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The Undiscovered Country
downhere explains why they are down here
interview by Paula K. Parker (Paula's bio)

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Canada may be the last great, undiscovered country…at least where Christian music is concerned. The land that gave the mainstream Bruce Cockburn, Bare Naked Ladies, and Alanis Morissette has quietly been cranking out some pretty decent artists in the Christian market, too. Carolyn Arends, Steve Bell, John Bullar, and Jake are a few that come to mind. We wanted to know what was fueling the Northern Invasion so we hooked up with Word Records' hot new Canadian band, downhere, to gain some insight.

“I think American music labels are just now starting to discover Canada,” explains lead guitarist, Marc Martel. “It's a whole new territory that they have never explored before.”

“And I think because Canadians have a focus on the arts, even in our educational system, we tend to have a lot more people per capita that are musically inclined,” Jason Germain (vocals/keys) adds. “I mean, what do you do in the winter months if you don't play hockey? You play guitar.”

“From an artist's perspective, there is no outlet in Canada, really” Marc continues. “Canada is a very secular nation. Radio laws in Canada require a certain amount of Canadian content on the airwaves, so to have a Christian station that has a singular format, well there is just not enough Canadian material to cover an area. For instance, if you had an A/C station, there would not be enough Canadian Christian A/C acts, and there is not a sufficient population base to support a radio station playing a specific genre of music. And because Canada is a secular, post-Christian nation it makes things even more difficult.”

According to the band, post-Christian Canada is an amalgam of multi-cultural, secular scientists - sort of an Amsterdam or North America, without the red light district. Which begs the question, 'If Canada is such a mission field, what are you doing down here?'

“There is really no way to make a living there as a full time Christian musician,” Jason says. “We still tour a lot in Canada. And there are some artists making some headway. Steve Bell is still doing a good thing up there, and John Bullar. I mean, we are not abandoning Canada. Nashville is just a better place to head out from. I think part of the reason we moved here is, downhere is really about building relationships. Our record company, Word, is based in Nashville. Our management is in Nashville. It's a lot easier to maintain those relationships and to start building them up if we live here. Obviously Word is a brand new label from when we join them a year ago. We have to go back there and get to know everybody again. It's easier to do when you are right in town.”

“Besides,” he continues, “I don't think we would ever say our mission is to go win the world to Christ. That's God's job. God is building His church, and He is building a part of it through us. We just want to be expendable servants and follow His leading. You see, I believe that a message in the music is a very powerful thing. But how do non-believers come into relationship with Christ? God has to do that work.

“This is my big kick, my soapbox. When we started out we were so small that we could go to venues and really get to know the kids. I took pride in being able to remember names of kids that we met months ago. But when we started running two thousand kids at a show, my brain just started dropping names. I really felt guilty. I would ask God, 'If I can't even remember the kids' names then what are we doing this for?' and I really feel like God has been teaching me recently, 'You know what? You need to love people. You need to know Me. You don't need to know everybody, because I know everybody.' That has really been changing my heart. When the world sees our community, they will know that we are Christians by our love. When we get on stage, I think it is crucial that we have relationships that are close, and that we are honorable and loving toward each other. I think that speaks more volumes than the words we say from stage. We just need to know God and let Him do His work.”

Copyright 2002, Paula K. Parker. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

About Paula K. Parker: Paula K. Parker is an author, playwright, arts critic and hired-gun freelance writer. She has been married to her high school sweetheart for 27 years (so far) and is the mother of five homeschooled teenagers. From her home in Nashville, Tennessee, Paula frequently writes about the contemporary Christian arts and music scene. Visit her web page at: www.wordcrafts.net

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