The Digital Age is a modern worship band hailing from Waco, TX. All four members: Mark Waldrop (guitar/vocals), Mike Dodson (bass/vocals), Jack Parker(guitar/vocals), Jeremy "B-Wack" Bush (drums) were apart of one of Christian music's most successful groups, The David Crowder Band. Now forging out on their own, they found quick success with the release of their version of "All the Poor & Powerless". Now they are awaiting the release of their first full lengh record entitled, Evening:Morning on August 13th. 

We appreciate Mark taking the time to speak with us and give us more insight on all things The Digital Age. 

BreatheCast: Who's idea was the band name and how did it come about?

"We like to joke that is was the last available band name (laughs). The last David Crowder Band record, David was in Atlanta and we were in Waco (TX) and we made the whole album, never in the same room as each other. We all have home studios and we would just record our parts and pass the songs between each other. That is never ideal and I would not recommend it, but it is possible. Only the Postal Service should do that (laughs). Also with social media, we feel so connected. For instance, I have a friend in Thailand and we talk multiple times a week very easily because everything is so connected. So the fact that we made a record, which is a pretty intimate thing, over digital means shows that there is something there. We were talking about how we were entering into a new age where things are digital and we were like, "hey, thats a good band name, The Digital Age". Then we were like no, somebody's already got that band name, so we weren't even going to google it. But we did and we were like, "oh man, nobody has used it". So immediately we were like, "ok, B-Wack you get the twitter, Mike you get the instagram, I'll get the Youtube channel, Jack you get the facebook page." It was literally done like bam, bam, bam. We just really felt like there was an interesting angle, especially with the church, how we are connected with the whole world and our neighbor isn't necsaririly our geographical neighbor anymore. We are in this digital age where we are really connected."

BreatheCast: Does it feel like a year has passed since the release of the 'Rehearsals EP' (June 5, 2012)?

"Oh my gosh, no (laughs). We were rehearsing for church and we were getting a lot of tweets asking what we sound like, we should record this. So literally it is us rehearsing and we got it mixed and mastered so it sounded good and just put it on iTunes. It seems like yesterday, but 8 years ago at the same time. We've just been rolling non-stop. When we released that in June, we were already writing for the new record and thinking ahead."

BreatheCast: What made you choose "All the Poor & Powerless" to record and make your first single?

"We were rehearsing for church and that song really resonated with us and was being played a lot at the time. I was writing a new song and had this riff and I started singing "All the Poor & Powerless" over it at practice and everyone was like wait, what is happening? So we just started jamming it and we came up with that arrangement and it was really a special moment for us. I was working on an open tuning on my Rickenbacker and it was something interesting. We knew at that moment we wanted to record it and let people hear it. So we started floating around releasing an EP to let people hear what we sound like. So then it was like ok, if we shoot videos should we release them all at the same time or no. We decided "All the Poor & Powerless" because it was a new song to a lot of people and we didn't want to put out any new songs until we put out the full record. Our church was resonating with the song, so we went it it and the response has been great and people really connected with it thankfully. For us it was a lot like the first time we heard "How He Loves" and knew we wanted to do it and just put more of a rock spin on it."

BreatheCast: Who's idea was it for you to scream on "All the Poor & Powerless", I loved when I heard that the first time.

"It wasn't really an idea, it is just what I do (laughs). The lyrics say shout it and the key we chose, it worked. I'm really into a lot of harder music. I kinda grew up playing in some post hardcore bands in high school, so I've kinda always had it in me. So I was like, I'm just gonna shout it and the guys thought it was cool, so we kept it.   The first time we did that at church, the first time people were like, "what?" But then they were like, "ok, I get it". It's probably my favorite moment on stage every night (laughs)."

BreatheCast: What is your relationship with David Crowder currently?

"Everybody is on a phone call basis, B-Wack and him just had a 2-hour phone conversation the other day. He'll call and check in, when we post things, he is very supportive of what we are doing. He is loving the new record which is great. Our last record contract with DCB was up and he had moved and to Atlanta and it was pretty terrifying, but everything has turned out the way it should have. With the age difference, he was always more of a father figure to me along with being a good friend. He was also moving into more of a blue grass direction so our musical desires were moving a part and its all worked out great, we are both doing good things. Crowder Band was a band for like 12 years, so you have pretty deep seeded relationships that last even when people move away."

BreatheCast: Did you guys audition any outside singers before you moved forward with the 4 of you?

"It was a discussion that we had early on. DCB was 6 people and we were down to 4, so we were wondering if we needed to add people to sound just as full. That was definitely a conversation that happened, but after a while it became very apparent that it was supposed to be us for and we will make it work and figure it out. In hindsight you look back on it and you're like "wow, God was there" because if any one of us four decided that it isn't what they wanted to do, we wouldn't exist. So we all just realized our strengths and weaknesses and addressed them. We all started taking vocal lessons and I was working on some different guitar tones and open tunings. We didn't seriously ever really pursue any outside musicians before we decided it should be us 4."

BreatheCast: What are your touring plans for this Fall 2013?

"The new record comes out August 13th and it's up for pre-order now. We were playing on doing a tour right around the release date but we found out that B-Wack is having a little girl due around then. So we are pushing back the tour around a month and kicking off the tour the last week of September and it will go through sometime in November. We will be all over the country and we are building a multi-media fun thing to do with it and bringing out our full crew, so we are going to do it big. Finally having a record out of new material and get to play all of the songs, it's going to be great."