WEBVTT 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:06.040 Are you listening? This ain't no quiet thing 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:13.480 We're screaming out our lungs Are you listening? 00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:20.339 Are you there? Are you listening? Or do you just 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:34.210 not care? Hello friends and welcome to Hey Are 00:00:34.210 --> 00:00:37.369 You Listening? This is a podcast exploring the 00:00:37.369 --> 00:00:40.450 past, present, and future of Christian music. 00:00:40.829 --> 00:00:43.689 My name is Joel and I'm here with my good friend 00:00:43.689 --> 00:00:48.030 Brandon and we connected over a mutual love of 00:00:48.030 --> 00:00:51.250 some particular artist but have pretty different 00:00:51.250 --> 00:00:54.570 tastes when it comes to things as well and so 00:00:54.570 --> 00:00:57.170 for us this is a fun journey of getting to experience 00:00:57.530 --> 00:01:00.350 Some new things together while sometimes having 00:01:00.350 --> 00:01:04.030 some friends along for the ride as well Brandon, 00:01:04.129 --> 00:01:06.769 how's it going today? I'm doing really well today. 00:01:06.769 --> 00:01:10.569 How are you doing? Joe? I think I'm good. It's 00:01:10.569 --> 00:01:13.530 A beautiful day. We're recording this on a holiday 00:01:13.530 --> 00:01:17.310 for us. So we get some time off from our normal 00:01:17.310 --> 00:01:21.150 things Obviously podcasting we're here because 00:01:21.150 --> 00:01:24.000 we're locked into this want to be faithful to 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:27.280 a new episode every week coming out. But it's 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:30.480 nice as well just to have some some time to rest 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:32.439 and spend time with the family. So I'm looking 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:35.420 forward to that. Well today's going to be a little 00:01:35.420 --> 00:01:39.079 bit of a different episode for us because we're 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:43.939 not covering a specific album but wanted to kind 00:01:43.939 --> 00:01:46.459 of be able to share a little bit of our own stories 00:01:46.459 --> 00:01:49.579 and how Christian music kind of entered into 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:53.599 our world. Just kind of Giving a peek behind 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:56.159 the curtains right for people to know a little 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:00.519 bit about who we are But before we start to dig 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:08.819 into that Let's figure out what's going on in 00:02:08.819 --> 00:02:12.099 the news All right, so what's been going on in 00:02:12.099 --> 00:02:16.280 the world of Christian music Brandon, have you 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:20.379 seen the new Superman movie? I haven't. So one, 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:23.800 I love it and I think you should check it out. 00:02:24.740 --> 00:02:27.699 It's probably my favorite superhero movie that 00:02:27.699 --> 00:02:30.080 I've seen in like a long time. I've heard a lot. 00:02:30.099 --> 00:02:33.639 I was never a big Superman fan, but from what 00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:35.219 I've seen, I feel like this is the first one 00:02:35.219 --> 00:02:38.699 that I want to give like a chance to. Yeah, it's 00:02:38.699 --> 00:02:41.599 uh, I know Superman's kind of like the generic 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:46.090 superhero. But it's got a ton of heart to it, 00:02:46.189 --> 00:02:50.969 which is one thing that I really loved. But it's 00:02:50.969 --> 00:02:54.310 interesting. I was watching it, and there's a 00:02:54.310 --> 00:03:00.349 moment in this movie where Clark, Superman, is 00:03:00.349 --> 00:03:03.449 talking to Louis, and they're talking about he's 00:03:03.449 --> 00:03:07.090 trying to give off this image that he's not this 00:03:07.090 --> 00:03:10.189 straight -laced guy or whatever. And so he talks 00:03:10.189 --> 00:03:13.039 about how he listens to punk rock. And she's 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.020 like, you don't listen to punk rock. And so he 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:19.539 starts to name drop so that he can get some street 00:03:19.539 --> 00:03:22.240 cred when it comes to music. And one of the bands 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:27.879 that he talks about is P .O .D. And so he drops 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:31.659 in this movie, we find out that Superman is a 00:03:31.659 --> 00:03:34.939 P .O .D. fan, which is kind of an interesting 00:03:34.939 --> 00:03:40.879 thing in a DC movie to reveal breaking Superman. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:44.000 POD fan. I don't know. How does that make you 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:49.780 feel? I I Love I use I used to love and I love 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:55.099 now whenever I see Like Christian music or like 00:03:55.099 --> 00:03:57.199 just those random artists get used and stuff. 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:00.979 Yeah There was a I don't know if you've ever 00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:02.780 watched like any of the Breaking Bad universe 00:04:02.780 --> 00:04:06.939 type stuff But there's a movie based on one of 00:04:06.939 --> 00:04:11.330 the characters He's going to like visit this 00:04:11.330 --> 00:04:14.370 kind of clubhouse of some bad guys and when they 00:04:14.370 --> 00:04:18.389 walk in Country Gentleman is playing by Family 00:04:18.389 --> 00:04:22.189 Force five. It's just like such the like Random 00:04:22.189 --> 00:04:25.689 thing to be like these bad guys are is like are 00:04:25.689 --> 00:04:28.769 they? Five fans is just like a playlist that's 00:04:28.769 --> 00:04:32.449 on but like for me it was just oh that's so cool 00:04:32.449 --> 00:04:35.509 that Family Force five is getting this like cameo 00:04:35.509 --> 00:04:40.490 in the film. So I Don't I think I've listened 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:44.750 to pod like very little so like I think it's 00:04:44.750 --> 00:04:47.730 it's cool to hear that but like if if super if 00:04:47.730 --> 00:04:49.790 they like would have name -dropped like House 00:04:49.790 --> 00:04:52.769 of Heroes or like John Ruman I would have I would 00:04:52.769 --> 00:04:55.810 have gone today to go watch the Superman movie 00:04:55.810 --> 00:04:59.089 to be little stuff like that's so cool and I 00:04:59.089 --> 00:05:01.769 I have enjoyed seeing online just the people 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:04.449 diving into like What does this mean then for 00:05:04.449 --> 00:05:06.269 Superman? Do you think he listened to this one? 00:05:06.290 --> 00:05:08.170 Do you think he went to this concert? And so 00:05:08.170 --> 00:05:12.949 I, I think stuff like that is just like, it's 00:05:12.949 --> 00:05:15.949 such a fun little like nod to the audience. Yeah. 00:05:15.949 --> 00:05:18.550 And it makes me wonder a little bit. I mean, 00:05:18.790 --> 00:05:21.810 having a band as a soundtrack is like one thing 00:05:21.810 --> 00:05:23.949 because that happens a lot, but the mention is 00:05:23.949 --> 00:05:26.410 interesting. And so it makes me wonder for like 00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:29.829 James Gunn, the director, like how maybe all 00:05:29.829 --> 00:05:33.180 of this is part of his history. And obviously, 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:36.540 P .O .D. was, you know, they got to a pretty 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:39.160 mainstream point where it's not just Christians 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:41.699 that are listening to them. But yeah, it does 00:05:41.699 --> 00:05:43.459 kind of make you wonder like what's going on 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:46.139 behind the scenes. Yeah. So interesting stuff. 