Throughout the better part of the past two decades, newsboys have been churning out quirky alt pop with clever lyrics and exhilarating stage shows. While the last few albums have been steeped in a slightly softer, more worshipful direction, the old days are back in full swing on the group's latest disc Go. The changes are more than just a stylistic return to form, but also include the addition of guitarist/singer/songwriter Paul Colman (formerly of Paul Colman Trio) and a record label switch (to the band's very own Inpop). Frontman Peter Furler spoke candidly to Christian Music Today about the group's evolution, the explosive new project, his perspective of praise mixed with rock 'n' roll, along with some surprising revelations.

Do you consider Go to be a return to form?

Peter Furler: We're not necessarily going back to what we were. One thing about this band is we haven't really rested. I look back, and sincerely don't know why people bought some of our older CDs. Sometimes they are recorded so quickly and it can be good, but not always. In the past, we've gone into the studio with five or six ideas and are writing madly overnight, maybe not being prepared as well as we could've been.

This time, we went in with about 75 ideas, not all full songs, but maybe a melodic structure, b-section, bridge or a lyrical idea. We wanted continuity, and while we like different styles of music, we have our own sound. If I could define the newsboys' sound, it has a lot to do with drums, rhythms and melody. It's not really a guitar band and not necessarily a keyboard band and not really a vocal band.

What has Paul Colman added to the mix?

Furler: It's kind of like he's been here all along. He's been our friend for quite a few years, and I actually played drums for his dad about twenty-five years ago in Australia. Paul was looking for a band family after being out there [as a solo artist] all by himself. He's really added a lot and written some songs on the record. He's also a fantastic guitarist. He's definitely injected a lot of life—not that we needed more, but he's taken it up another level. He's a character, and is awesome to have on the road. You can have the best guitarist or musician, but if there's not great fellowship—which is one of Paul's greatest strengths—it doesn't mean as much.

What was it like writing with Steve Taylor again? He helped on the worship projects, but your idiosyncratic chemistry together seems to have returned.

Furler: It's funny because we kind of both had to learn how to write corporate worship, even though we'd already written over a hundred songs together! With Go, I knew we were on the right track. As always, we had a great time working together, and there were times on this one where I felt like I knew where I wanted it to go more than just trusting Steve completely. You could say I've taken up a little bit of slack in a good way. He's obviously inspired me tremendously over the years after sitting in his court and listening to his thought process. It was an incredibly good thing, which in some ways is back to the old, but it isn't just the same thing all over again.

Now that you've returned to a more horizontal direction with songwriting, what is your perspective on the worship projects Adoration and Devotion?

Furler: It felt completely natural the whole time we were making worship albums. We actually came into this [career] in a sense as a worship band. We were the youth group band and had to play choruses while leading people in worship. It was the '80s and there was still turmoil to do with rock music; people were picketing Petra, saying rock was music of devil. Some people were very adamant about it. We were in our teens, and these people, these leaders, were telling us that what we were doing is not of God. We actually as a band left the church for probably fifteen years, and only just returned in the last five years.

When you say "left the church," do you mean you stopped playing at them as venues, or moving away from actually attending?

Furler: Well, we played anywhere we could. We were young and selfish, so we'd play where anyone would have us if it served our purpose. When I say "left the church," I mean we didn't have a connection or a home base. We didn't have pastors and leaders in our lives. We just kind of were a group of nomads that roamed the earth.

How did you stay strong during that period of wandering?

Furler: I didn't. I really didn't. That's probably why I'm back in church and why I believe in wise counseling—having men around you that you want to be like. For me, it wasn't so much in some big moral failure. It was more a failure of the heart. Where there is no hope, your heart sort of starts to void.

As I got older, I questioned not so much Jesus, but the plans and purposes of God. There's been a lot of talk about "purpose" in the past few years, but I began to realize I can't really enter into my purpose until understanding what God is doing. I started to get a real kingdom revelation; I realized there was a revolution that started a couple thousand years ago. Jesus died and he's building a kingdom, and it's the only hope that racism, poverty and all afflictions on earth are going to disappear. That begin to thrill me and it began to change our music a little.

If you were away from the church for fifteen years, that takes you up through the late 90s. Did you come back to church around the worship records?

Furler: I think it was right about Thrive (recorded in late '01) that I remember a defining moment. I was asked to write a song for a band and I hadn't really done that. I thought, I'll give it a shot. While I was sitting and trying to write song, I really felt the presence of the Lord. I felt the Spirit of God saying, "Lead my people in worship"—and I felt conviction, 'cause I couldn't. I could give people their money's worth and make them walk out feeling encouraged and like they had a great show within a corporate setting, but I didn't know how to lead in worship. The first song I really wrote as far as that goes is "It Is You," which sticks out like a sore thumb on Thrive.

