from the left:
Jeff Frankenstein (keyboards), Peter Furler (vocals, guitar, drums), Phil Joel (bass, vocals), Duncan Phillips (drums), Jody Davis (guitars)

Peter Furler and Phil Joel of the Newsboys reveal the secret behind their long-term success: daily seeking the Lord's will.

Not long ago, I was one of those screaming youth-group kids who spent my Wednesday nights at Bible study and my weekends hanging out with church friends going here, there, and everywhere sharing faith and fellowship. During those formative years, I remember a handful of Christian albums being the soundtrack to our road trips and a heavy influence on our lives, from the latter days of Petra and DeGarmo and Key to the initial rise of groups such as dc Talk and the Newsboys.

Sitting in a downtown Nashville apartment with Peter Furler and Phil Joel of the latter group this past spring brought my Newsboys listening experience full circle. Sharing my early interest in the band broke the ice during our time together, resulting in the duo's ability to open up like a pair of big brothers, eager to share everything from advice about staying on the straight and narrow to details surrounding their latest release and growing legacy. "I've been up since five this morning, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little tired," begins Joel. "I made a point to get up early to keep my daily discipline of spending time with God."

Even on a day packed with interviews and promotional appearances surrounding their recently released Thrive album, members of the Newsboys made an extra effort to get on their knees prior to leaving their bedside to give their day over to God, a ritual that keeps them going despite their exhausting schedules. "Admittedly, some days we may have a lot on our minds, which can distract us from God," Joel adds. "On those days we try to shift to having an appetite for eternity. Even when we don't feel like spending time with him, we ask for the desire to seek him."

That desire has been the focal point of a band that understandably could have been distracted by the glamour of three million albums sold, 17 #1 hits, 3 Grammy nominations, and a Billboard Music Video Award. However, the Newsboys haven't let notoriety and the world's accolades overtake the spiritual discipline that's governed the band throughout their entire existence. "It's been easy to put all that to the side because we've simply put God first and family second, and everything else travels dismally behind," says Furler.

"We've been at so many different crossroads in life, both as a band and as individuals, which makes that daily time mean so much more than just blindly knocking and seeing what doors God opens," interjects Joel.

Lately God has opened many doors that the band has walked through, but only after considerable time engulfed in God's presence. Such events include the band's staging of the first-ever traveling venue tour in music history, followed by a road trip as a fully functional touring festival a year later, also an industry first. More recently, they've reunited with veteran producer and former collaborator Steve Taylor to release their most adventurous album since Take Me to Your Leader, while plotting out an equally explosive tour highlighted by a DVD concert taping at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum.

Part of what's made the Newsboys recent trip to the studio translate dynamically on stage is each song's unpredictable attitude, coupled with the band's ability to step outside themselves and approach the record-making process as the music fans they've always been. "The result of Thrive came more out of what we weren't reaching for," explains Furler. "We didn't want to try to hard to be anything except fans of music in general. Around the time we made the record, a lot of the band members were reading books and experiencing times of growth. We kept the album personal to us by bringing these spiritual elements to our music."

Track by track, fans will note the band's free-flowing attitude, along with Taylor's quirky lyrics, guiding each tune to a delicate balance of sonic fusion and spiritual conviction. The remaining factor was the group's patience in sorting out all of their creative ideas before moving on with the recording process, something they've been guilty of passing up on recent projects (Love, Liberty, Disco). "We may have been together quite a long time, but we still pray God will use us to make each song matter," says Furler. "This record was completed by calling on him each and every day of the process and taking everything that came with it one day at a time."

And as a result of that process, the Newsboys are still in style, churning out relevant music that pleases Gen-Xers such as myself as well as the next generation of youth group attendees looking for their own soundtrack. "Everything we've done has felt natural," concludes Furler. "We've been blessed in the fact that no fad that brought us to the table to record an album. We've never been a rap group, boy band, praise band, ska band, or in the grungy heavy scene. Being pigeonholed in one of those categories is sort of a kiss of death for a band. We don't have such a specific and limiting image, and the music is still coming and sounding original."

Perhaps that originality, along with the refusal to be categorized, is the quality that will allow the Newsboys to continue down their path of longevity, thriving each and every step of the way.

Click here to learn more about Newsboys. You can also learn more about Phil Joel's solo artist career on his own page. Also be sure to read our music reviews their latest latest album, Thrive, and their concert DVD, Thrive: At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Visit Musicforce.com to purchase your own copy of Thrive today!

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