Interview with Phil Wickham - Part 2 [Gourmet Music Report #37]

We continue our conversation with INO Recording Artist Phil Wickham, whose new CD "Heaven and Earth" is hitting shelves this week.

DT: What is the overall theme of your new album?
PW: It is very much in the title, Heaven and Earth. There's this story theme that runs through the whole thing. The beginning song is called "Eden." It kind of steps in the shoes, if he wore shoes, of Adam - just thinking of how he must have felt when he was a couple hundred years outside of the garden and remembering when he used to walk and talk with God, and the longing to be in that place once again. There is still this longing, this searching, for something bigger than what we see. It's this relationship with God - it's who we are made to be: lovers of God, worshipers of God. It's from Adam's perspective, but also from our perspective with the hook saying, " I want it like it was back then, I want to be in Eden." There is like a desire without a solution at the beginning of the album. Then in the middle it gives the solution out front: it's Jesus on the cross! He became our solution for the problem. It kind of turns into a worship record from then on - talking about Heaven and anticipating the arrival of Jesus. There is a song called "In Your City", also "Cielo" which is Spanish for "Heaven", and then it ends with a tune called "Heaven Song." It was one of the last songs to write for the new record. I wanted there to be a period or an exclamation point at the end of the sentence. We were lost and Jesus found us. So we are going to experience this reward because of what He did.

DT: As a newlywed, how are you enjoying your first year of marriage?
PW: Man, it has been so overwhelmingly good, so sweet. We just heard so many older couples say "Just get through the first year, it's going to be okay. The first year is the hardest." And there's definitely been some changes here and there. My wife's name is Mallory, and we knew each other since I was a sophomore and she was in seventh grade, but we were part of the same church community. After she graduated from high school we became best friends and we knew each other so well that there wasn't much to get used to - there weren't any surprises. I think I just realize more and more how much I can be selfish. I heard that from so many guys, and you think "Okay, thanks for being so humble dude," but it just seems like whenever a problem comes up it's like "Whoa that was my fault!" So I think it's been so sweet - just figuring things out. I've been talking to other artists, asking "What's the balance with this kind of lifestyle?" I'm gone on Sundays. I'm gone on Saturdays a lot. So, how do you create and how do you make church happen? These are kinds of balances that you need to find and figure out.

DT: What do you like to do away from the stage and away from music?
PW: I love to sit on the couch with my wife... and eat... just the stupidest, simplest things! Literally, this time I'll be away from home for 11 days. Now when I leave home, I just can't wait to go and sit on the porch, which is so boring. It sounds so nice to be able to sleep in, put on some running shoes, and go for a run at the beach. I love my job, but it's the real simple, sweet things that you kind of lose out on - like being home on a weekend and being able to go your church and stuff like that. That's the stuff I love to do.

Don't miss our audio interview with Phil Wickham on the current "Under The Radar" (episode #51), including an exclusive live version of "Heaven Song" on this week's UTR. And you can enter to win one of three of Phil's discographies - more info at www.radarradio.net.