Newsboys

The Newsboys have been together for over twenty years, which is nearly an eternity in the oftentimes trendy music business. They’ve gone from being Australian pop-punkers, to one of the biggest mainstream bands in all of Christian music. In addition to dynamic — and oftentimes humorous — rock & roll, they also incorporate a strong praise and worship element to their repertoire as well.

In the early ‘90s, lead singer – and primary songwriter – Peter Furler entered into a writing partnership with Steve Taylor, which continues to this day. And Taylor’s edgy lyrical skills amazingly found a compatible match with Furler’s mainstream musical instincts, which helped transform The Newsboys into critical favorites as well.

The veteran group’s latest release, In the Hands of God, firmly holds up this act’s high musical standard of excellence. The title track, in addition to a fine cover of Brooke Fraser’s “Lead Me to the Cross”, showcase The Newsboys’ more worshipful side, whereas “My Friend Jesus”, with its good natured shot at Celine Dion, finds the boys still in good humor. With “The Way We Roll” and “RSL 1984”, however, the group opens and closes their latest collection with a couple of sincerely, autobiographically lyrical pieces. Therefore, In the Hands of God reveals many different sides of deceptively multifaceted band.

These last few decades, however, have not always been smooth and easy. In 1997, for instance, lead vocalist John James left the band to work through some personal problems. And now, roughly a decade later, the band is changing its singer again. Only this time, Peter Furler is merely letting go of his road duties to better concentrate on his most important role: writing the band’s songs. And in a twist that likely surprised everyone — outside of the band, of course — Michael Tait, formerly of Christian music superstars, dcTalk, has joined The Newsboys as its touring front person. But unlike, say, INXS, who turned to a reality show in order to hire on a younger, lesser known new band mate, The Newsboys have rolled the dice with someone everybody knows. Only time will tell if Tait can succeed with an entirely new group, the way he did with his former famous trio.

Duncan Phillips can somewhat relate to how Tait is feeling now. You see, Phillips also took over for Furler. Only he stepped behind the drums when Peter stepped up to the microphone — so to speak — to become the act’s second lead singer. Phillips may not ever want to front a band, but he is by no means a shy man. When he starts talking, it’s nearly impossible to stop him, so what follows is an enthusiastic interview Phillips recently granted Soul-Audio.

Soul-Audio: The new album’s focus seems to be very mature, where a few songs look way back to the beginning and take stock of where the group is at now. There’s even a song, “No Grave”, which looks at death. Maybe you can tell me a little bit of what was going through Peter Furler and Steve Taylor’s heads when they were writing these songs. What experiences caused the album to come out the way that it did?

Duncan Phillips: That’s a great question. I think Peter kind of half knew that this would be his last record [as the touring front man]. I know he was feeling worn out. He was feeling exhausted. He basically hadn’t had a day off in the last 22 years. There was pressure, not only with heading up the live shows, but also heading up the songwriting. Writing a hit song is not easy. If it was, every one would be doing it. The pressure, which had built up over 22 years, at some point becomes insurmountable. Peter knew he had to do something. And I think the end kind of came quicker than he expected. And I think we had two options: One was to quit, and the other one was to continue on. No one wanted to quit. Peter didn’t want us to quit. And because of that, I think it’s our most honest record.

SA: How has Michael Tait done, as far as fitting in with the band?

Phillips: Poor old Mike. He’s had to play catch-up real quick. This wasn’t something where we stopped the train and let Mike on; he had to run as fast as he’s ever run to try to catch up and jump on this rapidly moving train. Mike has just done an amazing, amazing job. He was a guy that we’ve known for a long time. We first met Mike in dcTalk back on the New School Jam days, back in 1989, when we first came over from Australia. I think for us, Mike was a very natural choice. Pete said. ‘What do you guys want to do?’ I said, ‘Well, no one wants to quit. We really feel like we’ve been called to do this.’ We knew it was going to be difficult, but knew it wasn’t going to be impossible.

