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0:30
(Music)
0:48
This is on Daunted Life, a man's podcast.
0:51
I'm your host Kyle Thompson.
0:52
Let's get into it.
0:53
Hi guys, today I've got a special guest on the podcast for you.
0:55
His name is Michael Felker.
0:57
So he is the lead singer of a Christian metal band
1:00
that I've been obsessed with over the last couple of months.
1:02
And that is the band called Convictions.
1:04
Now this band, they have labeled themselves aggressive worship music.
1:09
And for any of you that have been listening to this podcast,
1:12
for any length of time, you know that is right up my alley.
1:15
This is something that I've been waiting for,
1:16
this kind of revolution in the kind of the Christian space,
1:19
where it's like, hey, legit Christians and legit Christian bands
1:23
that are making heavy, heavy music.
1:25
And so we spend a lot of time talking about their music,
1:28
some of the stuff that, you know, how the band got started
1:30
and some of the later albums, his favorite albums,
1:32
his favorite songs.
1:33
But for those of you that maybe don't know who convictions is,
1:36
you know, I'm glad to introduce them to you.
1:37
But also, if you're not really into music,
1:39
don't skip this episode.
1:41
Because we spend some time talking about some real subject matters.
1:43
We spend some time talking about kind of modern church culture
1:46
and how some people get lost in that,
1:48
because they're trying to fit a particular mold.
1:50
And sometimes that mold is of a particular kind of music.
1:54
And how that's not always appropriate.
1:55
So we get into a lot of those different subjects.
1:57
But without further ado, let's get into it.
1:59
Michael Felker, welcome to Undaunted Life, a man's podcast.
2:04
Thanks for having me.
2:05
It's hope to be here.
2:06
Hey, I'm excited to talk to you,
2:08
because I just got to tell you how I even came about you,
2:11
because whoever dropped in and told me about your band,
2:14
they need to stand up and be recognized.
2:15
Because somebody sent me like a random DM.
2:18
And they said, you got to check out this band.
2:19
And like, I'll get DMs like that.
2:21
And it's like, okay, I check out the band.
2:22
And they're kind of maybe a little bit new metal
2:24
or kind of radio rock.
2:25
And I'm like, I'm not really into that,
2:26
but I don't know how to respond.
2:28
But I immediately started listening to "I Won't Survive,"
2:30
which is the all's album that you released here in 2021.
2:32
And I was like, okay, okay.
2:36
I was not expecting this.
2:37
I got a little bit of Barry, you're dead in there.
2:40
I got a little bit of Em, you're in there.
2:41
And then y'all kind of had your own sound.
2:43
But I immediately dug it.
2:44
And that kind of like spurned me.
2:46
People had been asking me for a long time
2:48
to create a Christian metal playlist.
2:50
Because they're like, Kyle, you know,
2:51
you keep talking about all these different Christian metal bands.
2:53
And we'll get more into why I hesitated a little bit later
2:56
in this podcast.
2:56
But that album kind of helped me create that metal playlist.
2:59
So guys in the show notes, you can go to Spotify
3:01
and check out our Christian metal playlist.
3:03
But your band has basically been the soundtrack
3:06
for the last couple of months of my life
3:08
and stuff that's playing in the background
3:10
because I don't listen to music that often.
3:11
So anyway, just wanted to kind of give you a compliment
3:13
right from the beginning.
3:14
Just in case I [inaudible] you off at some point
3:16
during this conversation, I want you to go back
3:18
to how nicely it started.
3:19
But let's kind of go back to the beginning with you, Michael.
3:21
Like, what kind of music did you listen to growing up?
3:25
And I guess more specifically,
3:27
what were your metal influences?
3:29
So first off, I got to point out the barrier dead name drop.
3:35
That's awesome, man.
3:36
Well, what's funny is I was listening to the first track
3:40
off of the latest album.
3:41
And I thought the guy from barrier dead did a line or two.
3:46
It was almost like your voice changed a little bit.
3:48
And I got that dude's voice coming through.
3:50
Like, I'll try to look it up later and tell you
3:53
the exact point.
3:54
But I was like, do they know the guys from barrier dead?
3:56
Did he just like sneak in the studio real quick?
3:57
But anyway, that was the reason for the reference.
3:59
That's such an awesome compliment.
4:01
Yeah, I'm really stoked you said that.
4:05
It's funny.
4:06
I like looked up to those guys like so early on.
4:10
Like, I even know that that guy's name is Matt Russo.
4:12
I watched head bangers ball like all throughout high school.
4:17
And it was like baseball cards.
4:18
Like, I was just collecting all these bands and names.
4:21
And yeah, I think that like New England hardcore influence
4:27
definitely like, I like to kind of keep that around.
4:30
It's definitely one of our major influences.
4:33
But yeah, growing up, it was a lot of head bangers ball.
4:36
I think like a lot of metal fans,
4:40
the radio is, you know, probably the gateway like
4:43
kitchen, Lincoln Park or lit biscuit.
4:47
I grew up listening to Slipknot a lot.
4:48
My brother and I like, we bonded over them.
4:51
So yeah, I think mostly just being on the fringes of like
4:57
mainstream pop culture, trying to grab like whatever aggressive
5:02
guitar music that would come through was kind of the gateway
5:05
that would lead me down that, you know, heavier road.
5:08
I think a lot of guys can relate to.
5:10
So you listen to a lot of heavy music and I tell people all the time,
5:14
if I'm listening to music more than 50% of the time,
5:16
it's metal core hardcore, you know, death metal,
5:19
something really, really aggressive.
5:20
But were there other influences that you listened to?
5:22
Because I'll just be real honest with everybody
5:23
right before this interview.
5:24
I was rocking out to some old pair of more.
5:26
So I'm just going to be real, real easy about it.
5:28
My voice cracked as I said it.
5:29
So that tells you how much of a man I am.
5:31
But you know, were there other maybe softer influences
5:34
or other genres or was it basically the heavy stuff?
5:38
Maybe at an earlier age, it was probably a lot of heavy stuff.
5:40
But as I've gotten older, one thing that always kind of stuck out to me,
5:46
I think it was actually Tommy Lee from Motley Crue.
5:49
He was saying, you can't always be the heavy metal guy.
5:53
Like you, or else you're just not the heavy metal guy.
5:55
There has to be dynamic.
5:56
And I think I can, I don't think it's like,
5:59
I think it's like the perfect way of like describing like
6:03
a lot of like modern metal artists is like we almost never listen to metal.
6:09
Like I feel like you have to kind of branch out
6:12
and reach in different genres and just kind of reset
6:15
because it's just gotten so heavy or it's gotten so monotonous.
6:19
You know, you really got to like pull from other things.
6:21
So like me personally, recently it's actually funny.
6:25
I was listening to a men's health.
