CMZ: First of all thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for us. I want to introduce
you a little bit to our readership. I know that you two are brothers from Australia and you moved
to Nashville when you were young, how did you get started in music and what are your goals as
a band?
Luke: In high school I was really excited about the idea of going to play sports in college
until I blew out my knee my junior year. After that, doors began to open in the music
world. It started with Joel asking, ” Hey man, what do you think about doing a couple
demos?” I guess you could say that the rest is history because we haven’t stopped
writing, preforming and working together.
Joel: We’ve been part of a musical family since we were tiny tots. Our dad was a
concert promoter in Australia and some of my first memories are directly related
to music. A few years ago Luke and I started writing tunes together and eventually
moved into being a self-titled indie duo (JOEL & LUKE). After writing about 100+
songs, coming up with a lot of really bad band names and finding some excellent
publishing and label partners, we formed FOR KING & COUNTRY and here we are
today, getting ready to release our debut record!
CMZ: You recently released a self-titled EP through Word Records, how did your relationship with
the label come to fruition and how do you feel the EP has been received?
Luke: The partnership that we’ve had with the label has been outstanding. The label
came to us several years ago about the possibility of partnering together. We were very
flattered by their interest and it just so happened that everything worked out!
Releasing anything to the world can be quite intimidating but when it’s an EP that you’ve
been working on for years, it puts it in another league. That being said, the response
from our fans and peers has been nothing but tremendously encouraging. To hear the
stories about how certain songs have impacted lives is the reason why we do what we
do.
CMZ: Your radio single “Busted Heart” has been making some waves, why did you choose it to be
the single off the EP and what is the song about?
Joel: We didn’t really choose that song as much as it chose us. Some of the songs
on this record were written four years ago and yet “Busted” came to us just a few
months ago. It was the last song we wrote for the album and it quickly rose to the top
of the list.
From what we’ve experienced and witnessed, every human walking the earth has
had a moment of realizing their own insufficiency. We are all, in one way or another,
busted in some degree. I often liken myself to the pompous five-year-old who
is learning how to ride a bicycle. I ride that two-wheeler with my head held high
convinced that nothing can stop me, that I own the world and then the fall happens
and I get hurt. In those moments, we run to someone who will comfort us, the Father,
crying out, “Hold on to me, I can’t do this on my own.” Which is the state I believe we
should always be in.
CMZ: What can we expect out of your full length scheduled to come out in early 2012? Is it all new
songs or is it a continuation of the EP that was just released?
Luke: It’s a continuation in some ways, but in my mind, the rest of the album completes
the picture that we began painting with the EP. The record is called CRAVE, which is one
of my favorite songs on the album. The chorus simply states, “Hope is what we crave.”
There’s something so powerful of believing in something much bigger than oneself.
I’m really excited to take the listeners on a journey with this album and hopefully in the
process they’ll see that there is hope in this world, that it is real and it can greatly impact
their life.
CMZ: What kind of touring plans do you have going on in the near future?
Luke: We actually just finished the first leg of the West coast run of Winter Jam. The rest
of the tour starts back up in January and goes into April. During the summer we’ll hit
many of the festivals and then begin a new tour in the Fall. We certainly have exciting
days ahead!
Thank you for reading Christian Music Zine, home of the best new Christian music!
