Face the King to Play NAMM Convention in Anaheim

An official statement from the band has confirmed their involvement in the NAMM convention in California. They told me, "Face The King was just selected to play the NAMM Convention in Anaheim, CA on January 19th at the Marriott Center Stage at 7pm. We are attending the convention as artists of KORG USA, Spector, Blackstar, and VOX."

 

More details can be found on their page below

http://www.reverbnation.com/show/6030758

The band is also working on their EP and recently began tracking the drums and bass tracks on Dec. 10th at the Factory Underground in Norwalk, Connecticut. 

                           http://www.factoryundergroundstudio.com

"The rest of the tracks (guitar, vocals, keyboard, etc.) will be self recorded in our newly homegrown portable studio! No release date as of yet. We are promising much more energy and hooky vocal melodies/lines than the previous EP," the band said.

For now you can catch the band at these following locations:

Dec. 23rd at The Room in Brookfield, CT Doors open at 5:30 Tickets can be purchased here: http://www.ticketstorm.com/venue/theroom/brookfield/1209/

Jan. 12th at Mulchay's in Wantagh, we will be headlining. Roughly between 9 and 10pm, the official time is TBA. http://www.reverbnation.com/show/6058226

Jan. 19th at the 2012 NAMM Convention in Anaheim, CA

For my full interview with the band click here

Check the band out at any of these locations

http://www.facethekingband.com

http://www.facebook.com/facetheking

http://www.twitter.com/facetheking

http://www.reverbnation.com/facetheking

http://www.youtube.com/facetheking

Interview with Michael Tait of the Newsboys

The Newsboys are set to embark on what is to be their largest tour as a band starting in January with the "God's Not Dead Tour," and the Christian Post was able to chat with lead singer Michael Tait.

Tait said the tour was the Newsboys biggest because of the amount of dates scheduled, and it would also be special to him because it is his first all worship record with the Newsboys, and looks forward to worshipping city to city.

When asked why the album and tour title of God's Not Dead was so important, Tait replied, "People need to hear that sometimes. He's real, He's alive, Jesus has raised from the dead."

"He's more than an idea or spiritual being," he explained.

Touring with the Newsboys are a mixture of young people with hearts for God and a positive message. The bands include: The City Harmonic, Abandon, and Anthem Lights.

Also appearing at all the dates is Bob Lenz, who will presenting the gospel every night.

The bands are also working with Compassion International and I Am Second, two organizations that will be speaking and reaching out during the tour.

Compassion International deals with global child poverty, and works with local churches to try and put it to an end.

The singer was specifically excited about the message contained in song “I Am Second.”

"We are second to none," he said. "Put everyone else before yourself and be second to Christ."

The organization is really a movement that inspires people to live for God and share their testimonies online so others can share.

As far as the new album is concerned, Tait said the response has been "fantastic" and he along with the fans have loved the reunion of his former band mate from DC Talk, Kevin Max on two tracks, "God's Not Dead (Like a Lion)" and "I Am Second."

He also said despite some of the tracks on God's Not Dead being remakes of older Newsboys worship songs from Peter Furler's days, it was important for him to put his own spin on them.

"I want to do the songs justice, or do them better. Put the new Newsboys savvy on them," he said.

On whether people were used to him as the singer for the Newsboys after many years of singing with DC Talk, and former singer Peter Furler being in the band since 1985, Tait said, "There still are some naysayers."

"It's not like I'm an unknown character. They could have picked someone worse," he said with a laugh.

Tait said when covering old songs he tried to "get inside" all of the older material and if he didn't think he could do it, he left it alone.

The 45-year-old singer said the differences between DC Talk and Newsboys is like the differences between his ex-girlfriends. "Each one you liked for a different reason and had a different emotional response too," he said laughing after he warned of a bad analogy.

Tait has had a magical run in his music career. When DC Talk started in 1988 as a three piece gospel rap trio, he would have never guessed they'd become the biggest openly Christian act of all time.

Upon the group splitting up in 2001, Tait would go solo for a few years before taking over the mantle of the Newsboys, another one of Christian music's biggest bands ever, from Peter Furler in 2009.

"I'm so blessed," he said.

DC Talk (L to R) Michael Tait, Kevin Max, and TobyMac

"In DC Talk the song would never end. I would sing, then Kevin would sing, then Toby would rap. I couldn't finish a song," he said and then demonstrated what he meant by singing a few lines of DCT's "Say the Words."

"Now," he said, "I can start the song and finish it. It's just me."

