Interview: Delirious? on Worship Revolution Tour

NEW JERSEY, USA - Quoted as being one of the most essential bands to Christian music by multiple artists, Delirious? (yes, the question mark is part of the name) recently brought its heart-felt worship to the United States.

Alongside other Christian divas Rebecca St. James and Vicky Beeching, the band - which consists of Marin Smith (vocals), Stu G (guitar, backup vocals), Jon Thatcher (bass guitar), Tim Jupp (keys, piano), and Stew Smith (drums, percussion) - ended their Worship Revolution Tour at Secaucus, New Jersey, just outside New York, this past Saturday.

|PIC1|In an interview with Delirious? member Thatcher outside the concert hall, the bass guitarist shared his experience of being on the road and his reflection on his life as a musician.

As was evident from their concert and from the interview, it is clear that these performers are still on fire for the God that they praise. In all they do, they wish to glorify God.

The following are excerpts from the interview:

You and the band are just ending your U.S. portion of the Worship Revolution Tour. How has it been? Have you all enjoyed it? Any highlights?

Thatcher: Yeah, it's been a great time. As you can see behind, we've got four buses on the road - Rebecca St. James, Vicky Beeching, and Delirious?.

We've also brought our wives and kids along with us. So we've got five wives between us and 16 children. It's been an absolute circus, but it's been great for the children to experience what we do.

We're away so often that, when we can make it work for them, we try to get them out. You'll see them on stage tonight. They absolutely love it.

Do you think that performing in the United States is a lot different than being in Britain, or let's say, somewhere else in the world?

Thatcher: Yeah. Last year we played in about 25 different countries, and that's something that is unique about Delirious?. We're not from America. We do visit America, but we also love playing other places around the world as well.

We were touring in South America for the first time last year, and the reception there was brilliant. We were also in India. It's great to play some of these territories that don't get the bands, that don't get the circuits going through. It's really nice to sometimes escape the machine, because often in Europe and America, you're just one of many bands playing the circuit, and it's hard to get the reaction and the spark and the chemistry. But when you go somewhere like South Africa or South America or India, these people are really hungry and have been waiting for years to see you play. There's definitely a different dynamic that happens at those shows.

Were you all in the US during Easter? How did you handle things like Easter while you're on the road?

Thatcher: That's a really good question, because every day on the road, you can slip into kind of maintenance mode. You know, with sixteen children with you - I've got three - you're just trying to survive the day. There's the catering; there's the hotel runs; there's the swimming pools; there's the wash bags; there's all these elements that you're kind of juggling. And then, you think, "Oh, it's Easter day today. This is the foundation of our belief." And it's almost like any other day. We want and try - especially with the children - to bring focus and attention to how special it is to them. But it's also kind of just trying to make things work. You're kind of juggling everything.

We did an Easter egg hunt. We told the Easter story to them, and got them to act it out; they all got crazy about that. It's just something that, if we were at home, it'd be the regular church services we go to, and it'd be easy to bring definition there. But out on the road, it's interesting.

Your band just released a new book, I Could Sing of Your Love Forever. Is that somewhat a different experience for you all? Did you enjoy doing that?

Thatcher: Yes, that was written by Stu and Martin who predominately write most of the songs. So that was just a bit of background to the thinking behind the songs and the places they were at when they wrote the songs.

To be honest, I haven't read it yet. But I hear it's brilliant, and everyone should go out to buy it!

But it's had a great reception. I think people, fans of the songs that want to know just a little bit more, I think it's a great tool for them.

You all have been together for over ten years performing. Do you think that you will be performing for a long time still, or are you all feeling that you want to start settling down?

Thatcher: I don't feel like we want to settle down. I think we're really hungry to go wherever God wants to take us. Since day one, we've had a phrase, "taking it wherever it goes," and it's really what we want to be doing.

You know, we don't want to make an idol out of Delirious?. If we've done our time, then that's great. Life is short, and we want to give our lives to the fullest. But at the minute, we feel that our calling is not finished with Delirious?, and we're going to keep running as fast as we can until that changes.

It feels that we're at a good place at the moment. We're very hungry, and we don't want to settle down. We want to give everything our best shot. We want to glorify God in everything we do. But also, we're wide enough in our vision to know that, if God isn't in it, then we've done our time, and we'll happily hang up our boots.

This will be the final question then. What is your favourite worship song, and why is it your favourite worship song?

Thatcher: Oh, that's a great question. Um...my favorite worship song is, out of what we do - I'll bring it back to that - I'd say my favourite worship song to play live is "Investigate." To me, that has all the elements. It's artistic, but it has artistic integrity. Lyrically, it's honest; it's raw; it's vulnerable.

I think that's what it's about for me. I think God created us to be creative. So to be able to stand on stage with a guitar and feel that you are expressing something, I think that is a great part of worship.