Casting Crowns' Frontman Mark Hall Talks Life After Cancer and 'The Very Next Thing' (Interview)
When asked about the meaning behind the new album title and single, The Very Next Thing, Hall explained that so many people in this day and age are too busy aiming to fulfill future goals that they miss out on what God wants to do through them now.
"Especially our younger generation, we feel that we are all in this preparation stage for something like if this really isn't life yet and we're just preparing for life," Hall said.
He referenced the school system and how preschool prepares a child for elementary school, elementary school preps for junior/middle school, middle school for high school and so on.
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"Everything is working toward something else as though you haven't gotten there yet. I think a lot of times we feel that way about our lives. We feel like, 'OK God, this can't be what it's about — here in this little job that I have, or this little hobby that I have, or this little world that I'm living in, there's got to be more.' We're always looking ahead. I think we got to be missing out on some big stuff," he told CP.
"I hear my teenagers say that all the time, 'I want to do big stuff.' What I tell them is, 'Big stuff for God is probably the person sitting next to you today at school. It's probably the person that's tugging at your heart everyday as you walked by because nobody is talking to them.' And it's probably this call every time you hear about it, it tugs at you a little bit and you feel like you should do something," Hall continued. "Big things for God isn't a year from now, it's right now. You weren't put here to wait, you were put here to know God and make Him known right where you are, right in your circumstance.
"The Voice of Truth" singer added that obedience to God in little and big things will lead people to live for now and the very next thing that God wants them to do.
"To follow God is really just to say, 'Jesus, I love you so much, I'll do the very next thing you say, just tell me what to do," Hall said.
As Casting Crowns has gone on to achieve sales milestones including one RIAA 2x multi-platinum album, four RIAA platinum albums and much more, the band has managed to keep the true heart behind their music while their sound has evolved.
"We've never purposely changed. There's going to be a natural evolution to your creativity whether you want to or not. At the base of that we also know that the lyrics are the most important part of what we do, so we know that the song, the music is really just the plate that the meat is served on," Hall said.
"We may venture out and try things that are fun, but we don't ever want a song to run away with the lyrics, to where you have to hear the song three or four times and then say, 'Oh, that's what the song is about.' I don't want anybody to ever hear a Crown song and not know what it means the first time. For me, there's never a 'Let's get out there and get current,' because we've done very well just like we are."
Hall said the album was recorded with no orchestral strings, with the exception of band member Melody who plays violin. He said having no strings is a first for the band and they didn't even notice until after the record was done.
"It is possibly a new version of us, I don't know," he said.
Casting Crowns will hit the road this month on "The Very Next Thing" tour presented by Compassion International and Museum of the Bible. The tour will feature label mate Matt Maher and special guest newcomer Hannah Kerr.
For more information on the new album or tour, click here.
