I recently conducted an email interview with Kingdom Band who just recently signed to DREAM Records. We talked about their debut self-titled album releasing March 12th 2013, as well as plans for the rest of 2013 and the musical influences that have created this album as well. We also talked about the radio singles ‘God of Fire’ and ‘At the Sound’. One of the most anticipated albums on DREAM Records this year (along with new albums from David Thulin and Press Play), be sure to check out this interview below and review of ‘Kingdom’ releasing in the near future on IVM.
Question 1: This is your first album released on DREAM Records. How has it been creating this album and what would you want listeners to gain by listening to it?
Partnering with DREAM has been great. Having support from people who share the same vision of reaching people with the gospel is a huge blessing to us. Our hope is that the listener will hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ in our music, that’s really the driving force in everything we do.
Question 2: For someone who hasn’t heard your musical sound before, can you explain to them how your music is like? To me, I think this band reminds me of other artist contemporaries, like Addison Road, Building 429 and BarlowGirl.
Having a lot of different personalities in the band makes for an interesting combination of music for us. We love everything from metal to hip-hop. We are inspired by bands like As I Lay Dying, Foo Fighters and Bruce Springsteen, our album also has some guest vocals from hip-hop artist Braille. So we’re all over the place!
Question 3: ‘God of Fire’ and ‘At the Sound’ are your two singles on radio at the moment. What was the process in choosing these two songs to be your promoters for the album? If there is one thing that listeners can hear from listening to these two songs, what will it be?
Those songs just felt like they were a good representation of who we are. They have a lot of energy and the lyrical content focuses on the power and greatness of God.
Question 4: How is it working with the same label that has released albums by Jonathan Thulin, Evan Craft and Marlene Brehm? Are there any artists in the music industry (mainstream or Christian) that you have looked up to or who have inspired the writing and recording of this album?
It’s great; we have a lot of respect for those artists. We have always looked up to Switchfoot and their longevity as well as Delirious and of course, Carman #thechampion.
Question 5: Which songs from the album has God spoken to the band about, where He is showing something new to you guys about your walk with Him?
Our hope is that all the songs have come from God and His word. He continually reminds us of how we need Him everyday.
Question 6: What was the hardest (or easiest) song to write (or even record) on the album? Which song is your personal favourite and which song would you think listeners will resonate with the most?
The song we spent the most time on is ‘He Is’, we wanted to be really descriptive and also make a great worship song. The lyrics for ‘Flood Song’ came to Jordan while he was asleep and we wrote ‘At The Sound’ in like 10 minutes. We love all the songs on there and are proud of each one, we love playing ‘At The Sound’ and ‘Nothing But The Blood’. We hope that ‘The Answer’ resonates with people.
Question 7: What has God been teaching you lately through the Bible, various other people around you, or the media? Is there anything that can be shared through your band experiences that may be relevant to listeners; or maybe related thematically to ‘Kingdom’ and what the Lord is reminding you through the themes of this album?
The Bible has been teaching us that the gospel is an everyday thing, we are constantly in need of a Savior. The gospel isn’t our tool for missions; instead it’s the saving work of Christ for everyone including us, everyday. I think our hurts, frustrations, hopes and joy come out through every worship song we’ve written, in the end the answer is Christ. Thematically we hope the theme is Jesus.
Question 8: How is touring going to be like for you in the upcoming months? Are there any artists you would like to tour with in the future? Any countries that you would like to go to, whether it be for touring or just for holiday?
We’re booked all around 2013 at different things on the west coast. If we could tour with anyone it would be As I Lay Dying, we’d love to open up that night with worship. We have a heart for Turkey, praying that God will do something through the few workers He has there, some of us travelled there recently and gave a lot of our music away.
Question 9: What does 2013 look like for Kingdom? Are you even thinking about recording album no. 2? ‘At the Sound’ and ‘God of Fire’ are some of my favourite songs on the album!
We’re looking forward to continuing ministry in our church, Destiny Christian in Rocklin. We are going to literally be finishing up our next album by March, we want to keep writing new music as fast as we can.
Question 10: Looking ahead to your second album (whenever that may be), what do you think will change (or stay the same) in regards to the album recording process?
Probably not much, we just want to keep doing what we’ve always done. We don’t really feel any pressure to re-invent ourselves; we want to continue to write awesome worship music.
Question 11: Is there anything else that you’d like to add that I haven’t covered yet? Any parting words of wisdom to those who will read this interview?
2 Timothy 2:11-13
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”
Be on the lookout for the review of Kingdom’s album coming in the next few days. You can also check out all of Kingdom’s videos on their Youtube page, inclusive of their music video for their new radio single ‘At the Sound‘.