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:49.639 Also, a thing that's been interesting to watch 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:53.500 is this whole thing with Forrest Frank about 00:05:53.500 --> 00:05:57.259 the broken back and him writing songs out of 00:05:57.259 --> 00:06:00.879 that, like the song Lemonade. um from his bed 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:04.040 um while that's going on have you followed that 00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:08.939 at all i i think i've um i've been in the like 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:11.579 the the bubble of it from just our grade schoolers 00:06:11.579 --> 00:06:14.500 at church talking about it it's just been me 00:06:14.500 --> 00:06:17.240 like hearing them talk about it so i don't know 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:20.920 how much of a reliable source like seven and 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:24.540 nine year olds are yeah i don't know either um 00:06:24.569 --> 00:06:26.550 The interesting thing that's kind of come out 00:06:26.550 --> 00:06:29.069 of it though is to see how like other Christian 00:06:29.069 --> 00:06:32.750 artists are engaging with it. And they're all 00:06:32.750 --> 00:06:34.589 like, there are several of them that have done 00:06:34.589 --> 00:06:38.810 their, their own like Weird Al versions of what's 00:06:38.810 --> 00:06:40.689 happened with Forrest Frank where like, oh, I 00:06:40.689 --> 00:06:43.089 broke my pinky. I'm going to lay in bed and write 00:06:43.089 --> 00:06:47.009 a song. So it's kind of interesting because it's 00:06:47.009 --> 00:06:49.730 like a little bit of parody, but like you can't 00:06:49.730 --> 00:06:52.600 like take the, we're like. sort of making fun 00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:57.300 of this out of that. And so the dialogue back 00:06:57.300 --> 00:06:59.839 and forth between like a Forrest Frank and a 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:02.300 Corey Asbury or whatever in this has been really 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:07.040 interesting to see them kind of come along on 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:10.139 the same page. And I think definitely from like 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:13.339 different generations too, but I think the fun 00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:17.300 thing about it is just to see how quickly like 00:07:17.300 --> 00:07:23.439 we can all realize that that we're all broken 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:26.500 people, whether it's like a broken back or whatever 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:30.860 it may be. And so maybe we jump too quickly to 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:35.660 respond to something. And that we just need to 00:07:35.660 --> 00:07:38.579 be able to give time and grace and kind words 00:07:38.579 --> 00:07:40.139 to each other. And I think that's what I've seen 00:07:40.139 --> 00:07:42.300 come out of it, which has been kind of encouraging 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:47.360 to see happen through it. Yeah, that's been interesting 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.699 to watch. Well, for you though, what have you 00:07:50.699 --> 00:07:55.899 been listening to lately? So I went on a trip 00:07:55.899 --> 00:07:59.800 to Charlotte recently, and I like making a playlist 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:02.680 whenever I go on a trip. And I had a couple of 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:06.399 different ideas, but then I Googled prompts, 00:08:06.579 --> 00:08:10.240 and one was an ABC playlist, where it's like 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:12.480 you go through a song that starts with an A, 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:16.459 a song that starts with a B. So it was really 00:08:16.459 --> 00:08:18.879 cool getting to dig through that because it ended 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:22.160 up becoming this playlist of Stuff that I'm listening 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:25.660 to now and then stuff that I like used to listen 00:08:25.660 --> 00:08:29.519 to because I just went on like my like Apple 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.779 music, but it's not the one you pay for so I 00:08:31.779 --> 00:08:35.159 can Apple library. Yeah, it's I just started 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:37.840 like kind of searching by like alphabetical so 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:41.220 I would plug in like maybe like C and then like 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:45.519 a you know E or whatever and it was cool because 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:47.659 it just kind of like I said just became very 00:08:47.659 --> 00:08:50.379 random and after the fact I would find songs 00:08:50.379 --> 00:08:53.340 and go oh my gosh why did I not use that like 00:08:53.340 --> 00:08:57.519 for like the a like song and all yeah and um 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.700 but yeah so I've been I've enjoyed so it's just 00:08:59.700 --> 00:09:03.100 26 songs that span a here's something I listened 00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:05.039 to 20 years ago here's something I'm listening 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:08.200 to now um so yeah that's pretty much what's just 00:09:08.200 --> 00:09:11.159 been on repeat is just yeah let's just see what's 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:14.019 gonna show up now that's cool i like that idea 00:09:14.019 --> 00:09:17.139 a lot i'll have to think through that um yeah 00:09:17.139 --> 00:09:19.700 there's been an artist for me that i've listened 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:23.340 to a lot over the last year um more kind of intently 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:27.320 than ever before um his name is tyson motzenbacher 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:30.259 have you heard of him i have not yeah so he's 00:09:30.259 --> 00:09:33.580 on currently on tooth and nail records which 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:35.539 is interesting and i think where i kind of came 00:09:35.539 --> 00:09:39.200 across him to begin with but um he's got uh a 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:43.019 few records out there. He's got a new one that 00:09:43.019 --> 00:09:45.379 he's working on right now that he's released 00:09:45.379 --> 00:09:48.879 a couple of songs from and his music's really 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.159 fascinating in a lot of ways because every record 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:55.360 that he's put out has been very different. But 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.120 it all sounds like him at the same time. Yeah, 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:00.580 everything's done with like a lot of a lot of 00:10:00.580 --> 00:10:04.500 thought and care But I think he's like been on 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:06.940 tour or been a been a done a bunch of dates with 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:11.340 like John Foreman switch, but okay So but he's 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:13.360 great. I think I think you would like you would 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:16.179 like his stuff a lot So he's a he's got he's 00:10:16.179 --> 00:10:18.399 got anyone that's coming out pretty soon So I'm 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:19.940 looking forward to seeing how that one's gonna 00:10:19.940 --> 00:10:29.500 turn out All right, so today we wanted to get 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:32.659 to share with you guys just a little bit of our 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:35.519 stories So that you could get to know us a little 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.879 better As hosts and we tend when we have guests 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:42.019 on we'll be asking the questions How did how 00:10:42.019 --> 00:10:44.879 did Christian music enter into your life and 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:46.779 your story? And so we kind of wanted to give 00:10:46.779 --> 00:10:50.299 a little bit of that for ourselves today So that 00:10:50.299 --> 00:10:53.549 you could get to know us a little bit. So And 00:10:53.549 --> 00:10:56.049 just to kind of set that up so Brandon you and 00:10:56.049 --> 00:11:00.750 I met because we both work at the same church 00:11:00.750 --> 00:11:04.649 and so I've been a part of this church for a 00:11:04.649 --> 00:11:06.809 long time and you and your wife Jordan started 00:11:06.809 --> 00:11:10.070 coming Here and so we got to know each other 00:11:10.070 --> 00:11:13.070 Through that but there's a lot of history before 00:11:13.070 --> 00:11:15.990 that and it kind of brings us to to where we 00:11:15.990 --> 00:11:19.309 are so Kind of backing up from like the idea 00:11:19.309 --> 00:11:23.769 of Christian music. How did How did just you 00:11:23.769 --> 00:11:27.129 kind of fall in love with music for the first 00:11:27.129 --> 00:11:30.590 time? Where did music enter in your story? Music, 00:11:30.809 --> 00:11:35.850 for my family, music is a huge part of just everyone's 00:11:35.850 --> 00:11:41.929 life. And it wasn't like a musician part. My 00:11:41.929 --> 00:11:44.730 granddad, he's really the only musician I can 00:11:44.730 --> 00:11:47.980 think of. um and he's like been a drummer in 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:50.639 bands so growing up it