Well, this past week we had the honor to talk with Mac Powell, frontman
for Third Day. And, since you're our e-mail subscribers, you get to read
it first!


INTERVIEW WITH MAC POWELL OF THIRD DAY
Interviewed by Josh Shepherd

Christian MusicWeb: Several of your recent interviews hinted at the
negative backlash from Third Day's last CD, Conspiracy No. 5. Why do you
think it was not well received?
Mac Powell: A good question. I think it was well received, 'cause it did
just as well as the first record, or almost; but I think perhaps it
didn't do as well as we hoped it would—we thought that it would do a lot
better than it did. I think a big part of that was because it was a
little dark, especially the first two songs, which had a harder edge than
our first record. Musically, I think it was a little different from what
our first record was—people were wanting our first record, Part II, and
that's definitely not what Conspiracy No. 5 was. A lot of the songs were
written for unsaved people, songs that hopefully people who weren't
Christians could relate to and understand. But at the same time, a lot of
it was not simple Christianity, it wasn't 'milk.' The apostle Paul talks
about 'milk' being the simple things of God, and the deeper things being
the meat. I think Conspiracy No. 5 contained a little bit of meat that
you had to chew on a while to digest. It was harder to understand, but
once you did, you got a lot more out of it.
CMW: I agree; that's why I liked it so much.
Mac: And, you know, with our first record you could listen to it once and
like it. With the second record, you had to listen to it several times to
really comprehend it and to really like it. I think maybe that's why it
wasn't taken as well as we had hoped it would be. But it was still a
success—it got nominated for a Grammy, and won a couple of Dove Awards.
So, it still did well.

CMW: In contrast to Conspiracy, Time is a more straight forward album,
with fairly common chord progressions, and up front lyrics. Does this say
anything about where 3D is, both creatively and spiritually?
Mac: It's just kind of a back-to-basics for us. We loved Conspiracy No.
5, and what we were trying to do with it, but at the same time, with
Conspiracy we weren't exactly trying to be true to ourselves. We were
trying to prove to other people that we could rock, and that we weren't a
Hootie and the Blowfish rip-off band. In doing that, we did prove that,
but we weren't necessarily true to ourselves. With Time, we honestly made
this record for ourselves and said, 'This is who we are and this is the
kind of music we want to do, the kind of record we want to make,' instead
of trying to prove to everybody else what we can do.

CMW: Is the acoustic focus of Time in any way an attempt to make 3D more
radio-friendly?
Mac: I guess kinda yes and no. On one hand, we're aware of that and we
want our music to be accessible to people. But, at the same time, that's
kind of where we were at and what we wanted to do. So, that's where it
came from.

CMW: Previously, you've toured with rock bands All Star United, Seven Day
Jesus and Switchfoot. Has the Spring 2000 tour been any different?
Mac: Oh, definitely. Those are all bands that we love, as brothers, as
friends, and as bands musically also. But whenever we toured with those
bands, they were brand new bands that we were proud to introduce to
people. But, because they were new, they didn't really draw a lot of new
people to our show—you'd see basically all 3D fans at a show, with a
handful of people who didn't know us. Now, touring with Jennifer Knapp,
she's a more a established artist and has a lot more fans, sold a lot
more records than previous artists that we've toured with. So it draws a
bigger crowd, and definitely a difference. Which is great—this is the
best tour we've been on, as far as numbers are concerned. I've found that
it's not just Jennifer Knapp fans plus Third Day fans equals our crowd
showing up every night. It's more like people would like to see Jen in
concert, and would like to see Third Day, but they would love to see both
of us play. People were saying, 'I'll buy a ticket to one of the shows
maybe...but to see both of them? Well, definitely I'll buy a ticket.'
CMW: That's how it was for me. I was at the Dallas concert.
Mac: Great, that was a great show.

CMW: What's it like traveling with Jennifer Knapp?
Mac [laughs a bit]: It's great! Her and her band are awesome. They're
great people; their music is also very compatible to ours, not only their
music, but their personalities and their callings also. We're having a
great time—we spend a lot of time with each other, a lot of time playing
whiffleball, and all kinds of sports...going out to play golf, and do all
sorts of stuff. We're having a good time with those guys.

CMW: Being a rock band, and having written songs like "Take My Life" and
"Praise Song," Third Day is considered a pioneer in modern worship. Do
you believe the enthusiasm and energy of today's worshipers is real, or
only a fad?
Mac: I appreciate you calling us that...I don't know if we're definitely
'pioneers in modern worship,' but we'd like to say that we're a little
part of it. But back to the question, I think it's a little bit of both.
Generally, there is a move of God through His people to reflect back to
Him His glory, but, at the same time, just like with anything else, it
can easily turn into something where it becomes a fad, and where people
become more emotional than they should or emotional rather than
reflecting worship back to God. It is a little bit of both, but hopefully
more on the side of a true movement of God through His people.

CMW: Conversely, do you see mainstream audiences "turned off" or
disengaged by Third Day's worship set?
Mac: Not that I've seen. That may happen, but I haven't heard anything
about that. For example, the other night a guy who worked at the venue we
were playing at came up to me—you could tell he wasn't a Christian—and
said, "I was blown away by what you guys said..." He really had a genuine
Jesus experience at the concert, and that came from the 'worship' kind of
stuff, and the things we'd say about the songs. I'm sure some people are
'turned off' by it, but I've heard definitely more positive feedback from
it than negative.

