Greenville Scene

by: Michelle Hannon

Eleventyseven (Flicker/Sony)
Matthew Langston - vocals, guitar
Caleb Satterfield - bass
Jonathan Stephens - drums

GS: How has being from Greenville affected your musical career?

Langston: Well, being from Greenville made it exceedingly difficult to establish any sort of support. At the time, the entire city was drenched in fashion show hardcore bands who all wanted to sound like Norma Jean (Tooth & Nail). No one really cared about what we were doing, and even today we’re not really sure many people do. No one ever wanted to give us shows except close friends, so we knew if we were going to get anywhere we had to get out of town. We appreciate what we’ve learned from this area, but the biggest advantage it ever gave us was not being Nashville. No one ever moves to Nashville and gets signed. Labels are looking everywhere but home. On a lighter note, we are all in agreement that we love Greenville as a city. All scene and musical things aside, it’s still my personal favorite place to be.

GS: You’re playing alot of churches and Christian festivals on tour. How do you view the relationship between playing music/being in a rock band and Christian ministry/evangelism?

Langston: This band is our job. We are all professing Christians, and our faith is the single most important reason that we do this band. However, its been really discouraging always having to defend our faith to other Christians. Most of the churches that we play for already have in mind what they want us to be, and when we turn out to not be that, it sort of disappoints them. Our ministry takes place with people that we know, people we come in contact with everyday; bands, friends, family. Those are people who know who we are, know our struggles, and who have a relationship with us that we know will last. We hate the idea of getting in front of kids for 30 minutes, saying a ton of stuff about Jesus, getting kids emotionally charged with loud music, then filling them with propaganda that makes them feel bad about who they are so that they “make a decision for Christ”, and then leave. There is no substance to that. There’s no integrity in paying lip service to ideas and concepts that kids can’t see you model in your everyday life. We firmly believe that the life Jesus led on earth was truly revolutionary, and the only people he ever really made mad were people in the religious institutions of the day (churches). From our experience we have seen the church, more often than not, shun problem kids away, break promises to us, not pay us, lie to us, turn children in need away, and verbally make fun of kids who were different than the ones in their youth group. This is how most of the churches we come in contact with behave. We know there is more to Christianity than that. Our faith stems from a much higher source than biases, church programs, youth group seminars and church politics. We are called to BE the church, and not to PLAY church like some sort of social club. Our message to kids is simple. God loves you no matter what you are, what you’ve done, and what you’re addicted to. You don’t have to be skinny enough, American enough, tolerant enough, church enough or even “Christian” enough for Him. Your Christian life is going to look completely different from mine, because whether you want Him to or not, God is shaping you and orchestrating you to be and do and serve exactly where He wants you to. Nothing is ever working against God, He created all and all is working FOR Him. You can’t expect for kids to understand that “God is love” if the only “love” they know is sexual abuse, fighting, drugs, and being used by other people. Love must be modeled in a way that kids can understand. God must put a truth into them that they can grasp and they must make a decision to follow or not to follow. It is only our responsibility to serve our purpose at the this very moment in time to the best of our abilities. We want to encourage kids in this. To be a spark that somehow ignites further thinking and searching for truth. Because we searched for truth and found it. It became real to us, not because we grew up in church or said a little prayer, but because God revealed something to us about our selves, and about Himself, and we haven’t been the same since. Anyway, that was a lot of babble i’m sure. But it’s the best way to sum up the struggle we have had with that question.

GS: How do you feel about being labeled a christian pop/punk band? Was it a conscious decision to sign with a Christian label?

Langston: We don’t care. You can call us what you want to, it doesn’t change who we are. We do enjoy sharing experiences with other bands, and also the accountability of being around like-hearted people who can encourage us in our faith. We didn’t set out to be a “Christian band”, because we just thought that it seemed pretty trivial to label yourself that. We saw a ton of so-called Christian bands who used the name of God to fool people into thinking they were something they were not, and into selling a ton of records and merch because they made people feel “safe” with their music. We can’t do that with a clear conscience. I just sort of never imagined God as being the sort of person who would ask me when I die, if my band was Christian or not.

GS: What do you think the purpose of music is? What is eleventyseven’s purpose or goal?

Music’s purposes are as diverse as the hearts that create it. Our goal is to do this band to the best of our ablilty, with as much integrity and faith as we can muster. To be able to look back and see a ton of friends and fans that we have met along the way, and to know that somehow we were used exactly how we needed to be used in each of those people’s lives. And most of all, to be encouragers of all those around us.

GS: What are some albums you’re listening to right now? Reading any good books?

Langston: In no particular order, this is what is in the van right now:
Billy Talent - Billy Talent 2
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
John Mayor - Continuum
Pet Shop Boys - Very
+44 - When Your Heart Stops Beating
Flatfoot 56 - Knuckles Up

GS: And finally.. Where do you see Eleventyseven in five years?

Langston: We have no clue. But hopefully a little older. And a little wiser.