And the first guy that came into all of our heads was Mike because we’ve probably been closest to Mike through the years. Even our manager, Wes Campbell, knows Mike. Mike was a guest on our Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame video for the live record up in Cleveland there. He’s a guy that’s always been in the wings. He’s been a huge fan of the band. We feel very fortunate and lucky to get Mike. Mike has actually been going out to L.A. for the last couple of years and been meeting with some heavy hitters, some big songwriters out there and getting ready to release something mainstream. But this is not just a gig for Mike. Mike truly believes he’s meant to be here for a reason and a purpose.

SA: What does Tait bring to the band that’s different, and how do you think the band is going to change because he’s now a part of it?

Phillips: He’s an incredible front man, and incredible talent. So what I think Mike’s going to bring is a world class talent. A world class performer; everyone knows who he is, so there’s familiarity. But I think, going forward, Mike’s got some incredible connections with songwriters. He’s already hooked Peter up with some of his songwriter friends. Already, there’s this incredible anticipation, even for the next record. I’m talking Clive Davis; I’m talking all these huge songwriters that have written for everybody.

SA: Will Mike sing any dcTalk songs in concert?

Phillips: That’s a great question, too. We already have. Halfway through the tour we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to throw in a couple of dcTalk songs?’ We’ve got a B-stage section in our show right now. What we do is we come out in the middle of the crowd and we play a couple of dcTalk songs out there. It’s a really strong set. We’ve been around for a long time and we’ve had some great songs, but man, so have they. They’ve had some world class, mind blowing songs. I think there are four songs that we play by dcTalk on this B-stage, and they go over fantastically. So we’re really stoked.

SA: The bio that came with the new CD talks about how this new album was intended to return to the original, more punk-ish spirit of The Newsboys’ sound. Some songs, like “The Way We Roll”, have that feel, but the album doesn’t carry that same consistent spirit throughout. So did the album change, sonically, as you were recording it?

Phillips: Praise and worship music has always been an element of what we do, even back to the days of Not Ashamed. There’s always been one or two more worshipful songs. The Newsboys have always been fun; they’ve always been a little bit cheeky. I don’t think it (the change) was really intentional. It just kind of happened. I think all we’ve ever tried to do was write a better record than the last one. Our music is always evolving. You can never make the same record twice, because if you do…if you have successful record, there’s pressure to make one the same. But you can’t. You’ve always got to be interviewing for your next job. That’s why every record is like you’re applying for your job again. You really are.

SA: So, with all these changes, how do you feel about the future?

Phillips: Now, Peter can give us a record every year and he can spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week writing if he wants to, without the pressure and stress of having to lead every couple of days. Now, he can really get on a roll. And I think we’re gonna get better songs sooner than we ever have. He’s gonna be doing what he’s great at. We’re gonna be doing what we’re great at. I think we’ll get a new record out every year to 18-months, whereas before…it’s been nearly three years sings the Go record came out, which is too long. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how good looking you are. It doesn’t matter how good of players you are. It doesn’t matter how good your show is. If you ain’t got the tunes, no one’s going to come to see you play.

• www.newsboys.com
• www.myspace.com/newsboys

↓ One comment

#1 Luke Woods on November 15th, 2009 at 2:50 pm

I Have got to say I grew up a Huge Fan of DcTalk and then all of a sudden “Boom” There was the Newsboys! And I Fell in Love with their Love in God and how they new every heart string to pull, and then to have DcTalk Let me know I was not alone and Newsboys Giving me encouragement to Ask God for the Strength to fight back… You cant have Christian music in the 90’s and on from there with out Both bands.

With that being Said I want to say that the only other band that I fell in love with Was Audio Adrenaline, I am saddened when I think that they are gone… that they are a memory and so many will miss out on what they had to offer. But, I was sad to hear that Audio A’s Lead singer Needed to stop singing on account of the chance he could lose his Voice or worse, and with Losing a Great Friend like Audio A, I am Thrilled to Know We wont be losing Newsboys. also in a small way they are Keeping the memory alive of DcTalk and I couldn’t ask for more.

May God Bless you all and I Pray you Will Continue to sing Love, Hope, Strength and Praise All the Days of our lives. May God Give unto you 10 fold The Love, Hope, Strength and Praise you give him and his Children.

God Bless you all and Stay Strong.

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