Dizmas

If you’re unfamiliar with the Dizmas, here’s your chance. The rock quintet has enjoyed decent success in the mainstream and Christian worlds, but now they are focusing their efforts exclusively in the Christian market and are poised to make their biggest splash yet. Their home? Forefront Records, after the above choice was made and a new self-titled LP will serve to introduce the band to many, even though they’ve largely been together for a decade or so. It’s a collection of vertical worship songs and searing rock tracks focused on God’s judgment.

It’s an interesting mix, but one that works, especially because the band is very focused in what they are doing and where they are going. Soul-Audio’s Matt Conner recently sat down with the band members to discuss their aim, their career, their latest choices and why they may finally break through with the new record.

SA: The new album has a lot of diversity thematically - was that something you were aiming for?

Josh: We just got kicked to Forefront and our songs just seemed to go that direction, which we’re pumped about. And they wanted to put out a record to just introduce us to the Forefront world. The CHR radio is a whole new thing for us and we’re really excited. “Yours” is the single and I think we were challenged in God opening these doors … it’s easy to write about grace and a lot of people want to focus on grace. But on this record, we were able to write about other themes like judgment and forgiveness. I feel those things go unnoticed a lot because we don’t want to offend people. And, as any fan of Dizmas knows, we’re not scared to offend people. We’re gonna preach the gospel as God has laid it on our hearts - whether that is the cute and cuddly songs on the record or the ones that will challenge people.

SA: But of course, it’s not that easy. It’s one thing to say ‘we’re gonna be who we are’ but then the gatekeepers are waiting and saying, ‘You’re also going to be who we need you to be to sell some records.’

Zach: You do have some of that, but at the end of the day, you gotta be true to who God made you to be. And I think that comes out on this record. It’s a record about the joys of going through life with God and with each other and it’s also about the hell of going through life with God and each other. You just don’t have to have these categories. We’ve just always been a rock band. We write songs with a rock vibe to it. If there’s another element, if it sounds heavier, and they like that, that’s great. But another guy will connect to the slower song. At the end of the day, however people interpret it, it just needs to be said that our music is a reflection of our tastes, our lives, our walks with the Lord.

SA: Were there any points of tension on this record specifically and can you identify them?

Zach: You talk to other artists and ask how they write and you usually have one core writer and everyone goes along with what he does. But all of us bring ideas to the table and present them, saying, ‘This is what we’ve got. Let’s see if we can put something together.’ Then we put it together as a group. There are a lot of people who wonder if that’s hard, but the whole thing it comes down to is … isn’t that the point? Isn’t that art - going through that turmoil, to learn about each other and growing from that? If we wrote a song together and we were no different than when we first started writing that song, what’s the point? We’re meant to learn the hard lessons that we’re writing about.

Honestly, we have come to the point in the music industry where it’s okay to write about the most vague thing in the world as long as it has a cool beat. Everyone will love it. But by the time they’ve listened to your song ten times, they haven’t been changed or learned anything from it. For us, our music is a reflection of what we’ve learned and done and what God has done in our lives. When those songs make it on a CD, we want them to impact others’ lives in the same exact way. It’s a tough, refining process for sure.

Josh: The tension you might feel on this record is not so much tension throughout life, but more of conviction and challenge. When you’re worshipping the Lord, you feel that conviction and you should. That means the Spirit’s presence is in your life. There should be that tension. There will be that tension. One thing that should be said about the record is that it’s a consistent thing with us - our fans are walking with us. We’re not going to put out what we think they want to hear. We’re going to put out where we’re at.

We’re wanting to challenge Dizmas fans everywhere to walk with us. Let’s do this together. Let’s challenge each other. Let’s worship together. Let’s talk about the tough subjects as well. Let’s talk about these tensions. If you come to a Dizmas show, we’re very open and social with our fans. We’re challenging them to continue to walk with us on this journey. Great things are already happening. “Yours” is climbing the charts. We had the possibility of a European tour open up for us. Doors are really opening. It’s exciting.

Zach: And it’s exciting to know that it’s God who is making these things happen through us. It’s not trying to fit into a formula. It’s not trying to fit expectations of what people want or expect. It’s really about having this opportunity only because God has inspired us to be ourselves and to know that somebody in Europe wants to come over there and do a tour because he’s heard our song “Yours” that is about what we’re experiencing in our lives and he thinks it can impact others’ lives … that’s awesome! That’s a huge blessing.

SA: How long have the five of you been making music together?

