Faith, camaraderie, passion and creativity are a pretty potent combination, and it’s those forces that have propelled the members of Detour 180 from their home in New Zealand to a burgeoning career in the U.S. After becoming one of the most successful acts in the “land down under,” the Slanted Records quintet is rapidly earning a reputation stateside as one of the industry’s hardest working and most innovative young bands.

“It’s been awesome how God opened the doors for us to move to America,” says lead vocalist Adrian Robertson. “We moved to Nashville in the summer of 2005 and previous to that we did a number of tours this way. So we traveled here a number of times before we decided to move.”

Detour 180 can trace its roots to the Excel School of Performing Arts in Auckland, New Zealand, where several of the members met and decided to form a band; but as is the case with most rock musicians, the desire to impress a girl also played a part in the group’s origin. “I’d been praying for years and this girl came along,” recalls Adrian with a smile. “Her name is Jennifer and she’s now my wife. But at the time she was turning 21 and as we all know, that’s a big deal. She asked me and Jono if we could get a band together to play for her birthday party. At first I thought, ‘No, I can’t do that,’ but Jono had a bit more confidence in what we could do.”

The band’s performance was enthusiastically received and the encouragement fueled the young musicians’ desire to create something more than mere entertainment. Each were committed Christians and shared a passion for combining memorable rock melodies with lyrics that expressed their faith. They began writing original songs and soon caught the attention of Parachute Records, which signed them to a deal.

“They also run the Parachute Music Festival, which is a Christian festival and is phenomenal,” says Adrian. “We’ve only got four million people in the country, and around 5% of New Zealand is church-going Christians so that’s a real tragedy. Most of New Zealand has forgot where God fits in our heritage and where God fits in our lives. The music festival every year draws about 25,000 people to it. No one can ignore it. These are Christians getting together, making music, and they are bold about their faith, which is awesome.”

The festival was a perfect vehicle for the band to gain exposure and confidence in their calling. “When they opened the curtain, there were more than 20,000 people, just a total sea of people,” recalls Jono Scarlet, former band member who has now assumed the role of producer and manager for Detour 180. “It was an experience the band will never forget.”

“After I got over the fact that there were actually 20,000 people looking at me, it was a real dream come true,” says guitarist Cain Coulton. “It was amazing. I’m just some kid from a small town in New Zealand. It was a realization that it doesn’t matter who you are, God’s got a plan for you; and if you stay faithful to Him and stay close to Him, He’ll make your dreams come true.”

After taking up residence in the U.S., the band was contacted by Slanted Records’ Derek Bruner, who had become a fan after hearing the band’s CD. He shared his finding with other label execs and the band soon had a U.S. record deal. “We love Spring Hill because of their ministry focus,” says Jono of Slanted’s parent company. “They are all about people and reaching people.”

Detour 180’s Slanted debut, Fighting for You, is bursting with the taut musicianship, visionary songwriting and signature vocals that have earned them a global fan base. The songs cover a vast emotional and musical landscape. “Back to the Cross” is a powerful, poignant look at the very essence of Christianity—what Christ did for us on the cross. “See My Saviour” is a buoyant anthem with an uplifting message. “Recognise” is a tender ballad about God recognizing us in heaven.

“I feel like there’s a strong message of hope that comes through in a lot of our material,” says Adrian.

Bassist Daniel Watson agrees. “This is music that inspires hope,” he says. “We are trying to warm people’s hearts and inspire some kind of realization they need to turn back to Christ and who Christ can be for them.”

That mission drives the band and is the reason they chose the name Detour 180. “There’s a real need to discover God and to connect with Him,” says guitarist Morgan Lawrence. “There are a lot of young people out there who are really broken and really hurting. Each of us have come from a different background, but the one constant for all of us is that the Lord has done something dramatic in all our lives--really changed us and lifted us out of some hardships and some different bondages. We want to take every opportunity we can both on stage and off to tell people what they need to hear—that the only place they are going to find a sense of purpose and the only place they are going to find the thing they are missing in their hearts is through Christ. So Detour 180 speaks of a 180 degree turn back toward God.”

Jono says the album’s title track really encapsulates the essence of the band’s message. “We’re not supposed to go through life alone,” he offers. “There’s a God who loves us so much that He wants to fight for us. He’s not a passive God.”

Detour 180 has had the opportunity to spread that message from Nashville to New Zealand due to their hectic tour schedule. One of the first things they did after moving to the U.S. was find a good booking agent and hit the road, performing more dates than many seasoned acts with a longer discography. On the concert trail, the members of Detour 180 have earned the respect of pastors and youth ministers because they have such servants’ hearts. “We go in and say, ‘How can we help you guys out?’” says Cain.

As a result, youth pastors and senior pastors will call their friends and say, “We just had this amazing band that wanted to serve us instead of us serving them.” Consequently, word of mouth has played a big factor in the band being so in demand.

The band admits they love playing for U.S. audiences. “U.S. audiences are very lively,” says drummer Neill McCulloch. “From the start of the show, American kids will come right up front and jump around. The energy is great!”

They love the reaction of American crowds but admit some other things about their new homeland have caused some confusion. “There are a lot of differences between you lovely American folks and ourselves,” says Morgan with a mischievous grin. “First of all is the cheese issue. There’s a national cheese crisis going on over here. For some reason, you guys thought ‘Let’s make the cheese orange.’ Cheese isn’t supposed to be orange. It’s supposed to be yellow. Ask any cow, they will tell you.

“We’ve also had a few problems driving over here. You guys drive on the wrong side of the road, and we’ve almost had accidents because people won’t move for us. And the light switch,” he continues. “When you walk in a room and turn the lights on, we flick them down and you flick them up. That’s caused some problems--many evenings in the dark because we couldn’t figure that out.”

The whole band erupts in laughter and it’s easy to figure out who the primary source of comic relief is in this band. There’s an easy camaraderie amongst the members and an obvious respect for what each brings to the group. They are eager to laugh, anxious to reach out and perpetually ready to share their passion for the Gospel.

“We’ve never settled for something that’s half-hearted,” says Adrian. “All of our music has come from a place of relationship with God. That’s why we call ourselves a Christian band. Different bands have different views of whether they are a Christian band or a band of Christians and what they should aim for. We don’t feel like we aim specifically to just one type of people. It’s where the music comes from that makes it Christian.

“These songs are about our relationship with God, and we would love for people to know Christ and for people who don’t know Christ to hear that. So we are more than open to any mainstream coverage we may get; but at the same time, we want to be a strong tool for the church and the Christian family to use. We just don’t want to play music for music’s sake. Christian entertainment isn’t a bad thing at all, but we feel called to use music as a platform to deal with eternal matters and really change people’s lives. It would be a shame to play music and have a good time and not maximize that opportunity to change one person’s life if nothing else.”