![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/wholenotes\/files\/2011\/07\/3-1-11-Hillsong-UNITED-Staples-Center-ph-cr-Andy-Barron-hi-res.jpg\")
<\/a>Joel Houston: I think God is seasonal. I think He reveals Himself bit by bit, piece by piece, revelation upon revelation. The main thing is always the main thing and the focus always needs to be Jesus, but as simple as that sounds sometimes it\u2019s really easy to get away from that and try to search for something deeper or search for something more meaningful or more trendy. It is Jesus, always will be Jesus. At the end of the day, that\u2019s the main thing\u2014His message. But within that, I think there\u2019s fresh revelation. I think with every project, there are certain songs that come together. It\u2019s not like we go, \u201cOkay this album here is going to be about the paradoxical nature of the cross and the way in which the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth,\u201d you know that kind of thing, so we\u2019re going to write songs to that end. We didn\u2019t do that. It was like, \u201cLet\u2019s just write songs. Let\u2019s write music. Let\u2019s talk about what God is talking to us about.\u201d And these songs started coming out with similar themes and all of the sudden there\u2019s these different puzzle pieces and then the centerpiece drops. \u201cOkay, hang on. I think I know what this is going to be about.\u201d Right now we\u2019re thinking about the next project. We were thinking about Aftermath<\/em> probably 18 months in advance, praying about it, thinking about it. It wasn\u2019t until probably two months after our first deadline (laughs) that it really started to cement. That\u2019s God. He\u2019s drawing us to Himself. It\u2019s a process of stepping in, stepping in, trusting, trying to dig deeper until it\u2019s like, \u201cI get it now.\u201d<\/p>\nBonham: How important is it for the band to stay musically relevant?<\/p>\n
Jad Gillies: If you love music, you\u2019re going to listen to music. You\u2019re going to find fresh, unifying, new things that inspire you. You\u2019re going to find things that challenge the way you think about music and the way you think about creating it as well. We\u2019re not trying to be trendy. We\u2019re trying to inspire ourselves to be creative I guess. Styles and trends come and go just like in fashion. If you love food, you\u2019re going to eat food. If you love music, you\u2019re going to listen to it and you\u2019ll feed off it. God created the Earth so He\u2019s a creative master. When He\u2019s at work, that\u2019s when the freshness happens. We have similar tastes but there are a lot of things that are different and they all come together. Some of us will hate something and others will love it. We\u2019re not trying to be trendy for fashion\u2019s sake. It\u2019s more for love of what God\u2019s given us to do. We want to do that to the best of our ability.<\/p>\n
Bonham: Do you feel a responsibility to strive for excellence?<\/p>\n
Gillies: If we keep doing what works because it works, we\u2019ll end up being the ones that end up sounding like 20 years ago. That\u2019s just how it is. And it\u2019s fun to push the boundary a little bit.<\/p>\n Houston: I like going into a project and doing a song, not knowing if it\u2019s going to work. That\u2019s the best feeling. A song like \u201cTake Heart.\u201d I didn\u2019t know if it was going to work. It might not be a song that\u2019s going to work in church but they\u2019re songs that I just feel like we\u2019ve got to sing. Then we do the songs and people are singing them and people are worshipping God. And I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, whew!\u201d for one. But also, I shouldn\u2019t be surprised because one of the things we\u2019re amazed at is when people put God\u2019s creativity in a box based on what works and what doesn\u2019t work. If the heart is pure and right, there\u2019s no end to what we can do creatively to express that.<\/p>\n Bonham: How do you make sure that you maintain a spirit of worship in an atmosphere that might be just as conducive to performance?<\/p>\n Houston: It is every night we step out and we\u2019ve got a whole lot of different people there. We were just talking about this before. You\u2019ve got people who are super fans and people who you feel are there for the wrong reasons, but they\u2019re just excited because maybe they haven\u2019t seen an expression like this before. And we want to do everything with excellence not just for the sake of excellence but because if we\u2019re going to do something we might as well do it the best we can. That\u2019s one of our mottos. Why should it be bad? Not that it\u2019s awesome, but we want to do the best we know how as long as it\u2019s to the glory of God and helping people connect with God.<\/p>\n Click HERE<\/a> for part 1 of this interview with Hillsong United.<\/p>\n Check out a the video version of this interview HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>Houston: When we go into a new project, it\u2019s like, \u201cWhat\u2019s worked for us in the past?\u201d There might be a certain chord structure or you can play the guitar a certain way. Guitar right is doing this. Guitar left is doing that. It\u2019s going to work. People will like it. So when we go into a project it\u2019s like, \u201cLet\u2019s put that in a box. We\u2019re not going to do that. Now, what can we do?\u201d I just think that\u2019s part of creativity whether it\u2019s art or anything else. I think God breathes creativity on everybody whether it\u2019s sanctified or not. I think there\u2019s something to be gleaned from all creativity. We are consumers of good music and love it, listen to it, glean from it. There\u2019s definitely a choice within ourselves to press forward, especially with United, not for the sake of being cool or being cutting edge, but actually even just for us because I get bored. I don\u2019t want to play the same songs we played four years ago. And even on this tour, we\u2019re doing some older songs but we\u2019re adding a fresh layer to them.<\/p>\n<\/a>It\u2019s been really clear to me that our prayer for this project is that when people listen to it they have a greater sense that God is with them wherever they are. To me, that\u2019s the message for now. We have a revelation of who Jesus is and His grace for our lives and for other people, and our mission is to love others the same way He loved us. We want them to have an understanding that as the church, we\u2019re called to truly be light in dark places; not just a beautiful Christian metaphor, but the reality of that and how it looks. But the only way to do that is by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and by understanding that Jesus died and rose again and it\u2019s not just a fairy tale. It doesn\u2019t just mean that one day we get to be with God in Heaven. It actually is about the fact that His Spirit is now with us and that we\u2019re empowered to live lives that actively see His Kingdom established here on Earth. He\u2019s with us. So whether you\u2019re in a schoolyard and you\u2019re the only Christian in your school, that sense of understanding that God is with you in that moment to me is all you need. For me, I couldn\u2019t do life without that understanding. I\u2019ve been a Christian my whole life. I\u2019ve known God my whole life and I still find myself in places where I\u2019m like, \u201cHow am I supposed to do this?\u201d Then I\u2019m like, \u201cHang on. God, if You are who You say You are and You are with me right now, then greater is He who is in me than he who\u2019s in the world.\u201d I\u2019m going to believe that. I\u2019m going to stand firm and press on. I\u2019m going to keep making the tough choices and I\u2019m going to pick up my cross and carry it daily, not because I can do it by myself but because God is with me and He\u2019s amazing. That\u2019s the spirit when we do these nights. When we start, I just want to get through the first five songs. Because once you get to that place, all the layers start breaking down. All the people there thinking, \u201cAre these guys for real\u201d or the people there who are going, \u201cYou\u2019re amazing! I want to get a photo!\u201d all the layers start breaking down and the Spirit of God starts to work. Our prayer every night\u2014and I wouldn\u2019t do this if I didn\u2019t feel like this happens every night\u2014is that people walk out these doors with a greater understanding and revelation that Christ is with them right here, right now in their situation and in their circumstance. And that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n