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Kutless (2003) Interview
by Josh McConnell

On September 14th, 2003 I was able to attend the Sandusky, Ohio show of Festival Con Dios. Before the event began I got the chance to hang out with Jon Micah Sumrall, lead vocalist of Kutless, backstage. Despite the rather loud Newsboys sound check going on in the background, we were able to talk about a number of things including the new album, the tour, comparisons to Creed, and more.
- Josh McConnell

Josh McConnell: It’s been almost a year and two months since your debut album released, and now you are working on your sophomore release titled “Sea Of Faces” that’s due February 24th. What can you tell us about the new album? What can fans expect on it?

Jon Micah Sumrall: We are really excited about the new record, I think it’s definitely a step forward for us over our last record. We’ve had more time in the studio, it’s a nicer studio, there’s just a lot of things going for us. We’ve learned a lot as musicians; we are better writers, better musicians.

We’ve spent the last month in the studio, so we are getting there on the record, it’s pretty far along. Everyone at the label is just freaking out over it, everyone loves it. So we are pretty confident it is not going to be a sophomore flop, which is good. *laughs*

But we are really excited about it. We are going to stretch ourselves a little bit harder, a little bit softer, a little bit both directions. So it’ll be a little more diverse than the first one, but overall I think it’s really going to surprise a lot of people; I think it’ll be considerably better.

Josh: So you are still keeping the sound pretty similar then?

Jon: It’s similar sounding, like you’ll definitely be able to tell it’s us, but it’s different at the same time...

Josh: So it won’t be like a massive overhaul or anything like that, right?

Jon: Nothing massive, I mean it’s definitely still the same genre. We’ve done a little more electronic programming on this one, some more drum loops and a few electronic things. Very similar to some of the sounds that Linkin Park might do. We aren’t trying to rip them off or anything, but it really adds a new dimension to music, it makes it feel a lot more full. We are going to put some things in C sharp tuning…drop C sharps. Just so it makes the guitars sound a little more deeper, richer, and fuller. It just gives it a lot more of a thicker sound, which we like a lot.

Josh: You guys have seen some pretty good results with your music both sales wise and fanbase wise, being...what...the fastest selling artist on BEC Recordings was it?

Jon: Yeah, we were the best selling debut artist ever on the label. And we were also the best selling new artist of the year in the entire Christian market for 2002.

Josh: So what is it like to do so well on your first time out?

Jon: Relieving. *laughs* It was really cool, I mean obviously anyone who does a record wants to be successful with it. We just felt really blessed; I think we just happened to have the right record at the right time and God just blessed it, there really is no other explanation for it. I can’t say that we were so phenomenal and it was because we were so great, it was just God decided to bless it and we are thankful for it.

Josh: Yeah, that’s cool.
Now, I heard something about your debut album being re-released to the mainstream market. I must confess that this is news to me, has it happened already?

Jon: There’s been talk of it back and forth, but at this point I don’t think there will be any re-release, we are just focusing on our second record.

Josh: Oh okay, so it’s not going to mainstream at all then?

Jon: It’s been in the mainstream market, like right now you can pick up our record at FYE, Wal-Mart, or some of the other mainstream stores.

I mean, they were talking about trying to re-release it and push it harder in the mainstream as well, along with a radio single and things like that; but it just never materialized. I don’t know, maybe something like that will happen with the new record.

Josh: Yeah, because the album has been out for a year and a bit anyway.

Jon: Yeah, it’s a little late.

Josh: Okay, let’s talk about your sound a bit again, it seems you’ve been getting quite a bit of flack from some people saying you sound very, very similar to Creed at times. Some people are even saying you purposely did it just to bring a Christian version of them to the believers. What exactly were your goals when you were writing the music? I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m sure you weren’t planning “Okay, well, let’s rip Creed off” or something. *laughs*

Jon: Yeah, it’s really funny because out of all of the bands we pulled influences from…we don’t really listen to Creed. *laughs* I mean obviously we are aware of their music, they are all over the radio. And I enjoy some of their songs, definitely. But I would say, musically, we pull a lot more influences from bands like Stain, Puddle of Mudd, Nickelback, Incubus, Linkin Park, all that kind of stuff. But I think the biggest comparison has been my vocals to Scott Stapp’s vocals in the stylistic singing, I think that’s where a lot of comparisons were. But you know…I’m just singing. *laughs*

Josh: Yeah, it’s not like you are doing it completely on purpose or anything.