was cool having like that 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:54.159 granddad that's like oh i have like the the cool 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:57.039 edgy like granddad that's uh you know works on 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:00.039 cars and plays drums and bands i love that and 00:12:00.039 --> 00:12:03.960 um and so but like my dad every time we're in 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:07.080 the car it was listening to you know mix of like 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:09.940 classic rock and then like modern like kind of 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:13.529 the modern station and then for um like my granddad 00:12:13.529 --> 00:12:15.389 his body shop it was the same way like he would 00:12:15.389 --> 00:12:19.129 have um he had one of those like 10 disc changers 00:12:19.129 --> 00:12:21.549 or whatever and so like you would have like a 00:12:21.549 --> 00:12:23.950 gospel album and then you'd have like fergie 00:12:23.950 --> 00:12:26.570 playing or you know so it was such a like weird 00:12:26.570 --> 00:12:31.450 mix um but it was just everyone like listened 00:12:31.450 --> 00:12:34.789 to music like it was even my mom like if she 00:12:34.789 --> 00:12:37.389 and i think that's what why i have to make a 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:39.409 playlist like if i'm doing anything in the house 00:12:39.409 --> 00:12:43.200 is that she always had music playing so like 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:45.120 if she's cleaning in the house we have music 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:47.360 playing if we're just like hanging out there's 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:50.600 music playing um so music was something that 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:53.779 was like just a huge part of like you have to 00:12:53.779 --> 00:12:57.879 have it like on um like around um how about for 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:01.600 you yeah i think really similar like i feel like 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.320 music was kind of a soundtrack to my life growing 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.860 up um in a lot of ways where i felt like there 00:13:07.860 --> 00:13:11.049 was always something on in the background and 00:13:11.049 --> 00:13:13.669 that's become really important for me too with 00:13:13.669 --> 00:13:17.509 my family is not that I don't love quiet moments 00:13:17.509 --> 00:13:20.730 because I do but you can have quiet moments with 00:13:20.730 --> 00:13:24.590 quiet music too so I've tried to create like 00:13:24.590 --> 00:13:27.110 a certain number of playlists that I remember 00:13:27.110 --> 00:13:31.629 riding in the car Thanksgiving with my family 00:13:31.629 --> 00:13:36.179 and my dad had our Christmas mixtape and it's 00:13:36.179 --> 00:13:38.639 like that was the first moment when we got to 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:41.039 listen to it like on the way back from Thanksgiving 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:42.679 it's like it's really cool Thanksgiving dinner 00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:45.519 like Christmas season hit and we were just waiting 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.919 for it and then we knew every word to every song 00:13:48.919 --> 00:13:52.860 and it was just like such a such a big deal for 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:55.700 our family and so I felt like like even with 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:57.840 my kids today like I want to create those kind 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:00.659 of soundtracks for them you know where they can 00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:03.259 remember those moments and be excited when, oh, 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:05.460 it's summer. So we get to start like playing 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:07.580 the summer playlist. Yeah. And then what are 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:09.779 songs that we are into now that we can add that 00:14:09.779 --> 00:14:12.019 are going to fit well with that? So now going 00:14:12.019 --> 00:14:16.419 back to the cassette for a second. Yeah. Like 00:14:16.419 --> 00:14:20.399 how how was it something where every year it 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:25.000 was the same one or because I know like like 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:28.659 for us, we had like a CD like I can make cassettes. 00:14:28.809 --> 00:14:32.350 but I could play CDs like in there. So like for 00:14:32.350 --> 00:14:35.330 your dad, was it something where he's just like 00:14:35.330 --> 00:14:37.029 waiting until it comes on the radio and he's 00:14:37.029 --> 00:14:39.110 like recording, but also Christmas music isn't 00:14:39.110 --> 00:14:44.269 on. So how, how was he like creating that? Yeah, 00:14:44.470 --> 00:14:46.909 I think it was the same one every year. Okay. 00:14:46.990 --> 00:14:49.509 It's like he made it once off of like he had 00:14:49.509 --> 00:14:52.679 the dual cassette. Yeah. thing and so he would 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:54.919 hit play on one and then record on the other. 00:14:54.980 --> 00:14:57.159 It used to be so complicated to make mistakes. 00:14:57.379 --> 00:14:59.460 That's why I was like hey I think we need to 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:02.700 pause because I feel like anyone under like 25 00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:06.139 years old is gonna be like yeah like my dad makes 00:15:06.139 --> 00:15:08.100 a playlist too and it's like yeah but you don't 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:10.120 understand like right now I could make a playlist 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:13.259 here whereas like 30 you know whatever years 00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:15.750 ago it would have been Hey, Joel, give me a couple 00:15:15.750 --> 00:15:18.250 of weeks. I've got to wait till I catch them 00:15:18.250 --> 00:15:20.309 on the radio. It's the whole when I was a kid, 00:15:20.309 --> 00:15:22.309 we had to walk five miles in the snow to get 00:15:22.309 --> 00:15:24.909 to school. Yeah, it's like everything was way 00:15:24.909 --> 00:15:27.950 more complicated back in the day. And so you 00:15:27.950 --> 00:15:31.129 really had to like care about something to invest 00:15:31.129 --> 00:15:33.490 the time and energy into like figuring it out 00:15:33.490 --> 00:15:36.549 and making it. And so, yeah, but I think for 00:15:36.549 --> 00:15:40.929 us like my dad, there there were like things 00:15:40.929 --> 00:15:44.889 that I loved musically that I um learned from 00:15:44.889 --> 00:15:48.970 him like my dad was a big um Elvis fan and Johnny 00:15:48.970 --> 00:15:52.649 Cash fan and so um there are a lot of takeaways 00:15:52.649 --> 00:15:55.830 for me there but um my dad was also like really 00:15:55.830 --> 00:15:58.710 in the southern gospel and so he was he actually 00:15:58.710 --> 00:16:03.190 sang in a gospel quartet and so um so in that 00:16:03.190 --> 00:16:05.350 sense like he was a little bit of a musician 00:16:05.350 --> 00:16:09.750 himself and then my sisters were like um really 00:16:09.750 --> 00:16:14.029 into like or at least I remember Michael Jackson 00:16:14.029 --> 00:16:17.330 and so kind of coming on board of that in that 00:16:17.330 --> 00:16:19.590 era and so it's just kind of like music always 00:16:19.590 --> 00:16:21.610 felt like it was everywhere when I was growing 00:16:21.610 --> 00:16:26.870 up which is cool. So how then did the specific 00:16:26.870 --> 00:16:30.389 idea of Christian music kind of make an entry 00:16:30.389 --> 00:16:34.730 point into your life? We so like we would like 00:16:34.730 --> 00:16:39.629 sing hymns at church and at school we would listen 00:16:39.629 --> 00:16:43.500 we would sing like songs but Like I went to this 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:46.259 one of those private schools that was like Toby 00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:50.480 Max like the devil type of place So like we didn't 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:57.159 really get any exposure to that until My mom 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:01.179 she stopped listening to like our local like 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:03.820 local but like I guess like the pop radio station 00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:06.380 because she's kind of like I don't I don't think 00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:07.819 my kids should be listening to this like on the 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:10.119 way to school or whatever. Um, I think that was 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:12.619 the reason. So we started listening to like our, 00:17:12.619 --> 00:17:16.220 like the Christian music station. And, um, so 00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:18.579 we started listening to that and then she bought 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:22.980 the, um, like wow hits. So we'd get those every 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:26.539 year. So I remember every day waking up to, I 00:17:26.539 --> 00:17:29.859 think it was the wow hits 2005. So I just vividly 00:17:29.859 --> 00:17:33.180 remember every morning I would wake up and, um, 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:36.519 It was like, Matthew West was on there, but also 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:41.119 it was like Stacey like, or Rico was on there, 00:17:41.579 --> 00:17:43.759 Toby Mack. So I remember just like every day 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:46.980 waking up to like third day or Toby Mack or whoever. