So you’re completely out of touch. You’ve been living in your garage, don’t have cable, never listen to the radio, never go to movies. And you don’t know what a Superchic[k] is. Quite simply, Superchic[k] is everywhere. JC Penney? Yup, they’re there. Both blockbuster Legally Blonde movies? There, too. MTV? Of course. It-list television show Alias? Sure. Tween-favorite Mary-Kate & Ashley Magazine? Uh-huh. CNN, Newsweek, New York Times? Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the U.S.? Yeah, yeah. We get it. Superchic[k] is one of the hottest bands on the rise, with hit songs like “Barlow Girls” and “One Girl Revolution.” Their music has been in all of those places—from an ad campaign with JC Penney to the end credits of the Reese Witherspoon smash Legally Blonde2: Red White and Blue, as well as its predecessor. In fact, you can check out amped-up versions of all of these hits, including the recent Legally Blonde cut, “Me Against the World,” on their third and latest project, Regeneration. Trouble following? Well, as founder Max Hsu often explains, Superchic[k] is a band, Tricia Brock out front on vocals and sister Melissa Brock on harmony vocals and rhythm guitar, Matt Dally on bass guitar and vocals, and Max himself taking on multiple roles on keyboards, as DJ, producer and primary songwriter. But, he’ll quickly tell you, Superchic[k] is also a movement—anyone can be a Superchic[k]. That’s because a Superchic[k] is someone who finds his or her God-given identity, not in the latest trends thrown out by society and the media, and is secure in that identity. Sometimes that means taking risks. “We believe in this generation,” says Max, echoing all the members of the band. “We believe that everyone is capable of greatness and is meant to do amazing things. It’s just a matter of getting off the couch and taking a step everyday towards who you want to be. We wanted to see if ordinary kids from the Midwest could change the world in some way, and we feel like we’ve been blessed to see it happen. We make music in our basement and we’ve heard it on TV, in movie theaters, at the mall and everywhere in between. We’ve been blessed with more than we ever thought would happen. But for us, the ultimate is seeing all the other kids rise up and chase their dreams, too, ‘cause if a geeky kid who was last one picked in every basketball game can do this, then they can too.” Paralleling the band’s message is its music. Lyrically, their 2001 Inpop Records debut, Karaoke Superstars, and their 2002 sophomore return, Last One Picked, follow themes common to most popular music, from Britney to Eminem: love, dreams, loneliness, hurt. “I’ve always challenged everyone in the band to open up and let people see where we hurt, where we ache and cry,” describes Max, who writes nearly all of the tunes Superchic[k] records. “Art is merely bleeding on the page. Most of my work comes from taking conversations and journals from everyone and making them fit into a song. It’s one thing to tell someone that they have something to live for. It’s another to let them see that you’ve been there yourself—lost, without hope—and found a way back.” Maybe that’s why revisiting the songs that have impacted so many makes Regeneration more than just another remix album. “Some of the songs on the album are very important to us, but we never felt like we communicated them in the way they should have been, so it’s a privilege to go back and rebuild them and give them a second chance. It’s always fun to revisit songs we never thought we got right or songs that we wanted to try in different ways. Some of these remixes allowed us to show some teeth and some of them got us one step closer to our quest for the ultimate groove. It’s like getting to redo your SATs.” More about reinterpretations than traditional remixes, most of the work on Regeneration was done by Superchic[k], rather than being handed off to a producer or artist to add their flavor. “The ideas we have are more like a new record,” says Matt. “The arrangements are better than the originals. In reality, it’s a totally different record.” “Regeneration is a chance to show a side of Superchic[k] that we haven’t brought out yet,” Max adds. “It feels like we’re getting back to what Superchic[k] really is, a mixing bowl of all the music we love.” With Regeneration, the band returns to some of their original inspirations, as well as creating new sounds and meanings to their hit songs. “Hero” is a personal favorite of the band because of the incredible response it has received from fans, but the song has an added depth on Regeneration. “Since ‘Hero’ has been on the radio, we’ve gotten huge response,” says Tricia. “Kids have made a point to go sit with other kids who have sat at lunch by themselves their whole lives. We’ve heard about kids contemplating suicide, dealing with depression and ridicule. The same people have been made fun of for years—and after hearing ‘Hero,’ kids are realizing that they can change other people’s lives. The impact they can have is huge.” “On the original album, it was more poppy, more happy-go-lucky, even though it had a serious message,” continues Matt. “We’ve given it a more mellow twist and now different words really pop out at you and hit you.” “There’s always that song that you don’t expect to be what it ends up being,” says Melissa. “In this last year so many kids have come up to us and told us how that song made such a difference in their lives—it made them want to be a friend to someone who doesn’t have friends, or stand up for something.” Musically, Regeneration goes back to its roots while still creating a new sound for the band. “The whole mix for ‘Barlow Girls’ revolves around an awesome guitar riff that I couldn’t get out of my head. So now, two years later, I went back and rebuilt the remix around it,” says Max. “On ‘Get Up,’ Tricia did a great new vocal. The tempo on it ranges from 50 beats per minute to 400. We’ve never gone that fast before. It was like going 140 mph on a motorcycle—not that I’ve ever done that of course—that’s illegal. Fortunately 400 beats per minute isn’t illegal, it’s just hard on your drummer.” “We went in and did a lot of things vocally we had never done or tried,” says Melissa. “Where the first album was pretty basic vocally, on this album Tricia and I both wail! On other albums we wished we had more time to do this or that, but I don’t wish I could have done anything else different to this album. I just really like it. I think making Regeneration showed us where we can go with the next album. I think it will help bridge between what we were doing and what we are going to be doing.” With Regeneration hitting airwaves and the band heading back to the studio this fall to work on their next project, what is in store for this earth-sweeping movement dubbed Superchic[k]? “When our first album came out, we’d hear from kids, ‘I’m so glad you wrote this song. It inspired me.’ Now kids are coming to shows and they’re telling us what they’ve done,” says Tricia. “They’re taking it to the next level. Instead of saying they want to do this or that at school, or they want to start a band, they’ve gone out and done it.” “Kids actually get what we’re talking about—they’re changing their lives because of what we’ve said,” Matt agrees. “We’re really excited about what God has in store. We’re going to change the world. The more prayer and love and support we can get, the better.”