Jon: Yeah. But even still, this is our first record; I’m still finding my individual vocal style. And that’s another thing about the second record, after doing hundreds of shows now on the road and things like that, I’m beginning to settle in to my own style of singing a little bit. I think you’ll notice that on the second record as well, it’s slightly different. It’s still my voice, it definitely hasn’t changed that much, but I think it has a little bit.

But we definitely never intended to copy Creed in any way, and we are not looking to be the “Christian Creed” or whatever. We just want to create good music that people can rock out to, but can be encouraged by as well.

Josh: So you are one of the three headliners of Festival Con Dios, how did that come together?

Jon: They just offered it to us. *laughs* They were putting together the tour and were looking for some bands to be on it, so they called us up and asked if we were interested in possibly coming out on this tour. We went through the logistics of it, sort of like “Can we make this work and still pay our bills?” So we sat down and brought things together, it looked like it was going to work out.

It’s been really cool so far; it’s definitely an honor to share the stage again with the Newsboys for a full tour. I’m excited, hopefully the weather will stay good, we’ve had a little bit rough weather so far. But we are hoping the sun will stay out.

Josh: So are you getting enough kids out to the shows so far?

Jon: The attendance has been a little bit small. But we’ve only done two shows though, both of them being in the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area. So they’ve been a little bit smaller than we hoped, but I expect that as we move down (especially in the final belt) it will pick up. Also I think the West Coast shows will do well seeing that several of the bands are from the West Coast. Like when we go to Portland, that’s our hometown, and also I grew up in Medford which is southern Oregon. So I think those two shows will do fairly well because it’s kind of home area for us, we’ll have to see what happens.

Josh: What are some of your goals? What are you guys trying to achieve as a band?

Jon: We just want to get our music out there to as many people as possible, and to change as many lives as we possibly can. It’s very important to us, the ministry aspect of our music. And we hope that through our music people will be encouraged in their lives, and that ultimately people who aren’t Christians will be saved. And we want to show people that you can be a Christian and you can still listen to rock and roll music, you can still have fun and hang out. So really, we just want to reach as many people as possible through our music.

Josh: Now you write most (or all) of the lyrics for the band, what inspires you when you write?

Jon: All the songs are typically written around a certain concept of something I have either been going through, thinking about, or watched people around me go through. Really it’s just things that have been on my heart. So when I sit down and write a song, when I begin to write lyrics, I try to really make sure that it’s something that I genuinely care about. Something that I have been thinking about and contemplating. And when that happens I think it becomes evident through the music because there’s a passion behind it, and because my heart really is into it. And I question myself doing it; I’ll double check myself asking “Why am I writing this song? What’s the purpose of it?” And there really hasn’t been a song ever that was just like “Well, I just felt like writing a song, it doesn’t really mean anything. It can mean whatever you want it to mean.” Everything has definitely had a very personal meaning for me. They are all really just songs from my heart about things I have seen, or maybe even feel need to be addressed.

Josh: Yeah, that’s cool.
Okay...time for a couple of get to know you type questions. First off, what are some of your favorite things to do in your free time? Any hobbies or interests?

Jon: I love to ski and snowboard in the wintertime. It’s been hard because we are on the road so much, I hardly get to do that. This December we are going to have some time off so I’m definitely going to get on the mountains.

But there’s just so many things…all of the guys in the band do different things. I do a lot of the extreme sports type stuff like mountain biking, rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, I love white water rafting, kayaking, wake boarding, water skiing, all of that stuff I love. I’m not awesome at any of it, it’s just stuff I do for fun and I really enjoy it. I’m actually pretty excited because there’s a show coming up here on Festival Con Dios that is at a sky diving facility, so a few of us get to go sky diving while we are there. So I’m pretty excited for that.

Josh: Really? That’s awesome.

Jon: Yeah.

Josh: What are some of your favorite bands and artists to listen to? Any albums you are currently digging?

Jon: All of us in the band love Switchfoot, they are one of our favorite bands. They are just awesome guys; we have played some shows with them as well. Their music is definitely amazing.

Josh: Yeah, and they seem to be doing not too bad now too. They were, what, the new artist spotlight of the month on Yahoo! Launch?

Jon: Yeah, they’ve had the major label thing take off, and things have really been picking up for them. I’m really excited for them, they are great guys and they have awesome music.

Josh: Yeah, for sure.
Alright, so in closing, is there anything you’d like to say to those who will be reading this?

Jon: Check out our new record, it comes out February 24th. And you can get more information about us at kutless.com.

But yeah, just stay true and walk with God.

-renown magazine

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