Joel Auge

The answers from new Canadian worship artist Joel Augé are perfect. Give a quick read below and you’ll see what we mean: thoughtful, provocative reasons and explanations to bolster his already strong melodic musical style. It’s an instant realization that even though Augé is new to the national scene, he’s clearly been considering his calling for some time now.

We recently had the chance to ask the new Integrity artist about his record, his band Hewit, his Canadian roots and the worst pronunciation of his last name. In between are some much needed answers and insights for the Western church.

Soul-Audio: An obvious place to start – your origins – actually led me to Hewit. How did you decide to pursue a solo venture away from the band?

Joel Augé: Hewit is as much a production team as a band. Although I’ve written most of the songs, we collectively share a love for getting across melodies and musical ideas that move people. As a production team we all live by the motto that “the song makes the final decision.” Whatever is the best way for the song to be everything it can be, that’s what we choose to do.

To that end, what’s best for vertical songs that are my internal and external dialogue with God aren’t necessarily best served by Hewit being that production team. Michelle, my wife, has played a massive part in showing me the value of getting the songs I write for God and to God into the church. She’s very inspirational. I think there’s a purpose for which I’m built to help move our often gluttonous Western church to become the effective stewards of resources that we’re given here in our North American existence. We have so much work to do, and I’d love to be a catalyst for that work.

SA: What’s the current status of the band because it seemed many songs were quite new, so there’s life there I would assume still…

Augé: Although we’ve taken an extended break for the last little while, the hope is that sometime before the end of the year we’ll be in the studio again to record more songs that are purely Hewit. Tony [lead guitar] has been writing a lot and I can’t wait until we put our hands to the plow to make those songs happen. I have a few songs that wouldn’t fit the context of my solo stuff too… and Hewit is the perfect avenue for those to come out.

SA: When it comes to the music scene for you there in Hamilton or even in Canada on a greater scale, is there a good camaraderie? Do you work closely with the guys in Starfield, for instance, or are things pretty separated?

Augé: I’ve written with Tim from Starfield, but the country is so massive – and we’re as far apart geographically (2500 miles or so) as can be while still being in Canada. There is however a great sense of camaraderie between Canadian artists and because the community is pretty small, you end up getting to know everybody really quickly. A lot of locals know this already, but there’s a ton of great artists in the Hamilton area. One unsung hero is Jacob Moon. Really great art. Really relevant content. Not intentionally to the church/unchurched – just an overflow of his heart.

SA: Shifting to your own music, what is your place in the modern worship music scene?

Augé: I think my role in this “scene” is to break down the notion that ‘music equals worship’; which is going to be a battle. Jesus didn’t speak much about music. He has bigger fish to fry. I mean, don’t get me wrong… there is something absolutely amazing when people come together to give their hearts in adoration to God, but if the story ends there, all it does is further enforce the notion that Christians are hypocritical judgmental and self-absorbed – which is exactly contrary to the call of Christ. Other-centeredness, love for God and others: these are the things Jesus calls us to.

SA: How did you end up with Integrity?

Augé: When I was in Capstone years ago, Integrity developed a relationship with the band and placed us with Stephen Leiweke to see if we’d work together well. Stephen and I really hit it off. He kept in touch and he and Laurie, his wife, effectively worked as my A&R team for the last 4 years, even after Capstone ended. Stephen mentioned to Integrity that I was recording a project. There was an instant support system and belief in it on Integrity’s side. I was floored. That started what I believe is going to be a really long relationship between us. They are so focused on resourcing the church, and that’s who I’m communicating this stuff to – so it’s the perfect match.

SA: What did Steve bring to the music that wasn’t there previously?

Augé: Stephen is super great at getting full song ideas down in a very short amount of time. For instance, I write a lot – so we have a little system whereby we’ll sit in his studio together and rate the songs based on the end-vision of the record. On a scale of 1 to 10, anything below a 7 we scrap.

Once we’ve got our songs, we bang one full-on demo out per day. Then, if the demos get the attention (and funding) required, we’ll bring in some friends to play the parts we need. It’s an exhausting, yet incredibly rewarding process. By the end of each day you feel like you’ve accomplished something massive – and that’s a tremendous feeling. I’m not sure if it’s his only method of working, because he’s very adaptive to the needs of those around him, but for he and I, that’s how it works.

SA: Why does the song or title On The Blue communicate the whole of the album – why name your entire collection of songs after that title?

Augé: I think the title has a certain “What does that mean?” element to it. Which builds mystique. I like mystery. I like the unknown. The title also refers to being “on the blue” with Jesus, like Peter. Peter was just a normal dude. He demonstrated a great amount of faith in Jesus by going out on the water with him, but it couldn’t have been an easy decision. As followers of Jesus, we make a pretty difficult decision: We say that our allegiance is to him and him alone. Every other system/practice/doctrine/politic/religion/relationship moves to the periphery and we filter absolutely everything through our knowledge of him and relationship with him.

SA: Finally, I just have to know – the worst pronunciation of your last name?

Augé: It’s got to be “Ah-You-Gee”. Just wrong.

• www.joelauge.com
• www.myspace.com/joelauge

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#1 MattConner.net » Blog Archive » S-A Interview: Joel Auge on August 25th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

[...] can read the rest of the interview here. Posted in Soul-Audio | Leave a [...]

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