When growing up on the small island of American Samoa, The Katinas were basically forced to gain an appreciation for a wide range of musical styles since there was only one radio station that played, well, a little bit of everything.
“We regularly heard a fusion of pop, rock, R&B, soul, country and island music,” says John Katina, one of the group’s lead singers. “So from a young age, we began to realize something very important about music that’s helped us even today. Regardless of genre, good music is good music. It’s really all about the hook.”
For the past 21 years, The Katinas have known a little something about writing catchy hooks, just one of the many hallmarks of their colorful career. And now with their latest album, Collage, The Katinas are celebrating how all the pieces of their unique sound have come full circle.
Always the innovators, Collage is also The Katinas’ most collaborative effort. While there’s always something special whenever a family of musicians write songs and harmonize together, The Katinas broadened their artistic horizons by inviting fellow artists including TobyMac, Jeremy Camp, CeCe Winans and B. Reith into the fold.
“When artists like Jeremy Camp signed on to be part of the album, I was like ‘Praise God,’” John explains. “Adding new people to the mix helped stretch us out of our musical comfort zones. Since we’ve been making music together for so long now, we know where each of us is going to go with a song. So working with all these artists was one of those iron-sharpening-iron situations that helps keep things from getting stale. That’s just one of the great things about living in Nashville—having that sort of talent living nearby.”
A culmination of the journey they’ve been on as artists, brothers and men, there’s a little something for every listener on Collage.
“The title couldn’t be more fitting because that’s what it is—a collection of all the different things we do musically,” says James, the group’s bassist and vocalist. “We’ve met so many great people along the way and experienced so much together, and that’s all reflected in our new songs.”
While traveling on the road with evangelist Greg Laurie for his “Harvest Crusade” events, The Katinas have already been playing one of the songs from Collage titled “Home” during the altar calls. “There’s absolutely nothing like seeing people come forward and accept Jesus as their Savior,” John says. “Playing this song has been such a special moment as we sing ‘This is love, turn around, come on home.’”
On the album’s title track and songs like “Surrender” a collaboration with Jeremy Camp, finding our ultimate hope through a relationship with Christ is a theme that runs through Collage.
“What we’re trying to say to people is that whatever you’re going through, whether it’s a struggle or a hard time, it’s really just part of the picture,” James shares. “We want to encourage the body that there’s hope for every season of life.”
Rounding out the listening experience is a fun, summer jam written with B. Reith called “Every Bit of You,” the praiseworthy strains of “Jehovah” with CeCe Winans and covers of two of The Katinas’ favorite worship songs, David Crowder’s “How He Loves” and Delirious’ “Majesty.”
“We definitely put our Katinas spin on them,” James says. “We love how both of these instantly draw you into God’s presence, and were so excited about recording them since they’re both songs we enjoy worshiping to as well.”
For more information on The Katinas and Collage, check out www.thekatinas.com.
