Wow it’s been an incredibly long time since we last blogged! Well, prize for you!
So a student recently interviewed me for a school project, so I figured I pass it along to you readers out there!
1. How did you begin your career in music? How did your band start?
I started a band called M.Fillmore with a college friend. We played music in the parking garage on campus (the acoustics were great!), well, until naturally the security would shut us down. Then, quite randomly, a producer in Chicago, who we met through a mutual friend, offered to produce a full-length album at no cost to us. Without his generosity, it would have been hard for us to have ever established ourselves as a band. We recorded and released that album, “Miss Beautiful”, in 2007. It was after that that we began our full-time career as musicians, traveling the country in a 1996 Honda Civic, eating a lot of Top-Romen, playing shows in front of 30-3,000 people.
2. How would you describe your style of music?
Well, some people might say that we play Christian Music, but music can’t decide to follow Christ, people do. So we are Jesus Followers who play music. So, naturally our lyrics overflow from our journey through life while following Christ. We have imperfections and we have times of brokenness, but we also have times of joy and redemption. Our songs come from that place. Musically, we are mainly acoustic with a pitch of folk and pop.
3. What music genres do you listen to?
I go through phases. I usually pick up an album and listen to it until it wears out my ears. I tend to stick with chill rock (Switchfoot, Mat Kearney), indie (The Civil Wars, Mumford & Sons), worship music (Hillsong, Jesus Culture), southern-gospel-pop-rock (Needtobreathe), some pop (OneRepublic, Katy Perry!), and last but not least, Taylor Swift, who is her own genre.
4. Why do you perform?
Well, I’m a lot different from a lot of performers. I perform with the intention of pointing the attention to Jesus. When I’m on stage, I hope to be a catalyst to propel people one step closer to Jesus, whatever that might be for each person. But, I’m not saying that standing on a stage in front of a crowd of people doesn’t cause an amazing adrenaline rush, because it does, but that is not the reason I perform. If I wanted an adrenaline rush, I’d be a stuntman for a living.
5. Who is your general audience? Who listens to your music?
Generally our audience is people ages 12-22. Those are the people that generally come to our shows and purchase our music and merchandise. But my mom is also a pretty big fan 
6. What is the experience like when you play a show?
Welp, I think I may have already answered this, but we’ve played shows in front of anywhere between a house-party with 30 people and a conference with 3,000 people, and anywhere in-between. In my experience, the less people at a particular show, the more nervous I get. You’d think I’d be super nervous in front of 3,000 people, but I only start shaking at the 50-person morning church service! But nevertheless, the experience of playing live always varies. Sometimes we walk off the stage wondering if anyone was actually listening, and sometimes we don’t ever want to walk off the stage ever! Basically, the crowd dynamics makes all the difference. If we feel like we are connecting with an audience and we are all collectively sharing in an experience, then that’s when it clicks for me. But if we feel like everyone has their arms crossed and condescendingly texting during a performance, then well, those make for not the best memories.
7. How do you think your music affects the audience in general?
Once again, and I realize that I’m different from most musicians, but my hope is that my music would affect the audience positively by leading them one step closer to Jesus. The jumping and singing can definitely help and makes a show that much more fun, but ultimately, we want to see lives changed by the redemption of Jesus.
8. How do you write your songs?
I started writing songs when I was 14. I still remember my first song. It’s absolutely horrible. But hey, you got to start somewhere! To this day, I try to write as much as possible, with the understanding that about only 1-out-of-10 will be any good! But for me, lyrics start to pour out through stories. I’m a story-teller, and when I hear a good story, or when one is forming around me, that’s when I usually write the most.
9. With all the work that’s put into it, the melody and lyrics, meaning and collaboration, what do you wish to achieve with your music?
That people who hear would be led to take one step closer to Jesus.
10. Do you see any change in yourself since you started performing?
I’ve learned a lot about myself while traveling and playing music. I’ve learned how to live a simple life, how to make friends with people who aren’t similar to me, how to sleep in any position and on any surface. Just by touring, I’ve learned a lot about who I am and who God created me to be. Plus, we’ve met people all over the country who I would now consider extended family; people who were once strangers in different states are now people who will be invited to my wedding. I’ve loved that part the most about traveling like we have.
11. What are some of the challenges that come along with singing (or performing)?
I think the most challenging part about a music career is not singing or performing, it’s the administration aspect. What I’ve learned is that my music career is 25% singing, and 75% business. It is basically like owning your own company, and with that comes all the administration-type work that goes into making a business successful. So as glamorous as a 2-month nationwide tour might sound, you have to realize that nearly 8 months of emails and cold-calls to strangers went into it to make it all happen. That can get tiring really quickly.
12. Would you say it’s somewhat of a risk?
Singing is always a risk. It’s taking a risk that you won’t sing off-key, that people will like your music, that you won’t be rejected in a new town. It takes someone who’s willing to risk not making enough money to pay bills. But all of life is about taking risks, and if I’m not taking risks, then I’m living a boring life.
13. What is it about music that inspires you to sing and perform for others?
Music is the common language that we all speak. Music brings us together. The word “chorus” literally means “to sing together”. I love that about music. It can bring people from all walks of life, at least for one moment, together as one. There is power in that.