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.119 So that was kind of like our first like big push 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:55.299 into it was just wow hits. And then our like, 00:17:55.380 --> 00:17:59.519 our radio station on the way to school and all. 00:18:00.809 --> 00:18:02.930 so yeah that was the first idea it's kind of 00:18:02.930 --> 00:18:06.849 just the this i say surface level not trying 00:18:06.849 --> 00:18:08.509 to be like a fence but it's the stuff that you 00:18:08.509 --> 00:18:10.269 would hear it's like k -love today like you're 00:18:10.269 --> 00:18:13.450 not gonna have like certainly your star flyer 00:18:13.450 --> 00:18:16.450 59 is not gonna be on k -love you know so it's 00:18:16.450 --> 00:18:19.130 kind of a like our version of k -love growing 00:18:19.130 --> 00:18:21.809 up where you got a lot of those types of bands 00:18:21.809 --> 00:18:24.730 and all yeah i think really similar for me too 00:18:24.730 --> 00:18:27.769 i mean obviously my Like I said, my dad was really 00:18:27.769 --> 00:18:30.289 into Southern gospel. And so in that sense, like 00:18:30.289 --> 00:18:32.609 Christian music was a part of the soundtrack 00:18:32.609 --> 00:18:36.190 of our house. But the stuff that I first started 00:18:36.190 --> 00:18:40.289 getting into was a lot of the major CCM stuff, 00:18:40.289 --> 00:18:42.769 but like a decade earlier than you. Right. So, 00:18:42.769 --> 00:18:45.829 um, because I'm probably, yeah, I don't even 00:18:45.829 --> 00:18:51.589 know. Um, but like a decade older. And so I remember 00:18:51.589 --> 00:18:56.069 it was. It was like Michael W. Smith, Steven 00:18:56.069 --> 00:19:00.809 Curtis Chapman for him, Al Denson, Clay Cross, 00:19:01.009 --> 00:19:04.950 these like CCM artists, not really pushing the 00:19:04.950 --> 00:19:07.549 boundaries really hard. I mean, you could probably 00:19:07.549 --> 00:19:09.589 argue that Michael W. Smith was doing that in 00:19:09.589 --> 00:19:14.210 some ways, but... But yeah, I had cassette tapes. 00:19:14.609 --> 00:19:17.089 Like I just started buying or borrowing from 00:19:17.089 --> 00:19:20.509 my sisters even cassette tapes of these artists 00:19:20.509 --> 00:19:24.710 making my own mixtapes and stuff like that early 00:19:24.710 --> 00:19:28.549 on. And so for me that's like it started in the 00:19:28.549 --> 00:19:31.750 same place just earlier. Like kind of like the 00:19:31.750 --> 00:19:35.730 really mainstream kind of CCM stuff. Where for 00:19:35.730 --> 00:19:41.750 you then did that transition more into More of 00:19:41.750 --> 00:19:46.369 like the alternative or rock or indie like scene 00:19:46.369 --> 00:19:50.809 of Christian music. Yeah, I I remember I bought 00:19:50.809 --> 00:19:54.789 Toby Max welcome to Diver City and it was funny 00:19:54.789 --> 00:19:57.230 cuz I start listening to it I remember turning 00:19:57.230 --> 00:20:00.150 it off because at that point rap was just oh 00:20:00.150 --> 00:20:02.589 it's and I was like I thought this guy was a 00:20:02.589 --> 00:20:05.130 Christian artist in my mind I'm like, oh he's 00:20:05.130 --> 00:20:08.049 singing rap. So I know it has to have this certain 00:20:08.049 --> 00:20:10.710 content. Yeah So I remember being like, oh my 00:20:10.710 --> 00:20:12.589 gosh, my mom's going to be upset with me because 00:20:12.589 --> 00:20:14.109 like she's going to be like, why did you buy 00:20:14.109 --> 00:20:17.670 this? And so he was like that first jump into 00:20:17.670 --> 00:20:21.490 like, oh, wow, this is like, I've never really 00:20:21.490 --> 00:20:24.349 listened to like rap. That's OK. I've never really 00:20:24.349 --> 00:20:26.569 listened to like rock because it was just kind 00:20:26.569 --> 00:20:31.589 of like like my family, like pop, like not pop 00:20:31.589 --> 00:20:33.750 rock, like classic rock was really big for them. 00:20:33.789 --> 00:20:36.130 But for me, it's like I never really clicked 00:20:36.130 --> 00:20:40.000 with it. And So Toby Matt comes along and I'm 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:43.220 like, okay, and then I think the first like album 00:20:43.220 --> 00:20:46.579 that kind of like Was this just like this changes 00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:51.900 everything was John Rubin's boy versus the cynic 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:55.200 and that whole album is this concept album where 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.859 he just pretty much put together an entire album 00:20:58.859 --> 00:21:03.259 for very like happy optimistic then just very 00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:07.380 like pessimistic and then that album is a like 00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:10.240 um merging of the two so it's half the tracks 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:13.000 are very much like hey things get better we're 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:16.000 good we're happy let's party and then the other 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.819 half is just like oh man like this is corrupt 00:21:18.819 --> 00:21:21.119 like you know pastors are stealing money from 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:25.079 people and um and at the end the final track 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:28.140 is just this like how can we be at a place where 00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:31.619 both of these exist like we don't we can't or 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:34.980 we don't need to live in a place where we're 00:21:34.980 --> 00:21:38.220 leaning toward one or the other. And it was the 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:41.099 first time that I listened and was like, I feel 00:21:41.099 --> 00:21:44.720 heard by an album. And then I think that next 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:50.519 jump was probably a Songs from the Penalty Box 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:55.220 by Tooth and Nell. And because that CD introduced 00:21:55.220 --> 00:21:59.059 me to Star Flyer 59, Children 18 .3, Me Without 00:21:59.059 --> 00:22:04.339 You, Joan Zetta, Showbred, like there's probably 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:08.279 10 to 12 bands that I like started following 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:12.339 just because of that album and um so that was 00:22:12.339 --> 00:22:15.039 probably like the first album that was like wow 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:17.019 but then the first one that kind of made me branch 00:22:17.019 --> 00:22:20.559 more into this like alternative and like punk 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:25.339 side of Christian music. Yeah I remember um I 00:22:25.339 --> 00:22:32.289 remember in like middle school That one I went 00:22:32.289 --> 00:22:35.390 I think I've mentioned this before but at youth 00:22:35.390 --> 00:22:43.369 camp Petra played and I was like, whoa Just like 00:22:43.369 --> 00:22:47.829 going to my first rock concert and Being exposed 00:22:47.829 --> 00:22:51.529 to that but like that quickly like transformed 00:22:51.529 --> 00:22:56.589 from there into like a lot of the more like mainstream 00:22:56.589 --> 00:23:01.430 like DC talk and audiojournal in Newsboys that 00:23:01.430 --> 00:23:03.950 kind of stuff that world kind of entering in 00:23:03.950 --> 00:23:07.470 And so I remember a lot of that happening. I 00:23:07.470 --> 00:23:10.930 remember buying like New thing by DC talk on 00:23:10.930 --> 00:23:14.329 cassette and I remember literally I still remember 00:23:14.329 --> 00:23:17.029 walking into the bookstore Christian books family. 