Why is the band called ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Worship Circus’?

Well...its a pretty long story. Our church is located behind a homeless shelter in our hometown of Longview, WA. It’s called Evangel Christian Fellowship. All kinds of different people come to church. Punk kids, normal adults, drunks, hippies, skaters,... pretty much every walk of life. So, I used to invite people to church by saying, “Hey, you should come check out our church’s worship circus.” (Instead of “worship service”). They’d say, “What?” I’d say, “yeah, you should come to our church. It’s like a church service, only it’s more of a circus, because there’s a ton of crazy people there, and if you come, you’ll probably see God change someone’s life.” So...as our worship team began to play in other churches, we called it the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Worship Circus”, because it was rock ‘n’ roll music, it was worship music, and we were hoping the “circus” (people from different walks of life being changed by the presence of God) would follow us everywhere... And, it did!

Who are your musical influences?

We listen to A LOT of oldies. Things like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, a ton of Pink Floyd. Modern bands like Radiohead, The Dandy Warhols, Keane, the Kings of Leon.... And then, we listen to quite a few indie bands, and a lot of college music on XM Radio, which is this Satellite Radio Station that they have here in the U.S. And then, a lot of worship music shapes the spirit of what we do. Delirious?, Violet Burning, Paul Baloche, Kevin Prosch. Innocence Mission is one of my favorite bands in the world. Josiah is into a lot of hip hop, electro-clash, and experimental stuff... Solo is into Muse. Eric is way into British Pop. Coldplay, U2, Keane, Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand. You know, the great thing about music for me is that it’s ALL an influence. Classical, pop, rock... Anything can influence my writing if I’m around it enough. And that’s a beautiful thing!

What age of audiences are you targeting?

We aren’t really targeting a particular age group. We have many young fans, but we also have a large number of 40+ year-olds that are HUGE fans of what we do. It’s really humbling to have such a wide demographic of ages connecting with our music. Truly, though, it’s not really even the music that people are connecting with... I believe that people are connecting with the Spirit of the music. For some amazing reason, it’s as if something supernatural within the music is connecting with people’s emotions, with their life experiences...with their heart. To be a part of something that reaches into the depths of someone’s soul and brings about a response is very, very delicate...very special.

What’s it like touring with fellow Christian bands and artists?

Well...I’ll only talk about our absolute favourite time. And that was this past October in the UK, touring with Delirious? on their World Service Tour. That was the greatest experience! The guys in Delirious? are the coolest people, and their hospitality was awesome. They treated us very well, and we did our best to serve them and their crew as a way of saying “thank you”. They have blessed us so much. One thing that is really cool about touring with other Christian bands is the ability to pray for each other. I remember the first night of the tour, all of the bands and crew got together in Delirious?’s dressing room to pray for the tour. It was awesome... Everyone praying together, hoping for the same things, believing in God for the same miracles. There’s a lot of strength in that, isn’t there?...

Do you lead worship at your home church?

Yeah...we used to lead worship a lot more often, but lately we’re gone so much that we don’t have the opportunity. Also, there are quite a number of other worship leaders and musicians in our church, so they’re on the schedule, too. It’s nice to be able to get back from a busy month of ministry and plug back into church, worshipping alongside someone else, rather than leading from the front. When we do get the opportunity to lead worship, it’s a lot of fun...

What did you do before you joining Rock’n’Roll Worship Circus?

Well...I was actually an electrician. My grandfather taught me the trade after I graduated from school. It was a good profession, and taught me a lot about worshipping God. My grandfather, and my uncles (especially my Uncle Phil) used to always tell me, “You have to do this job as though you’re doing it unto the Lord, Gabe. You have to praise Him, even in this...” It was hard for me, because all I had ever wanted to do was be a musician, and lead people to Jesus. But, God asked me to be an electrician, and do it with all of my might. And so I had to learn how to minister to people on the job sites before I ever got to minister from the stage. It also taught me the value of working hard.

I never knew that when I worked as a musician it would be this tough. It really is about 10 times more work than a “normal” job. When I’m producing records with Solo, we work 18-20 hour days, for 8-9 days straight. We don’t get a break sometimes for 6 or 8 hours. When we’re on the road here in the States, we don’t get to travel in a posh bus. We travel in a van. We drive all night, without sleeping in a bed. We get to the venue, and load in, set up, sound check, pray, play, tear down, and load out...and then hit the road and do it all over again. We’ll play 6-8 shows in a row like that. We have to work that hard to make a living doing this... It’s not very glamorous. The only “glamorous” times are when we’re on the stage. But the times you play are about 10% of the job. The other 90% is travel, setting up, and tearing down. It’s a HUGE privilege to do this. We absolutely LOVE it! But it’s A LOT of work. I’m thankful for my days as an electrician, because they taught me a lot about how to work hard, and to give the best of my strength to the Lord....

What are you planning next?

2005 is shaping up to be a very exciting year! We’re travelling back to Europe in March, playing at Radical Festival in France and Owener Rock Nacht in Germany. We’ll also be in the UK mastering our new record with Chris Blare at Abbey Road Studio—which is a huge dream come true! We come back to the States and do a West Coast tour in April, followed by another overseas run in May...to Morocco, Germany, and playing at Alton Towers in the UK. In June we do Frenzy Festival in Edinburgh... We are doing most of the major festivals in Europe this summer as well... Our new record comes out some time late in the summer, and we’re VERY excited about it!! We’ll be doing our own tour of the UK this October, as well... Lord willing, it’s going to be a great year!!