An Unfiltered Webb
Derek Webb is a bit of a prophet in Christian music, writing in-your-face songs that might make you squirm. He says he's just writing honestly—without the usual "filters."
by Andree Farias | posted 1/01/2006
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He has taught us about the church, expounded on the paradoxes of the faith life and written about freedom in Christ, all in a way that's provocative, sobering and, most of all, necessary. Now with Mockingbird (INO), Derek Webb is ready to get his hands dirty and walk the talk, to live out truth in tangible, practical ways. In this conversation with Christian Music Today, the former Caedmon's Call co-leader talks about his artistic progression, whether he considers his art to be protest music, and how moving out of the comfortable suburbs of west Nashville taught him a thing or two about faith that is real.
When you first went solo in 2003, your sound had definite roots in Americana, bluegrass, and folk traditions. Your second record was a more indie, alternative-pop-oriented mindset. Mockingbird is somewhere in the middle. Why the shift?
Derek Webb I feel the sound of Mockingbird is kind of the evolution [of my music] up to this point. During my time with Caedmon's Call, I was always pushing for a bit of an Americana/folk influence in their music. When I was able to produce my own record, She Must and Shall Go Free, and not have to contend with the opinions of six other band members—which was a great democracy for many years—it was fun do to my own thing, to get that out of my system. So we did the Americana record.
When it came to the second album, I See Things Upside Down, there were a lot of things I wanted to try. I really wanted to dismantle everyone's idea of what kind of music they could expect from me. On record No. 3, Mockingbird, I was free to do just whatever, because by this point I don't feel like I See Things Upside Down was as much as an evolutionary step as much as it was doing away with people's expectations in order to free me up to do what I wanted.
There seems to be a dark, sinister, and somewhat moody ambiance to the music. Will Derek Webb ever write a happy song in the key of G ever again?
Webb (Laughs) I hope so! Here's the best way I can say it: My years in Caedmon's, that was a certain kind of season for me. I was college-age. I was writing particular kinds of songs; I was thinking particular kinds of songs. With Caedmon's, it wasn't like we sat down and said, "We're going to start this band and we're going to make this statement." It was just friends from college making music because it was fun. We didn't feel the calling of what Caedmon's really was to us until maybe two years into it.
When I left Caedmon's to do my solo stuff, it was very much intentional. Music to me now is very serious business. That's not to say I'll never write a song that's not serious. I feel like I'm very early in my career. I've only come out with my third record. I'm in my early 30s. I feel like there's a lot of topics in the church that need attention right now, so I'm going to give my attention to those ideas. It'd be great if things in our world started to get better and areas of my concern started to get a little lighter. I welcome that day. But until then, I need to keep my attention focused on things that need to be addressed, even if they're heavy.
Your first album was about the church. Your second album looked at the paradoxes of the Christian life. What are you trying to address with Mockingbird?
Webb I see this as an ongoing conversation. I see it as an extension of those first two records. On the first one, I was expressing my own difficult times finding my place in the church, my role in the church, how my gifts work within the context of the body of the church. The second record is about being set free—about one who has shown up on the scene, kept the law on our behalf, and liberates us.
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