Your debut disc generated a lot of pre-release attention before its eventual release earlier this year. How did you react to all of the positive buzz, both from music fans and critics?

Ben Hosey (guitar): We've had great reviews all around, including reviews on iTunes from fans. People have been saying that we challenged them spiritually and helped them out in life. Which is kind of surreal to us that something as silly as a song can have so much impact!

Matt McFadden (bass): Initially when [review copies were sent out last year], we closed our eyes and thought "please accept us." But critics have been so positive and we never expected it to be received so well, because it's kind of off the beaten path of traditional CCM.

Yates (keyboards): It's also really an encouragement because there are so many bands and so much music out there right now. To get any critical attention on your first record is very encouraging.

All of you were music majors in college. Do you feel that being musically trained has helped give you a leg up over the competition?

Adam Stanley (drums): It plays a big part. We've heard albums where you can tell that a session player is performing instead of a band member. I love impressive session players, but I'm more interested in hearing the band play on the record—whether we're perfect or not! We have history with what we wrote and we have a personality when we play, so I think that plays a big part with our sound in concert and on the album.

Did you initially intend to apply your studies to a band setting, or were you strictly academic at first?

Stanley: Back in high school, I thought I would never study music, and I just played in bands [for the fun of it]. Then in college, I though music education was pretty cool, so I went the opposite way. With my studies I was planning on eventually getting a doctorate and become a percussion teacher. I never thought I'd go back to playing in a band, but God had other plans!

Mitch Parks (vocals, guitar): My original intention was to become a film score composer, but I'm a whole lot better at this! It does help that we have training and music degrees, but that certainly doesn't mean we're saying that we're all Superman on our instruments. We just understand it on a different level—sonically and in theory—so that hopefully makes us better musicians than if we didn't have that background.

You mentioned that your sound is different than typical Christian rock. Did you ever question some of the risks you took with your sound?

Hosey: I think we were willing to take risks because we feel called to push people and make better art and music. After years and years of doing this, we've challenged ourselves to make it different, especially in the live setting where we swap things up.

Which brings up another subject—how do you keep all your parts straight with all of the instrument swapping during your concerts, sometimes within a song?

Parks: We switch several times during the set, which is probably more entertaining for us than the audiences. It's like the highpoint of the set for me!

Hosey: It's the part when we entertain ourselves and develop energy in the music. Hopefully you can tell we're having a blast and it gets to the point where the audiences join in on the fun. At first, they look at us with looks like, "What are you guys doing?" But once we're done, the response is almost overwhelming!

McFadden: The first time we ever did that, it was a catastrophe. It completely fell apart!

Parks: We couldn't pull it together at first, but we finally got it right through practice to the point where it's just second nature for us.

What's your favorite song to play live?

Hosey: I'd say "Thank God," which we close the show with, and I say that partially because we're so tired from all the craziness, we get thankful knowing that the end is near!

And what do you believe to be the standout track on Hello?

Parks: "Clouds" is one of the songs that really stands out. It's actually a really old song that's been through so many face lifts and incarnations, but our version in the studio with [producer Scotty Wilbanks] is the final piece of the puzzle.

How would you summarize your sound to anyone who hasn't heard your music?

Yates: We don't really try to sound like anybody else, but our influences range from Chopin to a lot of British rock and alternative American bands.

With the popularity of The Chronicles of Narnia movies, do you get any extra attention since your band is named after one of the key characters?

Parks: People think we're Narnia freaks. Some think we started because of the movie, and one person even asked us recently if we're trying to ride some sort of marketing train. But the truth is we all really enjoy the novel and we look up to C.S. Lewis as a great philosopher and Christian thinker.

How are you able to minister to others through what you do?

Stanley: A lot of it comes through our music in unexpected ways, but honestly a lot of our ministry takes place off stage with the relationships we build. We love praying with people after a show—and we're serious when we offer that!

McFadden: Another ministry element is working with Book of Hope, which prints Bibles for various cultures that may yet to have heard the gospel. It really reaches people and we're also going to start focusing more of such efforts on America.

For more about After Edmund, visit our site's artist page, where you'll also find a review of the band's debut project Hello.

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

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