Interview: Spirit Radio - July 2002
Here is the full text of an interview with Spirit Radio:
1. Where are you from originally and what sort of things were into growing up?
I currently live in Kennewick, WA and have lived here since my birth except for 4 years when I went to Washington State University in Pullman, WA. I was pretty much a regular kid and was into sports (football, basketball, baseball and later cross country and track). I was in Boy Scouts and became an Eagle Scout. I also dearly loved (and still do!) to hike and fish in the various wilderness areas around the state of Washington. My parents started me in piano lessons at around age 6 and wouldn't let me quit until about 10 years later. I went to public elementary, middle and high school and had a circle of friends mainly from my immediate neighborhood. I was in various music programs at school including Band (drums), Marching Band (drums and tri-toms) and Jazz Choir (singing and later, piano). I did not take one music class in college, but I played probably around 4 hours per day nonetheless because a college has dorms and each dorm usually has a finely tuned grand piano. Mmmm...I can still remember those days!
2. How did you get started in the music business?
Well, that's a long story! Hope you've got space in your database for my answer. After 10 years of classical piano training, I began playing in a few bands very infrequently because I had school and sports and scouts and hiking and fishing to keep me busy. I do remember my first real gig. Believe it or not I was actually the drummer for a country band and we had a gig on new years eve. I was so young I can remember falling asleep around 11:30 or so and the beat I was driving must have sputtered out and died because when I woke up moments later all the other band members were staring at me wondering if I was going to get us going again. I also remember that at midnight all the couples smooched and the sweet girlfriend of the lead guitarist gave me a innocent kiss on the cheek. I guess you could say I had my first pseudo groupie.
After that I became involved in a large 20 piece jazz orchestra (Wayne McGuffin and the Continentals) that was really into the Glenn Miller type of big band jazz. That was an incredible experience considering the fact that each musician had his/her own suitcase of music most of which were original copies of the various tunes in our repertoire. The band leader (Wayne McGuffin was his name) would call out a number and I would frantically search through my suitcase, yank the piece of music out, quickly scan each page to see if I had a solo during the song, doodle a quick idea and then the song began. Baptism by fire. That band was probably my first real working band since we had quite a few gigs throughout a 5 or 6 year period. I remember being too young to play in halls where alcohol was served, so they made the band leader swear to watch over me and never let me drink. I don't think I ever did either!
During the time I was playing in the Continentals, I also received a call from Pete Colean, an old minor league baseball coach that had shared the coaching responsibilities with my Dad. He called my Dad up one day to see if I would play in his band. That initial call was the start of a 10 year stint in various rock and country bands. Initially, the band I was in was with Pete, and Tom on Bass guitar, and a variety of guitar players drifted in and out of the band. At that time in the area where I live, the farmers must have been rich because it seemed we were always playing gigs for parties and weddings. In those days, each of us made $125 per gig for 4 hours of work. Do you have any idea how much $125 seems to a high school/college kid? I was RICH! Wow! I remember the last official band I was in I decided to see what it would be like to work a normal job (I was out of college and working in my field of hazardous waste management by then) and play old rock/country 6 nights/week at a local bar (in my opinion, a rather dank and stinky place). What an experience that was. Get up at 6 or 7 a.m., go to work til 4 or 5 p.m., come home, eat some dinner, go to the bar to practice before the gig starts, play til 1 a.m., go home and topple into bed only to do it all over again the next day. It may have been a skanky bar, but it was interesting indeed.
I finally quit playing in bands and started building up my home music studio. It was right at that time that I became a Christian and devoted my life to serving God and Jesus. I became a member of a non-denominational Men's bible study group and as a result of being their piano player (for seating music and hymns), I developed enough songs to record my first album of solo acoustic piano (In My Father's House). The funny thing about that is that I would have never guessed my first album would be solo acoustic piano. I would have thought it would have been an album of original vocal pieces that I had written throughout college. God had different plans I think.