Tait spoke about the Newsboys fans being just as good as DC Talk's because many were also fans of his former group. "We share the same fan base, the transition was easy."

Many times the Newsboys will throw in DCT's hit song "Jesus Freak" as part of their set. They performed it once with TobyMac and another time with Christian rapper KJ-52. Sometimes Tait does TobyMac's raps himself.

"I'm not a rapper. I do the best I can," he laughs.

On any future collaborations with former singer Peter Furler, Tait thinks it is quite possible.

"I would love to cross paths with Peter. He's a good friend of mine for a long time, it would be classic."

CP asked Tait: “What is one unknown fact about the Newsboys that many people may not know?”

He replied, "Newsboys actually opened up for DC Talk a few times in 1989 and 1990 when they had the Hell Is For Wimps album."

Tait closed the interview by inviting everybody out to come see them. "We'd love to meet you!" he exclaimed.

Peter Furler

The Newsboys were co-founded in 1985 by Peter Furler and guitarist George Perdikis in Australia.

Originally the band’s drummer from 1985 to 1997, Furler took over vocals when former vocalist John James left due to an admitted drug and alcohol problem.

James has since cleaned up and is now involved in ministry.

Together the band has released 15 albums spawning countless singles and major tours, and received worldwide critical success with their 1994 album Going Public, featuring their biggest single "Shine," and 1996's album Take Me to Your Leader.

They've been nominated for four Grammys and 24 Dove Awards winning five including Rock Album of the Year, Rock Recorded Song of the Year, Recorded Music Packaging of the Year, Short Form Music Video of the Year, and Event Album of the Year.

Other awards won include Best CCM Video 1999 by the Billboard Music Video Awards, 1995 Video Award and 1999 Video Award from the International Angel Awards, and Favorite CCM Album 1999 from the Nashville Music Awards.


Article originally on the Christian Post.
This article was a dream come true for me as DC Talk and the Newsboys were the first bands I ever listened to. It is because of these two groups that I myself play music and have a passion for it. I remember getting these albums on cassette way back in 1995. I wore those cassettes out and eventually got the CD's. Thank you Michael Tait for a truly amazing experience.

Kel Mitchell of 'Kenan & Kel' Interview

Kel Mitchell is a name synonymous with 90s pop culture, whether it was his unforgettable roles in Nickelodeon classic comedy shows like "All That" or "Kenan & Kel," to his movie roles in "Goodburger" and "Mystery Men.

"Fans and orange soda lovers all over the world have been wondering what Kel is doing with himself, and Broken Records has the scoop on everything from new projects, directing, rapping to his love for Jesus Christ.

When asked "What it was like being such a huge star in Hollywood?," Kel talked about being just a regular kid from the south side of Chicago and having it be "a surreal and humbling experience."

Even now, he said he will sign every autograph and reminisce with fans on the characters he has played because without the fans he would be nothing.

Growing up a child of the 80s and early 90s had a profound effect on the actor as well as allowing him to pick up his skills from other funny people. "Muppets, Martin Lawrence, In Living Color, and the Wayans Bro's definitely played a part in what I do."


Kel reminisced with The Christian Post on his favorite moments on "All That" and said his favorite character was Coach Kredmin. "Coach Kredmin, I would go over the top as much as possible. Always different and insane. He was my favorite."


As for his favorite moment on the show, he recalled a particular skit where he had to make a milkshake for Kenan's character, "One of the funniest is when Kenan's character, playing a construction worker. I had to make him a milkshake and I actually made it with a burger. We kept laughing and we broke the fourth wall."


Kel was asked about his real persona as compared to the one he played in "Kenan & Kel" a goofy situational character. He said he is a little like both characters, "A little bit of both, I'm definitely a leader. Just going after my dreams and motivated to do something, nobody can stop me," referring to Kenan on the show and referring to Kel's character, "Kel looked at the brightside of everything, that's me as well."


He said he remains close friends with Kenan and that a reunion show is definitely possible. "I'm on the west and he's on the east, it's been awhile since I've seen him, so we definitely have to do something together. I would be interested in doing something, probably like a cop film," he said. "I'm more into film, and putting out my films, but I'd definitely be interested in sketch comedy," when asked if he'd do "SNL" like Kenan.


"I'm interested in doing a "Kenan & Kel" reunion, you just have to talk to Kenan about it first."

Teen Nick started airing "The 90s Are All That" this summer, taking some of the classic shows from Nick's prime and running them starting at midnight so the early to mid 20's crowd can watch their old shows again.