6:29
Like it was either a podcast or YouTube, but it was this guy recommending spa music.
6:34
And he's like a bodybuilder, like spa music.
6:37
That's different.
6:38
So lately it's just been like a lot of instrumental, like electronic music
6:43
that's just like soothing.
6:44
It just kind of helps me collect my thoughts and kind of get grounded again.
6:48
Because when it's just chaos and anger all the time, it's maybe not always the best outlet.
6:53
When I think it depends on the mood that you're in,
6:56
because I tell people all the time, it's like you can't turn on Hillsong
6:59
and then go and get, you know, a PR and squat.
7:02
Like it's just not going to happen for you.
7:03
You need something a little bit different.
7:05
Something that drives you a little bit more.
7:06
So you mentioned New England metal.
7:08
So is that like which bands, because whenever I think of New England metal,
7:12
I think of Barry, you're dead.
7:13
I think of the acacia strain.
7:14
That's one of my favorite bands really of all time.
7:17
Like unbelievably brutally heavy.
7:19
What were some of the other bands from that scene that you liked?
7:23
Oh, man, that's a, I was listening a lot of like earlier solid state bands.
7:29
Haced today.
7:29
It dies today.
7:33
I really love them.
7:34
That's probably like one of my biggest influences.
7:36
Sonaya Beach, that's a cool name drop.
7:40
Yeah, for sure.
7:42
Yeah, I remember that band having I haven't listened to them in a while.
7:44
Yeah, man, there's so many
7:48
being put on the spot kind of makes it hard.
7:52
It's funny because they have a whole playlist.
7:54
I mean, really.
7:57
Oh, the cream will rise to the top and that.
7:58
Yeah, the green there was as like dying.
8:02
There's of course, slipknot,
8:04
which is like a little bit of a left field band,
8:05
because I was more focused on like the scene bands at the time.
8:08
You know, like what was what was cool on my space.
8:11
Well, the cool thing is is like, you know, you'll find bands with my space or pure volumes
8:16
where I found a lot of the bands that I was into.
8:18
I don't even know if that's still a thing.
8:19
But August Burnes Red, that's where I discovered them because their first full-length album
8:23
was yeah, yeah, that was like number one on on pure volume.
8:28
I was like, who's this band?
8:29
They were all shaggy wearing aero-postel shirts and crap.
8:32
And I was like, this is kind of weird.
8:33
But yeah, no, I dug it from the very beginning.
8:35
So one thing for you, and we'll get more into kind of the whole Christian influence
8:38
in terms of your music, but did you feel because I felt this angst myself,
8:42
and maybe I was just unique, but you know, I would listen to living sacrifice
8:47
and extoll, and you know, these bands that were very, very much so Christian.
8:52
And then I would have this tremendous amount of guilt whenever I would listen to the Acacia
8:55
strain or slipknot or something that's harder and in some ways better, but way on the other side,
9:01
especially the Acacia strain, they went off a witchcraft cliff at some point and just started
9:06
losing their minds.
9:07
So did you kind of have that struggle as you were kind of growing up, even in your own personal
9:10
faith, listening to this music to get that influence and then it just not being from a Christian worldview?
9:17
So actually, I had the opposite upbringing.
9:19
So I didn't grow up Christian pretty much at all up until my late teen years.
9:24
So 99.9% of the music I was listening to was secular, just straight metal bands and I loved it,
9:36
and I still do. It wasn't until I discovered shadows are security by as dying or
9:45
some of the older like case of day records, Norma Jean.
9:47
My dad had taken me and my siblings to church and I got a church called Cedar Creek and they
9:57
they had like a coffee shop and there was a Norma Jean Redeemer album and he grabbed that.
10:04
He bought it and he was like playing in the car trying to like switch gears for me to kind of like
10:09
show me, you know, like there's cool bands that sound insane that aren't Christian or that aren't,
10:14
you know, like all doom and gloom, like there's like positive messages in this and I just thought
10:20
it was a stupid thing. I was like, I thought it was so funny. I was mocking those bands.
10:24
Like I was like, Rainbow's a sunshine, you know, like laughing and it's just so funny how it all
10:29
kind of like turned for me and now that's actually kind of what I'm trying to do for a living.
10:34
Absolutely. So I guess for you, when did you decide or figure out that you wanted to actually make
10:40
music as a career? I've been interested in it since I was like in junior high. I think it was just a
10:47
lot of bullying and feeling kind of like left out of the main, I don't know, narrative of my peers,
10:56
you know, like sports and stuff like that and just kind of being bullied and I think when I found
11:01
metal is just this like powerful, aggressive look at me kind of sound and I was like, wow,
11:07
like I want, I kind of want that that confidence and that power, I guess. And I think when I,
11:15
yeah, my earlier teen years, I was like, I think skateboarding is great and I love it and I wanted
11:20
to be a pro skater so bad and I was really good. But it wasn't until like I started a band with
11:26
my my brothers when I was about 14, 15. And I actually played my first show when I was 15.
11:32
And I was like, yeah, this is, I think I'm just going to dedicate my whole life to this and I'm
11:37
still doing it. So when you say your brothers, these are your actual brothers or just, you know,
11:42
really close friends? Yeah, I mean, my, my step brother, he was playing guitar in my first band
11:53
in my like, my dad and my stepmom had just been getting married. So it was like we were friends
11:58
that became brothers. And then my other brother, Jake, his, he was my best friend growing up and
12:06
his older brother would eventually marry my older sister. So we became family in a literal sense too.
12:14
So yeah, it's my brothers. Okay, that's, yeah, that's awesome. So one thing that I've talked
12:22
about on other podcasts is kind of being a area of disappointment for me because I'm similar to you
12:27
in that I didn't grow up in church. Kind of my middle teen years is where I started going to
12:30
church on my own, where I became a Christian and those different things. But as, as a 30 something
12:36
year old, right? Every few months, one of those bands that I loved at the time, you know, the lead
12:43
singer comes out as atheist or they said, Hey, we were never embodiment is one of those bands that
12:48
they're like, yeah, we were never really Christians. We were never really into that. But we knew if
12:52
we played bar shows, we'd get paid three, 400 bucks. And if we played church shows, we'd get paid
12:56
like 1000 bucks, 1200 bucks. And so we just kept doing these church shows and not cussing in our
13:00
music and not drinking around the pastor kind of a thing. So I guess for you, since you're kind of
13:06
in this Christian space and we'll get into kind of how you guys label yourselves as a band,
13:10
is that disappointing to you? Do you feel like that is something that's still common? Because I'm
13:15
unplugged from the scene, as it were, like basically like, you know, once every five years when say,
13:20
Oh, like goes on tour, like I'll catch them or something like that. But I don't really go to
13:24
shows unless it's August Burns red or, you know, something like that where I'm like, I really want
13:27
to go see this band. But is the scene kind of still like that where it's people that are just kind of
13:31
playing Christian? That's a tricky question. My experience has been mostly really, really good.
