{"id":23921,"date":"2014-10-06T22:39:47","date_gmt":"2014-10-07T03:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/?p=23921"},"modified":"2014-10-06T22:39:47","modified_gmt":"2014-10-07T03:39:47","slug":"andrew-peterson-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Peterson Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"warden<\/a><\/p>\n

When I personally discovered the artistry of Andrew Peterson, it made me very happy. I’m picky when it comes to pretty everything that comes out of the Nashville machine known as the Christian music industry. I’m not diametrically opposed to the idea of music formulas, but the concept is pretty darn diabolical, wouldn’t you say? It’s not the sappy sentiments that bother me. I’m good for a tear-jerking story like the next guy (or soccer mom), but what I really don’t want to hear is schmaltz. Barry Manilow for Jesus is how I refer to most CCM music. Though Barry Manilow’s hits stacked up against any Mercy Me song would win hands down and in dominating fashion. I digress. Please excuse me. I had to describe the vomit and processed junkfood before I could talk about the beauty. It’s just where my head is at, okay?<\/p>\n

Andrew Peterson stands apart. Sure, it’s not progressive metal. It’s not even hot and sweaty acoustic roots rock. Nope. It’s keyboards and mostly tender melodies. I think it’s music that might make Rich Mullins proud. Dude’s got taste, talent and a great melodic voice. Now, fast-foward a good decade or so. I still quicken with anticipation when I see a new release of his. I wasn’t expecting a two-inch thick hardback novel from the guy, though. I decided I should review it. Then I decided I should interview the guy.<\/p>\n

