Worship Musician Magazine March 2021 | Page 27

Andrew Bergthold is not quite yet a household name in modern worship music , but he very well may be soon . He has a few very good things going on in his musical career . One , he is signed to CURB | Word Music Publishing as a Songwriter and has already been bringing some great songs to light for us . Two , he has been producing music in Nashville . And three , he is an active part / band member of the sky rocketing in popularity We The Kingdom .
We thought it was high time we got to know him …
[ WM ] What got you started on your journey as a musician and songwriter ?
[ Andrew Bergthold ] Music was very much a part of my childhood and my family . My Grandpa played guitar , harmonica , and sang . And my Dad plays piano , organ , and several other instruments , and sings . And my Mom loves to sing , so it was just around me from a young age and I remember falling asleep many nights with my Dad playing piano .
So around thirteen years old I picked up playing piano , and since I ’ d always seen music just being played by ear , I just started playing a little bit by ear and making up my own songs even . Then around fifteen , I picked up guitar because I ’ d always go over to my Grandpa ’ s house and he ’ d have a guitar laying there , and I loved just playing guitar .
Then I got into worship music probably around sixteen . My family was going to a small church and there was a college student that was leading worship there , and he left for college in the Fall . And so , I had been playing guitar a little bit with him and then there was a need for a worship leader . So probably around sixteen , I just started leading worship at my local church and really , really fell in love with music through worship . I mean I do remember even as a young kid , we went to an all African American church , and man … the music there was just incredible . I was so impacted by that . I was able to sing in the choir . So , from a young age music was around me , and worship music in particular was a huge part of my life .
[ WM ] When did you realize you also had the skill set to be a producer ?
[ Andrew ] So as far as production goes , it was kind of out of necessity I think that I got into production , because I loved writing songs and I was always wanting to hear them back . At first I would just use a cassette tape recorder my Dad had an old radio tape recorder tape deck from a radio station . I would take that and hit record , and play my song and listen back , and eventually I hooked up a rig where I would play from one tape recorder into the other one and then I would sing along to it , so I could multitrack what I was doing . It was a very inefficient way of doing it , but it worked .
But yeah , I was just so interested in hearing back because there ’ s another perspective that you get when you hear the music that you create back . And so eventually I got a computer program and just started learning on my own . I had a couple other friends that played music with me in high school and we started a band , and there was no one really around to produce us , so I started producing some of our music . Then I got a few opportunities to work with some other people here and there creating music . But yeah , it was just a necessity thing .
I don ’ t think I ever realized I had the skillset to be a producer , I think I kind of walked into that by accident maybe . I found that I really loved it and eventually other bands and artists around the area I grew up in , which is Kansas City , Missouri , they started asking me to produce songs for them . And so it actually became a bit of a job . I was able to earn some money doing that . So when I moved to Nashville about eight years ago , I just had already fallen in love with production , and so it ’ s now actually became my main source of income for a long time . For the past five years production and songwriting have been the heartbeat of what I do for a job and I absolutely love it .
[ WM ] Do you ever get discouraged and find it hard to keep creating ? If so , what is your process like continuing to press through those times ?
[ Andrew ] Being discouraged is a very real part of the creative process .
There are days where you feel the highest highs , you ’ ve created something you love and you got good feedback on it . And you know … it just feels right , feels great .
And then there ’ s other days , maybe even the next day , you can get out of bed and try to create something and it not happen . It ’ s just the creative energy isn ’ t flowing , you ’ re not getting what you like , and all of a sudden you feel like you ’ re completely inadequate again .
It can be a roller coaster of a journey of very highs and lows if you ’ re not careful . But yeah , I do find it hard sometimes to keep creating and I have to find different ways to kind of motivate myself . Sometimes it ’ s just being aware , if I ’ m maybe getting burnt out , and if so maybe taking a little bit time off .
I love to get out in nature I love to do some hiking and kayaking . That has been a vital part of my rest , and you know it talks about that in Genesis , that the Lord created the seventh day for rest . I really am firm believer in creating space in times of rest for ourselves .
There ’ s a few other things I ’ ll do to keep creative , and the other thing is being just inspired by others . It ’ s a very fine line , because sometimes you can go to Spotify and start listening to songs , and compare yourself to others . I feel like comparison absolutely kills creativity . But , there ’ s a very real way to be inspired by others , if you can shut off the voices in your head that try to compare you , but maybe turn on and open your ear to be inspired , I feel like for me that ’ s been a huge way to stay creative .
It ’ s like , “ Oh , you know I love this lyric , I love how they frame that .” You know , “ How can I create
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