“If I had my own world, I’d build you an empire, from here to the far lands to spread love like violence.” This line from the song “Secret Crowds” by mainstream alternative band Angels & Airwaves caught the ears of Stephanie and Stephen Spencer as they were agonizing over what to name their new rock project several years ago.

The thought of spreading love the way the world spreads violence was especially appealing, and now, LoveLikeViolence isn’t just a band name for the fast-rising Ohio rock band; it’s a mission statement too. 

The band--made up of Stephanie and Stephen, the husband-and-wife guitar-and-vocals duo, as well as bassist Nate West and drummer Tony Saffell--is turning heads as well as volume knobs as the decidedly distorted group carries life-giving themes in a rock-deprived world.

With a new album coming early next year and lead singles “Let Go” and “Skeleton” tearing up rock charts while touching on some important issues, LoveLikeViolence is ready for its close-up. And so here it is, in 11 questions.

You have a great, really polished sound. How long have you been around? 

Stephen: Thank you very much. That means a lot to us. We’ve been a band for about three-and-a-half years. Stephanie and I started it when we moved back from Florida home to Ohio, and it was just one of those things where we had a friend that kind of pushed us. 

What were you doing before you decided to get in the band? Are you worship leaders? What’s your background there?

Stephanie: We’ve being doing worship in churches for many, many years, so that’s what we were doing before. We just kind of started writing music and it just turned into what we’re doing now really easily actually.

In music today, you’re not really seeing any new rock bands. Everybody is going this electronic route or the pop route or things like that. And you guys are holding it down in the rock world. What drew you to this style of music and what’s it like working in a rock-deficient music landscape right now?

Stephen: It’s difficult because a lot of people want you to go a little poppier or a little more electronic, which is really difficult. It’s not that we don’t like that music, but for us we grew up listening to all kinds of different music and rock was one of those genres that stuck out the most for us.

That’s been a difficult thing for us to get more radio play because the people I talk to, they’re great DJs and they’re great people, but they’re like, “You’re just a little heavy for our station. We love you, but you’re just a little heavy.” When we started this band rock was what we loved and it’s what we do, so we don’t want to get away from who we are in a sense.

Way to hold it down. In a live setting, of course, nothing compares to electric guitars going crazy. So what is your live show like? 

Stephanie: Our live show is awesome. I love it. It’s super interactive with the crowd. We’ve had people come on stage and help us sing and there’s just a lot of jumping and fists in the air. People get crazy and we love it. We actually just started throwing in a little bit of rap into our live show.

Stephen: When she says we, she means her. I can’t rap to save my life. We always try to bring as much energy as we possibly can because we don’t want people to be bored just like we’re not bored when we’re playing. We do as much as we can to interact. We want people to leave feeling something. If they hated it, at least they’re feeling something. If they loved it, either way, we want the emotions to be there when they leave.
 
You do have a pretty dedicated fan base; how have you developed it base at this grassroots level?

Stephanie: It’s kind of crazy. We really don’t even know. We weren’t expecting it at all and it just seemed like people came out of the woodwork that just really seemed to be relating to what we were doing and the songs. We’ve had people from places we didn’t even know in other countries. We didn’t know our music was even over there and they’ll message us and tell us about their life and stuff. It’s just crazy. I still can’t believe it.

Stephen: Our prayer every show is that one person walks away from the show with their life changed, if that’s from the music, from us talking to them, interaction, whatever it is, that’s always our prayer because this is a ministry for us, and we don’t want to get away from that. And it’s not about us. It’s just about hanging out with the people that come and support it. So it seemed like when people got to know who we are and what we do and why we do it, they kind of gravitated towards it a little more.

You do come with strong songwriting, and a really positive message--your song “Skeleton” in particular. I watched the video, which is really great. You’ve teamed up with Project Heal. With that song you’re taking aim at body image and what the world is shouting at people. Talk about that a little bit and how you’re dealing with real life issues.

Stephanie: We know people close to us that have struggled with depression and self image and it just sucks that we live in a world that really points out the negative and really focuses on pointing out the flaws. It would just be amazing if we could just start building each other up and starting pointing out the good. It’s easy to start a conversation by pointing out something horrible about somebody or something that you hate.

I think that’s just horrible. What would the world be like if we started to love each other and we started to just build each other up and point out the good? I think people would start to be more confident about themselves and just really love who they regardless of what the world has been telling them.
 
What do you dream about? What do you see, as best as you can see it, what do you dream about with regard to this band? What are some goals you have and visions for what you are doing now?

Stephen: I think every musician just wants to live on the road and live in the studio, but I think more importantly is that we can just get this album out, because it’s been done for a while. There are some things that are holding it up that are out of our control, but I just want people to hear it and relate to it, and enjoy the music we’ve written--to see the passion and everything that went into this. 

There are some exciting possibilities on the horizon. Do you have a release date yet for the full album?

Stephen: No. I’ve been told the winter of 2016. Hopefully early winter. That’s so vague and so broad, but that’s what I’ve been told or what’s been thrown around. 

What about touring? Any tour plans for next year?

Stephen: We’re hoping. The thing is we’ve had some serous tour offers, but without an album and being so new, it doesn’t make sense for us yet, so we’re hoping that once the album comes out, we can just hop on the road and do this.

There are some possibilities for the summer too. We played a festival in Ohio called Alive and they picked us as their best new artist, which is a huge blessing. And if we get picked by the Christian Festival Association, we actually could be playing every festival in the country next year.

Are you full-time with the band now or do you have secret identities as well?

Stephen: I’d like to think I have a secret identity. I work in a church right now. I lead worship and I do youth ministry. Stephanie helps me with worship as well. Day to day we’re in a church--Bethel Temple in Canton, Ohio--doing worship and still doing music.

How can people be praying for you as this new season is moving forward?

Stephanie: Any prayers will be appreciated. Just pray that God keeps opening these doors, like He has been, and prayers for our willingness to walk through them.

Stephen: I’d say direction too. Just that we know the direction that God pushes us in and that we know it’s Him and it’s not our own will.