Name 3 bands that, had they not released a certain album at a certain time … and you would not exist as a band. Holly: Passion Worship Band/Chris Tomlin, SonicFlood, Fusebox – all three opened our eyes to worship music that was bigger than we had previously thought. Tony: I can’t answer this one for the whole group…for me it is Led Zeppelin – of course all of their albums came out when I was under the age of twelve so I didn’t really pick them up until later in life. Throw in David Crowder Band since they gave us lots of good stuff to work with. Steve: Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Fusebox Wayne: I can think of one. Petra’s “Not of this World” back in 1978. I might not have had an interest in learning to play the drums (if it hadn’t been for this album.) If there wasn’t music, what skills would your members use and what would they do? Holly: Graphic Design for marketing, designing, etc. Tony: We have a wide range of skills in our group, some not typically associated with music. We have an engineer, a few business / accounting types, a spiritual director, a nurse, and a bicyclist. Steve: We would be inherently creative and would probably paint, perform drama, etc. Wayne: We would be all over the board with skills. Maybe we could start our own country and enter the Olympics. When asked to describe your band by comparing yourself to others (the dreaded “Recommended if you like” question), who would you list? Holly: We’re pretty eclectic. For me personally, I found myself gravitating toward an Evanescence type sound/feel. It seemed a good match to the lyrics. Tony: Evanescence, David Crowder, Red (?) Steve: We’ve been compared to Evanescence, Chris Tomlin, and others. We are very flattered and honored to be compared to these bands and their music. Wayne: We are so diverse but I would have to say a little Crowder, a little Evanescence, and a lot of other stuff mixed in. What’s a secret or little-known fact about your band (or one of your band members) that would make you the darlings of the music world if we all knew it? Jerry: If everyone knew how adorable Doris is. Tony: We have no idea what we’re doing. Steve: We formed a nonprofit corporation called Reveal Ministries where our mission is to spread the word of God through music, pretty cool stuff. Proceeds from the sale of CDs and merchandise go to Reveal Ministries. Not sure if this would make us “darlings” or not, but I think the music world would appreciate the fact that this band-family has endured multiple situations that would break up most groups, however, we have persevered through it all and continue to worship God together, enjoy writing and playing music, and being together. Wayne: As a band we are so ADHD but yet we seem to get things done. Not sure how at times. If there was another band and another album that you could give everyone as a present for Christmas, what album would that be? Why? Holly: RED’s Innocence and Instinct – it is just flat out a great CD both musically and lyrically. Love the struggle theme. It’s something we all deal with. Tony: Ray Stevens “Crackin’ Up” – how can you go wrong with Ray Stevens and songs like “I’m My Own Grandpa” and “Would Jesus Wear a Rolex”?Steve: Chris Tomlin-Glory in the Highest-Christmas Songs of Worship. He is clearly my favorite Christian artist, hands down! He is true, authentic, writes inspired and incredible music, just can’t say enough good things about him! What is one belief, conviction, idea, or passion that you honestly think might’ve been deposited inside you or given to you by God? Holly: Everyone deserves to be loved, esp. those that don’t “fit” into our mainstream world. Jerry: We need to be willing to let go of everything that was true about us yesterday so God can show us who we are today. Tony: God has put us here to do his work, not to look out for ourselves. Steve: I have clearly been given the passion for music, listening to, writing, and performing music. Doris: Compassion. Wayne: Love God no matter what, love others no matter what. What’s one of the most memorable things (either good, bad, or funny) that’s happened at one of your shows? Tony: I remember our first show and we didn’t have any sound equipment so we had to borrow some from another band. It was incredible because the speaker stacks were amazingly large and we were playing outdoors in the middle of a college campus, and it was very clear that NO ONE on the campus could escape our music. It was awesome! Steve: At one of our practices, Burger King, yes “THE” Burger King dropped by and distributed hamburgers for dinner. He didn’t speak, and he’s actually kinda creepy with that big plastic head, bad hair, and permanent smile, but I must say that it was totally hilarious and the burgers were delicious! Doris: It happened during the encore! Let me set this up! It was our very first concert and