Honestly: My Life and Stryper Revealed

by Michael Sweet

  Andrew and Jonathan had been reaching out to promoters to see if there would be interest in Stryper shows. Seven had been released with a favorable response. Dave was also encouraging a reunion in order to possibly get my solo career back on track. Most important, I felt God’s hand was in all of this. The toughest part of all of this would be convincing Kyle that it was meant to be. She, of course, and rightfully so, was apprehensive about a Stryper reunion.

  I prayed about the situation, and I was beginning to feel that God was calling me to give this a shot—the idea of a one-time reunion tour.

  I gave the green light to Jonathan and Andrew to put together a short reunion tour. We would support Seven and start the process. Through it all, I was honest in letting everyone know that this was a one-time deal. This was not Stryper reuniting on a permanent basis—this would be a one-time only reunion tour.

  As things started to ramp up, I also began to realize we were going to need some serious help in getting this off the ground. Jonathan was a real go-getter, but I felt he lacked the experience within the industry to completely handle putting together a tour of this magnitude.

  I called Dave and asked if he’d like to manage the reunion tour. His response was an enthusiastic “Yes, of course I would. But I need to ask—do you even have the authority to appoint me as manager? Are there still agreements with your Mom? Do the other members need to sign off on this?”

  I told him that I did have the authority. I said if I was going to do this reunion tour, I was going to lead it. For the most part, Robert had always led Stryper. After all, I joined Robert’s band as the singer. But if I was going to come back to this band, it was going to have to be under terms I was comfortable with such as personal and spiritual terms and business operations.

  Looking at it from a business point of view, Stryper was failing toward the end in the early 1990s. It did fail. We went bankrupt. So if you have a business that fails and you decide to reorganize or re-launch it, you don’t go back to the old ways of doing business. You do something new and try to right the wrongs that happened in the first place.

  I was already skeptical about the idea of putting Stryper back together, even short term. But if it was going to happen, I had some basic conditions that I needed the guys to agree to, and one of those was that I would be running the band. This was not a power play for control but rather a desire to make absolutely certain that we didn’t fall back in to our old ways—ways that had obviously broken us apart. I said, “The only way I’m going to do this is if you let me take care of handling things the way I feel they need to be handled, including the people we do business with, the songs, the show, and the overall operations of the band.”

  I spoke with the guys about Dave, and they were hesitant but supportive for the most part. I think they all just wanted to reunite so badly that I could have told them anyone would be managing the band and they would have gone along with it. I was determined not to slip back into the old routine of letting others handle our business. I knew that with Dave driving the car, I would be able to give the directions—and I needed that for my sanity of knowing we’d stay on course.

  We began rehearsals for the tour, which consisted of a series of reconciliation meetings. Most of them happened in hotel rooms where the four of us would gather and just go around the room pouring our hearts out. We held nothing back and spoke openly and honestly about what was on our minds. We spoke specifically to one another about deep-rooted pain whether it was between Tim and I, Rob and Oz, Oz and I, or whomever—we just opened up and told each other exactly what we were thinking. There were a lot of feelings of resentment that came out in those talks. It was some heavy stuff, but the wounds needed to heal.

  I would express myself and why I left the band and why I didn’t want to rejoin. They shared with me why they were upset at me for doing so. We talked about the Against The Law issues, the drunken days and all that went on during that time period. By doing this, a lot of tears were shed and a lot of forgiveness was granted. We prayed together. It was like we were starting all over again. And we were—friends and brothers again from the beginning.

  We had lots of these prayer and healing sessions during rehearsals. After years of animosity and tension, it felt as though we could breathe again. We had laid the weight at God’s feet and we stopped trying to carry it ourselves. And on October 2, 2003, we began the first tour together in 12 years. Our first show was at Jaxx in Springfield, Virginia. That tour took us coast to coast, and we played to capacity or near-capacity crowds nightly.

  We got off to a slightly rocky but comical start with this tour. Jaxx had agreed to let us come in a day early to do a full rehearsal. We needed a practice run outside the confines of our small rehearsal space. Rob’s drum tech had set up his kit on that first day, and I immediately noticed what was painted on the kick-drum head facing the audience. It was a picture of Rob from the ’80s painted on the drumhead for all the audience to see.

  Oz, Tim and I felt that it came across somewhat vein and out of place. But that was Rob—the consummate showman always willing to push the envelope. I wasn’t quite ready to push the envelope quite yet.

  It was the classic To Hell With The Devil era picture where Rob has one hand raised behind his head. It was sometimes referred to as the Farrah Fawcett shot because of Rob’s hairdo and obvious pose. So how do you tell your drummer, and brother, that he shouldn’t have a picture of himself painted on his kick-drum head? Well, the right way would probably be to sit down and have a conversation about it. Nah, that’s no fun. So when he wasn’t looking we cut some of Oz’s hair and taped it to Rob’s armpit to make the picture more lifelike.

  Rob saw it and wasn’t too happy. We ultimately told him in a respectful manner that we just didn’t feel it set the best tone for the show being our first time back in 12 years. He understood, I think. Honestly, I’m not even sure it was Rob who had it done. His drum tech may have taken it upon himself to do it. Either way we all got a good laugh out of the armpit hair.