The next November following that album, I decided to record an album of Christmas hymns and title it "An Acoustic Christmas". Many folks probably don't know this, but that album was a turning point in my career as a solo piano artist. For some strange reason, everything lined up on that album and it ended up being one of my best selling albums. In fact, I have sold nearly 3 times as many copies of that particular album as any of my other CD releases to date. What I think happened was that I finally slowed everything down and actually took the time to contemplate and really FEEL each piece. In other words, I really concentrated on making the acoustic piano talk. In solo acoustic piano work, you've only got one instrument to work with and you'd better be able to take care of the rhythm, the flow, and especially the melody of the piece such that the song can stand alone without any other instruments. It may sound easy, but it really isn't. In fact, it's actually kind of amusing to me how easy and simple it is to create arrangements using multiple instruments because each instrument is usually responsible for only one thing, whereas, as I've already stated, in solo piano work, the piano must do it all (and do it well!).
About one year after "An Acoustic Christmas", I released "Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1", which is a compilation of popular Christian hymns performed on solo acoustic piano. I produced this album mainly for my dear mother, but also for myself. I wanted to see if I could duplicate the almost magical arrangement style that I had discovered during the recording of "An Acoustic Christmas". I think I came close, but nothing in my mind will ever exactly match the quality (in my mind anyway!) of the arrangements on "An Acoustic Christmas".
During the recording of "Acoustic Hymns", I was also working concurrently on a solo acoustic piano album of my own compositions. It would later be titled "At My Father's Cabin" and was released only one month after "Acoustic Hymns". This album was the second turning point in my recording career because I found I could articulate an entirely original idea WITHOUT having to fly rather sloppily over the keyboard like I did on "In My Father's House". In fact, it's rather amusing to me how much effort I poured into "In My Father's House" and it is definitely my least favorite album. I can hear mistakes on Father's House that I would NEVER allow out of my house on future albums. Ah well...hindsight. Anyway, back to the Cabin album. I would have to say that if someone has never heard my particular style of solo acoustic piano, that "At My Father's Cabin" is probably the best example of what I want to portray in that particular genre.
About 10 months after releasing "At My Father's Cabin", I began working on a second Christmas album. The response was so encouraging from my first one, that we felt a second one that included orchestral instruments would probably work well too. We had the album ("An Orchestral Christmas") well ready by Christmas of 2001 and it was also well received by friends, family and fans. This album was sort of a mini-turning point for me in that I came to realize that I could now arrange hymns and instrumental songs with orchestral instruments and I found that they mixed very well with the particular acoustic piano sound I have been using. The tragedy of September 11th occurred during the recording of this album, and Track 10 is an original piece called "Lament for 9-11-2001" that captures my feelings during that troubled time. You can read about that and other tracks on my website.
So there's the long answer to your short question. Right now I'm working on a followup to Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1 that will probably be orchestral hymns in the same vein as Orchestral Christmas. I'm also toying with a follow-up to "At My Father's Cabin" that is tentatively titled "Love Song for the Palouse" and will be original pieces with orchestration rather than solo acoustic piano. Current prototypes of a few songs sound very good, so I'm encouraged!
3. How long have you been doing what you are doing now?
In terms of releasing CD's, I've only been doing it for about 5 years, since the first release in 1998. In terms of my main career, which is web database programming, I've been doing that since 1995.
4. Who were some of your musical influences?
Oh wow...this is always a tough question because you don't want to leave anyone or any band out. I think the way I'll do this is via a chronology of what I listened to during various time spans and let the reader decide which influences have seeped through and which have been left behind. Keep in mind that when I say I listened to these various artists, I really, really LISTENED to them. I had a Sony Walkman when they were basically brand new technology and I was ALWAYS listening to music. In fact, I can remember taking my Walkman on a Boy Scout 50-mile hike and my Dad made me leave it in the car because he wanted me to enjoy the outdoors without having headphones strapped to my head!
Age 6 to
10:
Chopin, Debussy, old broadway musicals such as Camelot and Fiddler on the
Roof (hey, it was all I had!!).
Age 10
to 15:
John Denver, a little bit of the Beatles, TONS of
Abba.
