Jeromy Deibler (vocals, piano, guitar), Jennifer Deibler (vocals, guitar), Michael Boggs (guitar, vocals), Brian Smith (bass, vocals)

FFH has been a mainstay on adult contemporary Christian radio for years, with such smash hits as "One of These Days," "I Want to Be Like You," and "Watching Over Me." Their latest CD, Ready to Fly (Essential), has spawned more hits, including "You Found Me." But it's not quite the same FFH. The group—Jeromy and Jennifer Deibler, Michael Boggs and Brian Smith—has graduated from being primarily a vocal group to a band that now plays many of its own instruments. We asked Jeromy about the "new" FFH.

What excites you most about Ready to Fly?

Jeromy Deibler: One thing is the freedom we felt in making the record. We were all involved a lot more in the recording process than normal. That's kind of weird to say, because we all sing and play on the records. But there was a lot more open conversation in making this record. We adopted a rule at the beginning that we wouldn't leave the studio until we were happy with it as a group—not just with our producer and the record label being happy. The four of us wanted to be able to look at the final project as a statement we want to make.

Everything began with us sitting around a grand piano, with Michael and his acoustic guitar. We played about 30 songs. The label and management representatives, along with us, graded the songs. We simply took the songs with the highest grades. That process got kind of political, because each of us said what grade we gave and why. One song that made the record was one Brian had given a thumbs-down. He just didn't like it. We had to convince him it really was a good one. [That song, "You Found Me," ended up being a smash hit on Christian radio.]

What else was different about making this record?

Deibler: Normally, I was the only one who talked with the producer. But both Brian and Michael had open conversations with Scott [Williamson] about things they did and didn't like. It was nice because it took a little pressure off of me.

The other big change was a musical one. Our progression as a band has been kind of opposite from most bands. Other bands typically start out with some songs and they find a singer. But we started out as vocalists and created the band around that. We're just now coming into our own as a band. We played more on this record than we ever had before.

I played piano on quite a bit of it. Michael played a lot of the guitar stuff and Brian played some bass. That's been cool because when someone hears the record, they're actually hearing what we feel is a more sincere statement of where FFH is and what we've been doing—not that our other records were dishonest. On this one, it was great to be able to say, "Nope, that's how I wrote it, that's how I like it, that's how we're playing it."

This project goes beyond just the guitar pop sound of your past CDs.

Deibler: Yeah, and that's more consistent with FFH than most people might think. We started in 1991, and at the time I had never picked up a guitar. I wrote all my songs on piano. But I had started playing a lot of acoustic guitar around the time we signed with Essential Records. I wrote three of our biggest hits on guitar—"One of These Days, "Take Me as I Am," and "I Want Be Like You."

So this record is a better representation of us than most people think. Our other records sort of developed the image a lot of people have of us. At a recent concert, one of the promoters came up to our manager and said, "What happened? This isn't the band I booked four years ago!" Our manager said, "Well, this is what they're becoming. This is them now."

We're translating our lives now into our record. And it is who we are. For good or bad, this is us.

There's a Beatles-esque sound, especially in "You Found Me." How intentional was that?

Deibler: A lot of that was Scott. When I first played that song for everybody, the piano part sounded a lot like it does on the record. I had just listened to some song that kind of has that bass part. I remember mentioning to Brian, "I wrote you a great bass part. Wait until you hear it."

We went in the studio and recorded it. And even after the first day of tracking, when it was just piano, drums, and bass, it still didn't sound like it does now. We had an arranger write a really cool strings part. That made it totally feel like the Beatles, Elton John, Supertramp—that sort of sound. It was exciting to hear it all come together.

Many have viewed you as a worship band. Do you see that evolving as well?

Deibler: First of all, I've got to ask, who has called us a worship band?

Nothing official, but the band does, at times, get played up that way.

Deibler: Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. We just had an interview with Worship Leader magazine, and they asked if we are a worship band. I said, "You'll probably push 'stop' after I say this, but no, we're not."

By industry standards, for some reason we're not considered a worship band—although our lyrics are pretty vertical. So I told the interviewer that there's a more of a separation between Christian music and worship music now—actually, way more of a separation than there was when we were signed.

How so?

Deibler: When we signed, we were considered a band writing contemporary worship songs—like "Take Me As I Am," and "I Want to Be Like You." But in the past five years or so, more of a separation has developed. Guys like David Crowder and Matt Redman are the guys writing the worship songs. And people like Michael W. Smith and us are writing the adult contemporary songs. But I like to say that they cross.

Essential asked us to do a worship record, and we said "no" because it'll sound just like one of our records. Unless we record cover songs that Martin Smith or Matt Redman wrote, it isn't going to sound any different because we write worship lyrics anyways. For some reason people don't put us in that worship category, but that's okay. We would rather carve our own niche in the industry than be put in one that's already made.

Some songs on Ready to Fly are more introspective and less "worshipy." So for what it's worth, some people call us a worship band and others don't. But we think we're both.

What's the difference between a vertical song and a worship song?

Deibler: No difference at all. I don't even think a "worship" song has to be vertical. "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" is not a vertical lyric, but I would consider that a pretty worshipful song.

We end our concerts with the hymn, "I Come to the Garden Alone." It's pretty worshipful, but again, it's not even a worship lyric. It's kind of a song about your relationship with God rather than one that's you talking to God. I feel that any song that creates an atmosphere where you're focusing on God can be a worship song.

There also can be a personal aspect to songs that were never meant to be worshipful. But people adopt those songs when they get played to an audience. Everyone has a little different answer to that question, but that's one way to think about it.

For more about FFH and their music, visit our artist page for the band, where you'll also find reviews of their albums, including Ready to Fly. Visit Christianbook.com to listen to sound clips and buy their music.

Copyright © Christian Music Today. Click for reprint information.

Click here for more interviews.

Click here to view our music review archives.

Visit the artist pages for related interviews and reviews.

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Sign up now for the Christian Music Today weekly newsletter:    RSS Feed   RSS Help