13:41
We try and market ourselves in the secular audience, you know, just playing with just your normal
13:48
secular bands, doing bar shows and die bars and, you know, normal venues across the country and
13:54
sometimes the world. But when we occasionally will come back to like Christian festivals,
14:00
a Christian fest, life fest, audio feed, we're always really excited and happy. Like the way
14:07
you're treated, I feel like is a lot more welcoming, I guess. And I feel like more, but there's such
14:16
a bigger democrat at these Christian festivals just because everybody is kind of looking for
14:22
the same messages maybe and they're wanting to support you. So I feel like it's kind of our job
14:28
to try and show something different when we enter those, you know, those environments. Mostly our
14:36
mission would be to reach like the unchurched or trying to show Christianity and maybe more of
14:46
an eye level grounded way to hopefully kind of reach a, you know, a non-Christian audience and
14:53
to try and build that bridge up. I think we meet a lot of people on the road that, you know,
14:58
younger kids perhaps or maybe older guys that grew up in maybe a toxic Christian environment
15:04
and we want to kind of hopefully build that bridge a little bit with like, hey man, we're
15:09
normal, you know, we're dudes just like you man, if you're drinking a beer or whatever, like we're
15:13
we're here with you man, you know, like we're cool. Like it's not like a, a lot of people maybe have
15:18
been judged or pushed to the fringes of, you know, that church maybe like you were mentioning
15:24
and it's kind of like facilitating that. But also like hopefully, like with our new record,
15:31
I almost survived is sharing a message that I think anybody can digest.
15:34
Yeah, that makes sense. And I definitely see that within your music. And you have to be kind
15:40
of aware of your audience, because I remember this was back in the day when POD, when the
15:45
satellites album had just came out and this is, you know, it came out on 9/11, which is like,
15:49
of course, you know, that big album would come out on such a crazy day. But then they went on
15:53
tour with corn and I was like, no, no, you're the Christian people, you can't go with all those
15:58
heathens and all that, even though I did listen to corn again, you know, I'm a walking contradiction
16:01
in that way. But when you say we like as a band, when you're talking about the band, you know,
16:06
we want to do this, you know, we want to have this message. So would it be fair for me to say that
16:11
all the members, all four members of convictions are disciples of Jesus, you know, Christians,
16:16
Bible believing Christians. And the reason I asked that is because it goes back to what I'm
16:20
saying with some of those other bands is you would have an in an outright Christian. I think of
16:26
Micah canard with, you know, oh, sleeper, you know, seemingly a very devout and outwardly Christian man.
16:31
None of the other guys in the band claim that worldview publicly. And even, I guess, the the
16:37
guitarist, the guitarist and the clean vocalist, you know, he's vehemently atheist in kind of the
16:41
things that he does. And that's kind of the interesting dichotomy of that band. So are all the members
16:46
of convictions, Christians? Yes. Yeah. Yeah, we all have the same beliefs and we're pretty
16:56
upfront about it. I got a lot of people now, like it's, it's kind of funny. They're like,
17:01
so like, are you, are you a Christian band or are you Christians in a band? And I'm like,
17:05
come on, man, like we're Christian, man. Like, of course, like, I don't know, like, it's kind of a
17:10
funny, I feel like people want to like walk that, you know, that line, like really funny. But it's
17:15
like, if you're, if you have Christian messages in your music, you might say Jesus or God or like
17:20
share a scripture, like people are going to find out and they're going to want to know like what you're
17:25
all about. So like with us and Christianity, our faith being such a big thing, it's like, well,
17:31
yeah, of course, like we're not going to not like try and hide that, you know, like, it's just
17:35
pointless. So yeah, like we just they were Christian men and we're Christian men too.
17:39
Yeah, I think that's really funny. Whenever you were talking through that, I immediately thought
17:44
of LaCray. So when LaCray started getting really big, you know, he started trying to distance himself
17:48
from the Christian label, not from Christ, necessarily, even though he kind of did go off the woke
17:52
deep in there for a little bit. But he just basically was like, Hey, you know, I'm a rapper who's a
17:57
Christian, as opposed to saying I'm a Christian rapper. And then he started getting invited to,
18:01
you know, different parties and he started going on the BET awards and he started doing some different
18:04
things almost when he dropped that label. So I don't want to imbue motive on him as to why he
18:10
did that. But I do think it is interesting that there are a lot of bands that just they don't know
18:14
which side to be on whenever I was interviewing Matt Greiner with August Burns Red. He kind of
18:18
took us through, you know, this come to Jesus moment, no pun intended, where the band had to
18:23
decide like, are we a band? Is this our career? Like we're just going to try to be the biggest
18:27
band and support ourselves and our families? Or are we a Christian band? Are we spreading the gospel?
18:31
And you know, they kind of had to make that decision. So guys check out my interview with
18:34
Matt Greiner to get the answer to that. How about that for a sec way? But let's go and get back
18:38
into convictions. So let's just start with, you know, give us the spark note version of how the band
18:44
came together. And then why did you choose the name convictions? Okay. So the band, I want to say
18:49
it was formed around 2010, 11. It was almost a completely different lineup with the exception of
18:55
Zach on drums and Josh our guitar player. When they formed, the idea was to make a
19:02
really aggressive, straight, straight up Christian hardcore band. But the members of the band were
19:11
conflicted because they felt they were not worthy to try and share this, you know, glorious message
19:18
when they're, you know, like having their own sins and struggles and personal obstacles that
19:23
they're facing. So it all just kind of came to the idea that, Hey guys, let's just write about our
19:30
convictions. And that was like the pun that sparked the name. And that's kind of been the, I guess,
19:39
cornerstone of what we do, we try and just tell it like it is trying to be as transparent as we can
19:44
with our like vulnerabilities and things like that and struggles. And I think that having that
19:51
realness, or at least attempting to, makes like the message in our faith way more real, I think,
20:00
because a lot of people, their idea of like Christian music is just sunshine and daisies.
20:06
And it's so hard to relate to that, especially for like a younger audience, maybe, or a secular
20:11
audience or like it's not really like that, you know, you don't understand my situation.
20:14
Sure, God's good. And his ideals or message or whatever is great. But that's just not where I'm at,
20:21
you know, and I think our goal is to kind of show that grit and that, you know, that in the trenches
20:29
atmosphere that a lot of people go through and be like, look, this is real life. Like here we are.
20:33
So let's try and talk about some of these difficult things and hopefully people can find
20:37
the relatability and something real there. That's that's the biggest goal, I think.
