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TechnoratiCP: So I’ll talk about just Christian music in general now. There are people that argue that styles such as rock, rap, or even “crunk” shouldn’t be used to convey the Christian message, because those styles, they say they are somewhat unholy, and they claim that people listening to that music are only hearing the beat they like rather than the message underneath. What are your thoughts on that?
Swartzendruber: If that were true, speaking only for my own testament, the greatest gift for my faith has been music, and that’s been rock music quite frankly. It is artists using rock music to present a Christian worldview. I think that we are on very dangerous territory when we credit the devil for creating something. The devil is a perverter and a distorter. He does not create. God is the creator of music. To say that a style of music is evil based only on the way it sounds or based on the instruments it uses or how those instruments are played, we are calling the devil a creator. I think that is really dicey ground to be walking on. I would caution anyone from doing that.
Certainly, look at history. What was considered evil in the 1950s? Well, it was what later that became God’s Christian pop music. It’s what later became Sandi Patty. It’s what later became Larnelle Harris.
I don’t see as much of an attitude towards rock music today, but what I do see is an attitude towards hip-hop music. And we’re seeing the same types of things being said about hip-hop that were said about rock-and-roll 20 years ago. I think in the same way that God showed He could use rock-and-roll, we’re going to see God use hip-hop. But they’re going to have to be educated in the same way that our parents had to be educated, and that’s what I see going on.
CP: There has been some discussion about companies pushing bands to be in the Christian music genre that do not really want to be associated with it. The most notable example is the rock band Evanescence when they were first introduced as a Christian group when they first started. Later one of the group members dropped the F-word to show his distaste in being clumped in that genre. Do you think there is any danger in the way some bands are being marketed?
Swartzendruber: I think that there is danger about how any bands are marketed – whether it be Christian bands in the Christian market or Christians in the mainstream. I remember when I was part of the team that went to the label with Steve Taylor, and the whole reason our label was started was because of Sixpence None the Richer. Sixpence had said, “We don’t feel comfortable signing with a Christian record label, because they will try to tell us how to write our lyrics and try to give our lyrics a direction rather than giving us the freedom to think about all of life under the hands of God. We’re also uncomfortable being released under the mainstream labels, because they won’t respect our faith. What do we do?” And then we said, “You know what? You’re right. There needs to be a label for Christians who want to create music that is beautiful without having a heavy-handed agenda.” That’s why the label was started. They then went on to have a hit record and what not. Continue »