00:23:17.109 --> 00:23:19.809 It was family Christian stores and picking up 00:23:19.809 --> 00:23:22.049 that cassette tape and then I remember going 00:23:22.049 --> 00:23:24.849 and like Sitting in the driveway at my house 00:23:24.849 --> 00:23:27.430 and my mom's car with it like in the cassette 00:23:27.430 --> 00:23:32.000 player like turning it up um but um but yeah 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:34.599 it was it was that kind of experience for me 00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:38.059 that like um allowed me to experience some of 00:23:38.059 --> 00:23:43.400 that stuff in a unique way um and then like i 00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:46.740 think it probably for me too was as i think about 00:23:46.740 --> 00:23:51.240 it probably some of those like those Mix tapes 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:54.460 the CDs the samplers that labels were putting 00:23:54.460 --> 00:23:57.619 out. Yeah, I just wanted to experience some different 00:23:57.619 --> 00:24:01.339 artists I remember being really in like into 00:24:01.339 --> 00:24:06.339 a lot of what I was hearing in in Secular radio 00:24:06.339 --> 00:24:09.140 right like the first time I heard smells like 00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:11.920 teen spirit by Nirvana. Yeah, man the first time 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:15.960 I heard when I come around by Green Day, I remember 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:20.130 those moments and And so I remember buying one 00:24:20.130 --> 00:24:24.130 day, because I saw on one of those, if you like 00:24:24.130 --> 00:24:27.289 this, then you'll like, I remember seeing, if 00:24:27.289 --> 00:24:31.329 you like Green Day, then you'll like MXPX. And 00:24:31.329 --> 00:24:33.210 the only their first record, Poconaccio, was 00:24:33.210 --> 00:24:35.809 out. And so I picked it up and I was like, man, 00:24:35.829 --> 00:24:38.329 this is blowing my mind. Because it actually 00:24:38.329 --> 00:24:42.009 does sound like that. And then that like opened 00:24:42.009 --> 00:24:45.210 up a world to me of songs from the penalty box 00:24:45.210 --> 00:24:48.809 and buying those. those samplers and then another 00:24:48.809 --> 00:24:51.470 one of my favorite labels is five minute walk 00:24:51.470 --> 00:24:55.130 and so they put out there they had their own 00:24:55.130 --> 00:24:57.230 samplers that they put out there called take 00:24:57.230 --> 00:25:00.589 time to listen and so i started buying those 00:25:00.589 --> 00:25:05.230 up and that just opened my world up to all different 00:25:05.230 --> 00:25:09.470 kinds of stuff from nmx px to a band like five 00:25:09.470 --> 00:25:13.430 iron frenzy Um, and all that stuff just really 00:25:13.430 --> 00:25:16.849 captured captured my heart in a lot of ways that 00:25:16.849 --> 00:25:19.210 like even the mainstream stuff wasn't doing because 00:25:19.210 --> 00:25:23.470 there was a lot more authenticity and like realness, 00:25:23.470 --> 00:25:28.329 um to what was going on and so um, and I think 00:25:28.329 --> 00:25:32.069 all that like that led me to to be like, Oh, 00:25:32.109 --> 00:25:34.970 I want to do this. Yeah. Like I started my own 00:25:34.970 --> 00:25:37.289 band and we were terrible for like such a long 00:25:37.289 --> 00:25:40.750 time and finally got to where we were. Okay. 00:25:40.990 --> 00:25:43.990 Um, and got to do that for a little bit and experience 00:25:43.990 --> 00:25:46.849 a different side of it. But, um, but yeah, yeah, 00:25:46.849 --> 00:25:49.369 that was, it was fun just watching the progression 00:25:49.369 --> 00:25:54.650 happen in my life. Um, so with you, like, um, 00:25:55.250 --> 00:25:57.329 obviously that's kind of where things started, 00:25:57.470 --> 00:25:59.990 but like what's, what is kind of the journey 00:25:59.990 --> 00:26:06.230 been like over over time with with christian 00:26:06.230 --> 00:26:08.089 music we've talked a little bit about that but 00:26:08.089 --> 00:26:10.230 yeah what's the journey felt like for you oh 00:26:10.230 --> 00:26:12.029 it's all been good all perfect really nothing 00:26:12.029 --> 00:26:17.809 negative uh a really boring answer um no for 00:26:17.809 --> 00:26:21.789 me um so like like i said whenever i first started 00:26:21.789 --> 00:26:25.750 finding um people like and like john rubin stands 00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:31.019 out him and like Him, House of Heroes, then maybe 00:26:31.019 --> 00:26:33.960 Me Without You. They were the first bands that 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:37.559 I felt like, I'm like, this is incredible. I 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:41.200 feel heard. I feel like these people are talking 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:45.299 about stuff that I feel. And just stuff like 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:48.440 the Boy Vs. the Cynic album. I remember House 00:26:48.440 --> 00:26:50.319 of Heroes the first time I heard it. The end 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:53.880 is not the end. I remember just thinking, man, 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:56.380 it's... It's easy to sit down and make an album 00:26:56.380 --> 00:26:59.059 about like breakups or whatever or even like 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:01.400 worship songs It's easy because I feel like it 00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:03.480 I feel like worship music has gotten better because 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:06.240 at that time it was kind of just a let's take 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:09.059 an old hymn and just slap on like a chorus to 00:27:09.059 --> 00:27:12.500 it and um But I remember like being like this 00:27:12.500 --> 00:27:16.980 is a whole album about world war two and it's 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:20.700 about people who are like good people bad people 00:27:20.700 --> 00:27:24.369 it's just like It's just here's 15 16 stories 00:27:24.369 --> 00:27:27.609 or whatever and I'm like this is so cool like 00:27:27.609 --> 00:27:30.950 this is something that you Not just anyone can 00:27:30.950 --> 00:27:35.809 make this and like especially make it good So 00:27:35.809 --> 00:27:38.670 for me it was like it was so cool to feel heard 00:27:38.670 --> 00:27:42.349 and be like man this motivates me that as a like 00:27:42.349 --> 00:27:46.309 as a Creator like if I'm if I'm gonna be a Christian 00:27:46.309 --> 00:27:50.450 and I'm going to create Why would I not create 00:27:50.450 --> 00:27:53.019 like good stuff? Like you don't just sit there 00:27:53.019 --> 00:27:56.339 and see like the the sun or the earth or whatever 00:27:56.339 --> 00:27:58.819 and be like, yeah jesus was like Well, i'm kind 00:27:58.819 --> 00:28:00.960 of focused on like creating these all these dogs 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:03.480 over here. So the sun i'll just I don't know 00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:06.420 Like he's not handing it to an angel just saying 00:28:06.420 --> 00:28:09.099 hey I don't know. I can't decide which shade 00:28:09.099 --> 00:28:12.539 of yellow I want, you know, whatever. Um and 00:28:12.539 --> 00:28:15.720 So for me like I was like man, this is so cool 00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:19.359 Like I want to be like this. I I can be a christian. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:22.720 I can do cool stuff. Um it was kind of the same 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:25.359 way I remember being at this at summer camp and 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:28.920 I told people that the best like um like ministry 00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:31.119 tool I ever had was professionally wrestling 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:33.799 t -shirts and because there was kids there that 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:35.680 like they didn't listen to Christian music or 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:39.200 like NASCAR but they watched wrestling yeah and 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:41.599 I would show up and they would be like wait you 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:44.640 you do that and I was like well yeah like you 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.839 know this wrestler is a Christian or that and 00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:50.369 um even like music it became a thing where they 00:28:50.369 --> 00:28:53.789 liked their like their music and it was how can 00:28:53.789 --> 00:28:56.690 i introduce them to bands that it's not a drop 00:28:56.690 --> 00:28:59.990 in quality because i don't want them to say like 00:28:59.990 --> 00:29:02.349 hey i know that like you're 10 years old and 00:29:02.349 --> 00:29:04.529 you're listening to like 50 Cent or whatever 00:29:04.529 --> 00:29:06.450 but like maybe you shouldn't be listening to 00:29:06.450 --> 00:29:09.869 that at like 10 years old but it's not just oh 00:29:09.869 --> 00:29:13.190 here's a campy christian artist instead it's 00:29:13.190 --> 00:29:15.680 like hey here's an artist that Their stuff is 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:18.920 just as good, but it's not gonna have like the 00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:20.519 stuff that you maybe shouldn't be listening to. 