{"id":164,"date":"2011-06-29T02:00:38","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T06:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/wholenotes\/?p=164"},"modified":"2011-06-29T02:17:45","modified_gmt":"2011-06-29T06:17:45","slug":"royal-tailor-interview-part-2-tauren-wells-on-countering-the-culture-getting-discovered-and-diversifying-the-christian-music-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/2011\/06\/royal-tailor-interview-part-2-tauren-wells-on-countering-the-culture-getting-discovered-and-diversifying-the-christian-music-scene.html","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Royal Tailor’s Tauren Wells (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s part two of Whole Notes’ interview with Royal Tailor lead singer Tauren Wells:<\/p>\n

Bonham: As a band that feels called to engage the culture, it seems like the song \u201cControl\u201d is directly linked to that message. Does that counter culture message bear more weight coming from a band like Royal Tailor that\u2019s comprised of younger guys with a youth-friendly sound?<\/p>\n

Wells: I think so. I think people, especially students, look to us as purveyors of the culture because we know what\u2019s going on. We have an insight. We know what\u2019s cool and what\u2019s not. That\u2019s a unique place in life. That\u2019s why I count it such a privilege to be put on a stage at this time because you only have this window for so long. So we\u2019re going to capitalize on this moment that God has called us to and hopefully we can inspire a generation of students to rise out of the ashes of mediocrity and to be the cultural innovators that God has called them to be.<\/p>\n

Bonham: With references to Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Katy Perry, were the lyrics of that song meant to be provocative?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Royal Tailor (L to R: DJ Cox, Tauren Wells, Blake Hubbard, Jarrod Ingram)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wells: No, it wasn\u2019t really a hit at them. What we\u2019re trying to do with \u201cControl\u201d is\u2014this is what happened. We were listening to Top 40 radio on our way into a writing session for this record. A song came on and it was like, \u201cTake your clothes off. Take your clothes off. Take your clothes off.\u201d Literally, those were the lyrics, and then even the messages of other artists like Brittany Spears, \u201cSin Is The New Thing.\u201d Hearing all these messages, what we realized was that even outside of their message is how unapologetic they are about bringing their message to the front of people\u2019s minds. It seems like the attitude of the church has become, \u201cWell, we\u2019re going to take our ball and go home and write worship songs.\u201d Do we need those songs? Do we need songs that edify the church? Absolutely! But at the same time, I don\u2019t think that we should be unapologetic about our Gospel or unapologetic about things happening that we disagree with in culture. That\u2019s what Jesus did. He confronted people, cities, Pharisees. It was the church. It was sinners. It was everybody. He spoke the truth to them, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to convey with our music\u2014the truth of who Jesus is and the truth of who people are and how we live our lives and navigate our lives according to that truth.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Were you aware of Katy Perry\u2019s background as a Christian artist when you put that line in the song that references \u201cTeenage Dream?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wells: Yes.<\/p>\n

Bonham: I just found that line to be particularly interesting as it speaks, somewhat, to her story and to the story of any young person who might aspire to achieve fame or popularity.<\/p>\n

Wells: Yep, that\u2019s exactly what we were trying to do with that. It is by no means a shot at Katy Perry or any of those artists. If the opportunity was there, we would be friends with those people. Our heart breaks for them and we want them to realize the gravity of what it is that they are doing. They have tremendous influence. They have a tremendous voice to speak to people and when they speak, people listen. If there was any way to get them to say more positive things to inspire people, especially from a biblical viewpoint, then that would literally change the world\u2014literally.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How did you guys get discovered?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Wells: It was very much playing shows. We played over 300 shows in two years. One of those shows was at the Moorings\u2019 church. Leeland and Jack Mooring\u2019s parents pastor in Baytown, Texas. So we played a show there and Leeland was actually there. He heard us play and we exchanged numbers and developed somewhat of a friendship over that next year. GMA week came up and Leeland asked if we were going and I told him we weren\u2019t able to go. And he said, \u201cAlright, let me call you right back.\u201d He called me back and he said, \u201cYou can\u2019t say know to this. We want you to come to GMA week. We\u2019re going to pay for your hotels and introduce you to people.\u201d We went there. They put us up. They showed us around town and introduced us to tons of people. They invited us to their listening party for their label, Provident Label Group, and at that listening party, they introduced us to Jason MacArthur, the vice president of A&R and he got our demo and lived with our music for a little while and really liked it and we started talking and now here we are.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Even before you told me that story, your voice and the way you speak reminded me a lot of Leeland.<\/p>\n

Wells: Well that\u2019s very cool. I take that as an honor. We really look up to Leeland and the rest of the guys as artists and definitely as followers of Christ. You\u2019re not going to get better guys than Jack and Leeland and Mike.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What are some exciting things that have already happened with the album and what are your expectations going forward?<\/p>\n

Wells: It\u2019s been a great response so far. Our single \u201cHold Me Together\u201d is climbing up both AC and CHR charts. It\u2019s resonating with a lot of people. I think it\u2019s ministering to a lot of people that are going through some situations in their lives. We have many records being sold. We feel like the first week was incredible especially since we\u2019re a new act. We don\u2019t feel like anybody really knows about us yet. Everything\u2019s going great. We have a good touring lineup set up through the spring of next year. Everything\u2019s looking and we\u2019re appreciating the journey and trying to soak it all in.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Were you aware of the vacuum that exists within certain stylistic elements of the CHR and Adult Contemporary radio markets and are you happy to be filling that gap and helping diversify the industry?<\/p>\n

Wells: Yep. That\u2019s exactly what\u2019s happening and I think that\u2019s what has to happen if the church is going to be the influence in the world that we\u2019re called to be. We\u2019ve got to embrace all different races, styles and sounds. That\u2019s what makes a culture beautiful is when it\u2019s a mosaic, when it\u2019s all of us coming together and being ourselves and being what God\u2019s created us to be. We\u2019re just fortunate to be a part of an industry that has a great mission.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Do you feel like you\u2019re part of a new era within the industry?<\/p>\n

Wells: I think it\u2019s a resurgence, not to say that the Christian industry has been dead, but I think maybe we\u2019re expanding the target audience. It is now something that\u2019s going to be for everyone of all ages.<\/p>\n

To follow Royal Tailor, check the official band site here<\/a>.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

In case you missed part one of this interview, check it out by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Here’s part two of Whole Notes’ interview with Royal Tailor lead singer Tauren Wells: Bonham: As a band that feels called to engage the culture, it seems like the song \u201cControl\u201d is directly linked to that message. Does that counter culture message bear more weight coming from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,70,72,120],"tags":[121,119,116,96,95,117,118,14,112,115],"class_list":["post-164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-music","category-music-feature","category-new-artist","category-qa","tag-interview-with-royal-tailors-tauren-wells","tag-jack-mooring","tag-kanye-west","tag-katy-perry","tag-lady-gaga","tag-leeland","tag-leeland-mooring","tag-royal-tailor","tag-tauren-wells","tag-teenage-dream"],"yoast_head":"\nInterview with Royal Tailor's Tauren Wells (Part 2) - Whole Notes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/2011\/06\/royal-tailor-interview-part-2-tauren-wells-on-countering-the-culture-getting-discovered-and-diversifying-the-christian-music-scene.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interview with Royal Tailor's Tauren Wells (Part 2) - Whole Notes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Here’s part two of Whole Notes’ interview with Royal Tailor lead singer Tauren Wells: Bonham: As a band that feels called to engage the culture, it seems like the song \u201cControl\u201d is directly linked to that message. 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Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164\/revisions\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}