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PFR: Ready to Reappear
2001 will go down in history as the year PFR returned to Christian music. With a new record and fall tour dates lining into place, everything seems back to normal. At least for now...

In 1996, Joel Hanson, Patrick Andrew and Mark Nash went their separate ways. It seemed the end of one of Christian music's innovative and thoughtful bands. But now, five years later, PFR has reunited to offer what they are calling their best album yet—Disappear. Joel, Patrick and Mark recently spoke with FamilyChristian.com about what brought them back together and what the future holds for PFR.

FamilyChristian.com: This is pretty exciting—PFR is back! What brought the three of you together and to this point?

Mark: I think the catalyst was the Roaring Lambs project. A couple of months before that happened, Patrick and I were talking about possibilities and maybe doing another record. I started working at Squint [Entertainment] around that time and we started working on the Roaring Lambs project. There was an extra slot so I asked Steve [Taylor, one of the producers and president of Squint], "Would you be interested in having us do a song?" He was into it so it happened really fast. Joel wrote the song in a couple of days, [then] came and recorded it.

We had a really good time recording. The chemistry was still there. It was like all of the reasons you get into music in the first place—just the joy of it. We talked a lot during that session, "What if we took this a step further?" Our producer really helped facilitate some of those discussions.

FamilyChristian.com: Is that how you ended up releasing your album on Squint?

Mark: I talked to Steve [Taylor and told him], "We want to do this thing. Is it okay with my job here if I do this side thing?" I wasn't really thinking that he would want to take it on but he was really enthusiastic about wanting to do it.

Joel: Well that, and when Mark brought the idea up to him, Steve said, "Either you get in the group or you don't have a job." We were kind of stuck.

Mark: These guys are real sweethearts for helping me out. (laughs)

FamilyChristian.com: I think the question every one will ask—are you guys back for good or is this just a one record deal?

Patrick: The actual contract says it's a one record deal but we plan on supporting the album fully and then talking.

Joel: You can't commit to a record without having a fairly high level of commitment. We're together. Our producer told us while we were in the studio that we never broke up because of the way we still interact. He said, "I've been in bands that broke up. You guys didn't break up."

Mark: I think that we've definitely plotted out the next year. We'll [tour] in the fall and spring to support the record. Who knows what sort of life this record is going to have? We have no idea. There are a couple of paths we could go down and that could determine all sorts of different things. At this point, we're not making any huge claims. Joel said earlier today, "We've bitten off the right amount that we can chew."

FamilyChristian.com: Let's go back to Roaring Lambs. Your involvement with that project indicates that the book has really impacted you. What other books have influenced you?

Joel: I like a lot of Brennan Manning's stuff: The Ragamuffin Gospel and The Signature of Jesus. I'm reading Ruthless Trust right now. [I like] a book called A Sacred Romance. I'm trying to read The Prayer of Jabez, which is the hot topic, but I don't burn with it like everybody else has yet. I've got to finish it and then digest it.

FamilyChristian.com: It's been about five years since PFR disbanded. What have each of you been up to during that time?

Joel: [I] moved to Nashville in 1996, after the group disbanded. I write [songs] for EMI Christian Publishing and RBI BMG.

My wife and I moved back to Minnesota in 1998 and I was a worship pastor. I did that for a year. It was a part time thing. I was doing a lot of songwriting and the church just grew so fast that they needed somebody full time. I resigned from that position and focused more on writing and interestingly enough, that was just a month or two before Mark called me to talk about the Roaring Lambs thing.

Just this year, my wife and I had our first child, a daughter. She is so awesome. And I did a solo project, which Family has graciously carried. (laughs).

FamilyChristian.com: Speaking of your songwriting, Chris Tomlin recorded one of your songs, "Captured." How did you two meet? I know he thinks very highly of you.

Joel: I think the same of him. Chris and I met through Rick Cua. I was in [Nashville] to do [a songwriter showcase] and played "Captured." Chris heard it and said to Rick, "How can I get that song?" He started using that song as he traveled around the country doing ministry.

The idea [for the song] came from Abba's Child [by Brennan Manning]. Chris told me [about] a weekend he was with Brennan and said Brennan [used a phrase from the song] all weekend, "My Father's very fond of me." To me, that was the biggest payoff of that song: the guy who inspired me to write [the song] was inspired by [it].

FamilyChristian.com: What about the rest of you? What have you been doing during the last five years?

Mark: When PFR shut down the doors in 1996 or so, I started working with some bands, producing, and did various demos. Then in January of 2000 I became the Director of A&R at Squint Entertainment.

Patrick: After PFR broke up, I moved to the Nashville area and had a band called Eager. That went defunct so I moved to Phoenix where I took a job as a worship director. I took another job as a worship director a year and a half later in a town called Scottsdale. I live in Surprise, Arizona, and I have a studio out there that I've built and I'm developing some young groups and a solo guy. My wife and I have two children, Olivia and Everett.

FamilyChristian.com: As you think about the band's history, what is your favorite PFR song?

Patrick: I don't have a favorite but if I had to choose one, it would probably be "Missing Love" [from Disappear].

Mark: I think it is "Falling," off the new record.

Joel: For feel and emotion, I really love the moment that "Fight" had on the record Them because it had a very large orchestration thing. I started writing it when we were over in London so I have some emotional attachment to the song. As far as a record full of good songs, Disappear is a step above all around.

FamilyChristian.com: The title of your new album is a little ironic since you're reappearing, not disappearing. Where does the title come from?

Joel: We are full of irony.

Patrick: Wait, maybe we wrongly named the album! (laughs)

Joel: The title is actually the last word in the song "Falling": "Another death-defying trick up your sleeve/Can you make it disappear?/Turn the skeptic into one who believes/Until I'm in the clear." And the last line is: "Everything is rising past me/Take my hand/You've got to catch me/Can you make it disappear?" The sin that so easily entangles me and the things that weigh me down are the things that Christ really can set us free from.

Disappear by PFR

FamilyChristian.com: You guys were together for eight years before you broke up. Now, coming back, you have a better understanding of how the music industry works. What have you learned through the years?

Joel: We want to make sure that we're not just putting out another record for people to hear. It's a record that matters.

Patrick: We have a chance to have some purpose, at least for myself, so let's take advantage of that and make each day mean something.

Joel: [I think that if] we're going to go out [on tour], it has to be powerful [so] it makes sense for us to give the emotional energy and the physical energy and the mental energy it takes to do that kind of stuff. There's a lot of sacrifice that takes place.

I think maybe we just looked at [this process] more as adults now than we used to. Before it was fun and it was meaningful, but it was mostly a ride we were on. [Now] we're just trying to be really wise and [we want people] to look [at us] and go, "You know, those guys meant that."

Jen Abbas, a writer in Grand Rapids, Mich., originally conducted this interview for Family Christian Stores' All Access music catalog.

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