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:23.440 I don't know why I'm tiptoeing around that. I 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:24.960 feel like there's no one listening. This is gonna 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:29.079 be like, I'm offended. Your kids should not be 00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:34.980 listening to that. And it took a turn for me 00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:37.259 that, like I said, I was so excited thinking, 00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:40.279 man, I wanna be like this. I'm gonna be this 00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:42.740 kind of person. And then you start realizing 00:29:42.740 --> 00:29:45.890 that, All those people I listed, they don't get 00:29:45.890 --> 00:29:49.690 any type of recognition. Like they don't get 00:29:49.690 --> 00:29:53.069 the Dove Awards. They don't get invited to, you 00:29:53.069 --> 00:29:55.170 know, like any Christian awards. They don't get 00:29:55.170 --> 00:29:59.329 played on Christian music. It's like you keep 00:29:59.329 --> 00:30:01.730 John Rubin on this little like side stage over 00:30:01.730 --> 00:30:03.789 here because it's like, well, there's other artists. 00:30:04.190 --> 00:30:06.430 Every song is about like Jesus or it's about 00:30:06.430 --> 00:30:09.869 how church is cool. Or it's like House of Heroes. 00:30:10.089 --> 00:30:13.220 It's like that's like. it's always like we would 00:30:13.220 --> 00:30:16.240 celebrate you if all these songs was about like 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:19.380 Jesus as a soldier or something and like me without 00:30:19.380 --> 00:30:23.259 you is their whole other thing and so for me 00:30:23.259 --> 00:30:26.440 I went through this phase where it was just like 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:30.279 just really sad to be like oh so it's like if 00:30:30.279 --> 00:30:33.160 you want to be recognized or whatever you got 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:37.980 to um you have to almost like sell out or stop 00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:41.140 being creative so it's like if you're going to 00:30:41.819 --> 00:30:44.460 um like work at a church even it's like well 00:30:44.460 --> 00:30:47.160 you got to fit into this mold because you can't 00:30:47.160 --> 00:30:51.180 mention whatever um and i mean like i i remember 00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:53.039 telling jordan even before i started working 00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:55.880 like at our church this was probably a month 00:30:55.880 --> 00:30:58.339 or two beforehand so it probably been right before 00:30:58.339 --> 00:31:00.700 i even applied for here i remember being like 00:31:00.700 --> 00:31:02.700 i'm never gonna work at a church again because 00:31:02.700 --> 00:31:05.809 like the moment you do like it's like i can't 00:31:05.809 --> 00:31:08.170 watch nascar because here's all the roles and 00:31:08.170 --> 00:31:10.410 then music wise it's like well you can't really 00:31:10.410 --> 00:31:13.269 like listen to like a me without you because 00:31:13.269 --> 00:31:16.650 some of those songs are kind of like is it christian 00:31:16.650 --> 00:31:18.829 is it not is it attacking the church is it and 00:31:18.829 --> 00:31:22.569 it's like me just thinking man i don't want to 00:31:22.569 --> 00:31:26.309 have this label that yeah i or like even christian 00:31:26.309 --> 00:31:28.630 music if you tell people yeah i listen to christian 00:31:28.630 --> 00:31:31.829 music or podcasts like this they probably think 00:31:31.829 --> 00:31:34.710 okay so you guys are just gonna cover all of 00:31:34.710 --> 00:31:36.950 the new stuff where it's like yeah we were listening 00:31:36.950 --> 00:31:38.809 to Caleb the other day and there's nothing wrong 00:31:38.809 --> 00:31:42.250 with that yeah but it's like this i just started 00:31:42.250 --> 00:31:45.349 finding this gate that was like okay if you give 00:31:45.349 --> 00:31:49.750 up your originality and like questioning stuff 00:31:49.750 --> 00:31:54.069 you can be let in the club and so for me it kind 00:31:54.069 --> 00:31:57.670 of just took this like really just oh i don't 00:31:57.670 --> 00:32:00.269 want to be a part of this because none of the 00:32:00.269 --> 00:32:04.369 people i like are being recognized um so I think 00:32:04.369 --> 00:32:07.890 like for me it took like this kind of this this 00:32:07.890 --> 00:32:12.529 is a bummer yeah yeah it's it's been I feel like 00:32:12.529 --> 00:32:16.390 an interesting journey for me too because like 00:32:16.390 --> 00:32:22.789 you said I think when I was in a Christian band 00:32:22.789 --> 00:32:25.990 and we were pretty we tried to be pretty like 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:29.779 Forward -facing about that. Yeah, and have there 00:32:29.779 --> 00:32:32.779 not be questions that like for us this this is 00:32:32.779 --> 00:32:34.920 this is what this is Like we want people to know 00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:39.599 and meet Jesus. Yeah, but like our Music didn't 00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:42.900 fit in on like really cut. Yeah, I like world 00:32:42.900 --> 00:32:46.779 for that, right and so So we kind of fell in 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:50.880 more with The guys that are a little on the outside 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:53.500 and weren't let in those nice squeaky clean doors. 00:32:53.500 --> 00:32:57.670 Yeah Um, but I, I found a lot of value there 00:32:57.670 --> 00:33:02.690 in the fact that, um, it's okay to like stand 00:33:02.690 --> 00:33:06.930 inside the kingdom of God, um, and be a part 00:33:06.930 --> 00:33:10.670 of the church, but, but also like point fingers 00:33:10.670 --> 00:33:13.650 at ourselves and say, we don't have it all together 00:33:13.650 --> 00:33:17.450 and we're not perfect. Um, and we've got a lot 00:33:17.450 --> 00:33:20.309 of things to work on and figure out. And so for 00:33:20.309 --> 00:33:25.099 me, music that was doing that just had. a real 00:33:25.099 --> 00:33:29.380 weight to it that was meaningful. And artists 00:33:29.380 --> 00:33:35.000 like Five Iron Frenzy, that is probably, I was 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:36.599 telling my wife the other day, just because I 00:33:36.599 --> 00:33:39.220 went on a two -day stint of listening to nothing 00:33:39.220 --> 00:33:42.230 but Five Iron, and I'm like... I'm pretty sure 00:33:42.230 --> 00:33:45.289 Five Iron is the most Christian band ever. I 00:33:45.289 --> 00:33:48.269 can't think of another band that was as forward 00:33:48.269 --> 00:33:51.710 -facing about their faith in their lyrics. Just 00:33:51.710 --> 00:33:55.529 so straightforward. But at the same time, they 00:33:55.529 --> 00:33:57.750 were constantly pointing the fingers at the church 00:33:57.750 --> 00:34:01.430 and saying, we've got to do better. And I just 00:34:01.430 --> 00:34:04.410 love that. I love the willingness to take that 00:34:04.410 --> 00:34:08.110 on. and always say, yeah, we are a community 00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:09.929 of people together, but how can we be better? 00:34:10.070 --> 00:34:13.090 Let's not sweep stuff under the rug. Let's deal 00:34:13.090 --> 00:34:16.829 with the realities that are there and press deeper 00:34:16.829 --> 00:34:20.769 into what it really means to walk with Jesus. 00:34:22.130 --> 00:34:25.570 And so because of that, I feel like I got pretty 00:34:25.570 --> 00:34:32.070 cynical for a while with standard CCM stuff because 00:34:32.070 --> 00:34:35.440 it... there were gatekeepers to it. Yeah. And 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:37.460 it's kind of like, you do this, like you've got 00:34:37.460 --> 00:34:39.900 to mention Jesus at least two and a half times 00:34:39.900 --> 00:34:44.019 in your song. Yeah. Like whatever. Um, which 00:34:44.019 --> 00:34:46.960 is interesting. Like we, we just covered, um, 00:34:46.980 --> 00:34:49.300 six minutes, none the richer. And so like, how 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:51.539 can you have a song about kissing that like doesn't 00:34:51.539 --> 00:34:53.820 talk about Jesus? That's not Christian music. 