Dan Macaulay

As technology becomes easier to use and cheaper to acquire, we’re seeing more and more churches release their own material and newer voices emerge within the worship music scene. And one of the brightest voices – and a great tenor at that – is that of Dan MacAulay, a Canadian with a heart for God, a truckload of talent and a penchant for instantly singable melodies. We recently asked Dan some questions about what he’s learned about leading worship, his musical influences and what it was like to work with Nathan Nockels.

Soul-Audio: I’d love to hear how you hooked up with Nathan Nockels in the first place.

Dan MacAulay: The way I hooked up with Nathan isn’t especially glamorous; he was definitely first on my list of guys I wanted to work with. I was a part of a small indie label in Canada at the time and when asked about who I’d like to have produce, he was the guy! The label managed to get in touch with him and he agreed to work with me, which I took as a huge compliment.

SA: Is he someone you’ve looked up to within the industry?

Dan: Definitely. I really like what Passion and their artists do and the sound that Nathan brings to the table in their concert recordings. I’ve been a big fan of the Brit-leanings of his work with Tim Hughes and I also really enjoy the pop side of things that Nathan has done with groups like Phillips, Craig & Dean and 33Miles. He definitely operates in the styles and realms that I see my music fitting into and the quality of his work is unmistakable. So it was an honor to work with him.

SA: I’d love to hear what you’ve learned about leading worship music over the years and what you’ve learned to be most important for the worship leader both externally and internally?

Dan: I think the thing we always have to keep in mind when any of us are leading worship is that it’s all about Him. It’s so easy to get caught up in programming our worship services for ourselves and our congregations that we forget it’s really all about Him. It’s not about what songs we like, what makes us feel good, or what we enjoy singing and playing. It’s so easy for leaders and parishioners alike to fall into that trap. So many church disputes center around style of worship and many people hop churches over it. I believe in being balanced in approach, but ultimately it’s not about what we like, it’s what He likes. And what He likes is for people to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, to love Him together in unity with one another. We all need to get our agendas in line with His and make our worship less about us and more about Him.

SA: What’s the greatest tension you have to wrestle with as a worship leader?

Dan: I think the hardest part of worship leading and maybe even life is motive. Proverbs 16:2 tells us that all our ways seem right to us but God weighs our motives. It’s so hard as a “worship artist” to properly separate and prioritize those two very different words. I think back to the old dcTalk song, “What If I Stumble,” where they say, “Is this one for the people, is this one for the Lord.” Separating worship from performance and separating marketing from ministry is tricky. It takes a constant surrender to make sure I’m focusing on building HIS Kingdom and not mine. I have to keep coming back to a Psalms kind of prayer and ask God to search my heart, and trust that if I look after His business He will look after mine. I think it’s a hard thing to keep not only what we’re doing right but why we’re doing it.

SA: At what point did you think of taking this beyond your local church congregation?

Dan: Well, it was in 2002 that I really started sensing that the new songs I was writing then were for the larger body of Christ outside of my church. I was a youth pastor at the time, but even in the midst of doing that and loving the kids wholeheartedly I would have people in the congregation come up to me and say things like, “we’re glad you’re here with us now but we know God has bigger things in store for you.” So after a lot of affirmation in that direction from people we trust we ended the season of youth pastoring and moved towards leading worship full time. That kept me traveling full time for 6 years, mostly in my home country of Canada. Currently we are traveling in the U.S. and worship pastoring at the very same church I was once youth pastor! Now I get the ‘cake and eat it too’ opportunity to minister both locally and internationally.

SA: What about your own influences? Musically, what informs your writing style?

Dan: I grew up listening to a lot of Michael W Smith. He has always been my favorite, but I consider myself a student of good songs. I am constantly listening to the hooks and word usage on songs everywhere I go. I love and admire any good songwriting from any source and try and learn from it. Sometimes it seems like all the good songs have already been written, but once in a while I’ll stumble on an idea that seems like maybe no one else has thought of; that’s a pretty cool thing. Hey, if the Holy Spirit is our source of creativity, I think He has an endless fresh supply so I think His church can always have something fresh to say if we lean on Him!

• www.danmacaulay.com
• www.myspace.com/danmacaulay

Does it Resonate with you?

Name (required)

Email (will not be published) (required)

URL