"We don’t set out to write secular songs or Christian songs. We write what comes out. I think that says a lot for us as a band. We don’t have to make Christian songs because we are on a major label and it’s not expected that we do so. We make them because that’s who we are and that’s what we are about. I think people appreciate us 
singing about something that’s important.
“I was always a big Rage Against the Machine fan. That music was politically charged, and I felt it was more valuable because they believed they were doing something for a cause. You think about Dylan, U2 or any body who feels something that they are saying is important, I think the art is better. And for us, Christianity is something that is important in our lives. It’s not the only thing that’s important in our lives, but then we wouldn’t be relevant to society if that was the only thing we talked about. I don’t think the band struggles with it that much. Sometimes the thing we struggle with the most is the Christian media.”
I ask if NeedtoBreathe has received criticism for not being “Christian” enough and how they’ve been able to handle that criticism with grace. Bear’s answer is incredibly gracious and as he’s observed, “Those people who are the naysayers may be five out of five hundred. They are the loudest, but I don’t believe they are representative of Christians in general. We kind of let that stuff roll off our backs and move forward.”
Seems as if “letting things roll” was a lesson well taught by Bear’s pastor father. “Washed by the Water”, Bear’s personally favorite song on The Heat, was inspired by a specific incident when Bear’s father came under fire by a group at church. Bear has always remembered how well his father handled the situation and felt that his father deserved a tribute for his Christlike reaction to a hurtful situation. The song itself is steeped in gospel overtones, and Bear credits that kind of education in gospel music to being able to play in church at a very young age. “We learned a lot from playing church music and I believe that gospel music is one of the best, if not the best, forms of American music”
there a band, they write, sing and preform songs. They're believers who love God, His people, and Christ's Church and they're in a band.
ReplyDeleteNot to make this too trivial, but they're in a band - a particularly good band that God has graced with talent. They sing about Him, That's a good thing!
I hope you're going to see them in Spanish Fort, AL
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