Posted by cav on April 05, 2005 at 08:10:01:
In Reply to: How could I forget? posted by giveawayboy on April 04, 2005 at 13:03:15:
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I've been thinking about this since the thread started, and you know, because I'm alot younger than most of you guys, I missed all these bands you think of as classics. To me, they were the stuff of recent memories, and I've heard most of the music, but it wasn't the current stuff. So anyway, this may seem a bit sacriligious to all of you old-schoolers out there, but just remember that in 15 years, the bands I mention will be the classics, so we'll be even.
My first experience with Christian music was actually being coaxed into Night of Joy as a junior high kid. I had no idea there would even be bands there, but my parents were harping on me to get involved with the church youth, and they were going to spend all night in Disney World...that couldn't be all bad. I met up with a friend who was from one of those really liberal kind of families that often attend white collar churches, but he was all into Petra and Whiteheart. The whole drive he was telling me about how cool it was, and I wouldn't buy in. But when I got there the first band playing was DC Talk...(and I don't want to hear any laughs from you glammed out bumble bee fans, or whatever they were) they blew me away! These guys were rocking original material with huge a huge stage show, and they were in your face Christian! I didn't even like hip hop, but it was cool.
Later came Petra, and again, say what you want, but the full pyrotechnics and wailing vocals got me interested. This was more my style.
But soon after, that genre ended, and I moved into alternative music in the days of They Might be Giants, REM, Nirvana, and Nine Inch Nails (lots of styles there). Christian music hadn't caught up yet. It was still in Bill's underground, which I didn't have much access to.
But quickly there was Steve Taylor, and the Choir...no more need be said. But laugh if you will, the band that had the biggest direct impact on my life was Dakoda Motor Company with Davia Valisillos (sp?) and Peter King. See for my generation this was cutting-edge San Diego surf punk. I was on my way out of a few years of depression and had found great joy in my first love, swimming. I'd become a lifeguard, and everything was turning beaches and oceans. This band had the brightest care-free sound. It fit the lifestyle I was getting into perfectly, and these guys actually lived it! I was blown away to see this Christian band HOSTING MTV shows, competing in drag races, and surf competitions. They were in my scene and they had my faith!
So inspired by this music, I widened my tastes into other Christian bands and even started hosting unsupervised (woOOOOOOooooo) youth parties at my church. I fought tooth and nail to prove that I wasn't some irresponsible kid and that my scene was as valid as any of the " Elder approved" mainline stuff. Of course this made me a lot of enemies, and when the inevitable accident happened, I was railroaded right out. But for the summer they ran we'd back my Jeep up to the yard and pass a hat for drinks and food. I'd blast the stereo as loud as it would go, and always rocking Christian music. The neighbors hated us!
Soon after that railroading, I found Crossover through one of the kids who came to my parties and Mike Dawson...remember him? There my musical experience went into hyper drive and I can't list all the great bands I got into.
I can say though that there was, and still is, nothing quite like a near riotous Refuge show with every kind of street trash you can imagine pounding in the pit or skankin' till they literally passed out. I remember carrying Marcos out to the sidewalk and pulling his shirt off so he could cool down one night. The bands were the likes of Morella's Forest, Five Iron Frenzy, the Supertones, MxPx, Valu Pak, Ghoti Hook, Solomon's Porch and the list goes on. Nearly every week Kathy and I were at some show. It wasn't the deep lyrics or great music that was so affecting, it was the lifestyle. We were free and we were Christian, and these crumbling old buildings and beat up amps was our world! Starbucks nothin', some cheap crappy swamp water coffee at any all night diner was food for kings! We were the dregs, but we all looked out for each other, and the music was what brought us together.
All things change, and all things pass, but these bands left an indelible mark on me. I can't wait until my son gets old enough to seek out these scenes. I want him to learn that the outside can be decieving. That money and status don't equal happiness, and suspiciously seem to actually drain it. That what the world approves, even the Christian world, isn't all there is, and that beneath all that pretense, he can find real people with no will to hide their minds or hearts. People for whom life is in the moment and faith is on their open arms...most likely in three colors of ink!