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A Brand New Suit These five spirit beings encased in fleshly bodies have come a long way from their Bourbon Street beginnings. Earthsuit members talk with Jen Abbas about their new release and their new life as Sparrow artists.  Though
they played together in New Orleans coffeehouses and other venues for five years,
Earthsuit seemed to have come out of nowhere when Sparrow signed the band in the
summer of 1999. With their first album, Kaleidoscope
Superior under their belt, the band members say they still just want God
to use them in whatever way He sees fit. Join us as we talk with vocalist Adam
LaClave, keyboardist and backing vocalist Paul Meany, guitarist Dave Rumsey, bass
player Roy Mitchell and drummer David Hutchison, better known as Hutch.FamilyChristian.com: How did the five of you meet? Adam: I met Paul in New Orleans through a mutual friend at church. We hit it off and started writing songs together. God gave us concepts and ideas for songs, and we started hashing those out. At the same time, our church opened up a Christian club on Bourbon Street in downtown New Orleans. That's the place we met Roy, the bass player, and Dave Rumsey, the guitarist. About two years ago we met Hutch, our drummer, through another mutual friend. FamilyChristian.com: What does the name Earthsuit mean? Paul: We heard a sermon in which this man was preaching about how humans are really spirit beings encased in fleshly bodies. The term "earth suit" came up. At the time we liked it, and we took it. FamilyChristian.com: What do you hope to accomplish? Do you have a mission statement or a theme verse? Adam: We just hope to let God use us in a new and fresh way. We don't know what all that entails. Right now, He's opening up doors for us, and we're trying to walk through those and write the songs that He's giving us. People are taking to it. It's awesome to see God work through the music like that. FamilyChristian.com: Who's the main songwriter? Adam: On the record, the primary writers were Paul and I. It's a collaborative effort, though, with how the songs end up. FamilyChristian.com: How would you describe the sound of Earthsuit?  Hutch:
Our music is a collage of styles. It's got a lot of different influences. It's
got elements of rock, hip-hop, jazz, funk, a little techno, a little reggae flavor.
But it all fits into a nice pop package.FamilyChristian.com: Tell us about your new album. Paul: The name of the album is Kaleidoscope Superior, and we got a chance to work with a great producer, David Leonard. He did the last Barenaked Ladies album and Michelle Tumes. The thing we appreciate about [our label] Sparrow is that in our whole approach to the record, they weren't trying to direct us to any other place than where we already were. They loved what we were doing musically, and they wanted to find the producer who would capitalize on that and capture some cool stuff on tape. We think that happened, and we are really happy with it. FamilyChristian.com: What is "Whitehorse" about? Adam: The song "Whitehorse"—we tried to write it from a different perspective. Most people, when they hear the term "white horse," think of the analogy of Jesus coming back, an end-times theme. But we wanted to bring a different meaning to it, because Jesus is here and present for us now, and He comes to rescue us in our everyday life. FamilyChristian.com: As a new artist, what makes you different? Hutch: We're coming at music from a lot of different areas. If people are open, they'll see that there is a lot of underlying stuff happening in the music—strong lyrical content as well as strong musical content. It's energetic and something that is new. Roy: One thing we'd like to express is that we don't want to be like anyone else. We want to sound unique in the Christian market, in any market, and different from a general market band. We want to be unique and do what God has called us to do in that sound. Paul: Like the Bible says, we're part of a chosen generation, a peculiar people. God wants us to be different. God has placed a gift of music within these five guys, and we're true and pure to that. We're going to be different, and it's going to stand out. I hope people can connect to that and appreciate it, because we're trying to communicate what God is to us the best way we can. FamilyChristian.com: What is God teaching you right now?
Paul: One of the important things I've learned—especially in a band situation—is that you can't do it by yourself. Let iron sharpen iron, and we'll become better people and a better image of who Christ is through our relationships with others. The more I work with these guys, the more I realize that I'm nothing, and these guys can help me be what God wants me to be. Hutch: One of the things God shows me every day is just to love. To love people unconditionally, and be there for people and have a huge heart, and be what God wants me to be. FamilyChristian.com: What are you passionate about? Adam: We're passionate about the music and the band. But to us it's so much bigger than that, because we realize that this is such a gift and a tool from God. But there's a much greater purpose for it. We can make the greatest music that we set out to do, but God has even bigger visions than that. He can use whatever platform He opens up in the future to be a light right in the middle of culture. And that's our desire, to be relevant and to speak and be heard in our culture. Jen Abbas, a writer in Grand Rapids, Mich., originally conducted this interview for Family Christian Stores' All Access music catalog. Back To Top |
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