Not sure how long it'll take for this thread to self-destruct, but I'm gonna post anyway.
For some time now, as a musician who is a Christian, I've observed that many Christ artists seem to "play to the choir"..as it were.
Some time ago, I ran across this interview, with pretty much my all time favorite band IONA.
I think it's interesting..
(Tollbooth is the Interviewer)
Tollbooth - What sort of audiences do you play to over there?
Hogg - More of the mainstream venues now, although we still get a lot of the Christian audience coming to those gigs. But you also hope to get a mixture, an audience of people that are new to the music and who come along because it's a concert in that particular venue.
Bainbridge - The venues shouldn't be threatening to people that are not Christians because the music certainly isn't. We don't want to put people off who are interested in seeing the band just because we're playing in a church, which we do occasionally.
Tollbooth - What can your fans in America do to support Iona, so we can see more of you?
Hogg - Well, because we're all such happy family people at home, we hate to be away for long tours and basically refuse to do them. The best way for us is to play to as many people as possible in the shortest space of time--to do biggish concerts. Then, of course, promoters need to be sure they've got a big enough audience to justify putting on a concert in a venue that holds two or three thousand people.
Bryant - The history of rock 'n' roll hasn't had a great deal of respect for the family, and I think it's really important for us to bear that in mind. People have said to us, "We could make things work if you'd come and do six or eight weeks over here." Maybe that's good in terms of selling more records, but it wouldn't be good for our family lives. It's really as simple as that.
Bainbridge - The band is a lot more pigeon-holed as a Christian music band in America than in England where it's just perceived as a band doing ministry music as well. It's great to play things like Cornerstone, which is a fantastic festival, but I think sometimes playing the church gigs might be not hitting the audience we'd really like to hear the message.
In America, it's possible to be a Christian artist, and make quite a good living at it. You can go around and play at festivals, and never actually play to any people who aren't Christians. But there isn't that option, really, in England.
Donockley - You sometimes get the feeling that, because we're seen as a Christian band, and if we do strictly Christian gigs, that the audience are only there because we're a Christian band, and they'll like whatever we do, because we're a Christian band. That does actually happen.
Hogg - There are a lot of churches, even at home, who put on a concert for a Christian band, and they tell everybody to come and support them. It's not a case of come if you like the music; it's come and support the bands. So you get these audiences who don't really want to be there.
Bryant - Mums and dads and aunts and uncles.
Donockley - And because it is so pigeon-holed and sectarianized, the quality control is nonexistent; people just accept it, no matter how bad it is. "Yeah, yeah, they're good!" When chances are, they might be atrociously awful. So it's important for us to reach as many people as possible. [/b]
Any other believers out there have any thoughts/perspective on how we have such a "sub culture" here, and how Christian artists interact with it?
Full article here:
http://www.celticchristiantunes.com/feature-iona0797.shtml
For some time now, as a musician who is a Christian, I've observed that many Christ artists seem to "play to the choir"..as it were.
Some time ago, I ran across this interview, with pretty much my all time favorite band IONA.
I think it's interesting..
(Tollbooth is the Interviewer)
Tollbooth - What sort of audiences do you play to over there?
Hogg - More of the mainstream venues now, although we still get a lot of the Christian audience coming to those gigs. But you also hope to get a mixture, an audience of people that are new to the music and who come along because it's a concert in that particular venue.
Bainbridge - The venues shouldn't be threatening to people that are not Christians because the music certainly isn't. We don't want to put people off who are interested in seeing the band just because we're playing in a church, which we do occasionally.
Tollbooth - What can your fans in America do to support Iona, so we can see more of you?
Hogg - Well, because we're all such happy family people at home, we hate to be away for long tours and basically refuse to do them. The best way for us is to play to as many people as possible in the shortest space of time--to do biggish concerts. Then, of course, promoters need to be sure they've got a big enough audience to justify putting on a concert in a venue that holds two or three thousand people.
Bryant - The history of rock 'n' roll hasn't had a great deal of respect for the family, and I think it's really important for us to bear that in mind. People have said to us, "We could make things work if you'd come and do six or eight weeks over here." Maybe that's good in terms of selling more records, but it wouldn't be good for our family lives. It's really as simple as that.
Bainbridge - The band is a lot more pigeon-holed as a Christian music band in America than in England where it's just perceived as a band doing ministry music as well. It's great to play things like Cornerstone, which is a fantastic festival, but I think sometimes playing the church gigs might be not hitting the audience we'd really like to hear the message.
In America, it's possible to be a Christian artist, and make quite a good living at it. You can go around and play at festivals, and never actually play to any people who aren't Christians. But there isn't that option, really, in England.
Donockley - You sometimes get the feeling that, because we're seen as a Christian band, and if we do strictly Christian gigs, that the audience are only there because we're a Christian band, and they'll like whatever we do, because we're a Christian band. That does actually happen.
Hogg - There are a lot of churches, even at home, who put on a concert for a Christian band, and they tell everybody to come and support them. It's not a case of come if you like the music; it's come and support the bands. So you get these audiences who don't really want to be there.
Bryant - Mums and dads and aunts and uncles.
Donockley - And because it is so pigeon-holed and sectarianized, the quality control is nonexistent; people just accept it, no matter how bad it is. "Yeah, yeah, they're good!" When chances are, they might be atrociously awful. So it's important for us to reach as many people as possible. [/b]
Any other believers out there have any thoughts/perspective on how we have such a "sub culture" here, and how Christian artists interact with it?
Full article here:
http://www.celticchristiantunes.com/feature-iona0797.shtml
