to be about ‘the single’?
[Jon] We’re trying to figure out how to provide
the impetus for people to listen to the entire
album as an experience. As old fashioned as
it may be… I love albums, and I want to hear
your body of work presented in one listening.
I want to put the needle down and enjoy. And
that rarely happens, so we’re trying to figure
out how we do that, how we encourage that,
because that’s what we’ve attempted to
create… an album in a day of singles. We’re
going to be providing the lyrics in print, and
commentary on the songs, and all of the things
I used to get lost in, like the liner notes and
those things. So whatever your platform of
choice is to listen to it, it can still feel like vinyl.
That’s a hope (Laughing).
[WM] What advice do you have for people
who want to take their music beyond Sunday
morning?
[Jon] I think there’s no such thing as the
mainstream, and there’s no safe place in the
church. I think that the divide is not necessarily
existent in Gods eyes, I think He sees us all as
beautiful, hurting, human souls who need Him.
Confession is a beautiful glorious thing, but I
see ways for you to hide yourself in a church
to hide from that confession, just as there are
ways to hide in a bar from that confession.
Which one is better or worse we could argue
about, but I would say the one thing with
music is that the power of music comes from
its honesty. That it can get past the watchful
dragons of religion. And by religion, I mean any
religion, any ‘ism’. You could say capitalism,
you could say liberalism, or you could say
agnosticism, whatever your ‘ism’ is. There is
a song that when I hear it sung, it makes me
think, it makes me question. I think any song
that awakens me to the possibility of a bigger
world, a bigger God, a bigger understanding
of who I am, that’s a spiritual experience, you
know. The world needs those honest, yearning,
hopeful songs, and I’m excited to hear what the
next generation has to say.
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