It was really cool for me to have a concept of that. And it was funny because when I first started the band, I didn't know how my parents would feel because I was at college at that time- and I knew they were worried I will drop out of school and just pursue being in a band. They didn't want me to do anything foolish. It was cool - I remember having a talk with them, and I really felt that this was something God was calling me to do. They've been so supportive since then.
They were OK with the rock n' roll stuff?
They were fine with it! The church I grew up in was a non-denominational church. I grew up listening to rock n' roll music. It wasn't a really big deal. When I was growing up, Christian music was just taking shape. There was the grunge movement from Seattle- Pearl Jam and Nirvana- but there was also a whole 'underground', post-grunge Christian thing that was happening at that time. I grew up living in Oregon, listening to CDs that no one has probably ever heard of.
There were bands like Rose Blossom Punch, Poor Old Lu, and Driver Eight...(laughs) It's funny because even people in the United States, hardly anyone has ever heard of them. And when finally someone has heard of them, they'd be like, 'No way! I totally remember them! That's awesome!" It is funny, but it was some really good music. At that time, there wasn't a lot of distribution and things like there are now.
How do you feel about your music going mainstream?
I really feel that the more people we could reach with our music, the better. I'm really open to that. If mainstream radio stations and TV stations want to play our stuff, then I think it's a great thing. It's great for that to go out there and hopefully reach more people.
We've had several of our music videos play on MTV, and we had our song "All the Words" featured on a TV show here called Scrubs. It's a great opportunity for your music to reach people who would maybe not step foot into church. I'm excited, but at the same time, I don't think it's right for us to single-handidly pursue that and alter the way we write or perform.
If someone- who is not Christian- were to listen to your music without knowing the meaning behind it, would you step out and clarify it for them?
I think that's something that really depends on the environment and the situation. We hope that it's clear- who we are and what we're about. And I think for anyone that has been around our band for any length of time- it's very obvious.
I hope that is the case no matter where we go. Whether that requires explanation- or whether it's obvious to who we are. I think sometimes, we don't need to explain who we are. If that truly is who we are, it's going to be obvious.
Who thought of the name Kutless? Quote, Jon Micah: "[Jesus Christ] took our cuts for us... leaving us 'Kutless'."