Kel was really excited about it and glad the fans got what they wanted. “Fans were always talking about it online saying they wanted to see re-runs of shows. I guess the people won," he said.


In honor of the block of programming and his pop culture love of orange soda from "Kenan & Kel," he created "The All Orange Everything Tour."





For the tour Kel traveled city to city in a big bus and held orange soda parties and contests. Guest are required to wear orange, the ladies have an orange fashion show, the men have orange soda drinking contests, and the whole night features 90s music.


Setting himself up for the next question, CP asked Kel if he really did love orange soda. He responded, "The funny thing is, I actually liked to drink orange soda when I was younger as well. Drinking it on the show was great, I'm glad it wasn't a vegetable drink...but definitely drink your vegetables kids, I know I do."


"Everywhere I go people talk about it, in a question and answer session, someone asked me, 'Hey Kel, do you still love orange soda?'"





As of right now Kel is working on a few projects.


He currently is doing voice work for two cartoons airing in 2012: "Wild Grinders" on Nicktoons, and "Motor City" on DisneyXD.


The first show has Kel voicing a skateboarder, while the second is about cars and takes place in the year 3000 in Detroit. He said the cars are a cross between "Terminator" and "Fast and the Furious." This show is coming out in December.


He said he enjoys voice acting and likes the feeling of getting something accomplished quickly, and said many celebrities are involved and not many people know about it.

"Voice acting is a whole different type of world. I really enjoy it, you can wake up and do it in your pajamas. It's very laid back," he said. "You really have to articulate and pull that voice to make it interesting to the ear."

Kel is also deeply into music, and has recorded a number of songs for his movies, like his song for "Mystery Men," as well as other side projects. 

"I would perform on 'All That.' Back in the first season, I was in a group called After Maft (Mind Over Future Thought). We performed the first season, and the season before I left. I always try to do some type of music, I usually write for the soundtrack or prepare some type of music. Still dabbling," he said.

Perhaps his biggest project and one he is most proud of is, "Dance Fu." He wrote the film, directed, and starred in it. The story is about a guy who can only fight when music is playing.

Kel said growing up he loved dance and karate movies, and wanted to mix the genres. The movie stars: Kel, Cedric the Entertainer, Tommy Davidson, and Affion Crockett.


"We had a blast, it was like going to a family reunion," he said of the experience.





The actor said some other skills that he has include: writing screenplays, poetry, rapping, directing music videos, and being active in his church as well as working on a book.

Kel was asked whether he felt typecast as an actor because of his previous work, to which he said, "There was definitely a thought of type casting. I like to dabble with all types of entertainment as far as, drama, action, sci-fi- my resume shows I tried many different things, projects and genres," said Kel. 

"I Don't like to put my creativity in a box, and I didn't want to keep doing the same thing over and over again."

Lastly, Kel wants everyone to know how important Jesus is in his life. Every Youtube video he puts out features a Bible verse at the end and is meant to inspire and provoke thought.

One particular verse of importance to him is Ephesians 5:10, "It means a lot to me. You have to have God in your heart. You have to keep to keep going. You have to give him thanks for everything. I put the verses in my videos because I have to remember myself."





Check out Kelmitchell.net to be updated on all of Kel’s projects, ministry work, and tours.


http://twitter.com/Iamkelmitchell
Facebook
Youtube

Interview With Nathan Clarke Director of 'Wrestling For Jesus'

Nathan Clarke of Fourth Line Films has opened up about his wrestling documentary to The Christian Post. "Wrestling For Jesus" follows an independent wrestling circuit, of the same name, as they fight to evangelize and bring others to Jesus – all while suffering from the struggles of their own lives.

"Wrestling for Jesus" follows league creator Timothy "T-Money" Blackmon as he goes through financial, marital, and spiritual struggles. The film sees him take a group of underdog wrestlers and create a successful evangelistic ministry until it all falls apart.


Initially Clarke wanted to make this film because he was really interested in faith and religion and the very beautiful and troubling things people do because of religion. He said, when people talk about religion, they never address both good and bad. "People tend to focus on one or the other. Part of what I try to do is look at that intersection of the absolute wonderful things that can happen and the scary things."


The director found out about WFJ through a chance news story, and became very interested but could not find any details on it. "Sort of a local news story with very few details," he said.


Clarke spoke about most people thinking the league was silly, but the goal was to prove them wrong. "One of the things documentaries do well is that they take issues that appear to be simple and make them complex," he said.


