By Mariah Secrest
I have a confession to make to the pop rock mainstay band downhere.
When Jeff and I had the chance to sit down for a few minutes and talk with them about life and music, they said that two main reasons kept them on the road.
One was the camaraderie they had found in each other as bandmates. The other was the stories from people who have been motivated and encouraged by their music.
They were quick to point out that for every listener who takes the time to share with the band just how much of an impact it has carried, many more stories go untold.
My confession is that until recently, I had been one of the untold stories. My experience with the artfully-devised tunes of these Centricity Records songsters did not begin with the interview at the Gospel Music Awards. A few years ago during a particularly difficult month in Hong Kong leading a mission trip of volunteer musicians, I had very little with me.
Limited cargo space meant the only diversion I had with me was my journal and a couple of CD’s, and a stressful and demanding work environment meant I had very little support during the 14-hour days we put in. But I did have a mix CD that a friend had given me with the downhere song “Great Are You” from their self-titled ” downhere” album. This had been a particularly meaningful song for my ministry team during the previous year, but in this new environment it was a welcomed friend.
At night, I’d collapse into my bunk in our tiny, overcrowded flat several stories above the bustling Hong Kong crowds, listening to my headphones and breathing in God’s comfort through the familiar lyrics. But for all the band knew, I was just another journalist looking for another story. Sometimes it’s jarring how little we recognize of the extent of our work and ministry. (And yet how often we gauge our success by what we see.) I’m grateful that the band members from downhere have the grace to keep making their music even when people like me are silent.
The band does what they can, though, to foster communication with their listener base. They value the needs and wants of their fans so much that for their last album (Wide-Eyed and Mystified, Centricity Records, 2006) and for their upcoming album slated for release in September 2008, they have set up listening parties all across the globe in order to gather input from fans about which songs to select for the record. They’re sure to include a wide demographic in order to keep their music as accessible as possible, essentially giving listeners a degree of artistic control. They’re excited to see the music industry once again becoming what they call “more community-oriented.”
Jason Germain, one of downhere‘s two vocalists, talks about the inner journey of surrendering their work to the greater good.
A question he’s had to keep asking himself is, “How much of my life will I ruin for this calling?” Road-life, instability, and leaving a family behind at home are not least among the sacrifices each has made in order to share their music.
Vocalist Marc Martel even gave up an academic career in biochemistry when he finally shook the skepticism that he couldn’t make a living doing music.
Jason continues, “I can’t really point back on anything that I’ve done and think, “Wow, I’ve really accumulated something.” It’s so different from a lot of how our peers are living. And you come home, and in some sense it’s almost like you’re floating above the ordinary, and you do feel totally ruined. We’re a band that has really, really worked hard, and we’re really tempted to be entitled to some level of success because of how long we’ve been at it, of how hard we’ve worked. As I sat down to write for this record, God kind of revealed to me. Had it not been for this struggle, these songs would not have been born. Through disappointment and through the delusion God birthed something beautiful.”
Their dedication to something bigger than themselves is what’s kept their music honest. Their lyrics embrace the paradoxes of faith and encourage listeners to take a second look at the way society dictates the norm. Jason, Marc, Glenn, and Jeremy are four guys who can account for the beauty of this upside-down living of giving away life in order to find it and sacrificing security in order to uncover fulfillment.
Check out the video of “Better Way” from the Wide-Eyed and Mystified album. downhere will be coming out with a new album later this year.
To obtain more information on all things downhere, visit their website or on Myspace.
If you liked this article, check out: Voices in Culture: After Edmund Interview.
Mariah has currently landed herself in Tucson, Arizona, where she just finished a philosophy degree from the University of Arizona. She enjoys writing almost as much as she enjoys making music. Almost. You can visit her on Myspace.