20:45
Well, and even from your website, I pulled a quote from it. It's that we feel that just
20:49
because you're our Christian doesn't mean you are exempt from the struggles of this world. And so,
20:54
but even still, like even even in the kind of the metal world where things do tend to be a little
20:59
bit more ethereal, a little bit more dark. Why write music, you know, specifically lyrically,
21:05
and I don't know if you're the only one that writes lyrics or if the whole band doesn't,
21:07
I don't really know how that works. So maybe you can tell us that as well. But why write about
21:10
things that are that real? Why not keep things more vague and in kind of the safer areas?
21:16
That's tricky. I think with our bandwagon, we just can't do that. We've, I think we've tried a
21:23
little bit here and there, or at least kept it a little more broad to try and maybe reach a,
21:29
you know, that wider audience. And it's tough. Like I want to, and there's times like where
21:36
it can be appropriate, but I found the most success with just being super on the nose sometimes or
21:45
like really specific. So that was kind of the concept of our new record was I'm just going to tell
21:53
real stories and try and keep it true to the the source material as I can. And each song will have
22:00
its own specific event and struggle. And hopefully someone that relates to that can grab onto that
22:07
and run with it, or maybe someone can see it and be like, wow, that's inspiring. Like it's inspired
22:13
us. So I feel like convictions has found that they're our most success with being specific and on
22:22
a, you know, on that track versus broad, broad strokes songwriting. I certainly appreciate that
22:29
as well. And you know, in episode 176 of our podcast, we talked about how, you know, contemporary
22:33
worship music is typically for women and effeminate men. And a lot of that is because, you know,
22:38
the lovey dovey love song over and over and over singing to Jesus, like he's your boyfriend,
22:43
that only gets you so far. And you know, when people are struggling with real world issues,
22:48
whether it's things being done to them, things that they've done, or things that are happening to
22:52
the people that they love around them, it can't always be those rainbows and sunshine. Like you
22:56
can't just turn on Bethel. And it's like, oh, I feel better. Like that doesn't always work for a
23:00
lot of people like for me. I had some frustration this morning. So I took it out of myself in my
23:04
garage gym, right? I, you know, I laid down on the ground afterwards. I had a nice little sweat
23:08
angel right there. I wasn't listening to cutesy wootsie whistling music, right? It was something
23:12
that I just needed something a little bit different. But to even kind of back up categorically, because
23:16
I know not everybody understands the categories of metal music. So I personally would consider
23:20
y'all metal core. But I mean, I just want you to tell me if you had to kind of label your band to
23:25
kind of give the audience a better idea, you know, define what you are, because pretty much
23:29
everyone calls you screamo, if you have screaming lyrics, and it's like, you don't know what that
23:33
means. Like, come on, like you're driving me insane. So what would you categorize the band as?
23:37
That's so funny. That happens like almost every day at work. And because of the pandemic, I've
23:45
been there like basically full time. And I'm, I'm always like trying to pitch our music to like,
23:50
my co-workers. And they're like, Oh, so it's screamo. And I'm like, no, oh gosh,
23:55
drives me insane. It's like, look, look, I'm not drying my my tears with my bangs as I'm clearing
24:02
off my eyeliner. Like that that gives you a better idea what screamo is. But yeah, I'm right
24:06
there with you. Yeah, I just say metal core. If someone's familiar with, you know, the genres.
24:11
Yeah, I mean, like we have other influences, death core and hardcore. But I guess if you're
24:19
really knowledgeable of the scene, it's probably just metal core. Okay. And I would say that you've
24:24
you've given yourselves an additional label. And this was the label from your website that
24:29
really made me reach out to you guys because I was like, okay, I got to talk to these folks.
24:32
But you kind of have labeled yourself aggressive worship. Yeah. Okay. So I know what I mean by that
24:38
because I've told people that that's what I want. And I can't remember the name of the band. I'll
24:42
have to look it up maybe while you're giving your next next answer. But I think it was the
24:47
lead singer of Sleeping Giant. He's like doing some sort of like a worship thing now. Hang on,
24:53
I'm just going to do it live. What is the name of this? Holy name. Okay. And so that's,
24:58
it's kind of heavy and still kind of churchy at the same time. But you know, when you guys say
25:02
that you're aggressive worship music, what do you mean by that? So aggressive worship was kind of
25:08
like the moniker convictions coined like right from the beginning. It's a
25:16
to me, it's kind of a literal definition. I think it's like when we're performing,
25:21
to me, you know, like when you're performing your music and your head banging, you have your
25:28
the way you move and you got these like little routines. It's kind of like the detachment of
25:35
that. And like for me, when I'm performing, it's like abandoning the whole like, let's look cool.
25:42
And let's, you know, try and put on a show. It's abandoning that. And then literally physically
25:48
worshiping God. So it's like an aggressive worship. But, you know, it's also the sound and the music.
25:55
It's the way you feel. It's maybe the, you know, your outlet. I think it describes what we do
26:02
perfectly. And it, yeah, that's something we've stuck, stuck with since they created it.
26:07
And yeah, I think it's, I think it's awesome. So do you feel like that has maybe it's obviously
26:13
stuck with convictions? But do you feel like that has maybe spread out into other bands that have
26:18
the same, you know, forgive the pun convictions as you guys, you know, maybe they have the same
26:22
worldview as you. Are they kind of bringing on this aggressive worship moniker? Do you feel like
26:26
that's going to explode and blow up at some point? Because me personally, I would love to see that.
26:30
But what are you seeing from your end? I know it's a little bit hard with, with COVID, but you know,
26:34
just kind of give me an idea what you're seeing. Yeah, there's, I think there's definitely a,
26:38
an underground movement, if you will, there's Kingdom Corps, which I give them a little plug.
26:47
Those guys are awesome. And there's like, I Christian Rock. There's, yeah, there's like all the,
26:53
you know, these underground Christian hardcore bands and outlets. I think it's really cool.
27:01
I think aggressive worship was just kind of like convictions contribute, you know, like we're,
27:06
that's how that's where we fit in on that. But I think it's just kind of a, a slogan or a moniker
27:13
that we stand by. And, you know, I think a lot of, a lot of cool bands have their own version of
27:19
that. But I think the, at its core, I think we're all kind of doing the same thing, like sleeping giant.
27:25
They, I think it's like Kingdom over everything or spirit core, you know, like there's that kind of
27:31
similar, you know, similar message. I think it's becoming more popular.
27:38
Okay. So for you guys, well, maybe just you specifically, I've talked about this a lot on
27:45
this podcast. I've done entire episodes on it, but worship music just doesn't have the impact on me
27:50
that it has on other people. And part of that is wiring. You like the music you like, like,
27:54
why do you like jazz? I don't know. Why do you like metal? I don't know. Like you just like what you
27:57
like, right? But I just, whenever I'm singing that, it just doesn't feel like it's fitting,
28:04
especially the modern stuff, right? The super motive, we're going to do the chorus 17 times in a row.