What led you into music? Please highlight some of the big moments in your career (from early attempts as a youth, to career-changing decisions, etc)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I loved to play the piano and took just enough lessons in the beginning so I could quit and play by ear. (I don\u2019t necessarily recommend this.) I\u2019m pretty sure the very first song I learned with sheet music was \u201cHonestly\u201d by Stryper. Then it was \u201cPiano Man\u201d by Billy Joel. So I spent all this time before church camp during my 9th grade year learning Journey songs so I could impress girls when everyone else was playing carpet ball. And it worked! Until another kid named C.J. started playing an acoustic guitar on the other end of the gym, and the crowd followed him out to the soccer field. I was stuck there with an immobile piano and no one to listen. So I joined forces. He taught me a song called \u201cPatience\u201d by Guns n\u2019 Roses. Ah, the memories. Ironically, it was the same kid (C.J.) five years later who introduced me to Rich Mullins, which changed my life. I had been in a rock band after high school, had tried my hand at writing a few of their songs, and was basically foundering as a human. Then Rich\u2019s songs came along and gave me something to sing about\u2014which was the \u201creckless, raging fury that they call the love of God,\u201d in Rich\u2019s words. During Bible college I managed to write a few of my own songs that didn\u2019t stink, and my sweet wife convinced me to try doing my own concerts. Once I graduated and moved to Nashville, Caedmon\u2019s Call rescued me from Olive Garden, and seventeen years later I\u2019m still grateful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How would you explain your fanbase\u2019s devotion? What do you think connects your audience to your music?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think part of it is the fact that, early on especially, I knew I really needed those fans if I wanted to have a sustained career. Having done music this long I\u2019ve witnessed the wild swings a career can take\u2014from being on a great label, to having modest success on radio, to then being dropped from a label and realizing that the music you\u2019re making isn\u2019t as radio-friendly as you hoped, to being an indie artist, to being on a label again. One of the consistent things through the years is the listeners. If it wasn\u2019t for them and their support\u2014both financially and by way of encouragement\u2014I doubt I\u2019d still be doing this. Not only that, I came to realize a few years ago that it\u2019s not the music that matters as much as the connection music allows. Many people are lonely, dogged by a sadness they can\u2019t explain, full of questions and wild hopes. As much as I love a great turn of phrase or fun guitar part, what really drives me is when my own story intersects with the listener and God uses that moment to bring us both comfort and communion. Music shouldn\u2019t be mere self-expression, but a way to love people. And that goes both ways. I\u2019ve felt extremely well-loved over the years by the people who support me and my family.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What led to the idea to write a book?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The simplest answer: C. S. Lewis. Since the songs I love to listen to, and try to write, are often story songs in one way or another, it wasn\u2019t a huge leap to try my hand at a book. I had wanted to be a writer long before I ever got into music, so when I read the Narnia books to my kids and remembered that deep, deep stirring only a book can produce, I decided to stop blabbing about writing and actually do<\/em>\u00a0it. Or, try it at least.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why this kind of book? What was your inspiration for this kind of tale, etc?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was a kid, I loved fantasy. And science fiction and comics. And movies\u2014like Indiana Jones<\/em> and Star Wars<\/em> and Goonies<\/em>. It seems like the common thread in all those stories is the sense of adventure, of wonder and mystery, danger and darkness\u2014but darkness overcome by light. G. K. Chesterton wrote about how fairy tales (or fantasy novels) don\u2019t teach children that dragons exist, because children already know that. These kinds of stories teach children that dragons can be beaten. That there\u2019s something stronger than all the darkness. And kids know all about darkness, from a very young age. Everyone can probably remember a moment in their childhood when they realized the world was broken, that there was a snake in the garden, which can be terrifying. And a great story\u2014the right kind of story\u2014shows that, though the darkness is real and powerful, it is in the end tromped by light and goodness and love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What led to the crowd-funding approach to your book project, how did that go and what surprises happened along the way?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rabbit Room Press was publishing the final book just like the others, but I really wanted to go out with a bang. None of the other books had been published in hardback, and none of them had been jammed with illustrations the way I wanted, so we figured this last book would be a good excuse to shoot for the moon. We ended up meeting all these stretch goals, like audiobooks, a fold out map, more illustrations, a recorded song from the story, etc. It was one of the craziest thirty days of my life, culminating in my family and I first dancing, then praying in our living room.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What are your future plans for writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As soon as I\u2019m out of the studio this week I\u2019m going to get cranking on the next book\u2014which will likely be non-fiction. Next year I\u2019m making another new record, which means I\u2019ll have to put book writing on hold for a while. (Doing both at once takes up too much RAM.) But I\u2019m already excited about the next adventure story.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What are some interesting, perhaps unexpected likes\/favorites that you have musically?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Someone asked me what my biggest musical influence was, and in some ways the answer is Ben Shive. He produced five or six of my albums and toured with me for more than a decade, and as a producer part of his job is to listen to everything. New stuff, old stuff\u2014everything\u2014so he can be literate when it comes to the artists he\u2019s producing. So over the years, when Ben discovers a great new band or record, he passes it on to me because he knows I tend to get in a rut. I order the same thing at the Mexican restaurant every single time. Some records I love: M83\u2019s Hurry Up, We\u2019re Dreaming<\/em>, Beck\u2019s Morning Phase<\/em>, Battle Born<\/em>, by the Killers. He\u2019s introduced me to Vampire Weekend and Fleet Foxes. There\u2019s so much great music being made right now, it\u2019s nice to have someone curate it for you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anything else you\u2019d like to add?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks for the interview! I\u2019m heading to the studio to approve mixes for the newest album, After All These Years<\/em>, which is a best-of record. We re-recorded a bunch of old stuff and added a few new songs, which has been a blast\u2014partly because I was able to lower the keys to the early stuff. I\u2019m a baritone who thought he was a tenor, thanks to the 80\u2019s. Apparently the young Andrew wished he was Steve Perry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you’ve never heard this guy’s music, you’re in luck. He just released a career-spanning collection called After All These Years: A Collection.
\nHere’s the tracklisting:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0After All These Years
\n2.\u00a0The Reckoning
\n3.\u00a0After The Last Tear Falls (2014)
\n4.\u00a0All Things New
\n5.\u00a0Don\u2019t You Want To Thanks Someone
\n6.\u00a0Lay Me Down
\n7.\u00a0Faith To Be Strong (2014)
\n8.\u00a0You\u2019ll Find Your Way
\n9.\u00a0Dancing In the Minefields
\n10.\u00a0The Good Confession
\n11.\u00a0Isn\u2019t It Love (2014)
\n12.\u00a0The Far Country
\n13.\u00a0The Silence Of God (2014)
\n14.\u00a0Holy Is The Lord (2014)
\n15.\u00a0Romans 11 (Doxology)
\n16.\u00a0Nothing To Say (2014)
\n17.\u00a0No More Faith (2014)
\n18.\u00a0To All The Poets
\n19.\u00a0High Noon (Live, 2014)
\n20.\u00a0Everybody\u2019s Got A Song<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Coming up next for Peterson is his will be his fifth annual 2014 Hutchmoot <\/em>event in Nashville, October 9-12. This will be followed by his 15th annual Behold The Lamb Of God Christmas Tour <\/em>that runs December 3 \u2013 20.\u00a0 For more touring updates on Peterson please visit online at andrew-peterson.com<\/a>, Facebook.com\/andrewpetersonmusic<\/a> or Twitter.com\/AndrewPeterson<\/a>.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I personally discovered the artistry of Andrew Peterson, it made me very happy. I’m picky when it comes to pretty everything that comes out of the Nashville machine known as the Christian music industry. I’m not diametrically opposed to the idea of music formulas, but the concept is pretty darn diabolical, wouldn’t you say? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":23923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[193,1587,3761,2531,3762],"class_list":["post-23921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-andrew-peterson","tag-jeff-johnson","tag-peter-gabriel","tag-rich-mullins","tag-sting","cat-17-id"],"yoast_head":"\nAndrew Peterson Interview - The Original Heaven's Metal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doug Van Pelt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/\",\"name\":\"Andrew Peterson Interview - The Original Heaven's Metal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/andrew-peterson-banner.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-07T03:39:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/#\/schema\/person\/b155afeb7086c8182b3bb3b435e68c4b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/andrew-peterson-banner.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/andrew-peterson-banner.jpg\",\"width\":732,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/andrew-peterson-interview\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Andrew Peterson Interview\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/\",\"name\":\"The Original Heaven's Metal\",\"description\":\"Former Editor-in-Chief. 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