00:34:54.630 --> 00:34:57.230 And I want us I want us in the future sometime 00:34:57.230 --> 00:34:59.550 This would be a great conversation to like sit 00:34:59.550 --> 00:35:02.190 down and talk about what actually like what makes 00:35:02.190 --> 00:35:05.849 something Christian music And dig into that as 00:35:05.849 --> 00:35:09.170 an idea, but but for me I got a little cynical 00:35:09.170 --> 00:35:13.590 with all of that and then at the same time I 00:35:13.590 --> 00:35:16.530 kind of felt like that's when Christian music 00:35:16.530 --> 00:35:22.539 kind of began its decline and and it all kind 00:35:22.539 --> 00:35:26.320 of transitioned over into like what we know is 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:29.539 like worship music. And so, and that's probably 00:35:29.539 --> 00:35:33.199 another topic for a day ahead too. But yeah, 00:35:33.280 --> 00:35:36.079 so today for you, like sitting where you sit 00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:41.599 now, kind of looking back on all of that, where 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:44.300 do you consider yourself to be? Like what, when 00:35:44.300 --> 00:35:46.199 you think about this whole idea of Christian 00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:49.239 music, like where are you today with it? Yeah, 00:35:49.239 --> 00:35:52.760 I think but the last question ended on a very 00:35:52.760 --> 00:35:55.639 like sad note but I was like I knew this is the 00:35:55.639 --> 00:36:01.119 next question so like um I think for me it went 00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:05.659 from being very like um upset I think it's like 00:36:05.659 --> 00:36:11.219 a um having one of those like um it's like Elijah 00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:13.659 I always get him and Elisha mixed up and I feel 00:36:13.659 --> 00:36:18.059 like it's it's okay that I do because like um 00:36:18.059 --> 00:36:21.050 but I remember like him um Being like in the 00:36:21.050 --> 00:36:23.190 cave and it being like, oh, what was me? This 00:36:23.190 --> 00:36:25.789 is sad. What am I gonna do? And I'm being like, 00:36:25.929 --> 00:36:27.730 you know, other people are out here like doing 00:36:27.730 --> 00:36:31.969 stuff like it's not all about you and um, I think 00:36:31.969 --> 00:36:37.070 uh for me, I take that like Annoyance and all 00:36:37.070 --> 00:36:40.489 and it motivates me. Um, I guess like two parts 00:36:40.489 --> 00:36:44.400 like it motivates me to think Okay, well these 00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:47.460 bands aren't being promoted. How can I help promote? 00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:50.039 Like how can I go to people who are like me and 00:36:50.039 --> 00:36:53.539 go? Hey, like I know you're asking a lot of questions. 00:36:53.539 --> 00:36:55.960 Like here's bands that helped me work through 00:36:55.960 --> 00:37:00.659 stuff and then also just finding like newer bands 00:37:00.659 --> 00:37:03.940 that are doing that because I feel like you know, 00:37:04.059 --> 00:37:06.360 I I don't like when people do the thing where 00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:08.079 it's like there's no good music nowadays or all 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:11.369 the good music and I'm like no every Every group 00:37:11.369 --> 00:37:14.150 every decade has stuff that's like good and bad 00:37:14.150 --> 00:37:16.769 like, you know, we look at like people I don't 00:37:16.769 --> 00:37:19.309 know if people say the golden age is like the 00:37:19.309 --> 00:37:22.550 70s or 80s of like, you know, like rock or whatever 00:37:22.550 --> 00:37:25.429 But it's like yeah, you can go back and say here's 00:37:25.429 --> 00:37:27.369 the top guys But I feel like there's probably 00:37:27.369 --> 00:37:29.329 ten times as many artists that you'd be like, 00:37:29.329 --> 00:37:33.090 I can't stand those guys and um so for me, I 00:37:33.090 --> 00:37:36.530 think I think about like who are people nowadays 00:37:36.530 --> 00:37:40.750 that are doing that thing and What I have found 00:37:40.750 --> 00:37:43.849 is that there are bands that are, at least in 00:37:43.849 --> 00:37:47.610 my opinion, that are going above what's asked 00:37:47.610 --> 00:37:51.769 of them. I think, for instance, like a Josiah 00:37:51.769 --> 00:37:54.349 Queen, and it might be something where other 00:37:54.349 --> 00:37:56.329 people are like, Brandon, he's the worst example 00:37:56.329 --> 00:38:01.289 of that or whatever, but just having the kids 00:38:01.289 --> 00:38:04.250 in our grade school, seeing how much they love 00:38:04.250 --> 00:38:07.610 him or a Forest Frank. and then listening and 00:38:07.610 --> 00:38:10.769 going okay here's not a guy that's just like 00:38:10.769 --> 00:38:13.769 out here just to say oh just write whatever and 00:38:13.769 --> 00:38:15.610 i can like make money like it's stuff where it 00:38:15.610 --> 00:38:18.110 feels like there's an effort being put forth 00:38:18.110 --> 00:38:21.909 um and then even like you know i've mentioned 00:38:21.909 --> 00:38:24.389 them on here before but like gable price and 00:38:24.389 --> 00:38:26.650 friends to me they are such a good example that 00:38:26.650 --> 00:38:30.510 like they are a um like they're on a christian 00:38:30.510 --> 00:38:33.719 label and all but like not every song has to 00:38:33.719 --> 00:38:36.099 be about Jesus. So there's songs about that. 00:38:36.139 --> 00:38:39.079 And to me, what's amazing is I look at a band 00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:42.320 like that or Switchfoot and I think back to like, 00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:44.579 I mean, me and Jordan went to music conference 00:38:44.579 --> 00:38:48.280 months ago, not music, what do you call it? Not 00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:53.039 a conference, a festival. I don't know what a 00:38:53.039 --> 00:38:56.460 music conference is. But like thinking, man, 00:38:56.480 --> 00:38:58.139 there's so many people here that probably would 00:38:58.139 --> 00:39:00.469 not. They're not going to be at church on Sunday 00:39:00.469 --> 00:39:01.949 or like maybe these people have never stepped 00:39:01.949 --> 00:39:03.889 foot in church. Yeah, but then they see someone 00:39:03.889 --> 00:39:05.829 like a gay price from friends and they're like, 00:39:05.829 --> 00:39:07.989 man, that guy's cool. That guy like he reminds 00:39:07.989 --> 00:39:11.210 me of me and you have this conversation. So for 00:39:11.210 --> 00:39:15.010 me, like I've there's there's still an annoyance 00:39:15.010 --> 00:39:16.750 that it's like, you know, I look at someone like 00:39:16.750 --> 00:39:20.050 a house of heroes and sometimes I think these 00:39:20.050 --> 00:39:22.530 people should like be headlining like Madison 00:39:22.530 --> 00:39:26.510 Square Garden, you know, or whatever. But it's 00:39:26.510 --> 00:39:30.400 cool for me. also on a way maybe thinking like 00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:32.480 that's what makes it so special is that if they 00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:34.880 would have gotten big does it change music or 00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:37.619 does it make it to where it's like oh this guy's 00:39:37.619 --> 00:39:39.400 just putting this out because they feel like 00:39:39.400 --> 00:39:41.840 they have to or they're being pressured to yeah 00:39:41.840 --> 00:39:46.760 so i think for me i'm in a place where i i love 00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:50.019 celebrating what has happened and getting to 00:39:50.019 --> 00:39:52.800 just be thankful for those bands for like just 00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:56.489 changing my life But then also being there to 00:39:56.489 --> 00:40:00.050 like appreciate newer bands that are going to 00:40:00.050 --> 00:40:03.989 be like, you know, like 10 years from now, there's 00:40:03.989 --> 00:40:06.190 going to be a teenager or college student. It's 00:40:06.190 --> 00:40:08.809 like Gable Price and friends like change this 00:40:08.809 --> 00:40:11.670 for like, man, like I hated worship music, but 00:40:11.670 --> 00:40:14.849 then like Josiah Queen showed me like, oh, this 00:40:14.849 --> 00:40:17.130 can be like, it doesn't have to be this like, 00:40:17.150 --> 00:40:19.809 let's say the same line 20 times or whatever. 