28:10
Everything has a synthesizer on it. Like that, that type of thing, that's how I feel. And I felt
28:15
that way. And I kept that inside because I was shamed by it, right? You know, a lot of people are just,
28:20
you know, this one guy, you know, reach out to me or he basically told me he's like, Kyle, you know,
28:24
if you don't like worship music, you're probably not saved. And he was serious because he was a
28:28
worship pastor at a church. And I was just like, you know, what the hell do you do with that? And like,
28:33
you're trying to figure out how to be a Christian and you're listening to this music. You're like,
28:37
this music sucks. Is this what it's going to be like in heaven? I'm just going to have to listen
28:41
to this over and over. I can't take it. I'll go to wherever is other than here. But but for you,
28:46
do you have those feelings or have you had those feelings when listening to worship music? Because
28:50
as you admitted, you had almost 20 years of kind of secular music that kind of just marinated you,
28:56
you know, whenever you get into the worship space, like, what is that? How do you feel about that?
29:00
Yeah, I, I loved your, I think it's, it might just be your intro now. I listened to the link you
29:07
sent me yesterday. Yeah, I was driving and I was listening and I was like, wow, that is me to a T.
29:14
Like, I, I don't know what it is. I'm worshiped music. But like, like you said, maybe it's just
29:19
like the way I've been brought up and how long I've been in this secular realm. But it just doesn't,
29:25
just doesn't do it for me. I get so, I mean, there's definitely songs and moments that I'll have,
29:31
of course, especially if it's a powerful message, you know, maybe someone speaking over
29:37
some type of instrumental music. It can definitely move me for sure. And I, and I understand it. But
29:45
like you said, like Hillsong and all these artists that are so popular, I just don't know about
29:52
there's festivals we've done when I'm like, who skill it? And they're like, what? Like, what?
29:57
You're like, and I'm like, I just don't know, man. Like, I just not there. And it doesn't have
30:02
that impact on me. I must have missed the, missed the train on that. But I have a funny comment
30:09
that's, well, I think it was actually last night I was showing my brother there's this TikTok of this
30:14
worship pastor. And he's trying to like break the mold and get out of the standard
30:20
cues and worship music. So he starts playing and he's, he was told not to he starts playing the
30:26
Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park? Yeah, I'm song. It brought me to tears. I was so funny. I was so
30:32
dead. I think yeah, it's, I think that kind of describes some of my relationships with worship
30:41
music. It just, it's, I don't know. I want to like it. And I, and I definitely can feel it, but it's
30:47
my like least favorite part of church. Like I'm like, just get to the message. This is where I,
30:52
I connect with and I can kind of immerse myself. Sometimes the worship music is, it can be a bit
30:57
jarring or distracting for me. It's just give me, you know, just give me some hardcore as with
31:03
August Prince Red or something. And I'm like, there I am. Right. Well, no, it's funny you said
31:07
that you want to like it. I do as well because I hate that every Sunday for approximately 20
31:13
minutes I sit there and I'm like, Oh, no, please be over with, please get done. Yeah. And you know,
31:19
and I don't want to be judgmental either because I'm not a musician, but you know, it's the 17
31:23
people on stage. All of them have microphones, but only five of them are turned on. It's like,
31:28
you're not singing a 17 part harmony. Why are all those microphones up there? But I think that
31:33
it's conversations like this. And you know, I'm still kind of fleshing out my philosophy on this
31:37
area that is helping a lot of men because one thing that I found out when, you know, in talking
31:42
about this, every time I talk about it, I will get DMs and emails from people that are like,
31:46
dude, you're describing me exactly. I thought I was crazy. I thought I wasn't saved. And you know,
31:50
maybe we're the ones that are in the wrong here, but I don't really get the sense that it is that
31:54
way. But there is a way where you can kind of be a [inaudible] about it, where if you're overly like
31:58
judgmental, like, this is stupid. I don't want to come here. You know, where's the breakdown? Like,
32:03
don't be that person. These are just musicians that are donating their time. Like it is of
32:07
no consequence to demean these people. But it's music that's not going to speak to everybody.
32:13
No, yeah, I have a lot of back and forth with it too. Like, like I said, sometimes I am super moved.
32:19
Maybe the point of like wanting to cry, it just depends on, you know, if the Holy Spirit is present
32:24
and I'm engaged, if it's not, you know, nine a.m. and I'm getting off a third shift or something.
32:30
But yeah, it just depends. I definitely be open heart for it or I try to. And sometimes it is,
32:40
and sometimes it isn't just because of that, maybe that disconnect from my upbringing. But
32:46
I think the Holy Spirit can speak in so many different ways. Like I, one of my favorite artists
32:51
is an electronic instrumental band called Tycho. And I, from everything I know, they're not a Christian
32:59
band, but it's something about that music really speaks to me spiritually. And I'm able to like,
33:04
pray or have my moment with God and maybe it's in the background and it only enhances it.
33:09
And then maybe that wasn't the intent of the artist, but that's just how I think God is
33:14
translating that music to me. And you can worship in so many, so many ways, I think,
33:19
I think that gets overlooked a lot, you know, like if you're a carpenter, you know,
33:24
the way you're working with the wood and you're, and you're molding it, like that is worship,
33:28
you know, or maybe you're in a band and you're doing a breakdown and you're sweating and you're
33:32
about to crack the neck of your guitar because you're just so into it, that's worship too. You know,
33:37
like it just, it doesn't have to be, like you said, a 20-part harmony with 16 mics turned off,
33:44
you know, like maybe, I don't know, I think if you have the heart open to it, I think that's
33:48
enough for God. Right. And I think, I think you're making a great point because people think of
33:53
worship as a categorical thing, right? This is what worship is and this is all that worship can be
33:58
kind of a thing. And so I remember, and I'm going back to POD, which is, you know, not the band that
34:03
I've listened to the most, but that was a band like the fundamental elements of Southtown. That
34:07
was like one of the first Christian albums that I owned from back in the day. I still love that
34:12
album. I listened to it here recently, but I remember seeing them live in concert for the first time,
34:16
you know, in my mid 20s. And like, I've never really felt the need to put my hands up and worship at
34:22
like, you know, a church camp or kind of like a church service. But like that time, like I literally
34:27
close my eyes and put my hands up in the sky. And I was like, I was worshiping God at that moment.
34:31
I feel like I've worshiped God in Moshpitz before with bands like, you know, the, you know, at the end
34:37
of O sleeper shows, when when they're doing, you know, kind of their closing song and different
34:42
things like that, like something comes over me when for today, when when a Devastator comes on,
34:48
like I literally turned to my buddy and I said, I'm not responsible for what I'm about to do if
34:52
they play Devastator. And then they hit the intro for Devastator. I was like, watch out. So it's just
34:56
it's something that's a little bit different. But I think it's helpful for people to know that
35:00
worship is not this one thing in this one category for this certain group of people that dress a
35:04
certain way. I mean, am I crazy? No, I think you're you're opening the door to a really important
35:09
conversation that we find ourselves and convictions having a lot, which is a Christian culture.