Age 15
to 18:
Supertramp (TONS AND TONS OF IT), Carpenters, Manhattan Transfer,
Toto, Queen
Age 18 to 25:
Pink Floyd, Steve
Winwood, Huey Lewis and the News, Al Jarreau, Take 6, Glad Accapella, Accapella
Hymns
Hopefully the reader can see that I went from classical to broadway to country to pop, to hard pop, to jazz pop to Christian pop to less pop-oriented stuff (straight hymns and such). Interestingly enough, I do not own ANY George Winston, Jim Brickman or Yanni and I never listened to that genre when growing up, and yet that is where I appear to have landed. I don't know if that's bad or good, but I guess I can assure the listener that I'm not really trying to copy those artists.
5. For those who may not have heard you before, how would you describe your music?
I would say it's kind of contemporary classical with a jazzy edge to it. My hymns work is usually very reverently done. In other words, I am absolutely not interested at ALL in taking a sacred hymn and trying to arrange it using a ripping house funked-up trip-hop backbeat. After the release of "An Acoustic Christmas" and also after "At My Father's Cabin", I received a very large amount of verbal feedback that those two CD's were very very peaceful to the listener. To me, this is excellent because I believe that all of us, even Christians (who are supposed to be pretty much at peace!), need to slow down and get away from the stresses of life (job, family, marriage, kids, etc.). Hopefully my music can help folks unwind after a rough day.
6. What would say that most of your songs are about?
Well, right now, since they're all instrumentals, they're either about places I've been, or experiences I've felt, or they are hymns about God. Future vocal pieces will be vocal hymns as well as vocal original songs about family, God, and the Christian walk.
7. What are your feelings toward Christians listening to secular music?
I think that it's pretty clear in Scripture that we become what we behold. If you are constantly listening to worldly music about worldly themes, you are probably going to start behaving in a worldly manner, or at least your thoughts will tend to the current of the world. On the other hand, if you are listening to music that speaks about God and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and uplifting themes of that nature, you will most likely start seeing things of the world in a different light. They will no longer hold your attention or have as strong a grip on you as they used to. When I think back to all the Pink Floyd I listened to and the number of times I watched "The Wall", I'm just thankful I was fairly well balanced psychologically because some of that stuff is very very depressing and it has to have an effect on you.
8. How has God been working in your life lately? What things has he been teaching you?
God has been constantly showing me that I need to be gentler with my children and more meek. I tend to get a little feisty at times (thanks to the little Type A personality that germinated in my being) and I've got to always remember the humbleness of the Christian walk. The world teaches us that we need to trumpet our achievements and basically show everyone else how great we are. The One being who created the entire universe and is responsible for the very oxygen atoms in the air we breathe, became a Man and walked this earth among His created people to show us how to live. That's humility. For God to veil His divinity in humanity is a thought that is incredible to ponder. God could have just turned and walked away after Adam and Eve sinned. Or He could have simply wiped them out of existence and started over. But instead He came down to this earth, put up with every kind of humiliating experience you can imagine and died on a cross between two thieves. That is love to me. That is the kind of love that we should be willing to die for. He was treated as we deserve so that we can be treated as He deserves.
9. What is the most important thing that you would like people to take away from your music or your live shows?
Peace, and the love of God. If I can convince someone through my music to slow down enough to listen to the voice of God calling them through His Holy Spirit, and through other means, then hopefully I've done a small part in helping them come to Christ.
10. What is your favorite bible verse?
Without a doubt it is:
(Psalms 119:11 KJV) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.I have always wanted to do an album of Scripture songs and this verse is the reason why. If we can work on memorizing God's Word, we can overcome sins in our life. That's real power. More powerful for changing lives than anything else out there.
11. What things do you like to do in your spare time?About the only things I have time for any more are family (hiking/fishing/swimming and all that) and music. When I can possibly squeeze it in I like to fly remote control sailplanes and electric planes.
12. Who is your favorite Christian artist?
Hmmm...believe it or not I don't really listen to the radio and I don't buy albums of Christian artists. I do remember seeing Take 6 live before they were famous and they were incredibly gifted guys. I remember listening to Michael Card and being impressed with his overall craftmanship and lyrical content of his songs. As far as the mainstream Christian artists, I'm not too interested at this time.