we were pumped! We were playing (outdoors no less) at a Christian University in a “quad” type setting (their freshman orientation) totally rockin along when it came to the encore. We went with the great Chris Tomlin song “Dance in the River”! While my fellow bandmates were playing/singing, my fellow “soul sista” vocalist Penny (as I endearingly call her) and I spontaneously led the crowd in a conga line with the tambourine held high in my hand! We SO danced in the river and a ROCKIN time was had by ALL! Looking back on it, I find it to be one of the most memorable, hilariously funny and the most FUN I/we had. Wayne: People laying down, sleeping in the pews. They were homeless and needed a place to crash so that’s cool. If you had a chance to perform for most of the televised world and play just one song, which song would you play … and why? Holly: Awaken. It’s time for the church to wake up. We have gotten complacent. It’s time to refocus and re-energize our relationship with our creator and share it with the world. Jerry: Carry Me. Because it is a prayer for God to be our comforter and guide. Steve: No doubt and without hesitation, I would choose Restore, song #5 on our CD. This song is a journey and a very powerful song that most people can relate to. The first half deals with a person thinking that God has forgotten them, “how long must I struggle with hurt in my soul?”, they become angry and demand to be heard. Then they realize that God is always with them and say “I trust in your unfailing love”, I sing to you, you’ve been so good to me, my hope is in you my God, you’re always there for me. Every single person I know has been through something like this and can relate. Give this song a chance to develop and take it all in, you will absolutely LOVE it! Wayne: Will You. There’s a lot of people out there who are hurting, who’ve made mistakes, who are at the end of their rope and they need to know they can ask will you love me anyway…and the answer is yes, no matter what’s going on, you are loved. If a super surgeon removed all of your emotions and the ability to feel any emotion for the rest of your life, which one or ones would you most want to have back? Why? Holly: Love – God said it is the greatest, and he would know. Tony: Love and compassion – otherwise life would be empty. Wayne: Love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 sums it up as far as I’m concerned. If you could ask God one question, what would you ask Him? Stan: What would you have us (the band) do? What’s the best video on youtube (like, if our readers had to type in a word or a few to search it, what would the keywords be?)?? Tony: I recently was made aware of LARP and someone sent me the link for “LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT” I especially like the basketball goal in the background of this role playing scene. If someone came to you and said, “Hey! I need to make some changes in my life…Help me out! I’m going to take one piece of advice from you and apply it to my life and/or make it a habit for 30 days. What would that piece of advice be?” Holly: Be still and know that I am God. Jerry: Communicate the truth. Tony: Give up trying to make yourself successful and instead seek what God is calling you to do. Wayne: Look at everyone and everything through the eyes of Jesus. In 4 sentences or less, explain how your band came to exist. (and give us a date) Holly: Two of the nine got together in 1999 as worship leaders for our new contemporary service on Sunday mornings. Over eight years time the group formed into the band you see today. It wasn’t until God directly gave us our first song that we had our first clue that our journey was going to continue outside the four walls of our local church. Tony: The band came to exist as the result of poor communication, bad decisions, hurt feelings, rebellion, love, caring, support, and a passion for God. Started sometime back in 1999 with many ups and downs along the way. What are your names, instruments, album titles (or song titles if no albums recorded), and location/hometown. Wayne Huston: Bass, Vocals Penny Lindemann-Smith: Vocals Steve Kuker: Drums, Vocals Stan Sword: Guitar, Vocals Holly Huston: Guitar, Vocals G.P. Robinett: Sax, Guitar, Vocals Tony Bockelman: Guitar Doris Vorndran: Vocals Jerry Wilke: Keyboards, Vocals Album title: Reveal – street date 12/1/2009 Location: Overland Park, Kansas What is the release date of your next (or latest) album? Or what is the next big date on your band’s calendar? Steve: “Reveal” will be released 12/1/2009. We’re very proud of our first album and can’t wait for the entire world to hear it! What’s one question you’d always wanted to be asked in an interview? (and please provide your answer) Wayne: I don’t know. © 2010 HM Magazine. All rights reserved.
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