35:16
There's new people that'll come to like church or, you know, Christian clicks and they'll feel
35:28
excluded. Like they're not a part of the conversation because you're not doing Christianity the way
35:34
that maybe they are. And maybe that's a Western Christian culture thing. But like you said, like
35:41
with the worship and stuff, like there's only one way to do it. And if you're not doing it the way
35:46
that I do in my church, then you might need to be saved. And it's like, no, like maybe we're
35:52
playing for the same team, but I'm just, you know, I'm in the outfield. And you know, you know what
35:58
I mean? Like you see what I'm getting at? Like it's like, I think that there's a lot of toxic
36:06
experiences that come with that. I think when your heart is on fire for God and you're worshiping and
36:14
you're the way that you're connecting with God, if it's, you know, sound, then I think I don't think
36:22
there's really anything wrong with that. You know, I think that shouldn't be shamed so often, I think.
36:26
Yeah, I certainly agree with that. You did mention this a little bit, but I'm kind of interested to
36:31
know what COVID did to the band because I know a lot of bands were gearing up like they normally
36:36
gear up for spring tours and summer tours. And I know that's where a lot of you guys make your
36:40
money and you make it off merch and, you know, it pushes album sales and streams and things like
36:44
that. So, you know, from the outside looking in, it's like, I think you release an album in 18.
36:49
And then, you know, you release this album, the shorter album this year in 2021. So
36:54
was that time where y'all just kind of went into the lab and I know y'all live in different places. So
36:58
we're just riding a bunch of music and then combining it where you just rehearsing like,
37:01
what was 2020 like for you guys? All the above. It was definitely a big turning point for our band
37:08
because after we put out our record hook for the broken, we decided to leave our label that we were
37:15
on at the time and we ended up losing John, our former bass player and singer. So it was a really
37:23
difficult moment for us because it was like either sink or swim and going into the lab, like you
37:30
mentioned, was kind of a necessity. We had to reevaluate what we're doing and why we're doing it and what
37:36
we should sound like. And that stuff wasn't overnight. It took a long time. We ended up working with a
37:42
new producer and put out a single called Hurricane. We had a bass player who was singing for us that
37:48
was filling in. Great guy. We got close with him. He ended up sharing some of his testimony and
37:54
experience with losing his mother and some substance abuse with pills and things like that. And it
38:02
was so inspiring to me and the guys. So we started writing a song for it. And that kind of sparked
38:08
this idea where I'm going to go out and find people that we've met that have inspired us with
38:16
their stories and to start interviewing them and writing about it. And so all throughout COVID,
38:23
I had way more time than I anticipated to sit down with these guys and start asking questions and
38:30
dissecting their experience and writing songs on it. So that was a blessing in disguise, I think,
38:38
but still it was really difficult because we all live in different states and we're sending demos
38:44
through FaceTime and text messages. And yeah, it was quite an ordeal. But I think the biggest
38:51
takeaway in blessing was having the time. Well, I think the one thing that's interesting for me
38:56
having just found the band and that's the thing that I always hate is when you find a band that's
39:00
already like three, four albums deep and you found the latest album, you're not coming along with them,
39:05
right? Because like with Zayo, my favorite band ever, I was there for basically the beginning,
39:09
right? The beginning of the Dan Way and era. And so I've been able to kind of, you know,
39:13
feel that band out as they've moved and transitioned. But for my money, the latest album is my favorite.
39:19
And I think it's because of the depth, not only the music's more interesting to me, for some reason,
39:25
like it seems more complicated, like there's more things going on. So like whenever you're listening
39:30
to it on repeat, like you're pulling out different things. But also one thing that I have a bad habit
39:35
of is I don't really follow along with the lyrics. I'm more, you know, more so sorry to the vocalist
39:39
I'm talking to, but I'm like more so into the drums and guitars and whatever. But then with this
39:43
album, for whatever reason, I felt the need to stop and really take in the lyrics. And my favorite
39:47
song off of that album is The Price of Grace. And whenever I listened to, and it was just because
39:52
of it musically. And then I looked at the lyrics, I was like, something is going on here. Like,
39:56
something happened. And this is a kind of a deeper thing. And I did a little bit of digging. But I
40:01
do want you to kind of tell our audience about this song, because it takes on the very serious
40:06
subject of suicide, a subject that we've covered here on this podcast. But it does have an interesting
40:11
backstory, The Price of Grace song. So how about you give it to us? Yeah. So The Price of Grace
40:17
is written through the eyes of a good fan and now a friend of ours. His name is CJ. CJ had a
40:27
buddy that he's introducing to Metal. So he's taken him to shows named Travis. So CJ and Travis
40:34
would come and they'd see us all over the country. They seen us in like New York, Florida, Texas,
40:40
like they were doing these road trips to see us. And we, we ended up like becoming pretty cool with
40:46
these guys. They're really cool. And yeah, it's just, it's pretty challenging because like we were
40:56
close to these guys. I can still like see his face like everything is like still present. We had a
41:01
personal connection with these guys. But Travis, he was new to Metal. And I remember he'd always
41:10
come with his convictions hat. Like he was like, like you don't have to do that. You know, it was
41:15
like, he was just like there for support. He's a really cool guy. But he's really quiet and really
41:22
reserved. And I don't know, like thinking about in hindsight, like you can kind of see like early
41:29
signs that maybe this guy had some struggles and he was just kind of keeping to himself. Maybe he
41:34
felt like he couldn't speak what was on his heart or some of the struggles he was going through.
41:40
But later down the road, CJ, he called me between tours and he had told me that Travis actually
41:48
took his life. And for me, I haven't experienced suicide with my like close family members or my
41:57
circle of friends. And hearing about that, it kind of like, it shook me like I was like kind of
42:05
nominated on a react. It was just this big heavy weight that just got put on. And then we had to
42:10
go right back on the road. And one thing with convictions is we always try and share an important
42:16
message or current event. Like on stage halfway through our set, we'll just kind of like talk
42:23
and share something. And so I started telling the story about Travis and how he maybe couldn't as
42:29
like a, you know, strong, tall, built, tough guy, he couldn't share his heart, perhaps. And maybe that
42:40
led to, you know, him hurting himself. So I kind of wanted to speak out on that. And there were so
42:48
many guys and girls that would come up to us after the show and share their experience with
42:53
suicide and how they may have felt like they also couldn't share their feelings and maybe
42:58
it's toxic masculinity or maybe it's they're upbringing or what have you. But it was a really
43:04
therapeutic thing. And I think that kind of sparked the thought of writing a song on it. And CJ,
43:12
he was super cool about us doing that. So I interviewed him throughout COVID, as I mentioned
43:17
earlier. And he allowed me to ask him some very sensitive questions and he was very open to it.
