To be or not to be... that is the question.

And that has been the biggest question buzzing around ever-evolving, chameleon-like hip-hop/rock/pop trio dc talk for years. In 1996, general market mega-label, Virgin Records, co-signed the group and offered its members an avenue to the mainstream. For Kevin Max and Michael Tait in particular, the opportunity spoke visions of sugar plums to their long-held desires to record solo albums. The idea—and the discussions that followed—sparked a frenzy of dc talk break-up rumors.

But the future of the Jesus Freaks—who got their career start at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., in the late ’80s—never seemed as unstable as it did in the fall of 1999. The "Supernatural" tour had just wrapped, and the bandmates of more than a decade were tired, frustrated and ready for a break after spending 12 months on the road together. "We all love each other but at times, just like in a family, we get on each other’s nerves," admits Max.

"What I do as an individual artist is very different from what dc talk does," he continues, "and I felt that for many years. People who are close to me know I’ve been talking about a solo album for six years. I’ve not done it because I never felt it was the right time to do it."

So Kevin, believing his time was now right, made a decision: "I want to leave. I don’t want to do [dc talk] anymore."

‘I WANT TO LEAVE’

Though disappointed, the other two-thirds of dc talk weren’t surprised. Frankly, the thought of calling it quits wasn’t unique to Kevin Max.

"Breaking up was definitely a consideration," says Tait. "We were just thinking, ‘Is this something we have no desire to come back to? Or are we just a little worn out?’" Toby McKeehan, long seen as the leader and spokesperson for dc talk, recalls the time at the end of the "Supernatural" tour "...like it was yesterday. It was emotional. We were tired and burned out. I definitely questioned whether I wanted to go on."

It’s no secret that McKeehan and Max don’t always see eye to eye. Toby, the conservative and somewhat calculated frontman, always reaches for just the right thing to say. He’s a visionary, a natural born leader. Kevin, on the other hand, can’t help but to be a rebel, someone who needs to stir things up just because. A thinker and a poet, he lives life on the edge, spontaneously, creatively, and not always wisely. Two such radically different personalities need each other, but they’re also bound to clash occasionally.

Tait, called by the other two "the glue of dc talk," plays the role of peacemaker, the lover of people who sees how conflict brews between his cohorts and acknowledges their struggle to forgive and forget. "They’ve been at odds with each other off and on throughout our career," Tait says. "Creatively or whatever, there’s always been this little funk there, and they both know it."

Tait goes on to explain the dc talk trio is like a family, and as such, they are "...no strangers to the hard trails of life and indecision and debate and bickering and brotherly fights."

But within that tension, great art was birthed, and a bond was forged that could overcome anything.

TAKING A BREAK

McKeehan believes Kevin wasn’t "dying to leave dc talk" as much as he was ready to do his own project. "You know, collaboration equals compromise. There are three guys, and my idea on any given song is compromised by Mike and Kevin’s perspectives and ideas. Their ideas are compromised by mine. Sooner or later you want to purely pursue one of your ideas, one of the God-given creative thoughts you have! There is nothing wrong with that."

But he admits it was difficult to hear of Kevin’s decision. "It was painful. I think he felt for a while that it was OK with me that he left. But it wasn’t OK with me on a personal level that he would want to leave. I remember before we did the Billy Graham Crusade in Florida we had a very long talk. I told him, ‘I don’t know where you are, but I don’t want to see you go. If it is what you need to do, then it’s what you need to do. But from a friendship perspective, I do not want you to leave.’"

After prayer, discussing it with his wife and simply taking some time away from the group, Kevin decided leaving wasn’t what he wanted after all.

"I thought, ‘OK you have differences, but they’re not so huge that you can’t work ’em out,’" says Max. "And so we did... we worked ’em out. That’s why there was no press release saying dc talk broke up because we didn’t. We went through some changes, and we’re still going through some changes."

The threesome did decide to take a vacation, a lengthy one, to allow each of the members a chance to pursue solo projects. By chasing their individual dreams for a while, Toby, Mike and Kevin hoped to regain their passion for what they do collectively.

The result has been an 18-month sabbatical in which dc talk was rarely seen. A greatest hits collection—appropriately titled Intermission— did release last November. And on April 24, a new EP hit the streets, dc talk: solo (ForeFront), containing two songs each from the upcoming album by new rock band Tait (Empty, July 3), the K-Max pop-flavored debut (Stereotype B, August) and the hip-hop pop stylings of Toby Mac (Momentum, late October). As an extra bonus, you’ll also find a live version of dc talk’s popular cover of U2’s "40."

"The EP is interesting because it’s the formula," says McKeehan. "This is what makes dc talk, these three angles, these three perspectives. Listening to it freaked me out a little. In a way we are sort of revealing the recipe of dc talk. Not that it was that much of a secret, but we are showing the ingredients."

DC TALK: THE FUTURE

Those ingredients remain incredibly strong. Says Toby, "People want to turn our solo records into a negative thing when it is a great thing. It’s a chance for us to express ourselves, to be proud of each other and pursue the deepest passions of our hearts artistically."

So, dc talk is not breaking up. In fact, the group’s intermission ends this summer as the trio heads out on the festival circuit for what Tait depicts will be logistically "a circus, a zoo, a nightmare." But it should also be something close to Nirvana for dc talk fans. The trio is scheduled to do three 20-minute solo sets and then a 45-minute dc talk set with a speaker in between at about 20 festivals.

As for the next dc talk album, there’s no timetable, in part because there are three solo CDs that must be supported first.

Tait, for one, admits his focus right now is on his own band, which he sees as his future. "This [solo album] to me is as big as anything I’ve ever done, probably bigger because it’s my thing. I’ve given this everything I have."

But his excitement for Tait is tempered by his commitment to dc talk, to what he firmly believes is a calling. "I think dc talk the band has consistently—by the grace of God and by the grace of God only—put out tangible, inspiring, helpful and at times evangelical music. And that gives it the right to go on... It’s all about passion, the passion in our music is what’s brought dc talk this far."

"I really am very excited for the future," says Max. "We haven’t done our best record yet... The fact that we’re all branching off to do our own albums right now is going to bring us all back stronger as a whole."

Toby believes the time off has spurred individual growth that will stretch far beyond the music of dc talk. "In the last two years we have grown to hope and care for each other more and to want to see each other succeed. We went through our years of insecurities about the other guys and being competitive. I think those years are behind us.

"I have to go back to the foundation of who we are and how we met and what this group is built off of. dc talk is Toby, Mike and Kevin and the friendship we have. It’s not the business, it’s not the Dove Awards or the songs we’ve made. All those things are extensions of our friendships. That’s what we have to lean on."

CCM
-additional reporting by Gregory Rumburg and Melissa Riddle