Jonas Myrin is an extraordinary songwriter in both the mainstream and church music worlds . He ’ s worked with everyone from Idina Menzel ( Frozen ), to Matt Redman and Andrea Bocelli . The writer of the church anthem , “ Cornerstone ”, I was fascinated to listen to his account of the writing of “ 10,000 Reasons ” with Matt Redman .
[ WM ] Jonas , thanks so much for this time today . I ’ ve thought about how different it must be for you living in Southern California during Christmastime . You would be accustomed to Christmas markets in Sweden , not mall shopping in So Cal !
[ Jonas Myrin ] It ’ s so different here . I ’ m a part of something called the Swedish Church here , and the Swedish Church does have a Christmas market , so we had one last Sunday . We have a building in San Pedro where the Norwegian Seaman Church is , and it was there , so I got to have a little bit of Sweden IN LA . I ’ m actually going back tomorrow to Sweden .
[ WM ] Please tell us about your upbringing in Örebro , Sweden .
[ Jonas ] My upbringing was an amazing one actually because my parents were ministers and missionaries . I traveled a lot through my whole young adult life . We moved to South Africa when I was three years old , and my parents did mission work and took my sister and I with them wherever they went . We lived in South Africa for a year , and then we came back to Sweden . We traveled and did ministry everywhere from Russia to Iceland to Lapland . When I was seventeen , I decided to move to London , England , in order to pursue music .
[ WM ] I ’ ve read that some of your early musical influences include Stevie Wonder and the incomparable Donny Hathaway . While many remember the great years of Motown Records during the 1960 ’ s , much of the greatest R & B and Soul actually comes from the 1970 ’ s . Which artists do you cite as having the greatest impact on your musical giftings ?
[ Jonas ] That is a massive question ! I think I just love songs , I ’ m a song guy , so I have always been jumping genres my whole life and have had so many different influences . It ’ s so hard to actually pick a few , but if I would I would probably have to say The Beatles . My Dad was one of the biggest Beatles fans , and as a young kid he kind of forced me to listen to a few artists , he played me The Beatles , he played me Stevie , and Donny Hathaway , Ella Fitzgerald , Frank Sinatra , and sometimes Sarah Vaughn as well . He told me “ I ’ m going to play you these artists and you ’ re going to thank me later .” And I did of course . He just played these timeless records and they go back to my blood with the power of a song , which these artists have . They were timeless , these albums to this day are that good .
[ WM ] Hailing from Sweden , were you raised in the Lutheran Church ?
[ Jonas ] I was raised I would say in a very ecumenical setting . My parents were ministering in a lot of different streams of the church . We would be at the Salvation Army one day and the next we would be at a Pentecostal Church in Finland . I loved that because I grew up with a real sense of Kingdom mentality , that we are the church , the church is not a building , the church is not one stream , the church is God ’ s waterfall that we are all part of and we are all
Donny Hathaway
drinking of the same living water . My parents at an early age inspired me and showed me what the Kingdom looks like , and that is being a bridge . We ’ re not called to live in a box . We are called to be a bridge not just between heaven and earth , but also a bridge to each other .
I think looking back on that and what I ’ m doing now it ’ s kind of amazing , because it ’ s the same thing that I ’ m doing with my songs . They are also forcing so many streams of the church around the world to sing the same songs . The songs are being sung by Catholics to contemporary movements . The same thing they instilled in me as a young kid is happening with my music all of these years later .
[ WM ] What was the process that took you from Sweden , to serving in London at Hillsong Church UK years ago ?
[ Jonas ] I heard about a performing arts school in London , and I had this sixth sense that I had to go out and audition . It was a faith based performing arts school called The Creative School of Ministries . I went out there for an audition , and they only take on fifteen to twenty students a year . I was sixteen when I went to audition , and they said , “ Yes ”, and I got accepted . I was still in high school in Sweden , but I told my school counselor that I wanted to do a sabbatical in England and go study music for a whole year , and she said , “ Jonas , if you go you ’ re never going to come back . I know you , you ’ re just going to start going , and I think it would be really cool of you to graduate .” So , she said , “ I ’ ve got a plan . Let ’ s put you on with the seniors this year and you can do two years in one . If you study and you work hard I believe you can do it .” In six-months I did a year and a half of school , graduated in June , and moved to London at seventeen . So that was the transition .
[ WM ] It was in Britain that you began to meet and write with UK worship leaders , correct ? What can you tell us about those days ?
[ Jonas ] I would say those days were incredible .