43:23
So yeah, the price of grace is I try to tell it in a, I try to tell CJ story,
43:33
like firsthand account chronologically. So it starts off with him and his dorm.
43:38
There's a lyric, it says circles through circles and spiraling around the room. This phone call
43:42
him in denial, lost in the static of the silence of your sounds. That's supposed to be him receiving
43:48
the phone call that Travis had taken his life. And then there's this downward spiral CJ goes
43:54
through with these, as he's handling the five stages of grief. So I kind of tried to chronologically
43:59
go through each of the five stages of grief and use his real life moments to kind of explain his
44:09
journey through that. And it was really a unique experience because we actually were able to have
44:14
a real voicemail that CJ has had sent us just kind of explaining what he was going through and how
44:22
he's feeling and what he would, what he really wanted to share with Travis after he got the news.
44:28
So it's been a really interesting journey after we had put this song out because there's just
44:35
been so many people that have reached out to us and shared their experiences and how this song
44:39
has affected them. And us as artists, it's hard to react to that. What do you say? When someone
44:51
shares something so deep and personal, I think it's more about listening and trying to understand
44:57
and have empathy. And if you can be a shoulder to those who want to open up, and that kind of goes
45:04
all the way back to what I was saying earlier about how people may feel like they can't share
45:10
what they're struggling with. So opening that conversation I think is the best thing that we
45:15
could have done. Yeah, and I just got to tell you, it's whenever you go into these serious areas
45:20
where you can have the biggest impact because when you cover things with your music or maybe when I
45:24
cover things on my show, it's extending that olive branch or opening up that door for somebody to
45:29
reach back out. Some of the emails that I get, Michael, are like, what do I do with this? Just a
45:34
couple of days ago, this guy basically said he was in such a dark place. You know, he's thinking
45:39
about hurting himself, you know, it's similar to the situation that you were in. But he's listening
45:43
to my show and it's helping him get through. And I'm like, what? Like, I can't even like,
45:47
I'm not even addressing his issue directly, but you're just giving somebody an outlet. And that
45:52
doesn't make you special, but it does give you a special amount of responsibility that you need
45:56
to give to whatever community you're in. So I'm in the, you know, podcasting Christian men's space,
46:01
you're in the music space. And it's like, that's your responsibility as an artist, because most of
46:05
us are not creating things that are going to be echoing hundreds and hundreds of years from now,
46:09
right? I'm not sure that any one hundreds of years from now is going to be listening to this
46:12
conversation. I hope so. But you do the most with the impact that you have. And you try to increase
46:19
that level of impact. But, you know, here I go preaching again, I want to kind of get back to
46:23
the stuff with you guys. But I just wanted to kind of let you know, I'm so glad that y'all are doing
46:27
that. I think that's a very, very important thing that y'all have chosen to do. And I would encourage
46:30
you to continue doing it. But now I'm going to make you pick your favorite kid and people hate
46:35
doing that. But I love it because I like making people uncomfortable. So let's just say God's
46:41
talking to you, he's about to snap his fingers. And he says, you can leave the world one convictions
46:46
album. What is the album that you're leaving the world? And number two, you get to leave, you know,
46:52
let's say God gives you six months with that album, but then he's going to go down to one song.
46:56
All right, you have to leave one song for humanity. What is your favorite album? What's your favorite
47:01
song that you have made? Oh, okay. I mean, I'm going to probably stick with I won't survive.
47:09
I think just because it reaches such a wide audience. And I think it's going to have a really big impact.
47:15
I've seen what it's done already. That would probably be that probably be it. And I really
47:25
like the price of grace. I feel like that's probably like my most, I think, I don't know,
47:30
one of my strongest works I've been a part of. Yeah, I think that one stands out. Other than that,
47:39
I would say from our record, I will become. And then this song I will become that's really up there.
47:47
But then there's also brothers blood because that's close to home. So to answer your question,
47:52
if it's like right here right now, I probably say I won't survive the price of grace.
47:56
Okay, sounds good. Well, you can't change your mind now. It's already done. We're going to put
48:01
this out there. So unfortunately for you. Now, one thing that I felt like was interesting
48:04
when I was clicking through y'all's website is I was kind of going through the merch. And I saw a
48:09
couple of T shirts that had the upside down cross on it. Now, in the metal space, when you see the
48:15
upside down cross, you're assuming that you're going to see a pentagram somewhere, that you're
48:18
going to see a behemoth, you know, Satan depicted as a winged goat and the horns and the whole nine.
48:23
But obviously knowing about your band and knowing about your worldview, I thought it was an interesting
48:28
choice to use that and it almost feels like from an outside perspective that you're reclaiming that
48:34
symbol. Because again, I've seen that symbol over and over and over and it's usually being
48:38
represented by somebody that's trying to give off, you know, a demonic type of a worldview because
48:42
it's like, no, I'll screw the cross for and turn it upside down. But as any Bible believing Christian
48:47
knows, you know, the Apostle Paul that was not worthy, he felt unworthy of being crucified in the
48:51
same way as his savior. And so he wanted to be crucified upside down. But it has been co-opted by
48:56
kind of the, the satanic community, if there is such a thing. So that was an interesting choice. So
49:01
kind of walk me through the choice to do that as a design. Yeah, I think, I mean, I think you answered
49:07
it. That reclaiming of the symbol was, I think, definitely a motive. Because yeah, we've seen
49:16
lots of bands and stuff like that. No, we're not knocking other bands. Like, there's really good
49:21
bands out there that don't agree with what we were saying. But the, I think the overall goal was to
49:29
open, open conversation. And it's been really effective. We've had a lot of people,
49:36
something that stuck out to me are so simple. But like a kid wearing that shirt and a Wendy's
49:42
and an old lady being like, what are you doing? Like, that's the devil blah blah blah. And he's
49:47
like, actually, don't judge a book by his cover. I'm going to like share the gospel with you. And
49:51
then it's just like this crazy moment. We've heard a lot of stories like that. And that's really cool.
49:57
And I think that's probably the biggest goal. You know, not judging a book by his cover,
50:02
taking the symbol back. But it was also kind of a nod to our EP that we had released at the time
50:10
called Unworthy. So this is the whole idea of feeling unworthy of the salvation that Jesus gave,
50:18
you know, on the cross. So that was, I think, just like where we're at and that time and space
50:25
and the impact that it's had is, I think, been the biggest reason why we kept that going for so long.
