| Friday, December 22, 2006 |
| Ongoing collection of quotes (under construction) |
***JON FOREMAN***
[Signing to Columbia was] a realization of something that we'd wanted to be from the beginning. When we were signed to re:think Records, the goal was to get the music out to everybody. When Sparrow bought re:think Records, it was evident that our music wasn't going to be in the hands of everybody. As a Christian, I have a lot to say within the walls of the church. But also, as a Christian, I've got a lot to say just about life in general ... So to be able to be on Columbia and on Sparrow felt like the realization of the two sides of what we had to say. It's a dream come true to be able to have songs that are outside of the box.
I've always been a little bit leery of putting "Christian" as a tagline for anything. If you're going to attach the name of Christ onto something, then you'd better have thought about it for a long time and really feel like that particular product, whether it's a CD or a church or whatever, is worthy of that name.
There's always going to be people who don't understand what you're doing. The bigger you get, and the more what you're doing is known, the more it's misunderstood. At first I used to hate to think that somebody wouldn't know what we're doing. I would be the first one to want to talk to them and explain it. And then I realized our music isn't for everyone. To think that everyone is going to understand it and that we're going to be everyone's favorite band is a little unrealistic. Then you think, Well, I just want to be making music that I'm proud of, that I feel like is exactly what I'm put here on earth to do. And that becomes your goal. And it's a much more realistic goal, because you're responsible to One instead of to millions.
[Regarding mixed reactions to Nothing is Sound:] You can tell a really good joke, but if people don't get it, you can't explain it. I feel much more like an archeologist than an inventor. I'm not the guy who tinkers in my workshop all day long in an attempt to achieve a goal. I have no preconceived notion when I write a song. All I do is dig. And you discover a city that's been there all along. Those are the good days, you know, where songs just come to you. I can't look at the dig that happened for Nothing Is Sound and be self-critical. I feel like there were a lot of things that needed to find the surface that maybe were uncomfortable for people.
[On "American Dream" and how he wards off the corrupting influences of success:] To think that you're not susceptible to the lure of cold, hard cash and the advantages it buys us in this life is to be ridiculously foolish. I think that we've all fallen to our knees to many of the things that our nation has to offer. For me the grounding, the centering of my soul is something that comes in various forms, whether it's in meditation or reading or even travel to foreign countries. There are a lot of ways that you can kind of loosen your grip on the American steering wheel, and those are the things that I find to be really healthy.
[On how his faith has changed in the tumultous years of success:] Oh, man, in a million ways. The closer you get to the monster, the tighter you grip the sword.
We are all interdependent upon each other. Independence does just not exist within the human species. We need each other. There's no way you can face your demons alone.
I feel like people want us to be flying their flag. People will use our words to prove them right. We are not trying to fly the flag of Christendom, and we never have attempted to lift that flag. At the end of my life, I would love to have somebody say, "He was a humble Christian." I think that would be the biggest compliment.
I see the gospel as the antithesis of what happens on stage. We have it all wrong in a lot of respects where we interview the people who are up on stage when I truly believe that what happens off stage is more important. How we treat each other behind closed doors matters a whole more as far as infinity's concerned than whether you hit the right note on stage and you had the strobe just perfect and your guitar was in tune.
(source) |
posted by phil @ 3:57 PM  
 |
|
| 2 Comments: |
-
-
You know, I've never read any quotes by him, and especially not in the contexts above. Definitely good stuff!
|
| |
| << Home |
| |
|
|
|
good stuff.