The Festiva Interview: newsboys

In shady bars and smoky nightclubs back in 1985 Australia, a band was attempting to breathe hope into those souls who needed it. They brought their message of peace and love to anyone who would listen. Today, not much has changed for the Christian rock band newsboys - except the venues they play,  for much larger audiences and all over the world.

Peter Furler, who began as the band's drummer and is now the lead vocalist, is the only remaining original member of newsboys.  The band is notorious for having new members for almost each album release. The current line-up includes Duncan Phillips on drums, Jody Davis playing lead guitar and Jeff Frankenstein, who switches between bass and keyboard.

The band hit its stride in the mid-‘90s with songs like "Let It Rain", "Shine", "Reality", "God Is Not a Secret" and more. The stride continues even with the various member changes in the band. Beyond producing number one hits, best-selling albums and playing packed arenas, the boys have collected a fair number of awards. Nearly two dozen Dove award nominations and four wins, four Grammy nominations and various others from organizations such as Billboard, Nashville Music Awards and International Angel Awards, the band remains humble and still keep spreading the Christian message to people.

Each member has their own story to tell about how he became a member of newsboys. Frankenstein talked to Festiva about his journey, the Global Tribe Project and more.

Click here to listen to the interview!

WHO: newsboys
WITH: DecembeRadio, Bread of Stone and VOTA
WHEN: Sunday, March 8, 2009; 5 p.m.
WHERE: Dodge Arena, 2600 N. 10^th St., Hidalgo
COST: $15-$35
BUY TICKETS: Dodge Arena Box Office, www.dodgearena.com or www.ticketmaster.com 

What did you do before you joined newsboys?

Oh, it's funny, I was, actually, I was in college. I'm originally from Detroit and I was studying to be, I was actually a journalism major. I had been offered an internship at Warner Brothers and I was about to go do that in their film department for PR stuff. A friend of mine promoted a newsboys concert and he had brought the band into a high school gym near our house and he asked me to drive the band around because he knew my mom had a great mini-van ... I met Peter, our lead singer, and we had talked about keyboards during the day. I was really into keyboards, and he was into keyboards. So about two weeks later, he remembered me and the band was looking for a keyboard player and he asked if I would do it. So within three days, I auditioned with the band, I played my first show with the band, I went back home to Detroit, I dropped out of college and hit the road, all within, like, three days' notice, my entire life changed.

I was reading about the Global Tribe Project ... how much time do you guys dedicate to that project? 

It's pretty much a full-time thing for us, you know, it's something that we started with our manager and a friend of ours who's been a great friend of the band for 15 years ... it kinda started just on accident, really. Every year we take this motorcycle trip across the Baja Peninsula ... we were outside of Tijuana, in the desert,  and we actually kinda bumped into this project that was down there. And it was this guy from San Diego who had dedicated his life to help these flood victims from the El Nino floods in the early ‘90s ... and it really kinda touched us. With our fans, because you know, that's what the gospel teaches, to serve the least of these, so if you really believe that and you think it's more than you know, just ... for us, being around for so long, being in the industry for so long. You know, that kinda gets old. Singles, tours, all that sort of stuff, you're like, "okay, whatever." So, for us, we wanted it to be something kind of more than all of that. A lasting impact, an eternal impact.

>>> THE OPENING ACTS

Bread of Stone
Goals in one's life change over time, but for brothers Ben and Bill Kristijanto, they've stuck to their mission to to minister through music. Along with friends Jeremi Hough and Tim Barnes, Bread of Stone not only record albums and tour, they lend their time to many organizations that further their goal of strengthening their relationship with God. They are always sharing the gospel with others and helping those in need, such as victims of Hurricane Katrina by helping rebuild homes. The rock and pop blend of the Sioux City, Iowa, group continues to inspire Christian rock fans. 

DecembeRadio
Awards and recognition poured in quickly for DecembeRadio, a Christian rock band out of Virginia, when they released their debut self-titled album in 2006. Nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album, the band also claimed four Dove Award nominations that year. And they continued the streak throughout the past three years. The four members of DecembeRadio dived head-first into their second album Satisfied, which was released late last year.

VOTA
With frontman Bryan Olesen's experience as former guitarist for newsboys, success seems inevitable for the band VOTA. The Christian band mixes alternative rock music with their message of God to create a sound that reaches out to a young audience. VOTA originally formed in 1997, but as Casting Pearls. The name change came in 2008 to avoid confusion with the band Casting Crowns. Three albums, including one live recording, and a couple of EPs later, the band is going strong, touring internationally.