CMW: On to the more pressing questions. Tell me about the new
worship/live album releasing on July 11.
Mac: It's really cool, because we've had a lot of fans ask us, 'When are
you guys going to do a live record?' and others would ask, 'When are you
guys going to do a praise and worship record?' This is a little bit of
both; almost like a greatest hits/praise and worship/live record all
wrapped into one, a three in one. Half of it is live, songs that our fans
will know like 'My Hope is You,' 'Agnus Dei,' and 'Your Love, Oh
Lord'—songs from all three of our first records, the more praise and
worship oriented stuff. But the other half of it is some songs that we've
written in the past couple of months, and a couple of cover tunes. One is
a great song by Bob Dylan he wrote back in the late seventies/early
eighties called 'Saved'; and a tune from a band called Jacob's Trouble,
which is an Atlanta band that we all grew up listening to, and were
inspired by. It's a great record for our fans, and it'll be interesting
to see how people other than our fans take it. We're really excited we've
gotten the chance to do it, and it came together really well, and a lot
better than we expected.

CMW: Will the new songs be similar in style to 3D's remix of Michael W.
Smith's "Agnus Dei"? Mac: Not really. That's kind of the quintessential
Third Day worship sound in 'Agnus Dei'—we've done several things like
that. But on this one, there's quite a few different sounding things,
everything from a 70s rock feel with the Bob Dylan 'Saved' song to a hymn
that Mark Lee wrote called 'All the Heavens' to an R.E.M.-esque kind of
praise song called 'You're Everywhere.' There's quite a few things on
there that are way different from what we've done before. It's going to
be fun to see what people think.

CMW: And are we looking at a 10, 12 or 14 song project here?
Mac: I think it is going to be ten or eleven songs, if I'm not mistaken.

CMW: Is a title set for it yet?
Mac: Yeah, it's called Offerings.

CMW: Some media sources, particularly online, have raised questions about
overpriced merchandise, and expensive concert tickets, not concerning
just 3D, but the entire CCM industry.
Mac: Sure.
CMW: What is your response to people who believe the CCM industry is out
to "sell God"?
Mac: That's a great question. Being someone who once was on the outside
of the industry, and now on the inside, I know that there's a lot of
genuine people in the industry who really love the Lord and who are
genuinely trying to follow what God is calling them to do. It's just a
dangerous thing, building this Christian subculture with music and books
and all kinds of different things; but, there is an audience for it. I
know there are people who want to be encouraged in their faith by
Christian music, so therefore there's a market for it. With us there's
such a balance, because it's something that we're called to do, yet it's
our jobs also. We must make money through it to support our families and
ourselves, almost like a pastor or a speaker who get paid by a church to
be pastor, and they're in the ministry, yet they get paid. There's such a
fine line we walk between being ministers and being called to do that,
yet making our living off that as well.

CMW: Any closing comments?
Mac: No, I appreciate though.

CMW: Ok. Thank you so much for your time, Mac. I'm a big fan of Third
Day.
Mac: Thanks a lot, man.


For more about Third Day, please visit Christian MusicWeb:
http://www.jesusfreak.com/musicweb/music/rock/thirdday/


DOVE AWARDS COMMENTARY - MARCH 17, 2000
by Jason Ewert
(My sincere apologies to Jason for not putting this in the week that he
wrote it, and I hope to hear a couple more from you before the Doves.)

Recently, I was told by an acquaintance that Michael W. Smith had been
disqualified from the Doves because his lyrics were not "Christian"
enough. This rumor was false, as I had expected, but, on the other hand,
if it had been true it would not have surprised me. Why? Simply put,
Christian artists who attempt to sell in the mainstream as well as the
Christian market tend to be shunned by many for "selling out."
delirious?, Jars of Clay, and Sixpence None the Richer are three bands
who have been doing a good job of reaching the mainstream market and
spreading the gospel. And yet, why is it, when delirious? released
Mezzamorphis that they received many letters questioning their faith? Or
that Sixpence None the Richer have not been so popular within some CCM
circles for their mainstream success? Or that Jars of Clay have been
slammed for going into age-restricted venues? While we may not agree with
everything they do, we have no right to proclaim these artists as "evil"
for what they do. Instead, pray for them, that God would strengthen them
and that he would use these artists to His glory.

For more commentary and overall stuff on the 31st Annual Dove Awards,
visit:
http://www.jesusfreak.com/musicweb/doveawards/


AVAILABLE TODAY (on Christian MusicWeb and at your local store)

EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE - STAR WARS
No, this isn't a CD, but the great video which blew out lots of records
last spring, and was truly a great movie. Now, own the beginning of the
Star Wars saga with all it's great action, beautiful scenery, and much
more. This is most definitely the PICK OF THE DAY. Also, the Star Wars
section will be returning with the debut of the new site (see MusicWeb
Updates below).


AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER (on Christian MusicWeb)
7th Avenue - KJ 52 [4/11]
Seize the Day and Other Stories - Carolyn Arends [4/11]
Nicole C. Mullen (self-titled) [4/18]
All The Hype That Money Can Buy - Five Iron Frenzy [4/25]
The Maple Room - Wayne Kirkpatrick [5/16]

To get any of these titles delivered to your door on the release date,
please go to:
http://www.jesusfreak.com/musicweb/news/index.html#RELEASES
Also, read the instructions so that they do come on the release date


MUSICWEB UPDATES
• If you have not already, please voice your opinion on CMW in the
survey:
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?SXB2NGC8RLV6AL0AR2GW33NH
• OK, I finished changing all the pages to the funky new design, and I'm
thinking of launching it very late Friday and early Saturday. It'll have
some new stuff for all of you to look at too. In the meantime, check out
the main page sample:
http://members.truepath.com/musicwebpreview/


Well, another week of Christian MusicMail is over. If we didn't give you
enough stuff to do for a whole week, then please e-mail us with your
suggestions.

Dan Ficker
Christian MusicWeb
a different approach to music
http://www.jesusfreak.com/musicweb
ICQ - 43224317 AOL IM - dMusicWeb

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