BC News|May 15, 2014 02:03 EDT
Disciple's Kevin Young Describes Struggles of Balancing Music, Ministry, and Career; Shares His Most Memorable Testimony (INTERVIEW PART 2)
Kevin Young, frontman of longtime Christian hardrock band Disciple chatted with BreatheCast about the group's new record, new lineup, and new focus. In addition to speaking of the band's recent success on Kickstarter, Young shared his thoughts on balancing music, ministry, and career, and also spoke of the moments that make spreading a message worth while.
To hear what Kevin had to say about the new album 'Attack,' record labels, and spreading the gospel through music, see part one of the interview from yesterday here.
One of the biggest struggles a Christian artist can go through is finding the right balance in life. As a touring musician, Young is faced with the daily challenge of creating music he loves, making money to support his family, and spreading the message of the gospel through music as a ministry. It tends to ask the question, "Where do I draw the line?" and "How can all three work together?"
"I've been asking myself that question for 20 years, because when you mix ministry with anything that has to do with business or money, you're almost guaranteed to fail and screw it up. We just try to do the best we can. I believe the free aspect of the music, the fact you listen to it and own it, and it's free. The truth of the gospel is free, it's powerful. The words of Christ are very powerful. They impact people thousands of years later. These aren't new words, they are old words, and you put these words to music," Young said.
Young began to explain how he feels music resonates in people, and how he is able to create something he loves that can still minister to people's hearts and souls.
"Music moves people. It creates passion and emotion. You literally can put on a sad song and begin to feel sad. Music has that kind of power and when you combine a powerful message of Christ and powerful mode of music, you combine those things together - you have something, a really powerful weapon," he continued.
However, the tricky part of the whole "Christian musician thing" is money. At the end of the day the goal is to win souls for Christ, but at the same time, Young and his other bandmates need to put food on the table. In a way Disciple feeds the soul of the fans, and fans feed Disciple's bellies. It is a relationship that goes hand-in-hand. By selling a piece of merch, Disciple now has more money to record another album and further reach people with their ministry.
"At the same time in order to create that music, it cost us money, and in order to go to Phoenix to perform that music for people, it cost us money. We need to print up t-shirts and hope that everything does well. Our goals are divided. At one point we want our music to be a blessing to people and point people to Christ, and we want people's lives to be changed by simply that message. At the same time we do want people to buy our music and like our music and buy our t-shirts because it helps us to be able to move forward. Hopefully we've done it well these past 20 years. I know there have been times when we haven't. I'm always asking myself that question and trying to come up with a better answer everyday so I can be the best person I can be and honor God with the gift he has given us, and honor the people that we are sharing with," Young said.
Throughout the 20 years of Disciple, Young said the testimonies he has heard is what "keeps them going." He attributes all glory to God when a fan approaches the band and shares a story of how a song has changed their life.
"I'm blown away by the stories people tell us. I mean, we know the truth about who we are. You know our ministry. We are not special people, we are normal dudes who play Xbox and Nintendo Wii, as lame as some people think that is. We read books and drink coffee, just normal dudes. When people come up and tell us these supernatural stories, we really don't feel all that responsible for them. It's almost that you have to give glory to God because we don't deserve the credit with half of these stories," he explained.
When asked about one particular story that stands out over all of these years, Young spoke on a song called "Invisible," which is a "cry out for help" song for people who self-mutilate.
He said the song is "just really about conversations with people who feel invisible and nobody sees them. I thought that would be an amazing song to write. We got a letter from someone right when the song came out that they were going to commit suicide and they had it planned. Then they heard the song and decided to live and give their life to Christ. From that first story that we heard, I bet we heard the exact same story with minuet changes every two weeks after that for like three years. It wasn't something we were trying to accomplish to people who are struggling with that, it wasn't much we did. God used it and people's lives were changed."
Young then described God's purpose and plan for everyone's life, and how everyday is an opportunity for greatness in the Lord.
"We all are here for a reason, and the whole reason we woke up this morning is because God is not finished with our lives yet, and so to be able to have had a small part in that is very special for us. Without those stories I don't think we'd be doing what we're doing. We want to see people move closer to God. Miracles will happen when that happens. When people get closer to God it is impossible for miracles to not start happening in their lives," he said.
The name of the new album is Attack. It will be available to pre-order shortly, and the band is encouraging fans to pre-order the album early by supporting them for $10 on Kickstarter. Disciple is aiming for an August or September release date.
Support the band's Kickstarter here.