songs for this season because of my church . So it ’ s informing that section of songwriting . But I still wrote a song about kicking the devil in the butt last week . That one was funny . ( laughing )
[ Frank ] At what point would the audience become a part ?
[ Leeland ] Yeah , I would agree with Chris that it depends upon the usage of the song . So I think for instance , our last record , City of God … God released us when we made “ Better Word ”. We were thinking about the church , we were thinking about , and not just the church , we ’ re thinking about Sunday morning and youth group service and songs that could serve all of those moments . So everything down to the music production , what we were playing , what we were not playing , which is just as important … melodically what was happening . All of that was in the room when we were writing these songs , we were thinking about that and thinking about everyone and thinking about also our home churches , what they would sing to God . So that ’ s kind of where our headspace was . And all the writers involved were all church people . They just love church . So that was awesome . So that helped inform the writing process . But when we went to make City of God , God just said , I don ’ t want you to sing with anybody this time . I just want you to sing over them . Just sing over the people of God . So it was for the church , but it ’ s for Monday to Friday . It ’ s for Monday to Saturday . It ’ s when you ’ re driving in your car and you are going through something really intense and you just need someone to sing over you . That ’ s really what that whole record was for . And there ’ s a couple like “ Yahweh ” that I feel like we could sing on Sunday , but most of the record wasn ’ t for that , and I was okay with that . I knew what it was . I ’ m not expecting “ Ark ” to be sung on Sunday . It ’ s a different song for a different usage .
So I knew with “ Yahweh ”, we ’ d had this chorus and it actually sounded nothing like the chorus of “ Yahweh ” now it was in 6 / 8 time . And I would sing that hymn verse lyrics , but it was like the actual hymn melody . And so there was no alterations there . And then I had this chorus that I ’ d written , but it ’ s a little too minor and it ’ s a little too heavy , but I ’ ve sung it at church and it really seems to move the room and people are impacted by it . It ’ s a good message about God breathing on us .
I was in the room with Jason Ingram , who ’ s a worshiper through and through , and we were just talking about the song and about this . I showed him the lyrics of that old hymn and we began to talk about that story about that pastor who wrote that . And it just kind of informed the whole room . But both of us were just thinking about our churches , we ’ re thinking about our families , thinking about Sunday , thinking about when we come together , some new language to sing to God and those moments .
[ Brenton ] Well , first let me say this . Does anybody have trouble sleeping ? Okay , I ’ ve got something for you . I made a one hour talk on songwriting . ( laughing ) Yeah , it ’ s called Songwriting 101 . It ’ s on YouTube , it ’ s free . I ’ m just doing my best for the insomniacs out there . I mean , my energy levels were super low that day . I already have low energy levels , but that day they were real low . We asked to borrow our Pastor ’ s lounge with the cool bookshelves and a nice chair , but we didn ’ t know where the AC control was . So , I filmed that whole day just getting smaller and smaller .
So anyway , but Insomniacs Handbook , that ’ s the name of our other podcast , the Insomniacs Handbook . In that I talk about Winnie the Pooh . But Winnie the Pooh says , “ You don ’ t find hums , hums find you ”. So I find that to be the truth actually . You got to kind of put yourself in
the right space . I hate that word , but you have to put yourself in the right frame of mind or place geographically even to let the songs find you . And that can be really challenging .
I ’ m a grown man with the mortgage . We lost our house in a fire five years ago . We ’ ve been rebuilding it ever since . It feels like that ’ s my main job is just trying to get permission from Los Angeles County . That ’ s what I do most of the time . So there are a bunch of exercises and disciplines that kind of get me into a playful space . If I ’ m not playful , I ’ m not going to try something . It ’ s impossible to try something new . And when God asked for a new song , he ’ s talking about a new thing . It ’ s impossible to try something new without being playful .
You can try . I don ’ t know if you ’ ve ever seen skaters ( street skateboard riders ), it ’ s a funny sport . They spend their whole time just falling over and then eventually they land something . Eventually they do one thing and everyone ’ s like , “ Hey , that ’ s amazing ”.
That ’ s what I feel like songwriting is . It ’ s just a group of kids and everyone ’ s like , “ What ’ s happening ? What ’ s happening with little Johnny not spending a lot of time with the other kids ?”, but it ’ s basically you ’ re just trying something over again until you get something new . And to do that , you have to be like a child . You literally have to suspend all your earthly cares , your worldly cares . That ’ s like the besetting sin of this generation . There ’ s so much information , there ’ s so many worldly cares to be aware of now it ’ s not just like , “ Oh , I ’ m having trouble with my family ”. Its like all the families .
[ Leeland ] It ’ s incessant noise .
[ Brenton ] So I have to work real hard , especially as an old Dad now . I turned 50 this year , to stay childlike , it ’ s a spiritual discipline to stay childlike . It ’ s like a requisite to get into heaven . Unless you become a little child , you will not see the kingdom of heaven . So I want to see the kingdom of heaven and it goes against all the norms and practices of the age to go . I ’ m 16 December 2023 Subscribe for Free ...