Hammered by critics and adored by fans, the Newsboys are one band that's fought long and hard to strengthen its musical identity. With a new album set to release later this month, these men stand confident in the knowledge that their time has come.

Taking NEWSBOYS seriously seems to be the theme of the day as this band grows up with new album Take Me to Your Leader.

Interview by Thom Granger

In the world of contemporary Christian music, Newsboys is a band that has quite clearly happened. A mention of that name to any serious Christian music fan will no doubt conjure up images of one of the most theatrical bands that's ever hit the scene: outrageous outfits, exaggerated, almost cartoonish posturing, Australian-accented sing-alongs, and oh, yes, a drummer who spins around on his kit while playing. Visuals not to be forgotten.

In the course of its eight-year history, Newsboys' music has run the gamut from punkish rock to a turn at rap and Euro-flavored techno pop, leading many CCM readers to scratch their heads and call them 'alternative' when filling out the yearly Readers Poll ballots.

But if pop is short for popular, few will argue that Newsboys are, for legions of fans, Christian music's pop band du jour, selling out major and minor venues worldwide and taking its last two albums to near-gold status.

Music critics, on the other hand, have not been as enthusiastic with praise for the 'Boys, taking on the band's one-dimensional lyrics and reliance on pre-recorded tracks in live concerts.

But things began to turn around a year or two ago when the songs and album production started shaping up considerably, thanks in part to the input of Christian rock wunderkind Steve Taylor, who co-produced Newsboys' last two albums Not Ashamed and Going Public, and made significant songwriting contributions in the process.

All well and good, but now, Newsboys appear to want something more. As Queen Aretha would put it, these guys are looking for a little honest R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and 1996 may just be the year when they get it.

So Read All About This--"Newsboys Get Back to Basics"-with an album shipping later this month that features this road-tested band... plus nothing--no additional studio musicians and no computer stuff... hence no "digital support" in the live setting.

Says drummer/vocalist/composer/co-producer (OK, he's pretty much the band leader) Peter Furler, "Before we started the record, we decided as a band, we're going to play everything on this record, and if it sucks, it sucks. We're going to start again as a band. I've been writing on the guitar again, and back on a drum kit in a studio, whereas
before I was on a computer with loops and samples, which was fun, but it's good to be back to our musical beginnings like on Read All About It, but with much better songs."

Much better songs, indeed, though once again, aided on the writing and production side from the aforementioned Mr. Taylor. A somewhat surprising decision considering the band's quest for total legitimacy? Peter sets the record
straight.

"Steve is a great guy for taking an idea and expanding on it. Usually, I'll come up with the lyrical concept, like a few lines or so and the music, and he'll help fill it out, although Phil the bass player is taking on a new role as a lyricist as well. Musically, I think if Steve Taylor left tomorrow and went to Tibet (which he could always do), what we would produce musically would still be very much in line with what you've heard on the last few albums. Lyrically, obviously there are no lack of great writers and lyricists in Nashville, but they wouldn't be Steve Taylor. He was really the first guy we connected with in Nashville that we felt wasn't in it for the hype or the bucks, but was doing it for the art and for his faith. He's also a great example to us as a Christian to look up to."

Band co-leader and frontman John James, who talks less, but more directly, is clear about the frustrations: "I think sometimes people have implied that 'Newsboys are brainless wonders, but Steve Taylor saved the ship.' That hurts because we've worked really hard on these records. Steve's been incredible, but they're still our records, you know?

"We've never denied the fact that up until this album, we've always had a void in the lyric department. We knew what we wanted to say, but weren't skilled enough to put it into well-crafted lyrics, and that's why we bonded so well with Steve."

Peter adds, "But instead of getting congratulated for making good records this way, we get criticized for depending on Steve Taylor, or he gets praised for his part of it, and critics forget these are still our records. The good thing about the critics is they keep at our weaknesses until we do something about them. We used to play on stage with DAT tracks, and now we don't use them anymore because we're a better live band than we used to be. The critics probably had something to do with that because we got tired of reading about it, and that motivated us to drop the tracks."

Regardless of any nay-sayers that challenge Taylor's role with the band, the final proof, as they say, is in the pudding, and the new album, Take Me to Your Leader, is pretty tasty tapioca.

"That's what has kept us going," stresses Peter. "I mean, obviously, this is all I know how to do, this is all John knows how to do, and maybe we weren't the best band in the
world, but we are getting better. We've definitely done our share of cliche-driven songs, and a lot of it can be boiled down to inexperience--you know, Songwriting 101 based on Christianity 101. Our first three or four records weren't very deep, but neither was our experience in the faith."

If there's one thing Newsboys have gained over the years, it's experience. The band performed nearly 250 dates in 1995, including 76 shows in 90 days as part of a tour with Steven Curtis Chapman, not to mention the 140 shows that preceded it, and the tour with Steve Taylor and Ian which followed it.

And what did all this experience do for the band?

"Made us bitter," says Peter, laughing. "No, it made us realize there are still a lot of Christian music fans who don't know there are bands like us out there making this kind of music, which surprised me. And it made us a better band."

Truer words were never spoken. I had the chance to hear Newsboys live for the first time in about two years the day we conducted this interview, and trust me, if you haven't seen 'em live lately, you're in for a surprise. The band's stripped down musical attack focuses much more on the aggressive guitar work of Jody Davis and bassist Phillip Urry, who seems to be playing a central role in both expanding the sound melodically and locking in hard with Peter for a tougher, tighter groove than ever before. Furler agrees.

