Interview with Brian Moss about the making of Prayerbook, no. 1

(Deutsche Übersetzung hier...)

Monica Seidler: It's not that easy to classify your music style: I find jazz, folk, pop, rock, hymn, and electronica. How would you describe your music yourself?

Brian Moss: I think your classification of jazz/folk/pop/rock/hymn/electronica about covers it. I enjoy many flavors of music whether I'm listening to it or writing it. My earlier projects were a bit more consistent in style and tone, but working with the Psalms requires more flexibility. The Psalms invoke so many different emotional responses and you need to be sensitive in determining what sounds a song may need.

Monica: Was there a special kind of mixing and recording?

Brian: The art of recording music has experienced quite a revolution in the past couple of years. So many records now are being produced on nothing but a laptop, and while this may work in some situations I think it has narrowed the complexity and depth of our musical expectations. This project contains both analog and digital elements. There wasn't really any special technique used in the recording/mixing process except trying to find an appropriate balance between the two worlds of analog and digital.

Monica: As you describe it, there's a rhythm through the psalms. Was it your intention that rhythm and pace grow faster and more dynamic from 1 to 15 - as grows the experience of God's majesty, his mercy and grace that draws us nearer to him? And then the album closes with the intense prayer of redemption in "Not Even One" and the friendly invitation of "Only Believe".

Brian: My greatest fear in writing new songs inspired by the Psalms (or any scriptural text for that matter) is to do unto it. In other words, to make it say what I want it to say as opposed to what it actually says. I didn't always like having to write what I wrote, but that is one of the transformational aspects of the Psalms. As we sing/pray these songs/poems they change us and give us a more global perspective of the life of faith.

I didn't intend for the pace to grow faster or more dynamic but I do think that it kind of turned out that way because of the nature of the Psalms themselves. I was constantly thinking about the sequence of the record and I do think this dramatically shaped the writing process. I also spent a lot of time thinking about whether this record (and the ones to follow) should be more personal or congregational in nature. In the end, I decided to let each Psalm speak for itself. Where some are more easily suited to being a corporate response, others are individual. At the same time, I believe that any prayer prayed is never prayed alone.

This project is in no way a substitute for the real thing, but I do hope it serves as a gateway.

... for more information about Brian Moss go to his official website.