I can remember playing the show and Billy [Peter] Yeah that’s how we were in the come back to the States, we had a feeling like
walking out on the side and kind of watching beginning, but that got kind of beat out of us, in we had to go back. I didn’t even think about
us, and then he went back and got Tommy and a good way, I have no regrets. So I used Joe’s playing in America until we went there and did
they’re watching us play. They saw something, drum kit on the first Newsboys record that we that record. So we went back in about 1989
because there was something there, it was recorded, which I advise nobody to listen to. It and we played Atlanta Fest, Creation Fest and
definitely a unique thing. So David Smallbone was I think a dark purple kit, it was the high end the Kingdom Bound Festival, and that helped
was there, and I remember being backstage Tama. I saw Joe play about a year and a half us a lot. We sold a lot of T-shirts which helped
with David, Billy and Tommy and giving them after that with the Compassion Band, and sing, feed us, you know, we were living in a van. The
our first cassette, which was kind of a demo. and he was great. usual stuff and band stories, dumpster diving
And then David hooked us up with Ray Nenow
and sleeping in a van with nowhere to go, didn’t
with Refuge Records six weeks later. It was [WM] So you came to the States, cut your first know anybody and just making friends as
Christmas day, 1987 when we were on a plane record, when does Phil show up? we went.
[Peter] In ’88 we toured with Petra in Australia, I think it was about 1989, 1990 when George
we toured with Phil Keaggy, Randy Stonehill, (we’re still good friends today) but he had
[WM] I remember Refuge Records, they had and Dave Raven- an amazing drummer- and such high aspirations, as happens with a lot of
Joe English… Tim Chandler (God bless him, he just recently people, and when they don’t happen as fast…
passed away). We toured with them and that we just saw things differently and so he left
had a big influence on me. then. We had a bunch of different guitarists.
flying to basically cut our first record in West
Orange, New Jersey.
[Peter] Yes, I used Joe’s drum kit, it was a
great drum kit, a Tama I believe.
Kevin Mills died, we picked up Phil before that,
I started wearing eyeliner after that because Kevin kind of left before he passed but he was
[WM] He did a Tama drum seminar in the of Dave Raven. He impressed me, he was an a sweet guy, killed in a motorcycle accident
retail store I managed, it was John Lowrey on amazing drummer and still is. And then we actually in Los Angeles. But we picked up Phil
keyboards. They did Fusion stuff during sound were working construction between doing gigs, I’m guessing in ’93 or ’94.
checks and Pop stuff for the Christian market. trying to make ends meet. But we wanted to
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