Louder Than The Music

One of the most exciting bands in worship music right now have to be Canada's The City Harmonic. Following a stunning debut EP last year, their song 'Manifesto' clocked up over a million views on YouTube. Now the band are back with their full-length album 'I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home)' and LTTM spoke to lead singer Elias Dummer to find out more.

For those who haven't heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band and how you got involved in making music?
 
Sure! It probably needs to be said that we formed this band with the aim of simply making and writing music together. We've all pretty much been playing in bands ('Christian' and otherwise) and making music for quite some time I guess. We don't all attend one church together, nor have we come out of a specific youth group or anything like that but it seemed natural for us to be writing worship songs and so that's what we do. However, in our hometown of Hamilton, Ontario we have all been involved in a movement of churches called TrueCity - which is a kind of partnership of churches from different traditions working together 'for the good of the city.'  Three of the four of us were in a band that frequently led worship at a college-aged event in partnership with TrueCity that connected students with different service projects around the city and then came together in the evening to sing and worship together that way too.

Tell us a little bit about your new album 'I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home)' and what the inspiration behind it was?
 
C.S. Lewis once said, "If I find in myself a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."  I like to call this "hopeful nostalgia," it's as though we have a sense that this world is not as it ought to be. Even the two Martin Luther King Jr. speeches that inspired songs deal with this same theme - living life in between our inherited promises and the eventual happy ending.  We've been saved on the cross, and yet we look forward to the redemption of all things.  The life of the Christian is lived in between and 'I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home)' is about exactly that.
                                                 
Which is your favourite track on the album and why?


I once heard a story of a rabbi who was also a hobby photographer.  He was showing some of his photographs to a visitor when she asked him which photograph was his favorite.  He thought for a moment and said "Do you have children?"
"Why yes, I do," she said.
"Which one is your favorite?" he replied.
 
What's your song writing process?
 
In the end, we write nearly every song together as a band. Typically, I'll start out with a musical or lyrical idea and then we'll work on it together.  We put a lot of effort into the feel and emotion of a song before we finalize the lyrics as we feel its best to make sure the two line up and feel good together, or at least work together intentionally.
 
How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?
 
Hmmm. We have pretty diverse influences between the four of us, and all of us are pretty eclectic as well.  As far as style of music goes, we like to think of ourselves as a mix of brit-rock and a campfire sing-a-long.
 
How would you define success in your career as a band?
 
We are honestly just trying to make the best and most authentic music we can and hope that it springs from our real lives. My hope is that this is something that can encourage the church in one way or another. If there comes a point where we can’t do that anymore, I suppose it's time to stop and move on.  There's a song on this album called 'Benediction' that is kind of our prayer for people.  I suppose we're simply hoping people will "live like you mean it, and sing like you're living for God."  As long as God allowing us to help in that, we've succeeded already.

In your opinion, what makes the perfect worship song?
 
To be honest, I've become quite adverse to formulas; especially as it pertains to worship music.  Even if you thumb through the Psalms there are so many different kinds of songs, because our worship ought to be reflective of our real lives lived before God, which for most of us are varied and complicated.  So I suppose the only way I can answer this question is to say that our songs need to be genuine and reflective of our lives being lived towards and before Jesus.
 
What advice would you give to any aspiring bands out there?
 
Be yourself, keep your faith and yourself in perspective, and be ready to work hard and patiently.  Oh, and don't do this unless it's something you simply can't do without.
 
You're stuck on an island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your mp3 player. What track is it?
 
Right now, probably 'You can't always get what you want' by The Rolling Stones.  Given the circumstances it'd be an appropriate reminder.
 
What does the next year hold for The City Harmonic?
 
The year isn't completely together yet, but we're very excited to be out in the spring on the 'God Is Not Dead' tour with the Newsboys across the USA alongside Abandon and Anthem Lights.  Can't wait!

Find out more about the band at TheCityHarmonic.com