{"id":846,"date":"2009-08-01T00:04:07","date_gmt":"2009-08-01T00:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/?p=846"},"modified":"2011-08-02T01:26:30","modified_gmt":"2011-08-02T01:26:30","slug":"brian-healy-das-jesus-wants-you-to-read-this-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/brian-healy-das-jesus-wants-you-to-read-this-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Healy \/ DAS – Jesus Wants You to Read This Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photos courtesy of Marie Healy, skelton photos by Bob Healy<\/em><\/p>\n

You are about to embark on what is possibly the longest interview ever written. This one was a lot of fun to do. Brian and I have talked numerous times through this process and I have enjoyed talking to him because he is very articulate about what he is conveying. Many of his beliefs and ideas I relate to, and to top that off I have always loved the music of Dead Artist Syndrome. This has been a hard article to write for numerous reasons. The disclaimer is below, I felt kind of like that had to be written. The other thing that was kind of hard was that Brian kept joking about this being his \u2018career ending\u2019 interview. It is definitely controversial, especially if you fall into a more fundamentalist mind set. Trying to understand (and recover) from the modern church in America has always been a personal thing to me, and DAS\u2019s music has always been very tongue in cheek with the issues regarding Christendom as a whole. I enjoyed discussing this stuff with Brian. I started this interview to find out if DAS was going to be making more music in the future, but we definitely ended up talking more about the church then music. One issue that we won\u2019t touch on very deeply, even though I\u2019m sure many are wondering, is the issue of Brian\u2019s health. How is it? Well, I guess it is safe to say that Brian is on a timeline\u2026 the doctors have told him that. I won\u2019t go into great detail because Healy lives with the ins and outs of his condition and he doesn\u2019t want to invite the vulture watch (as he calls it) every time there is an issue. The best thing that we can do is pray for his health, and pray for his family. For now, enjoy this marathon interview!<\/p>\n

6:55 PM\u2026 sitting down to start writing out the interview with Brian Healy from Dead Artist Syndrome. Going over my short checklist\u2026 sugar free Red Bull – check – pop in DAS CD – check – printing out the most profanity laced interview that I have ever done – check. Yep, that\u2019s the way this one started out. I\u2019m not a stranger to profanity, and I\u2019m not really offended by it because I realize that this is just the way some people talk. However, since you are reading this I feel it necessary to put a disclaimer here. The reason this article is so heavily edited, and the reason you see all the little * signs here is because I had to tone down the language so we didn\u2019t have to put age limits, etc.\u00a0on our website. Obviously we understand that people are free to express themselves in the fashion that is most comfortable to them, but we want to keep this one clean so the kiddies can read if they so desire. It\u2019s not about censorship, I do not believe in that, it is about trying to maintain the vision and goal of our \u2018zine, and have it available to as many people that want to read it without having to worry about filters and being over 18 to read, etc. Fortunately Brian did call me one evening and said he understood and we had his permission to do what we needed to so this interview did not adversely affect us. So, if you like profanity you are free to use your imagination. The difficulty in writing this was that the profanity (in my opinion) actually expressed the emotion behind what Brian was saying, and to edit it out completely took away the passion behind what was being said. Hopefully you, the reader, can understand what I mean by that. Still, I have tried to be as clean as I could figure, and still convey the emotion and intent behind Brian\u2019s words.<\/p>\n

