Last fall, Caedmon’s Call released IN THE COMPANY OF ANGELS:
A CALL TO WORSHIP on Essential Records. The
project was created out of a calling and
desire for the band to do worship music again.
Keyboardist Josh Moore had developed into a great
producer and songwriter on this album. He wrote two
songs on ANGELS, including the radio hit, “Who You Are”.
Josh was recruited to join the band 3 years ago when
he was still in high school. He was a well-known
pianist and keyboardist at(Caedmon’s Call singer/guitarist)
Cliff Young’s home Church in Houston. Last year Josh moved
to Nashville to study music at Belmont University. Lately he’s
been busy taking classes and producing other artists.
We sat down for a chat during this year’s Gospel Music
Week. I first asked him about his relationship with
the rest of the band and their creative process.
“I’ve had the younger brother mentality, which is
great!” Now, “I’ve definitely grown into my own.”
says Moore. Josh then told me about his production work
on the latest album. “From a creative standpoint, I wanted
to bring some new approaches to the band.” Working
with the band is “very democratic and symbiotic.
Everyone feeds off of each other. We are very
spiritual musicians – it’s a very non-cognitive approach
to music. It’s all about vibes.”, he said.
When work was to begin on the new record,
the band had just finished a tour. With little time
to write and record, band members
retreated to their local Church in Houston,Texas.
There, Caedmon’s Call had been involved with a worship service
called LOGOS. LOGOS helped inspire the worship element of the new music.
The consensus of the band was “Let’s
have a vision” says Moore. The band decided to break
the tradition of having two main songwriters on this album. Caedmon’s Call
enlisted a group of friends,songwriters, and worship leaders to help with
the creative process. Josh commented, “It was so amazing to see the unity,
the continuity of the material, even though it was coming from so many
different places. I think the record flows better than any other record
the band has put
out.”
I asked Josh to talk about writing the song “Who You Are”.
He described it as a “weird situation” and
very “overwhelming”. Last year, Josh managed to
write the song, while trying to finish high school
in Houston. He said, “I was so drained, my mind was
not into anything, except getting the record done.”
Label mates, Third Day encouraged the band to have
some songs ready for radio singles. Josh had some
pop songs he’d been working on. These were mostly
“melodies and (chord)progressions”, he said.
He went on to say, “I had this one song, influenced by
the melodic style of the band Jellyfish. I sat down
one afternoon and these words just came out – I sat up
’til about four o’clock in the morning and just
finished it.” Since the recording of the song, he was amazed by the great
feedback he received on that song. Even though he had been
tired and exhausted, “the words fit into the melody? the
message God was trying to get through just came through.”
I also asked about the influence Rich Mullins had
on the band. The band loved the way Rich communicated his relationship with
God using Celtic styling. Josh explained that, even though Rich had huge
problems, the heart of his music and
ministry was his relationship with God.
He described Rich as the “most influential Christian
musician of our time.”
Check out this link for pictures of the band:Caedmon’s Call