00:40:20.690 --> 00:40:24.849 So I think for me, like, it's definitely a Happier 00:40:24.849 --> 00:40:27.710 place than it was because it's almost like instead 00:40:27.710 --> 00:40:30.429 of just sitting there and feeling sorry It's 00:40:30.429 --> 00:40:32.889 using that cynicism to be like, okay. Well, how 00:40:32.889 --> 00:40:35.670 can I help other people like myself who are searching 00:40:35.670 --> 00:40:38.989 for those bands? Yeah, that's really good. I 00:40:38.989 --> 00:40:43.369 I feel really similar I love the fact that you 00:40:43.369 --> 00:40:45.929 mentioned like a Josiah Queen and he's a great 00:40:45.929 --> 00:40:50.409 example of The fact that there's a lot less gatekeepers 00:40:50.409 --> 00:40:53.590 out there now, right? And so you find a guy like 00:40:53.590 --> 00:40:57.449 him who is finding a lot of success in this world 00:40:57.449 --> 00:40:59.889 of Christian music. But like, he doesn't have 00:40:59.889 --> 00:41:02.250 a label over him telling him, no, you've got 00:41:02.250 --> 00:41:04.210 to do it this way, or this is the only way it 00:41:04.210 --> 00:41:06.829 works. Or if you want us to release your CD, 00:41:07.070 --> 00:41:11.469 like this has got to happen. And I think that's 00:41:11.469 --> 00:41:14.269 so refreshing and really hopeful for the future 00:41:14.269 --> 00:41:16.750 because the music industry is a completely different 00:41:16.750 --> 00:41:22.369 animal than it was 10, 20 years ago. And I like 00:41:22.369 --> 00:41:27.349 the fact that today I can look back on my history 00:41:27.349 --> 00:41:31.489 with all of this and at the points where I was 00:41:31.489 --> 00:41:37.190 pretty cynical that I don't feel those feelings 00:41:37.190 --> 00:41:40.329 so much anymore that I feel like I can turn on 00:41:40.329 --> 00:41:44.130 any of those albums and find like a lot of appreciation 00:41:44.130 --> 00:41:47.710 for them and remember how impactful that they 00:41:47.710 --> 00:41:52.829 were in my life along the way. And so I feel 00:41:52.829 --> 00:41:56.349 like and it's probably because I'm you know in 00:41:56.349 --> 00:42:00.210 my mid 40s But I feel like a lot of nostalgia 00:42:00.210 --> 00:42:03.929 the stuff that's behind. Yeah, but also like 00:42:03.929 --> 00:42:06.869 really excited for the stuff That's ahead and 00:42:06.869 --> 00:42:09.710 I love seeing the artists that are coming out 00:42:09.710 --> 00:42:13.789 and doing their own thing That they they really 00:42:13.789 --> 00:42:16.769 get to express who they are in a meaningful way 00:42:16.769 --> 00:42:21.260 and that there are less restraints for them And 00:42:21.260 --> 00:42:26.320 I just can't wait To see like what stories get 00:42:26.320 --> 00:42:28.980 to be told because I believe that we are on the 00:42:28.980 --> 00:42:33.079 cutting edge Of seeing God use music Meaningful 00:42:33.079 --> 00:42:35.380 in our culture again And I think it's a big reason 00:42:35.380 --> 00:42:38.360 for us like why we wanted to step into doing 00:42:38.360 --> 00:42:41.539 this of saying how do we look backwards? Yeah 00:42:42.039 --> 00:42:44.940 a lot of love for what's behind. But how can 00:42:44.940 --> 00:42:48.159 we create some momentum for what's happening 00:42:48.159 --> 00:42:51.699 now at the same time? And because we realize 00:42:51.699 --> 00:42:55.880 how impactful this music was on us back in the 00:42:55.880 --> 00:42:58.360 day. And I want that same thing for my kids, 00:42:59.300 --> 00:43:01.500 my kids that are 12 and 10 right now. I want 00:43:01.500 --> 00:43:05.219 them to find something that they can just fall 00:43:05.219 --> 00:43:07.579 in love with musically that's going to help guide 00:43:07.579 --> 00:43:10.820 and transform them as they kind of step into 00:43:10.820 --> 00:43:15.670 the future. so I think that's a fun thing about 00:43:15.670 --> 00:43:18.329 about getting to do this and so and that's the 00:43:18.329 --> 00:43:20.949 journey that we want to invite you guys our listeners 00:43:20.949 --> 00:43:24.730 onto with us is is how can we how can we look 00:43:24.730 --> 00:43:27.429 back with a lot of love but look forward with 00:43:27.429 --> 00:43:30.710 a lot of hope for what's to come so I'm excited 00:43:30.710 --> 00:43:33.989 to kind of dig into that more and more over time 00:43:33.989 --> 00:43:38.230 but right now it's time for the lyric of the 00:43:38.230 --> 00:43:54.889 week Brandon I think you have a lyric for us 00:43:54.889 --> 00:43:58.550 today. Yeah, so today's lyric comes from Star 00:43:58.550 --> 00:44:03.809 Flyer 59's album Dial M It's from the song Taxi 00:44:03.809 --> 00:44:06.829 and it goes late walks make my mind overwork 00:44:06.829 --> 00:44:10.590 So 15 has never been the cure of a broken back 00:44:10.590 --> 00:44:15.809 a broken neck a broken heart a broken dream I 00:44:15.809 --> 00:44:19.030 love Dial M Mm -hmm. It is one of my favorite 00:44:19.030 --> 00:44:21.750 star flyer records And so that's one that I've 00:44:21.750 --> 00:44:23.329 enjoyed listening to a lot lately and that's 00:44:23.329 --> 00:44:25.190 a that's a great tune I appreciate you bringing 00:44:25.190 --> 00:44:29.610 that to us today. Yeah Since our cast is inspired 00:44:29.610 --> 00:44:32.409 by star flyer when we find random weeks like 00:44:32.409 --> 00:44:34.329 this where we're not covering a specific album 00:44:34.329 --> 00:44:36.230 You will find that we are talking about star 00:44:36.230 --> 00:44:39.650 flyer leaders. So Um, that's a lot of fun. I 00:44:39.650 --> 00:44:41.670 think that kind of brings us to a wrap. You have 00:44:41.670 --> 00:44:44.849 anything that you want to kind of closing thoughts 00:44:44.849 --> 00:44:47.409 on any of this? No, I think it's um, I think 00:44:47.409 --> 00:44:50.409 stuff like this was really cool. And um, you 00:44:50.409 --> 00:44:52.489 know, I think going back to the cynicism stuff 00:44:52.489 --> 00:44:56.139 like this podcast, I think it's awesome to get 00:44:56.139 --> 00:44:58.539 to have these conversations because there are 00:44:58.539 --> 00:45:00.360 going to be albums down the road that I feel 00:45:00.360 --> 00:45:01.940 like there's going to be eventually that one 00:45:01.940 --> 00:45:04.880 day where one of us is this is five stars this 00:45:04.880 --> 00:45:07.519 is mount rushmore greatest CDs ever and the other 00:45:07.519 --> 00:45:10.579 one's going to go man this is barely a two but 00:45:10.579 --> 00:45:12.579 I think that it just teaches you to have that 00:45:12.579 --> 00:45:17.440 respectful um um like look and like tone and 00:45:17.440 --> 00:45:20.340 be like hey like I didn't care for this but hey 00:45:20.340 --> 00:45:23.420 um you know it affected you and I think, you 00:45:23.420 --> 00:45:25.119 know, like you said, looking back, there's bands 00:45:25.119 --> 00:45:28.960 that I think are very cheesy. I don't care for 00:45:28.960 --> 00:45:31.800 them. But I know that they're the reason why 00:45:31.800 --> 00:45:34.719 other people, like, you know, had their life 00:45:34.719 --> 00:45:36.800 changed. Or maybe it's their, you know, they 00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:39.440 became a better father or they got back in the 00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:41.619 church, you know, whatever. And so sometimes 00:45:41.619 --> 00:45:45.139 I do have to step back and think that. And I 00:45:45.139 --> 00:45:47.539 think that's what's cool about this. And I look 00:45:47.539 --> 00:45:50.980 forward to it. Hopefully on those days. I'm the 00:45:50.980 --> 00:45:52.940 one with like bringing the two and not the vice 00:45:52.940 --> 00:45:58.500 versa because We'll see how it goes Yeah, I kind 00:45:58.500 --> 00:46:00.019 of had a closing thought as we were talking through 00:46:00.019 --> 00:46:04.639 that too. It reminded me of just the power of 00:46:04.639 --> 00:46:08.440 this music and how How I believe God can use 00:46:08.440 --> 00:46:11.400 it for his kingdom I was at last year at at furnace 00:46:11.400 --> 00:46:14.219 fest and one of my favorite bands five iron frenzy 00:46:14.219 --> 00:46:18.059 was playing mm -hmm and they have a song every 00:46:18.059 --> 00:46:20.860 new day which is they've just kind of come to 00:46:20.860 --> 00:46:24.760 like end all of their um all their shows with 00:46:24.760 --> 00:46:28.360 it over over the years it's really powerful and 00:46:28.360 --> 00:46:31.579 um and so they were closing with that and um 00:46:31.579 --> 00:46:33.559 i just remember it was this really cool moment 00:46:33.559 --> 00:46:36.579 and i saw later that night somebody post on the 00:46:36.579 --> 00:46:41.960 furnace fest page that um it's it's been years 00:46:41.960 --> 00:46:47.500 since i believed in jesus But being there in 00:46:47.500 --> 00:46:50.119 that moment and hearing that song made me want 00:46:50.119 --> 00:46:54.659 to believe again. And I think that's the hope 00:46:54.659 --> 00:46:58.840 that's found in all of this. And I'm just, I'm 00:46:58.840 --> 00:47:00.639 thankful that we get to have these conversations 00:47:00.639 --> 00:47:03.559 and talk through these things and maybe help 00:47:03.559 --> 00:47:06.760 people engage into artists and music that they've 00:47:06.760 --> 00:47:10.860 never engaged with before so that they can experience 00:47:10.860 --> 00:47:14.570 the hope that's found there. You guys, if you 00:47:14.570 --> 00:47:17.750 haven't yet, can find us on the internet. We're 00:47:17.750 --> 00:47:22.730 on X at Hey Are You Pod? Facebook, our page is 00:47:22.730 --> 00:47:25.449 Hey Are You Listening? And we'd love for you 00:47:25.449 --> 00:47:28.210 to engage with us there. Have these conversations 00:47:28.210 --> 00:47:32.070 with us. That would be a lot of fun for us. But 00:47:32.070 --> 00:47:36.960 also, subscribe anywhere you listen. Like, rate, 00:47:37.179 --> 00:47:39.659 review, we would love and welcome all of that. 00:47:39.739 --> 00:47:41.519 We're thankful that you're with us for this journey 00:47:41.519 --> 00:47:44.260 and look forward to maybe even having you come 00:47:44.260 --> 00:47:46.420 and sit down and join us for one of these conversations 00:47:46.420 --> 00:47:48.960 sometime. So, thankful for you guys and we will 00:47:48.960 --> 00:47:50.400 see you next week.