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Fans of Christian rock have been bracing themselves since June of last year, when it was announced that after 17 years, 12 albums, and thousands of shows, Delirious was calling it quits. Since the announcement, the band has been taking a farewell world tour, which will wrap up with a sold-out show at the Hammersmith Apollo in their native England on November 29. (The final concert will be recorded, and released on CD in 2010.) Delirious frontman Martin Smith spoke with CT about his time with the band, his future plans, and what it's like to be a Christ follower in the "secular culture" of the United Kingdom.

What brought about this decision to end Delirious?

It's been a very, very big decision. We've been together for 17 years and we've had an amazing history together. But you get those feelings when a season is coming to an end. I felt that a little while back. so I think it's time to do some different things.

Martin Smith (2nd from right) and the rest of Delirious

Did the rest of the band feel the same way?

I think we all feel that there's more, but it's definitely my decision to pull away from the band.

What will you do after it's all wrapped up?

I'd like to be at home a little bit more. I've got six children and I'd like to enjoy that time. Then I think just sitting down on a hilltop and hearing what I need to be doing next.

And the rest of the band?

Tim Jupp (keyboards) has started The Big Church Day Out music festival, and that's already been very successful. Stuart Garrad (guitar) and Jon Thatcher (bass) are going to be doing lots of sessions and writing. Everyone's got their own thing.

How has your final tour been going?

Great. We just finished a leg in Europe. We've met some wonderful people over the years in those territories, so it's been very sad to leave it.

Any indication of what it's going to feel like the day after your last show?

No, I don't. It's been very emotional so far, but there's peace as well, and I think that when there is peace you can take it on the chin. We're all good friends and it's been an incredible season together.

Will you stay close with the rest of the guys?

There's no reason why we shouldn't. There will probably be a few changes in location, but the bond between us is very strong. I don't think that will be touched.

Will you pour more of your energy into CompassionArt?

We're seeing how that goes. It's in its infancy really, but it will be one thing that we will give our time to because it's very dear to us. Let's hope there's some more music in our future, and I would love to have other people coming through the project, as well some younger artists.

What is this project all about?

We gathered some songwriters and worship leaders from around the world and we went to Scotland for a week. We experimented with trying to write songs together as a team of 12 people; I don't know that it's been done before that well. Amazingly we came out with 15 great songs that ended up being recorded for an album. It's just been an amazing experience for everyone, life changing for everybody involved.

And you're giving away all proceeds to charity?

There are 16 projects on our website that we are distributing all that finance to. It's a long-term picture because the main income will come from the song royalties if they're sung in churches around the world; that's going to be the main thrust but that's going to take 5-7 years to build. We'd love to do it again.

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