  Michael Guido came out for a while during that tour and really helped to get us back on track spiritually. We continued to meet on the bus nightly as we prayed together and continued to work on rebuilding trust. We humbled ourselves again and as a result we began to see a lot of things happen that we had not seen since the early to mid-80s. Lives were being touched with a whole new generation of Stryper fans. Older fans were bringing their kids to the shows, and it was great to feel God working again. Almost nightly I’d end the show in a prayer. It was amazing to be performing at clubs where only God knows what took place the night before or the night after—but at the end of the night of the Stryper show, we would ask the entire place to take a moment and pray with us. We still do it to this day, and it’s always a special part of the show.

  We played to a capacity crowd at Irving Plaza in New York, and in an attempt to stay on course with promoting my solo career, I would take meetings before and after the shows. In New York, for example, I met with Danny Goldberg of Artemis Records the day after our show. He had previously passed on me, but this mention of a sold-out Stryper show seemed to spark his interest. We played Rocketown in Nashville, and the day prior to the show I took meetings with a lot of industry folks from my past. Everyone seemed to be excited about possibly working together. And in St. Petersburg, Florida, at Jannus Landing, an A&R guy from Big3 Records named Jim Beeman came out to the show and took an interest in a possible future together.

  Maybe this was what I needed. Maybe if I gave it all back over to God and truly surrendered, and truly asked for forgiveness both of Him and my band mates, He would bless my life as well. That’s my experience with God. When you give it all to Him, He does the same in return. I was feeling good about being back in Stryper, all the while reminding the audience nightly that this was not a permanent reunion. It was a one-time “celebration” tour.

  As the tour wore on I began to feel less excited about it. Maybe it was being on a tour bus for seven weeks with
these guys for the first time in 12 years. That was partially it, but I did start to feel some of the old ways creeping back in slowly. When there’s as much deep-rooted animosity built up between members, it’s just hard to regroup from that, no matter how much you try to do so.

  The tour ended in Boston on November 19, 2003, and the love we felt from the fans throughout the tour was moving.

  Financially, it was our first profitable tour since Soldiers Under Command.

  In March of 2004 we picked back up and played an unforgettable show in Puerto Rico at the Tito Puente Amphitheater to a sold-out crowd of 7,000+ people. It was the most enthusiastic crowd I had witnessed in a long time, possibly ever. We filmed that show for a DVD, and I’m glad we did because it was great moment to capture in Stryper history. It wasn’t so much our performance, although I felt we played well, but the energy level of the fans in Puerto Rico is like no other.

  While in Puerto Rico we did an in-store appearance at a mall. It was held at a record store in San Juan. Thousands of people showed up as if we were reliving the days in Australia when the police had to be called out for crowd control.

  As we were leaving the store after the event, I decided to take a detour to a coffee shop. I quickly got some coffee and we all headed for the mall exit. As soon as we opened the doors to leave the mall, I heard someone yell, “There they are. Stryper.” I turned around and saw a mob of fans, hundreds of them, who were running toward us. We all took off sprinting toward the SUV that was waiting outside to drive us back to the hotel. The driver was in the vehicle. He could see us running toward the car and the sea of people behind us, so he jumped out of the driver’s seat and opened all the doors so we could get inside quickly.

  I ran at full speed toward that car, spilling coffee everywhere, then literally dived through the open doors into the back seats. The driver sped off with the doors still open but the forward momentum slammed them shut just as the crowd approached and started banging on the sides of the car. Our fans in Puerto Rico are passionate about Stryper—and for that I’m forever thankful to them.

  During the tour in the States we recorded many of the shows, and in May of 2004 we released a collection of those recordings called 7 Weeks, Live in America, our first-ever live album. We released that project and the Puerto Rico DVD on our self-owned label Fifty Three Five Records. Surprisingly, as a self-released album without the backing of a major label, we charted on three different Billboard charts, hitting #2 in the Internet charts, just behind Hillary Duff. That live album also charted on the Christian and Independent charts as well.

  It was a nice reunion run but I was happy it was over. I walked away from that tour feeling equally as good about its success as I did about its conclusion. I enjoyed seeing the fans and playing to incredibly enthusiastic crowds, but I felt the same as when we started the tour. As far as I was concerned, it was a one-time deal and we would not be permanently reuniting.

  In 2004, I recorded some songs at my home studio with the intention of shopping for a solo deal. Jim Beeman from Big3 Records, who had seen us the previous year in St. Petersburg, took an extreme liking in the songs. He played them for everyone at the label, and they were impressed with them as well, including the label president and owner, Bill Edwards.

  In the meantime, we had been offered another show as Stryper that we decided to take in September of 2004. It would be at Night of Joy held at Disney World in Florida. We had played Night of Joy before, and it was always a positive experience so we were excited to come back. There was only one problem. We had reservations about continuing on with Tim again and likewise, Tim had reservations about staying in the band.

