Age:

I was born in Smyrna, Tennessee, USA, which is right outside of Nashville, in the year 1966, so do the maths…

Hobbies:

Who has time for hobbies! Anyway I
love to hang out on the beach with my
family (wife CeCe and our two
children, Jaedyn and Jordyn) and I like
to fish and watch the sunset…all
things relaxing….aaahhhhhhh.

Most inspirational moment?

That’s hard to say because God loves to give us good things and He has done so many wonderful things in my life… but, OK, when my first child was born, I was holding her and I heard the still small voice (the Lord) say “I love you that much, but My Love is infinite!”

Favourite Bible verse at the moment?

My favourite for a long time has been Psalm 103. That verse is massive because it talks about how God forgives our sins and, in the very same breath, He heals our diseases… meaning that Christ has come to restore all that has been lost by the first Adam. The Christ has come to give us life!

Why is your latest release called ‘This Generation’?

As artistic types, you get a vision of the way things should be or at least how they could be and the title song is a vision of the perfect world where everyone is living within his or her ultimate design, as worshippers to their Creator. In a sense the song is a prophetic vision of the way things are supposed to be.

We as SONICFLOOd believe in the potential of this generation to live out its God-given destiny and we believe even more in the God of this generation to “lift us out of the pit and put our feet on solid ground” and “to take out our old stony hearts of sin and give us new, obedient hearts”. Dear Lord please let a passionate love for You and others spring forth from Your people, Your children, so that the world may know You and realize Your Great Compassion!

How is it different from all your other albums?

Well we started with about 300 songs from everywhere and narrowed it down to 10….oh, my aching ears. But, we just wanted the best songs on the album and I know that we were all happier with the results. There is definitely a heavier sound compared to the past two albums that tends toward the modern rock sound. We used two new producers on this project named Dan Muckala and Jim Cooper. They brought new sounds and Jim pulled out of me a vocal sound that I’d never heard before.

Do you lead worship at your home church?

Since I’m not at home every Sunday, I can’t be a dependable part of a worship team. I tried to be an on-call bass player for the church I used to attend, but I ended up frustrating one of the leaders. Some of the other guys in the group play on their worship teams when they can and it can be rough on scheduling, but if we’re at home they try and help out. I find that when I’m at church with my family, I enjoy the chance to be led and NOT be in a leadership role. It helps give me balance.

Is there a chance of you guys ever touring Britain?

No… HHHaaaaa! I’m just kidding (I have a goofy sense of humour). Anyway, we would love to play all over your fine country; all you have to do is get in touch with our management. All our contact info is on our website: www.SONICFLOOd.com. We are currently doing a quite a bit of overseas touring as of late. We were in Brazil, then did a week of touring in Australia. This year we are heading over to Singapore and then onto South Africa for a few shows and maybe a chance to visit a few World Vision supported villages. World Vision is a Christian Relief organization that we are proud to be partners with. WV is dedicated to helping the poor and AIDs-affected people all over the globe.

How did you become a Christian?

I grew up going to church and I remember always desiring to please the Lord and at age 15 I was baptized. As I’ve matured in my walk with the Lord, I’ve realized that being a Christian is all about the relationship I have with my Creator rather than keeping a list of rules. If you’re just living a good moral life, making sure to tick all the right boxes, but without having a loving relationship with Jesus, without truly knowing the One who made you, I believe you will inevitably run aground. I understand now that the Lord wants to know me and be known by me…He Is Love and as He is revealed to me the more I want and the more I want to please His heart.

What’s it like having…

• Grant Norsworthy on bass (Paul Colman Trio):

Grant is first of all an amazing Christian brother on top of being a great bassist and singer. He is from Australia and he used to be an educator in the school system there, so he sometimes has a different way of dealing in relational issues, which is very good to have since most problems we have are in our relationships… He keeps us on our toes!

• Trey Hill (Everlife) & Jordan Jameson on guitars:

Trey and Jordan are both from North Carolina and Jordan graduated from Belmont University with a music major (so far the only one of us with a degree in music…go Chris). Trey plays guitar on his church worship team and really has a sweet heart; I guess you could say he is the teddy bear of the group. Trey is also very social and he knows everybody. I grew up in Nashville and he still knows more people than I do. In fact, Trey brought Jordan on when he couldn’t play a gig we had with Promise Keepers. Jordan plays guitar and sometimes he plays keys (he doesn’t like it when I say that he plays keys, but he does). Jordan just got married to a beautiful girl and just got into a nice house and he still has enough money to get music gear… I don’t know how he does it. Both Trey and Jordan bring passion and depth to the spiritual side of the band and brilliant tone to the musical side.

• Chris Kimmerer on drums:

Chris on drums brings the joy of the Lord to the stage. He beats the stew out of those things with a smile from heaven on his face. Chris is from Canada, so he has a fresh perspective on the American church (which is where we play most of our concerts). For example, things that we may take for granted growing up here, he sees as deficits or assets, depending upon a given situation. He is currently going to Belmont University and will graduate soon, we hope. I think he is a people-pleaser but more than that, I see his desire to please his Creator first and foremost, which is quite lovely.

To close, I am so honoured to be able to stand on stage with these men! They have hearts of gold and their musical talents astound me every time we play.