Exclusive myLAUNCH Feature By Wendy Hermanson
 

"We get our fair share of musical respect, except when someone says, 'Oh they're a Christian band,' and the first thought is, like... Amy Grant or something."

"You're not familiar with Christian music? Good." Peter Furler, frontman for evangelical rockers the Newsboys, is--surprisingly--pleased at the fact that he is being interviewed by someone who has scant knowledge of the contemporary Christian music genre.

It's actually pretty easy to understand why Furler, the veteran of a decade of making Christian music, is happy to be talking to a fresh slate of sorts. Sitting at a table with three of his bandmates, the Australian singer stretches out in a relaxed manner and explains that the most frustrating thing about his job is the stereotypes involved.

"Being pegged as Christian anything, I think the scary part of it is the generalizations. You get put in the can with everybody else. That's the only bad thing about it. There's nothing to be ashamed of, being called Christian...but as soon as you are tagged a Christian band, all of a sudden people are like, 'Oh, yeah, I got you figured out.' And they've never seen you or heard you." Furler smiles and shrugs. "So--you don't know anything about Christian music? Well, that's a good place to start!"

In many ways, Furler does fit the stereotype of a born-again devotee. He chose to become a Christian at age 18 (an epiphany that those of us born into a religious background--complete with itching, squirming memories of having to get up early on Sunday mornings for church and antagonizing hours of catechism after school--will never fully understand). He is extremely positive, occasionally to the point of being arcane. He is deeply involved in missionary work. And he recommends C. S. Lewis, the cerebral reader's Christian scribe.

However, there is the other-almost frighteningly converse side of the singer. He's got your basic shaved-head, heavy-eyeliner, rocker look--fairly standard in the club circle but not a look I see too often on my own occasional visits to church. He's fashionably garbed, as is the rest of the band  (guitarist Jody Davis even wears yellow-lens sunglasses, for Go--oops--gosh sakes). Here and there, Furler throws an unexpected, lightly sarcastic jab at the contemporary Christian music genre (the entire band laughs uproariously at Furler's offhand references to "JPMs," or "Jesus-per-minutes," and practically wet their pants when he brings up Stryper). And he, well, recommends C. S. Lewis--the college stoner's Christian scribe.

Furthermore, the Newsboys' seventh and latest record, Step Up To The Microphone, doesn't exactly hit listeners over the head with evangelistic decrees. Sure, there's lyrical matter involving "one God for all," but, to be honest, the preaching isn't the first thing noticed. The Hanson-ically titled opening tune, "Woo Hoo," is an infuriatingly catchy alterna-pop single, especially infuriating if one is determined not to like it due to its Christian flavor. As a friend of mine commented after hearing the record, "Christian music in and of itself pretty much bites if you aren't into the Christian thing. But this is pretty good. They don't hit you over the head with the 'God' thing."

The Newsboys nod, not offended at this statement, although they probably have a right to be. "You can see where might we get frustrated," keyboard player Jeff Frankenstein points out, "because we have interviews where all they want to talk about is [Christianity]. Nobody wants to talk about the music."

"And where we come from, it's not necessarily like that," adds bassist Phil Joel, who, like Furler, is from Down Under. "If you're good, you got the hooks and you can play, then you play pretty much anywhere. One minute you'll be playing with the church youth group and then go down the road and play at someone's party. If you're good, you're good, and if you're bad you get bottled in the head.

"I think it is a shame that all these preconceptions are floating around," Joel muses. "But I think when people listen to the record and come to see us live, whether they agree with what it is we are about, they will think differently. The way we write our records, obviously we have a different worldview than others, and it turns up on the record. But of course we do have this hope in Christ that defines who we are. We write out of honesty, and whether it makes sense or not, I think there's integrity in there. We're not just throwing about the Christian cliches to win over that crowd--I know people have done that in the past."

"Basically, we're just a band like every other band that writes about the things that happen in their lives," adds Davis. "It doesn't feel unnatural."

"I think that once you make [religion] such a part of your life, it becomes your first nature, and you incorporate it into everything," Furler says. "At one point you consciously do it, and you're a geek for a while. Then there comes that point where you go 'snap' and it becomes unconscious."

The more the Newsboys talk, the more it becomes apparent that the band members are--like fellow Christian musicians MxPx and Megadeth's Dave Mustaine--more or less, as C. S. Lewis would say, examples of "mere Christianity." The fact that the band chooses to broadcast their belief in a manner more demonstrative than, say, Mustaine's "Peace Sells"  ("What do you mean, I don't know God?/ I talk to Him every day") is simply a reflection of how deep their commitment to faith runs in their lives. These guys really, truly, and by their own admission, are searching for universal truth and meaning through their art.

A fact which shouldn't overshadow the other aspects of their job. As Joel mentioned, you have to be good to avoid bottles thrown at your head. And the Newsboys are good. After all, like quite a few other bands around today, the Newsboys grew up listening to secular stuff like Bauhaus, the Cure, the Smiths, Stevie Wonder, Midnight Oil and Tom Petty. (Joel even goes so far as to claim that former Split Enz/ Crowded House frontman Neil Finn is his idol.) All of which obviously contributed to the decidedly melodious slant the band favors today.

"I would say we get our fair share of musical respect," Furler says. "We've never been in another band, so we don't know what to compare to. The only time would be...when someone says, 'Oh they're a Christian band,' and the first thought is, like... Amy Grant or something."

Frankenstein begins to giggle. "It's fun, because when people see us live, we can freak 'em out. It gives us that little edge."

"Speaking of playing live," Furler cuts in. "Last night, we played the Roxy [a Los Angeles club] and there was this security guard who had worked there eight years who said, 'I've never seen a crowd get into it like that! And we had Rod Stewart here the other night!'" Furler begins to laugh, working up to his punch line. "And he didn't look like the kind of guy who'd be into it. He looked like a Metallica guy!"

Wendy Hermanson

From mylaunch.com, '98