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It took me getting used to Brian when emailing him, talking with him is easier. Because he is quite possibly the most humorously sarcastic person I have ever met, the written word came across harsh\u2026 I never quite knew how to take him until we actually spoke. Once we spoke, things moved along well. Brian is actually an extremely light-hearted and funny guy. He laughs frequently and tells plenty of jokes as we have poked fun at everything in Christendom, even ourselves. In addition to being humorous, Brain is very passionate. When he talks about Jesus, he is talking about the grace that he obviously values deeply and appreciates on a very personal level. With that passion comes an almost overwhelming disdain for those who cast God\u2019s grace to the side in favor of a homogenized religious system of do\/don\u2019t and do what you\u2019re told. He equally finds humor and distaste for those in Christianity who make a buck, or a healthy living, off Jesus and his name. Just remember as you read this, Healy\u2019s words are directed at a specific group, he\u2019s not out to offend everyone, rather I think he wants to illuminate those who are missing what is important\u2026 those who have been mistreated and misdirected by the system of religion.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know when Brian started DAS, I forgot to ask him. I know that Prints Of Darkness, his first release, was re-released by Blonde Vinyl back in 1991. It was first released on a different label the year before. Anyway, doesn\u2019t matter really, Healy has been around for a long time. When I asked him how DAS came to be, this was his answer\u2026 \u201cI was herding sheep and an angel came and spoke to me\u2026 D**n dude, I answered that question years ago, look up other interviews on Google.\u201d Sarcasm firmly in place, we moved on. I was curious about many things with Healy. DAS was really the first Christian band that I remember carrying the \u2018goth\u2019 title around. Other bands came later, but DAS was the first. Back then times were different. This was back in the days of all the televangelists preaching to the converted about the evils of rock music. Even the faithful wrote books about the evils of Christian music. It was a strange time. Enter DAS with an album titled Prints Of Darkness. I asked Brian what some of the obstacles were that DAS faced early on, and here is his charming response. \u201cEarly on and to this day I\u2019m the biggest obstacle to Dead Artist Syndrome. I\u2019m a total a**hole when it comes to doing the business end of things. I used to do management and most people want some fluffy artsy guy they can rollover and jerk around and then deal with the dirty parts of the industry with some fat idiot agent on the phone or some passive aggressive women they can flirt with. Well, I am the fat idiot in DAS and I upset people by wanting them to do what they agree to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic people don\u2019t mind screwing you behind your back while telling you how much they love you. I don\u2019t suffer fools gladly. It\u2019s common for club owners, stage managers, A&R guys and promoters to try and renegotiate their negotiations and most don\u2019t want to do that with the artist, most of whom are usually pretty easy going. And let\u2019s face it, a lot of artists need business people because they sure as hell aren’t the type of people who are bringing the potato salad to the MENSA picnic, otherwise, they wouldn\u2019t be artists. They would be on wall street or out making the big bucks instead of doing what they love at midnight in a half empty room in some god forsaken holler. I get things done, I collected what the promoter said he was going to pay the band.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not everyone in music, but for some reason Christians are the worst because they actually use Jesus and the Bible as weapons to manipulate people and it really pisses them off when you call them on it. Besides, I make it easy for them – I don\u2019t give a flying f**k what they say about me. I am who I am and I\u2019m not turning into Ned Flanders just to whore myself out so Jesus can pay my rent. The best part is someone reading this going \u2018Oh gee, he\u2019s a potty mouth, I thought he was a Christian, I thought you are ordained? I don\u2019t think he\u2019s surrendered to the Lord? We can\u2019t have that, it\u2019s not Christian, and of course in interviews like this I give them the excuse they need. I want too, it\u2019s who I am. The best thing that has happened in my walk with the Lord is when they started treating me like the unsaved friend. I was already liberated by Jesus\u2019 blood and they wanted to jam me in a \u2018American Christian fish on the car box\u2019 – I\u2019m free of that sh*t. My God is bigger than yours; He takes people as they are and too d**n bad for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obviously, I thought I\u2019d hit a nerve here with Healy, but he told me he wasn\u2019t angry he just sounded harsh on paper. So, we continue\u2026 \u201cThe sad truth is I have out lasted most of these f**kers. I still believe in Jesus and his grace and mercy. I want to do Gods work as the salt of the earth and 90% of these a**holes returned to their own vomit. They\u2019re f**king worse off\u00a0than I am or ever was, they were mostly a**holes before they found Christ\u2026 they found him, used him, became religious a**holes who judged the crap out of every one who didn\u2019t want to sit around majoring in the minors, debating shades of white, and the second real life showed up with real problems that couldn\u2019t be solved by simple solutions they hit the f**king door. Well, I\u2019m still here and my faith is stronger than ever. I didn\u2019t run, I didn\u2019t turn my back on my faith and I live it the best way I know how, as ugly as it looks at times. Regardless of how bad I f**ked up, I know it\u2019s real. Some people didn\u2019t have that, they lived a lie and tossed the whole thing and if they did, so what! We are dealing with the Creator of the universe here, they can get their f**king heads out of their a**ess and Jesus is still waiting for them, I just hope they do it right next time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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For those of you who have listened to DAS over the years, there has always been the underlying stream of sarcasm and disdain towards what Healy calls \u201ca small but vocal minority\u201d in the church. As you read, that is really what is coming out from the answers above. It sounds harsh I know, but it is directed at those who have held others down and judged some for not lining up to what the \u2019church\u2019 thinks is right. It is directed at those who want to debate unimportant issues and those who want the church to be an exclusive club. We\u2019ll come back to that, but for now let\u2019s move on.<\/p>\n

