The title is fitting considering how they perceive their platform. “From the very beginning, we just wanted to play for anyone who would listen and because of that, we had a very diverse following,” says Josh. “We hope to continue that as we move into the next record and be able to have music that hopefully builds up and edifies believers but then also is successful with people outside the church.”

One listen to their brand-new album, Never Going Back to OK (INO/Columbia), and this vision becomes clear. The songs are tailor-made for mainstream, yet possess unabashedly bold statements of faith.

“We want people to see the beauty of God and His love for us, and the challenge for us is to package it in a way that people aren’t going to just walk right by,” says Matt. “We don’t want them to be able to put us in a box … We want them to listen … That’s how you keep the dialogue open.”

“We hope that people judge our music on musical merit, not on the faith beliefs we have … A good example of that is iTunes,” offers Josh. The digital retail giant originally had the band categorized under Christian/Gospel but soon switched them over to Alternative. “That’s when it hit me,” Josh continues, “There’s a lot of people who won’t give it a chance because it has that label on it … I don’t want people to pass up our music or other great music done by a Christian artist just because it’s in a section that’s labeled by faith. …”

The band may have an obvious desire to reach outside the Christian subculture, but even so, the label “Christian music” continues to intrigue them:  “There are other artists of faith—just not our faith—[and] they get thrown into this whole mixture of mainstream music. Whereas, if it says anything positive about Jesus, then it’s thrown into the back corner of a store with all the other stuff that says something about Jesus,” says Brad.

Confusing labels as well as people’s misconceptions of Christians are barriers the band has scaled as various doors to the mainstream have opened for them over the last three years. However, they are quick to admit that being a Christian does make a difference, recalling numerous times while filming for a music video or visiting secular radio stations, conversations that have taken place because people saw a notable difference between The Afters and other bands.

The difference spread like wildfire. MTV just couldn’t get enough of the band. “Beautiful Love,” was certified gold after 100,000 digital tracks were sold, and The Afters’ music was featured in Just My Luck (starring Lindsay Lohan) and ABC Family’s “Beautiful People.” Music from the band’s debut was also selected for promotions in conjunction with American Airlines and American Eagle stores and has garnered attention from not only MTV, but also VH1, “E! News,” BOP, Popstar and RollingStone.com, among others. The band even walked away with the “New Artist of the Year” Dove in 2006.