I saw all your tours since Not Ashamed (1992), and you were always so inspiring on stage. How did you pull that off despite that lengthy period of internal wrestling?

Furler: You can play a song a thousand times, but it's always different when it's in a different setting with different people. Obviously we have songs like "Shine," "Breakfast," and "He Reigns," some of which have been played for a long time, but we never get tired of them, or of people. There's something about hearing people singing together in a room that's really powerful. A lot of the times I'm the one being encouraged!

What role did other Christians play in lifting you up while you were away from church?

Furler: It's always been by the grace of God that I've got a few people in my life. One is my manager Wes Campbell, who we've been with since the beginning of the band. Also his brother [and tour manager] Steve, a lot of our crew and friends and family were a support system. Again I say by the grace of God. Most relationships seem like you can walk away any day, but God's grace seemed to help us stick it out. I wasn't going through it alone, or I would've probably been destroyed or destroyed myself.

Tell me about getting back into the church.

Furler: Obviously the worship material helped. And I've been plugged in at Bethel World Outreach in Nashville, which has such strong leadership. It also is one of the most multi-cultural gathering places in the South, even in the leadership—black, white, Korean, people from New Zealand and every skin color.

Do you feel like your music fits closer toward the worship line or just the general Christian pop/rock world?

Furler: I don't know about lines. Devotion is a good example because it was labeled as a "worship record," but it wasn't deliberate. Songs like "The Orphan" and "Landslide of Love" have nothing to do with that, and as I look back to the past, there was "Be Still" on Going Public and "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" from Not Ashamed. We've always done worship, but the worship movement shed more light on us more than we shed on it.

I look at music when I go through the Bible, and I'm not saying I'm right on this, but in my mind it's twofold—for encouragement, and for stirring up one another. On the new record, I see songs that talk about the Great Commission because we want to see people come to Jesus, but at the same time lead people in worship the best we can.

Do you think your more recent fans identify the band in one particular category?

Furler: I think we've been very fortunate as a band because we haven't been put in a box for making a particular fad popular. I'm very thankful the newsboys were never made famous by anything. When you've been made famous by one thing, especially artistically, you enter into "fifteen minutes of fame" territory.

Why the move from EMI to Inpop?

Furler: We were pretty much signed to same contract for seventeen years. We had a good run, sold six or seven million records and are still in good relationships with EMI.

Has switching to your own label allowed for more freedom?

Furler: There's a certain amount of freedom. There were things with Adoration that the label [EMI] wasn't happy with, and we went back in and changed them. Some of the changes were better, and some I don't think are better, but it's like iron sharpening iron. With Inpop the system works the same. You have to meet deadlines, but creatively, yes, we could be more open.

How is Inpop's health? There were rumors floating around that it was being sold.

Furler: It's never been in any real trouble. For an indie label, it's been incredible. It's doing great, and we have this record coming out and hope it will do real well. We don't know what the future holds and there are a few people who've been interested in it. But we have Superchic[k] and Tree63 with a lot of radio success, and we've had Dale Bray come in as president, who's a friend from Australia that had his own company. Wes and I weren't born to run a record company!

Since you've been on the stage for so many years, how are you able to age gracefully with the older and more energetic songs?

Furler: Obviously our bodies are getting older, but hey, I just got off a 600-mile motor bike ride! I'm a believer that my spirit is getting younger in lot of ways, so I don't get hung up on that stuff. We haven't run into that being a problem yet—maybe I'm immature—but we have so many songs to pick from any night that we almost pick whatever we want to play. We were kinda tired of "Joy" because it was in the set for awhile, but just put "Take Me To Your Leader" back in the set. If you would've asked me to play that a year and a half ago, I would've balked! Some songs you can hear from the '80s, and it still sounds right in '06.

Would you ever consider embarking on a full "evening with the newsboys" tour, focusing on all the eras?

Furler: We would love that. I don't know why, but it seemed like after September 11, something changed and we noticed more multiple act tours—and headline acts not playing as long. And the Internet is growing and people are changing where the live show, for some reason, is not as big. But it would be great to do a show for an hour, take a break, and go another hour or hour and a half.

Your shows have taken you around the world, into all types of settings and environments. How have those experiences shaped the band's vision?

Furler: If we had a vision, it would be to go wherever God puts us and to unite its church. We want to be an encouragement to the body of Christ and lead people to Jesus, which sounds pretty straight. But he wanted us to preach that gospel, baptize and make disciples of Jesus, even to the people who sometimes get left behind.

Learn more about newsboys by visiting our artist page for the band. Our review for their new album, Go, will post October 30. Visit Christianbook.com to listen to sound clips and buy the music.

© Andy Argyrakis, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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