ABEL
Interview by James Ketchum
Former Facedown Records indie darlings Abel have packed up and moved to the ministry driven organization Come and Live! Bucking the system sort of speak, by preparing to offer their new record Lesser Men to their fans for free. Here vocalist Kevin Kneifel and keys player Dan Bishop fill us in on what the future has in store for Abel. Look for the new release coming October 19th at www.comeandlive.com.
Tell us a bit about your upcoming release and how it differs from The Honest Love, which you put out on Facedown Records.
Kevin Kneifel: The Honest Love was a very poppy and hopeful album, and really reflects our feelings and attitudes at the time we recorded it. Our band and our music have grown a lot since then. Lesser Men is more melancholy and mature than the last album, both lyrically and musically. While the last album was very much about the persistence of God’s love, Lesser Men is more about forgiveness, and finding our way back when we walk away from that love. Our personal and spiritual growth over the last year has definitely been a big factor to that change.
Who are some of your major influences that have shaped your sound as a band?
Dan Bishop: I’d have to say Thrice and Brand New, most definitely. I could listen to Thrice all day. To be honest though, I don’t know that I intentionally draw inspiration from other bands so much as I do from life and experiences.
KK: People really like to compare our sound to Brand New, at least in a live setting. Thrice is definitely one of the bands we all agree on, and I still continue to be inspired by bands like Coldplay and As Tall As Lions.
You’ve chosen to forego looking for a new label and instead decided to release Lesser Men via Come and Live for free. Why the transition?
KK: Come&Live! is definitely not a traditional label, but we’re actually really excited to be giving the album away for free digitally. We’ve got music and a message that we want people to hear, and giving that music away for free is one of the best ways we can think of to do so. The music industry, as it stands, is a broken system that we can’t trust to take care of us. Record sales won’t save our band from the financial instability that all musicians and labels are going through right now. I think if we’re honest in saying that we trust God to take care of us, and that we really care about the people who listen to our band, then giving our music away for free isn’t such a hard next-step to take.
What do you hope that people take away from hearing the new songs?
DB: I’d hope that people would see that we’re really serious about a God who is totally serious about us, and whose love doesn’t fail us, even when we fail Him.
What are your plans after the release and where can fans catch you this fall?
DB: I can’t wait to start writing music again! I’ve had a huge desire lately to create things, and creating music is probably one of my favorite things to do. You’d think that having just finished writing and recording an album that I’d want to take a break, but that really isn’t the case.
KK: Yeah, we’ve already got some new song ideas in the works, and we’re discussing some touring plans for once the album drops. We’re definitely going to be hitting the road with some of our Come&Live! label-mates, that’s for sure. Expect some more East Coast dates over the next few months!
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