Indie Spotlight: Reaching for Mercy
Reaching For Mercy is a family, a band, a ministry. They are currently in the studio working on 2 releases. The first is their sophomore offering, which is yet to be named. The second is a collection of worship music done their way. Some originals hopfully but mostly their favorites of what is out there. Anyone who has been to one of their shows knows that they love to kick up the worship whenever they can.
Hearing their music, I’m reminded of progressive hard rock (Think Tool, Dream Theater) and some of the newer rock such as Evanescence or even a bit of Eowyn. Chunky bass and guitars, along with long intros are their trademark. The band, Rachael Farnum (KB/Vocals), Ryan Roberts (Drums/Vocals), Steve Watkins (Bass/KB/Vocals), Brian Watkins (Guitar/Vocals) and Pete Farnum (Lead Guitar) is musically adept and they have solid chops. One nice thing is that they appear to be very diverse in singing as many of the songs on their Myspace page are sung by different people. Not all by Rachael.
You can pretty much sum them up with:
…there is nothing in this world more important than a personal relationship with Jesus. It is such a daily struggle to walk the path and we want others to be encouraged and to know that they are not alone. If you are interested in booking or just want to hear more about Jesus, don’t hesitate to email one of us! If you have a prayer request, we would be more than happy to pray for you, so please email. God Bless!
We had a chance to chat with Brian Watkins via email, here’s what we got out of it…
ST.NET: Where are you and what are you doing today?
RFM: We are based in Aurora, IL. We are currently in the studio working on our sophmore album.
ST.NET: Is there much action in the Christian Music scene in the Chicago area?
RFM: I think that it is growing. There are a couple of good Christian stations now and there are more and more opportunities to play.
ST.NET: What’s your favorite thing about playing music?
RFM: Music is such a great outlet for emotion and story telling. It makes a great vessel to share spiritual truths with people that may otherwise not give you the time of day.
ST.NET: Does anyone in the band get to play music for a living, or do you you all have Day jobs as well?
RFM: We all have day jobs or college currently. Although if we had the opportunity to do music full time I think we all would jump at the chance.
ST.NET: What one artist had the biggest impact on you?
RFM: I would have to say Mac Powel. I didn’t really get into music and worship leading until I was out of high school. I always sang and sort of played guitar but never really found my voice. I started playing bass at church to help out and sang some backup vocals, but it wasn’t until we started doing Third Day stuff that I really found my voice and started getting into worship leading.
ST.NET: What are you listening to these days?
RFM: Foo Fighters, David Crowder, Casting Crowns, My Chemical Romance… I listen to a lot of different stuff but have been getting into more modern worship stuff. I want to start writing some congregational worship music, but don’t want to follow the U2 trend that everyone has been on lately.
ST.NET: If you could go to any other artists show, Christian or mainstream, who would it be and why?
RFM: I would love to see Led Zepplin if they do any more reunion shows. I think that seeing them together would be amazing. I have also always wanted to see David Crowder live. I hear that they have an incredible worship experience.
ST.NET: What’s the best thing about being an independent artist?
RFM: The best part is being able to call the shots with your music. There is no pressure to be more mainstream.
ST.NET: What’s the worst thing about it?
RFM: The worst part is having no money and no easy way to get great gigs and tours.
ST.NET: Are you guys happy with being indie or are you looking for that big break and a contract with a label?
RFM: I think on some level every indie band wants to be signed. We would be happy to just get a distribution deal, but it would be great if we could find a label that wanted to partner with us to help grow our ministry. I try to leave that in God’s hands. I don’t know what He has in store but I try to follow where the Spirit leads.
ST.NET: Are you on the road much?
RFM: Not too much. Since we all have jobs and school at the moment we are doing mostly weekend gigs.
ST.NET: What’s the one thing you “Must Have” on the road?
RFM: Twizzlers. I think it is the one thing that everyone will eat, and there is the added bonus that they are good stale too!
ST.NET: What’s the coolest or most interesting thing that’s happened to you on the road?
RFM: I saw an angel once. This happened when i was on tour with my dad’s band Sacred Warrior years ago, but ranks as the cooles thing that ever happened. We were out in the middle of nowhere and got a flat tire on the trailer that we were pulling with all the gear in it. We had a spare but the jack we had was one of those old truck ones that was no where near stable enough to hold the weight of the trailer.
So all the guys were outside at night huddled around trying to make this work and praying that it would. I was in the rv with my mom and looked out the door to see what was going on. I saw a guy dressed all in white with a huge cross around is neck and long blond hair standing behind everyone working on the tire, looking over their shoulders. I told my mom that someone must have stopped to help.
When they all came in later after the tire was changed, my mom asked my dad who had stopped and told them all what I saw. He said that no one had stopped and there was no one that looked like that with us. The only explanation we can think of is that it must have been an angel watching over them in that dangerous situation.
ST.NET: What has God shown your in the last few weeks?
RFM: God has been really working in my heart to dedicate more of my time to study of the word. I find too many reasons to do other things and not enought time to pray and read my bible. I am working on increasing my studay, and asking that God will lead my quiet times.
ST.NET: Any new releases or tours coming up we should tell people about?
RFM: We are working on a new release that should be done by the end of summer. We have been posting some of the songs on our myspace and will continue to do so until it is done.
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