselves sitting in record label meetings with guys that we had heard about for years, but never had the opportunity to talk to." Shortly thereafter, Disciple signed with record label S/R/E. "Our managers had a relationship with them and introduced them to our music," Young says. "They liked what we recorded and when we had the opportunity to meet them they really made an impact on us. I think we knew relatively quickly that this was going to be our new home."

As for the songwriting, most of the music was a collaborative effort by all Disciple members, while Young took care of the lyric duties. "Some of the songs were very personal," Young explains. For example, "Stripped Away" is a song he wrote about the pressures of being placed on a pedestal, and the difficulties of living up to the standards that are placed on people. "There have been many times that I felt like I should be the one being guided by someone else instead of being someone who is guiding others," says Young. "Worth" is a song that makes light of the fact that even though there have been many hard times that people face over the years, it's worth it all just to see someone's life impacted and changed. "Backstabber" is a very personal song about a relationship that ended rather bitterly. "It shares a lot of negative emotions that have never really surfaced before in Disciple songs," Young admits. "Disciple has always wanted to be more than just music. I think that our songs are a direct reflection of what is going on in our lives, and we share our experiences with people in hopes that we can relate to our audience on a deeper level."

Disciple is seeking to spread their message and music to as many new faces as possible. "We want to play for more people than we have ever played for," says Young. "We have never been in this thing for money and I hope we never will be, but at the same time we want to reach as many people as we can with our music. We feel that our songs are more than just music—we've seen them have a positive impact on people's lives. As a band, we feel like we have had the opportunity to do more and be a part of more than we ever dreamed. We are thankful for that. But we feel like we have so much more to give. Things have fallen into place for us. We've got the right team around us for the first time in our careers and we think we've made the right music. Again, I feel like we are just getting started."

If this is "just getting started," then Disciple's future could be quite a ride.