When I interviewed PureNRG over a pizza lunch in Nashville, Tenn., my first question was how they can have enough breath left to sing while being so active on stage.

“We have to do a lot of cardio and sing and run or sing and do obstacle courses so we can get our stamina up,” Caroline explains. “But it’s really hard, because when you sing, you’re out of breath, when you dance, you’re out of breath, and when you put them together, it feels like an asthma attack!”

“Last summer, we trained for four hours every day,” Carolyne adds. “Our rehearsal coach has a pool in her backyard, so we’d run around her whole house and sing our songs in our set order. And once we did that, we had to do 10 laps in her pool. And we couldn’t stop or take a break, so that we’d build up our stamina for the tour.”

Being a Christian = Cool
All three PureNRG members are home schooled, which allows them to tour around the country during the school year. They go to a tutorial program on Tuesdays and Thursdays and take five classes in traditional subjects. Jordan says they don’t feel like they miss out on anything, because they each have friends at places besides school. “It’s well worth it, because we get plenty of opportunities to do other stuff that’s really cool.”

“We gain meeting a ton of amazing people and getting to perform on stage in front of a lot of people and spread God’s name,” Carolyne says.

Each member of PureNRG has been dancing and performing at the same studio in Nashville since they were 3 years old. They heard about auditions for a new group, but they didn’t know that the others were going to be there. Since all three already knew each other, they got along right away once they were the chosen for the group.

“Carolyne and I have the same name, so it was like instant best friends,” Caroline explains.

At every show, one of the three shares their theme verse, 1 Timothy 4:12: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”

Being a good example to kids in their generation is important to each member of PureNRG. “At our age, kids can watch PG-13 movies and can listen to anything on the radio,” Carolyne says. “We’ve heard a lot of stuff that we don’t think is appropriate, so we felt like it was our time to get in there and let kids hear to something that their parents would feel good about them listening to. On some CDs, you can listen to a few songs, but not the whole thing. We wanted to become a group so we make something people could listen to without bad words or something that’s inappropriate.”

“We want to put into action what we say and show kids that even just by talking with them, they can see Jesus in us,” Jordan adds. “We don’t have to just preach all day; they can really see Him through us just by hanging out with us.”

“We want to show kids that believing in God and being a child of His is really cool. It’s not embarrassing to worship Him and to love Him, because He’s the only one who matters in life,” Carolyne says.

The members of PureNRG have their own role models. Carolyne looks up to her older sister, Courtney, who’s half of the singing duo Cadia. Jordan admires his dad, because “he’s a hard worker.” Caroline says her older brother is her role model, because he also likes performing, so she followed in his footsteps. “He acts, and if I need help, I can go to him. We can just hang out, and he’s my best friend. It’s really fun to be around him.”

Because they want to be role models to others, PureNRG takes purity and modesty seriously. The girls are into layers, especially leggings under a shorter skirt and long sleeves under short sleeves. And the girls even adapted a leotard to wear underneath their outfits so if their shirts fly up while they’re tumbling, their bellies are still covered.

“If my shirt goes up, it looks just like a tucked-in white shirt,” Caroline explains. “We put snaps in so that we can go to the bathroom.”

For their current tour, PureNRG decided to have one member share a testimony from the stage. Carolyne volunteered, but the first time she was really nervous. “I was under the bleachers at a school, and I was like, What was I thinking? So I just closed my eyes and did it, and that helped me.”

Sharing something personal in public isn’t the only thing that makes PureNRG nervous. With all of the tumbling on stage, accidents occasionally happen. All three have had moments where something’s gone wrong, and they’ve ended up hurt, but it’s never been anything serious.

“It’s really scary when you fall. But you have to get yourself to want to do it again,” Caroline explains.

“One time Caroline fell doing a back tuck,” Jordan says. “Our timing was off, and it took a couple of days to get back in the swing, because it was a scary experience.”

It’s All About Family
With so much time away from home while on tour (you may have seen PureNRG on the WinterJam Tour), time with family when they are in town is important to the group. Caroline spends time at her little brother’s soccer games and goes out for ice cream with her older brother. “My mom drives me a lot of places, so I talk to her in the car, and that’s a lot of bonding time for us. With my dad, we go on dates. Usually it’s really late at night, so we go to a fast-food restaurant and just talk.”

Jordan texts his family a lot while on tour. His older sister has kids and lives close by, so he spends time helping her. “I bond with her by just going over there and helping with the kids. That’s really fun for me, because I get to play with them, too.”

Carolyne has eight siblings (she’s the middle child), and she loves relaxing in her parents’ room, watching a movie on their bed with her younger siblings. Carolyne says that helping out your siblings will help you get along better. “If you share a room, then play your part. Clean your room when you’re supposed to and pick up your stuff,” she advises.

So if you need some extra motivation to clean your room, or you just want to jam to some great music, pop in PureNRG’s CD and get revved up!

PureNRG on . . .
Shopping: “No matter where we go, the girls are always shopping. We were at the airport the other day, and they came back with a bag or two!” —Jordan

Learning a new dance: “It takes two or three days. One day we learn the dance, and the other days we clean it, add singing and make sure we can breathe.” —Caroline

Following your dreams: “If singing is what you want to do, or you’re a juggler or a jump-roper, then follow your dreams, and God will lead you where He wants you. Psalm 37:4 says, ‘Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.’ That’s what I went off of.” —¬Carolyne

The best part of touring: “Being up on stage singing and dancing and getting to do what we love to do!” —Caroline

What makes a good role model: “A lot of people have good messages, but they don’t stay true to it. We want to stay true to our God.” —Carolyne

Pure Music
Check out PureNRG’s new album, Here We Go, in stores April 29.