"Yeah, getting Phil to join up was pretty much of a miracle actually. We met years ago, but we weren't looking for a bass player at that time. Actually he was a guitarist, but when Kevin [Mills] left, we talked to him, and he was willing to give it a go. He's been great, not only as a bass player and a really good background singer, but also as a writer. He co-wrote two of the songs on the record. "The fact is, this band is really fired up right now with some very creative guys. Phil is a very creative bass player, and everyone has the sense this is really starting to go somewhere."

John agrees. "It feels like we're on the edge of something. We're evolving into something we can almost see up ahead, and it's driving us to give more than ever before."

On the edge of a commercial breakthrough, perhaps? Peter admits he is almost fearful of it at times, stating, "I've been scared of that, you know? 'Cause that big commercial thing that can happen, can take a band that could have a 10 year career and turn it into six months. It used to be bands lasted a long time, but now they have a big hit and sell a couple of million albums and a year later nobody cares. It might sound silly to some people, but I like our crowd. I like our core fans. We just did some dates with Josh McDowell at 10,000 seat venues that were packed. I didn't like it much. I like it when there are 1200 people packed in a hall... we're in our best element there."

Still, Newsboys is one of the few acts in Christian music that can really play to an arena size crowd well and be visually interesting enough to make it work.

"We can pull it off," says Peter. "And we had to learn how to do it. We have enough confidence in the band now to do it. We were just in Germany, playing to a secular audience drinking beer, and they totally dug it. They were three of the best shows we've probably ever done, but we just really love doing what we normally do, playing to Christians and encouraging them in their walk with Christ.

"Even if we have some big mainstream hit on the platform we've built and are seen as this freaky Christian band or whatever, it's a dangerous area as a fad because what you're being sold as is not necessarily how you really see yourself. We can't be really sold as an alternative band because I don't really live an 'alternative' lifestyle. I do as a Christian, in that sense, but I mean, we're happy guys. We've always been pretty cheerful, and a lot of your alternative heads sort of look at the dark side of life. Most of them
probably wouldn't enjoy hangin' out with me because for me the glass isn't half empty or stolen or broken--it's full for me."

And perhaps it's that 'Jesus Joy' that keeps Newsboys from getting the respect they deserve. Still, even Peter admits that the band's pandering to its more simplistic anthems bothers him at times.

"One thing that really annoys me is sometimes we border on spoon-feeding a little too much, and there are even a couple of songs on this record that still feel a bit that way to me. But there are also songs I love like 'Lost the Plot' or 'Cup o' Tea' that are more of a Christian's experience in life, that are deeper than something like 'Shine,' which I'm already a bit tired of, but I love to see people enjoy them when we play them live. The more the band really gets established, the more we can delve in those deeper areas. And what ends up being our best record may be our smallest selling record, but I do hope we get to make it at some point."

One of the most endearing aspects of the band has been its willingness to mingle with its fans at festivals and after shows, something that Peter agrees will no doubt become more difficult as the venues get bigger and the band's star continues to rise.

"Yeah it will. Phil and Jeff and sometimes Duncan will often be in the crowd before the show, they can still do that, and they enjoy it. But a lot of it for us is just having the personal energy to give people. We [took] a month off at Christmas, which [was] really essential to recharge because when you do this for months in a row, you don't want to talk to anybody after a while. You get burned out.

"I remember there was a time when we first came to this country, we played a bunch of high schools, doing anti-drug
campaigns and stuff. We did 13 in a week, sometimes three in one day, and we finally just had to stop. Then we had some people say, 'Man, you won't come to our high school anymore. You guys are selling out.' If we had kept doing that much longer, I guarantee you there wouldn't be a Newsboys today. We do in-store appearances and things like that now, but it's hard to give a lot of personal attention in those settings. We definitely could do more, and I hope we can find that balance as the band continues to grow."

Furler notes the inclusion of a song on the new album that was written at just such a time. "We wrote the song 'Breathe' in response to touring and burn out. The band was ticked off, and we needed the breath of God."

"A people person/Some days people annoy me/I'm growing edgy/Wednesday's title: 'Avoid Me'/Breathe on me/'Til my heart is new/Breathe on me/'Til I love like You do"

One read through the lyric sheets from Take Me to Your Leader underscores a more serious-minded Newsboys (Taylor and Furler's sardonic wit aside), one that is growing artistically to be sure, but one that is growing personally as well, according to Peter.

"Definitely. But it hasn't been the Newsboys, and it hasn't been the Christian music industry. It's been us ourselves, with our friends, the accountability of that, pulling each other in line, our wives and our pastors kicking our butts. That's what has helped us grow up. Iron sharpening iron."

Lest you think the 'Boys disposition is in danger of being too dour, Peter assures that the manic persona on stage (and on the road in general) is, for better or for worse, still very much alive and... well, definitely alive.

"We've never taken ourselves all that seriously, believe me. I mean, when grunge is huge and everyone's walkin' around in plaid flannel shirts, we got a guy dressed in gold and silver and red suits on stage, so anyone who takes that seriously is missing the point.

"The two sides of the band are just a reflection of who we really are anyway. I mean, I like a lot of fun on the road, but at the same time I'm pretty serious and a lot of things concern me all the time, and nearly every member of the band is like that... but that doesn't keep us from having tag-team wrestling on the bus at five in the morning!"

So, yes, boys will still be boys. Yet as surely as their outrageous antics will continue for years to come, so certainly these 'Boys intend to take their music and mission to the next level and finally earn some well-deserved respect.

copyright ©1996 CCM

From CCM Magazine, Feb. '96