John Cooper talks upcoming album before homecoming show

Husband and wife rockers John and Korey Cooper have been all over the country this year, performing in one of Christian music's most popular bands, Skillet.

But this Saturday, the trip to their next gig will last only about 30 minutes.

That's because the Coopers, and also Skillet's drummer Jen Ledger, are performing in Franksville Memorial Park for Rocktoberfest, none too far from their homes in Kenosha.

"We'll pretend our friends are not watching us," John Cooper, 40, joked in an interview with the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday. "We don't get to play around here very often, so it's a really exciting thing."

He met Kenosha-native Korey, 43, about 20 years ago at a church in Memphis, Tenn., and the couple relocated to her hometown about 10 years ago. Ledger, 25, moved to Kenosha about a decade ago and joined the band in 2008.

In that time, Skillet has found a large, devout fan base among evangelicals and secular rock fans alike. Thanks in part to radio support for single "Monster," Skillet's "Awake" was one of only three rock albums in 2012 to go platinum in the U.S., with more than a million copies sold.

"Some of it is honestly a little bit of a mystery to me," John Cooper said about Skillet's success. "I talk about what I believe, but it's still about the music, and we're writing about things we're passionate about, including love and breakups and heartache and how scary the world has become. People appreciate the power and honesty in that."

For the past year and a half, the Coopers have been writing songs — 53 so far — to be considered for their next album on Atlantic Records.

"We're shooting for March for release, but it will probably be closer to summertime," Cooper said. "We're trying some new things, but all in all it still sounds like Skillet. The songs are very aggressive, very in-your-face.

"There's a little bit of 'keep up the fight' in this record. Some of that comes from the fact that so many people are saying that rock music is dead, and they're discounting really great rock bands who are still selling tickets. Two weeks ago, we were in New Jersey with Godsmack, and there were 18,000 people there. It was a massive event. People will always love rock music. It makes you feel something other music doesn't."

http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/musicandnightlife/skillets-john-co...