At Creation East, interlínc hosted a TalkBack session with Kutless and a bunch of youth leaders. Mark Pittman acted as referee. Here’s a bit of the discussion from that afternoon.
also be sure to download and enjoy the Kuless song The Feeling click below...
Mark: Talk about your new record, To Know That You Are Alive.
James: As Christians grow and mature with their walk in the Lord, worship isn’t only being in a church and singing a song. Worship is submitting to the Lord; worship is being an honorable husband and father. Doing everything as unto the Lord. As we grow in maturity in the Lord, we find all these areas in our life that start to represent Him—to be worshipful acts to our God and our Creator.
All of us have a happy day, a sad day, and the Kutless guys are the same. Our touring life is not glamorous, as you might have been fooled to believe. It gets really hard, we get hurt sometimes, and we have to keep playing anyway. The heart of this record I feel is very worshipful. We hope this album will be a blessing, whatever song you are listening to.
James: I am very proud of the guys in the band. I can pull any of the guys aside and share anything with them that I am going through. There are even specific dudes in the band that I know I can go to for certain issues. One thing I am proud of is that we can really bear each other’s burdens. These guys have had my back through thick and thin. Being apart of this group is awesome.
Mark: Talk about your commitment to family and how you are tied in at home.
Jon Micah: We try to keep our families with us as much as possible—not an easy task, for sure. Their being out here with us is great, but then we have a bus full of people. Trying to raise a three-year-old while stuck on the bus with a bunch of guys isn’t easy. Balancing family time and being away on the road with the band are a constant struggle. Family is so important to us. We believe if our families aren’t doing well that our ministry won’t do well. We have to take care of our families first. We are put in situations when we are gone for a long time, and I feel for our military friends that are gone for six months straight from their family. I so don’t want to be that dad that is never there, with my kids growing up on their own.
Youth Leader: What inspires the songs that you write?
Jon Micah: Primarily whatever is on our heart. Or sometimes, a life experience. For instance, the title track on our new record is mostly from my personal experience. I was dealing with some significant pain in my life; I had two surgeries on my shoulder. I have spent a good part of the last two years in physical therapy, and feeling a little bit handicapped with my arm strapped to my stomach 24/7. Doing concerts was very difficult, not being able to play the guitar. I asked God, “Why am I going through this again?” I got frustrated with it. I know God has called me to be in this band, but I found myself dealing with recurring physical problems. My dad had a bad back, and every time he threw his back out he would be in bed for a few days. One thing that he would say was, “When I was in bed, there was only one place that I could look, and that was up.” I found that to be so true. I had to look to Christ for help. I was more dependent than ever on my relationship with God. God allows things in our lives to help us refocus and to look to Him again. I realized that I need Him and that I need help. I also appreciate when I am healthy.
You don’t realize how much you need something until you can’t use it. Then suddenly you are grateful to have four limbs to use and operate.
We also write about other people’s personal experiences, like on “Promise You.” That song deals with physical abuse, which is a real issue—according to emails we receive—so we wrote that song.
Mark: Using a Kutless song is easy for youth leaders because we know exactly what you are singing about. You are a band that is doing this for the right reason and is doing it the right way. Keep it up! |