Nick: We started playing and writing about ten years ago. It’s a pretty rare thing to see in a band to be playing together since we were 13 or 14. Jon joined about four years ago and has definitely been central to establishing the identity of the band musically today. But we were the first band and we went through the changes that people normally have to leave a band to go through … we went through those together. There’s definitely a family feeling to what we do and to the way we treat and try to love each other. I didn’t mean for it to go this direction, but there’s really a tension in that, too. How do you continue to love someone you know so well? You know all of their quirks and faults and you have to wake up and share a hotel with them every single day. How do you love that person? We ask ourselves that question because we want to thrive on the passion that exists when God weaves a tapestry between people.

SA: Did the chemistry feel different this time around in the studio?

Zach: Before we even went in to record this stuff, we were off for an extended period of time and we were starting to have conversations about ‘how much longer do you think we can do this? Are we just spinning our wheels? What’s happening?’ It was so nice to be able to have a time of stability to be with our families, to be with our churches, to be with our loved ones, to be at home. But we came back together and God had been teaching all of us the same thing. No matter how far away we were, God was doing the same things in our lives only in different ways.

That was a huge inspriration going into recording this because we were all on the same level. We could be honest and throw that out to each other - our questions and wondering about the future, especially in the music industry now. But ultimately we could throw that out the window and we could say, ‘God you’re the one who gave us these gifts. You’re the one who is going to be faithful, even if the whole industry comes crumbling down around us. You’re the ground that we stand on, so we’re going to make the music that’s about you and that you’ve given us. We’re going to write about what you’re doing in our lives here and now.’ So we went into the record with a new set of unity.

Nick: We did a song that was from its original creation to completely recorded from 10am to 1am - it was just a scratch on a board and it became a song. That was “Different.” It hammered out and fell together totally naturally. The arrangement just happened naturally and the notes seemed to find themselves. And at the same time, there was a lot of emotion that came out in that … it was the kind of emotion that comes out when you’re frustrated or excited and you take it out on a person, but instead we took it out on a song. At the end, we were wondering, ‘Is this song even good? I don’t even know.’ We pitched it to the label and they said it was good, so we put it on the record, but we’re still wondering, ‘Is this good?’ We’re anxious to see what people say about it. [Laughs] That’s the kind of experience that this recording session had that was different than other times.

SA: Did it turned out like you wanted?

Zach: Yes, we worked with Steve Wilson again and then also with a new guy, Rob Hawkins. We were on tour at the time we started this project and the label asked for specifics on where we wanted to go with Dizmas.

SA: That’s what I wondered, is if you had a musical vision?

Zach: We definitely did. God forced us to make a decision. We’ve had semi-success in both industries - mainstream and Christian. And I think God wanted to do something more defined. The label talked to us about it and they’re like, ‘Hey, help us out and tell us where you want to go.’ I was surprised by the unity of the band member’s decisions because we came together and all wanted to go with the Christian industry. This way we can be a lot more vocal with our faith whereas before it was a tension in our lives. Everybody can relate to that. Before we wrote with a broad topic, but now we can get a little more defined. We can address specific things like worship or being in trouble and having it be the Lord that saves you.

SA: All five of you were positive toward the Christian market direction?

Zach: Well, something needs to be clarified there. It wasn’t a decision between Christian and secular industries. It was a decision between ministry-minded and being centered on sharing the gospel and sharing our faith or hiding it a bit more. The more and more we live life, the more we’re growing, our music reflects five hearts that are devoted to the Lord and can’t help but sing about that. So when you’re put in that position, you have to ask, ‘Okay, what are our hearts reflecting?’ Obviously, you can’t go to mainstream radio and say, ‘Here’s this song about how we all want to be God’s and follow him.’ That’s what I mean by that - it’s not those two industries, but instead about the ability to write the lyrics that are natural for us. That doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t play bars or do mainstream tours - we’re still totally open to that. But God is opening the doors in the Christian outlets, so you go with that. You have a good time right where God is opening those doors.

John: Once we made that decision, a challenge arose and we knew where we wanted to go with the music and what we wanted to say, but we wanted it to be completely genuine. That took a long time. We were keeping each other in check and our friends and Chris York, our A&R guy, we wanted them to check us on every lyric. So the writing process took a long time. I remember specifically having some experiences writing with others where we were like, ‘We understand why you want to write that, but we can’t do it. We cant put that in just because we know someone would raise their hand.’ I think everyone has experienced some Christianese and things like that which are confusing. So we wanted to avoid that.

Josh: And I think we achieved that. The great thing about this new self-titled is that it’s not plastic. It’s genuine.

• www.dizmas.com
• www.myspace.com/dizmas

↓ One comment

#1 Shay on May 12th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

Great interview.

It’s a joy to read about a group of guys who love the Lord through their music. Dizmas has a heart for ministry and what God is doing and I was able to see that through this interview.

Thanks!

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