HP: Ed, we hate to tell you this, but you still haven’t told us where the band’s name comes from
.

ER: Oh yeah! (laughs) It actually comes from a book I was reading at the time, Ayn Rand’s The Fountain Head. In there, there’s the reference to mankind being a “collective soul.” It was just something that stuck me as sounding good and being very correct- we are all a collective soul. Of course, our manager hated the name- he figured we’d get pegged as some sort of soul music compilation and never get listened to. But my logic was that the term “soul music” hasn’t been used since the ’70s, so I felt we were pretty safe in using the word “soul.” Actually, we were still trying to come up with another name right up until the time we got signed. But Collective Soul was the only name we all could agree on.

HP: Has the success of the album has enjoyed come as a surprise to you?

ER: I think the word would be more “shock” than “surprise.” As I said, these songs weren’t even written for an album. We weren’t even a band. So do you think we’re surprised? I mean I’m almost 30 years old, so it’s not like I’m some kid who just got a break. I worked at this for a long time and I assumed I had gone as far as I could go as a performer. That’s why I has turned my attention to writing. I always figured there was plenty of need for good songs, and I could supply them to whoever needed ‘em or wanted ‘em. But I’m not complaining. This is all like a dream.

HP:The song Shine was an MTV staple for much of the spring. Do you think that airplay was the reason the album soared up the charts?

ER: It certainly didn’t hurt us. It’s funny in that Shine was the very first song I wrote for the demo tape that I did. And that’s the song that really opened up a lot of doors for us. It was the song that convinced the label to sign us, and it was the song that allowed us to get a bit of success. That’s a lot for a little song about dealing with heart-felt emotions.

HP: As of late, it’s been difficult for hard rock bands to get much media attention - especially at MTV. Why do you think you’ve been so lucky?

ER: I think a lot of it has to do with how hard the label has been working for us. They’ve done an amazing job. When you consider that we were more than happy to sell 16,000 copies of the album, to see it selling hundred of thousands of copies is really a little overwhelming.

HP: You’ve been playing the clubs on your own rather than opening up arena shows for a major headliner. Why?

ER: There’s time for the big halls later on. Right now we’re just enjoying going on stage in the smaller places and interacting with the fans. The biggest show we’ve played so far was for about 2,000 people in Buffalo. I think we’d be scared to death if we had to play a bigger place right now. You’ve got to remember that we haven’t been together as a band for that long, so it’s still a feeling out process for us.

HP: We can’t help but notice that you’ve got no less than three guitars in your lineup. Isn't that overkill?

ER: We like having guitars coming at you from everywhere- everyone playing rhythm and everyone playing lead. It’s fun. It really creates a great sound on stage. We keep everyone busy up there, and everyone guessing down in the crowd. They’re never sure exactly who is playing what unless they watch really close. But we’re just having fun, and we think that comes across in our music and in our shows. Collective Soul is just about five guys working together to make good music that everyone can enjoy.