50:33
But yeah, there's definitely a lot of good that's come out of it. And there's a lot of really funny
50:41
realizations that I think some Christian groups have had. Because we've we've brought in that
50:46
shirt and stuff to like a lot of these festivals. And there's been like the parents that have come
50:50
up to us and be like, what are these guys doing here? I think you need to go. And like, what is
50:55
there's screaming and there's the symbol and all that. And we're like, why don't you look at the
51:00
lyrics? Or why don't you talk to us, you know, instead of just passing judgment? And it's, uh,
51:03
it's kind of a, I think it's a good thing. Well, I think it's good also to kind of to play into
51:10
those things, but use it for good because I think of impending doom. I don't know if they still do
51:14
this, but they had the repentagram, right? It was an adjusted pentagram, but then even Oh,
51:18
sleeper, I think it's four time I'm missing them on the show. But they did like the pentagram with
51:21
the horns missing, which kind of went along with their song, The Finisher and, you know,
51:25
kind of all the things about the, you know, Satan getting his horns cut off by, by God, like,
51:29
and that's kind of a big deal. But anyway, that that's all really, really good stuff. I love the
51:33
designs on y'all's t-shirts. I'll make sure that the link is in the show notes. So guys can check
51:36
it out. But as we bring this episode to a close, I'm going to do a segment with you that I love that
51:40
not everybody loves, uh, because I have to put you on the spot again and I'm going to do it over and
51:44
over. It's called, what would you say to someone that said? So I'm going to say that what would you
51:49
say to someone that said? And then I'm going to fill in the blank with just some random topic. But
51:54
here's the deal. You got 30 seconds or less to give me your answer. Okay, this is lightning round.
51:59
So we're not going to kind of flesh it out or see what we can do to figure it out. It is bare
52:03
bones, meat potatoes. I know I can already feel you uncomfortable. You're uncomfortable right now.
52:08
And I love it. I love doing that because I got the big microphone. That's how this goes. So are
52:12
you up for it? What would you say to someone that's it? Yeah, uh, full disclosure. I just woke up 30
52:18
minutes ago. Well, an hour ago at this point. So even better, even better than we're going to get
52:22
your honest tired answers. This is great for me. Okay, I'm just telling you, this is going to be
52:26
good. All right. So let's launch into the first one. We'll get you going. What would you say to someone
52:30
that said, there is no way to make metal Christian. It's inherently demonic. You don't know what you're
52:38
talking about. You gotta give me a little bit more. You got 30 seconds here. I know that that is fast,
52:45
but you got 30 seconds. Just don't go on for two minutes. Okay, you don't know what you're talking
52:49
about. There's amazing things that I've been done with music. It's not there's no demons,
52:57
demonic cords or anything like that. I think you're thinking old way of thinking fair enough. All
53:03
right. Next one here. What would you say to someone that said, how can there be a God that watches
53:08
their children burn? I think that's actually a lyric from when he all songs. That's gonna be a
53:13
long answer. That's against the rules against the rules. You got 25 seconds. I think
53:21
man cannot understand the complexity of God.
53:26
There's a there's a purpose even if we can't see it. There you go. All right. Next question here.
53:35
What would you say to someone that said, I just can't do the screaming vocals in metal music?
53:41
I think my mom completely understands where you're coming from.
53:44
Hey, we're all into what we're into. Sometimes it just agrees with your palate. All right. Here
53:50
we go. We're about halfway through. What would you say to someone that said you're going to regret
53:54
getting all those tattoos? You're probably right. No, you're probably right. Hey, I don't see any
54:03
on your face yet, which that's kind of like a new mumble wrap thing. So, you know, we can still
54:08
care. We can still cover him up. All right. Here we go. What would you say to someone that said,
54:11
the road presents too much temptation for anyone to overcome?
54:15
No. In fact, I think being on the road will definitely open you up spiritually. It has for me.
54:26
Seeing just how good people are is one of the most spiritual eye-opening things I never expected.
54:34
People are way night. People are inherently good more often than you think.
54:40
All right. Very good. Few more left. What would you say to someone that said, I want to start a
54:45
metal band? Prepare to be broke, sacrifice a lot, and to be physically sore all the time.
54:56
There you go. Nothing but positives. All right. Two more. What would you say to someone that said,
55:01
I don't like contemporary worship music? Me too. No. It's okay. There's a lot. There's a lot more
55:11
genres and sounds and bands that you might like. All right. Last question of the day,
55:17
what would you say to someone that said, if you don't like contemporary worship music,
55:21
you're not saved? Nope. I don't agree with that. Hopefully, that person expands their horizons a
55:31
bit. That would be the hope for everybody that would say such a thing. But hey, Michael, we went
55:36
into a lot of detail in a lot of different areas. So I really appreciate your time. But that is all
55:40
for me. Is there anything else you want to get off your chest? Just show my gratitude. Thank you
55:46
for having me and thank you for listening and supporting an amazing podcast like this. I'm happy
55:51
to be here. Awesome. Michael Felker. Thanks for coming on Undaunted Life, a man's podcast.
55:55
Thank you. All right, guys. Thanks so much for listening to this podcast. We really enjoyed
56:00
our time with Michael. So we hope you did as well before we let you go. We are going to do a quick
56:03
resilience boost at Undaunted Life. Our mission is equipping men to push back darkness. And
56:08
specifically, we do that by providing you content like this podcast that helps you forge spiritual,
56:12
mental and physical resilience. So here are the links I've got for you. So we've got the links.
56:16
It's all convictions pretty much. So we've got the convictions website. We've got where you can
56:20
listen to them on Spotify, Apple music where you can subscribe to them on YouTube. And then also,
56:24
I've got the official lyric video for the song that we talked about in the show called The Price of
56:28
Grace. And then also Michael mentioned Kingdom Corps on Facebook. So they've got a few thousand
56:32
followers. But if you're into this musical space, right, you need to check out Kingdom Corps because
56:37
they kind of have their thumb on the pulse of all the bands that are in this scene. And then also,
56:41
in our show notes, we've got even more links to where you can go to our Spotify playlist.
56:44
Because a lot of you guys have been asking about the Christian metal playlist and it'll live there.
56:48
All right. Thanks guys so much. We really do appreciate it. Wherever you're listening to this,
56:51
please subscribe, rate and review. If you want to come speak live at your event or on your podcast,
56:56
just shoot me an email to info at undaunted.life. That's i-n-f-o at undaunted.life. Follow us on
57:02
Instagram and Twitter and like us on Facebook and also you can check out our website for everything
57:07
else, including how to donate to keep more content like this coming your way. Just go to www.undaunted.life.
57:13
We also want to thank the band August Burns Red for allowing us to use their music for our content.
57:17
The entire outro track on this podcast is our song "Cutting the Ties," which is
57:21
off their 10th anniversary re-recording of their album "Leveler" that links to everything are in
57:25
the description. I'm your host Kyle Thompson. Remember, keep pushing back darkness, keep forging
57:32
spiritual, mental and physical resilience, keep seeking the lion of Judah.
57:47
You are very good and you are my hero. You are very good.