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There are aspects of the current music that I relate to and connect with. For example, I can't say I'm a huge Creed fan, but there are certain melodies and guitar sounds that I really dig. So, the trick is to find ways to plug that into my music while still being true to myself. I don't want to make records that sound like someone else, but sometimes someone's else's passion or energy, or perhaps a melody, helps me communicate a message in a way I haven't done before. So I intentionally keep myself tuned in to a lot of different music to help keep things fresh.

Was there a specific time when you knew that you would record this album?

Steven I'd been talking about doing this record for about seven or eight years. I think the defining moment was when I was on the Live Out Loud tour. While on the road, I started writing songs for my wife, Mary Beth. I thought the album would be a compilation record of four or five songs I'd written for her earlier and four or five new songs. But I started thinking and praying about it, and I actually wrote out a three-page letter about why I wanted to make this record and what I felt its purpose was. I gave it to the people at my record company, and that really got me excited about the project

Writing and recording this album was done in a way you've never done it before. Can you explain that process?

Steven While I'm on tour, it usually takes all my energy to stay focused on the concerts, interviews, and seeing what God wants me to do with that time. I don't usually think about the next project. But this time I wrote while on tour, and when I started, the songs just began to fall out of me.

I ended up writing eight or ten new songs in the course of a month. I came back from the tour and played them for the guys at the record label, for the producer, Brown Bannister, and, of course, for Mary Beth, and they all thought they were something special. Usually I spend five or six months making a record, but this one was essentially recorded in four days.

This might mean something only to musicians, but most of the time we cut our songs to a click track – a metronome. It establishes and keeps you tight with the tempo. Well, with these songs we didn't even use that. The drummer just counted it off and we started playing. It allowed us to be a lot freer and to move more with the emotion of the songs.

What did it mean to have your wife as the executive producer for this album?

Steven An executive producer helps select the songs and guides the general direction of an album. Mary Beth laughs and says, "I'm not an executive producer – I don't even know what one does." But, actually, she was the one who really did steer this project. I wanted her to love this record. I told her I really didn't care so much if the company guys or my manager loved it – though that would be nice – but she just had to absolutely love it.

How do you think our emotions relate to relationships?

Steven There's something special about the emotional aspect of our relationships. I tend to want to downplay emotions in this life because they can't be trusted. We all know that we walk by faith and not by sight – or by our emotions. But, it's also important to acknowledge that God gives us our emotions; they're gifts from him. It's a part of being human, and I believe God reveals part of himself through them. We read about God rejoicing over us and dancing and singing. God's not a passionless, emotionless God, and we're created in that same image.

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