The first task at hand for the filmmaker was to visit South Carolina and find these wrestlers, to really see what they do. He first met with Timothy and Jessica, his wife, and got to know them. Through this time, Clarke also needed to see if he wanted to continue the story, so he shot test footage.



"They had a sense of how I was going to treat them. That I was going to treat their story with honesty and not going to make fun of them," Clarke said.


"We didn't know where the story was going when we were shooting," he added.

This was a huge factor in the movie because the story painted and advanced itself. One of the wrestlers, Gary, broke his neck. "I obviously didn't know it was going to happen," he said.


Then Timothy's marriage began to crumble, but he still agreed to show some of it and hoped something good would come of allowing the filming.


Clarke said the film was a long process with a few major gaps in between. He relayed that the group "started filming in Jan 2007 and filmed the last piece in Aug 2010, so about three and half years total.” However he added, “About a year and half went by where we didn't film."


He initially thought it would be a sub culture documentary and thought of it as a TV show. Things just did not pan out however. Then he learned of the accident and the failed marriage and "my heart began to break for these guys."


However, this bit of bad news created a much larger story and gave the film more emotional power.


Without giving away the film, Gary goes through a long recovery process while the league disbands due to Timothy's marital problems. His divorce causes him to realize something important in his life, his daughters.

Another message in the movie is that "Wrestling for Jesus" is about figuring out what it is like to be a father and learning to be truthful to yourself while getting a very troublesome story of a man pushing his family away because of the ministry.


Clarke said he wants the audience to take away two things from the movie. "I want people to have the experience that they spent some time getting to know someone they didn't know. And in a culture that currently is based on characterizing the other, an enemy, and throwing a 140 character slams at them," he said. "Actually getting to know someone who is a little bit different and explore a little bit about what motivates them in life and what causes them to make the decisions they make."

He also said there are different types of documentaries, "the issue based ones like Michael Moore where the viewer asks themselves, 'Do I agree with this film maker?' That's not what I'm trying to do," he said. "The film acts like a mirror so people respond to the film in many different ways."


Clarke wants people to see themselves reflected outward and wrestle with their own selves.
Another way people watch documentaries is with a closed mind. "People watch and say 'where are my stereotypes and dispositions, what does it say about me?'"


The director talked about how at first the audience may laugh at the subject and not feel any relation but the "connection became more surreal and valuable. Allows me to explore ways to tell stories, add to ideas that need to be furthered explored, more than people think."


He added, "So based on slamming the other person without understanding where they come from. I wanted to be able to model a different way of engaging viewer."

When asked about whether he thought WFC was an effective evangelistic tool he said, "yes and no."


"People who go to church need to ask themselves 'what's the difference between using wrestling for evangelism, using pizza party for evangelism, or using a Superbowl party for evangelism. In all of those things you are using a personal artifact that's valued by computer to bring those people into a place where you can present the gospel."


Depending on the activity, that is the people you are going to draw, stated Clarke.
There is a discussion to be had about violence as evangelism. "Is it worth risking your body for it?"


"Wrestling is the number one and two rated shows on cable television. It's an interesting perspective."


Clarke believes that many were not giving their life to God for the first time, but rather rededicating. "Is conversion a single moment or a journey," he asked.


Clarke would not reveal his actual religious beliefs in interviews because of any problems it may cause concerning taking a side. "I purposely avoid this question when it comes to this film. If I was to identify myself as a evangelical Christian and people knew that before they saw the film they would have assumptions about how I was approaching the films, like I was bias."


He said the story of WFJ had needed to be told because the film helps think through the importance of being a father. He explained he had two daughters and that filming this particular story was interesting because of that. It's an interesting way of what it's like to be a father, and see what it's like for fathers to fail and what it does to some of their children."

As far as the status of the league, Clarke said the league is not around, sometimes they get together for special occasions to wrestle, and said Timothy "by and large liked it [film]...some tough scenes to watch."


Timothy has learned from the experience, but wants other people to be encouraged and learn from it.


As for the athletes wrestling abilities, the filmmaker said, "They are better than most semi-pro wrestlers you'll see, but they are not WWE. Character development and build wise, they are not big enough," and acknowledges it's not as easy as it looks.


Currently Clarke is in the early stages of a local project about a woman and the topic is generational legacies. "Why is it that some people do not follow in the footsteps of their parents?" he asks.


He wants the movie to focus on how people overcome or take a 180 turn from their parent’s lives and become something they "like."


For more info on the film go to http://wrestlingforjesus.com/ or Like it on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/wrestlingforjesus?sk=info

Original article from the Christian Post