  Coming off the heels of the Puerto Rico show, things just didn’t feel right. Tim didn’t seem happy, and we weren’t completely happy with him either. We had all grown over the past 12 years, and it was unrealistic to think we’d all be at the same place mentally or as I often put it, on the same page.

  We scheduled a conference call for the four of us, along with Dave Rose, to discuss the future of Stryper. On that call we were planning to let Tim go. We had called Dave in advance and discussed the best way to break the news. There’s never an easy way to break this sort of news, so it’s always helpful, at least for me anyway, to talk it through with someone else in advance.

  As the conference call began we told Tim that he seemed unhappy in the band and from there we let him have the floor. He talked for a while and ultimately admitted to indeed not being happy within the band. He said that the “rock star” lifestyle just didn’t seem to be for him any longer, and within a few minutes of the call he suggested that he step down from Stryper.

  Well, that was easier than I expected. Here I was nervous about how to let him go, and he lets himself go. It was for the best. At the time, he seemed miserable in the band and if there would be any chance for Stryper to continue, although we were still somewhat uncertain of that future, it would need to be without Tim.

  We hired Tracy Ferrie to take his place for this show. Tracy had been in several Christian bands prior and had toured with me for my solo stuff as well. It seemed to make sense that he would make the perfect replacement.

  While in Florida, I shared with the guys my interest from Big3 Records, and in the rental van I played the songs I had recorded. Oz loved them. He really took an interest in the songs, and I could tell he was genuinely impressed. After a couple of listens he spoke up saying “These are great songs. This should be a Stryper record!”

  That statement and excitement from Oz planted the seed in my heart and head.

  I went back to Big3, who was already offering me a deal as a solo artist, and asked if they’d be interested in turning it into a Stryper deal instead. Bill Edwards was thrilled about the idea and got totally on board with it. We signed an agreement to do three albums with Big3 and to tour in support of those albums.

  Well, it looks like Stryper is back together after all on a permanent scale. Tracy joined the band as a full-fledged member. We all went back into the studio to overhaul the songs I had previously recorded with plans as a solo release. Although many of the initial tracks remained on the Stryper version, all the guys came in and laid down their respective parts and it slowly transformed from a Michael Sweet solo album to a Stryper album. We called it Reborn, a statement of our renewed faith in God and in ourselves.

  Reborn was released in August of 2005 and debuted at #111 on the Billboard top 200. I was impressed with that given it was our first full-length studio album in 15 years.

  Stryper was back, but would we be able to grow our fan base, or would we become just another nostalgic touring act? We had a renewed energy and were eager to give it all that we had, with God leading the way.

  THIRTY-SIX

  The honeymoon was over by the time we set out to tour in support of Reborn. Our attendance had dropped slightly on this tour, which was to be expected given the “newness” of us being back together had worn off, never mind the fact that this tour consisted of only 75 percent of the original line-up.

  Reborn continued to garner press and attention but the most enlightening developments to me were the sporadic comments from fans saying, “Eh, this is just another Michael Sweet solo record.” This surprised me. Word had spread that I had previously written and recorded these songs and then turned the material into a Stryper record. Keep in mind it was Oz who suggested the idea of this becoming a Stryper record (and Rob agreed), yet there was this spin on it within the Stryper community that I was somehow forcing my solo material into becoming a Stryper record.

  These comments from fans were eye opening for a few reasons. First, they were from the same people who for years had been complaining “Why don’t you put Stryper back together?” and now were quick to pass judgment that this was just another solo album. My knee-jerk response to the naysayers was “Look, it was YOU that wanted me to put Stryper back together. If it weren’t for this album, Stryper wouldn’t be back together. Which would you prefer? Us back toget
her or not?”

  Secondly, what exactly is a Michael Sweet solo album versus a Stryper album? I’ve always written most of the songs for Stryper. I’ve always led the band musically. It’s the same songwriter, same singer and same guitar parts. Sure, there are subtle differences between a Stryper record and a Michael Sweet record (mostly in the style of songs and edge), but certainly not major ones, especially regarding Reborn. And lastly, the accusation of this just being another solo album was simply wrong. The guys come in to record their parts. It was a Stryper record created in a similar fashion to all the other Stryper albums that have been created.

  The reviews of Reborn were overwhelmingly positive, but within the tight-knit circle of Stryper fans I got a solid lesson in “You can’t please everyone.” They wanted Stryper back together, but apparently only on their terms. I’m not exactly sure what those terms would have been. Did they expect us, now in our 40s, to all move into a house together in Southern California, write songs collectively during the day and drive around Sunset Strip at night in our yellow-and-black van tossing demos to everyone we passed? What did the naysayers want? The reality was that this was the real world, where we were all living in separate parts of the country and living separate lives. Basically, we made the record the same way we had always made albums, but it was difficult for some people to believe that.

  We started the tour in August of ’05 in Puerto Rico, and we toured the U.S. through the end of November doing what I call a “House of Blues” tour. Essentially, we were playing at House of Blues and similar-sized venues throughout the country. We toured overseas the following year, in 2006, playing primarily festivals.