I know some of the readers here will be interested in the other artists who have contributed over the years on numerous DAS records. DAS is really a \u2018virtual\u2019 band as Brian describes it. Healy is the only reoccurring member, but some of the finest in Christian music have contributed at various times. Players have included Sean Doty of Veil Of Ashes, Mike Roe of the 77\u2019s, Steve Hindalong & Derri Daughtery of The Choir, Ojo Taylor of Undercover, Michael Knott of L.S. Underground, Eric Clayton of Saviour Machine, Jeff Elbel of Ping and numerous others that have been a part of the \u2018casts of thousands\u2019 during different seasons. When asked how he got so many different artists from such diverse genres to play on his albums, this is what he said. \u201cI think you should really ask that of the people I\u2019ve worked with. I wouldn\u2019t want to hang out with me if I didn\u2019t have to. I just ask them if they want to play. I\u2019ve known them as friends for years, not as rock stars or artists. Friends do things they like together, most of my friends do art so it\u2019s no surprise that we would be doing it together, it\u2019s not for the money that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think DAS is fun for them, it gets them out of the box of their main project. They are the genius\u2019s\u2026 they are brilliantly talented musicians and I stand on the shoulders of giants holding it all together. DAS is more of an experiment than a band. It\u2019s never the same, it always evolves and changes with every gig. I never promise it will be great but it will always be a memorable musical experience and even if someone didn\u2019t like the songs, the show and the players are too good to not be appreciated as artists and the talents they are. They just have to tolerate me as the weakest link in the chain. I also think for the players who all have their own well known bands, they like the risk of me as the lunatic leading them to the edge and seeing where I will take it that show. Hell, maybe they are just grading life on a curve and I can make anyone look like an A+ in a heart beat. The other thing is they get to work with each other as artists and the music has a life of its own. Music takes over, as a musical conversation can start in the studio or at a show. At any time musicians who have totally different\u00a0backgrounds in taste and style can start playing together and they communicate musically\u2026 they create something just for the sake of doing it, and I try to capture that lightning in a bottle\u2026 that moment, that performance in a live show that unless someone records it is gone forever. I love that part of life – creation is beautiful. I guess that\u2019s why we do it. DAS doesn\u2019t really exist, it\u2019s a virtual project, it lives only in the music recorded or at the live show at that moment and it goes away till it rears its head again.\u201d<\/p>\n

In keeping with the conversation of music, I asked Brian what advice he might have for bands starting out. His answer was funny\u2026 well, funny and long. \u201cMy advice is always the same\u2026 don\u2019t do what I did because you don\u2019t want to end up like I have! While I have a wonderful full life that I choose to live (and always have) very simply, on paper I am a total failure, like a notch above bum. Semi-poor and semi-famous totally sucks! All the judgment for everything and none of the perks of real fame. It\u2019s a lot of good times and fun but even that is just a memory at a certain point and you look around and go, \u201cwas it worth it\u201d? All my non-artist friends have RV\u2019s or boats, houses, real families and of course 20 years in a REAL JOB where they can retire and enjoy life. With art you will end up saying, \u2018I\u2019ve got a closet worth of CD’s, a couple file cabinet drawers of articles, my beloved songs and some gear and the dream….. but you never know, it can still happen\u2019. Oh pleeeeeeaazzzze….. Remember next time you see a singer on stage staring upwards into the lights, he\u2019s most likely looking for his lost youth. Unless you die young, that\u2019s the future – I\u2019m not talking about Bono here. I\u2019m talking about the guy singing in the lounge that you make fun of. The guy doing his lame dreadful act at the fair, the mall or open mic night. Take a good hard look because that\u2019s gonna be you. The numbers don\u2019t lie, the odds are way too long to think you are going to make it. If you want a life as an artist it will cost you everything before it ever gives anything back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever you do, never, never, never claim you\u2019ve got a mission or you are doing it for Jesus, because if you do, you are full of s**t. God and\/or Jesus don\u2019t need you or your crappy songs to do anything. He can use an ass and has an army of angels, so die to that vision! You can\u2019t do a d**n thing for God, he doesn’t need your f**king help! Repent for your arrogance you poor deluded fool. If you are writing songs you think will lead others to the Lord, you are a hack, shill salesman and you might as well be doing beer commercials, because at that point you have a utilitarian purpose and your song is just a f**king jingle for God and anti-art as far as I see it. Like most CCM, it\u2019s more propaganda than art if that\u2019s what you want to do. If you do that then fine, but it\u2019s not a \u201ccalling\u201d or a \u201cmission\u201d, it\u2019s a gig selling a product called \u201cGod\u201d in CD form. If you want a \u201ccalling\u201d go teach children in Ghana music, English and the gospels or go and teach music to children in China. How about working with inner city kids in the US or playing senior centers for free, but do not claim the honor of ministry if all your life and music is just to entertain bored house wives and entertain Christian youth in rated \u201cG\u201d entertainment. That\u2019s babysitting, not a calling of God. Of course I\u2019m not talking about hymns or praise music that is designed for worship \u2013 that is a real but totally different art form.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a few \u2018sure fire\u2019 proactive things someone starting out should do. Take in as much education as you can stand and learn a craft that can be done anywhere. Skills like welding, building skills, auto repair, etc. Get a teaching credential because that will free you up to go anywhere and know you can make cash to support your music, because chances are it will never support you. Never quit school for music until you have a degree. I know there are situations that look like once in a life time chances, but in the long run keep education in your career plan because you will use it in the long run no matter what the major, it will work into your art. Always give credit where credit is due, especially in song writing. Willingly sharing credit will never hurt you as much as the harm you cause yourself and others if you don\u2019t. I have seen lives wrecked because of pennies years after the fact, it\u2019s like a toxic splinter that is never ever going to heal, so when in doubt give credit. In general always share the pie and make the pie bigger, everything does really count in large amounts. Be inclusive, not exclusive, and get others involved. Give them a chance to profit as well as make your dream bigger for everyone involved. If you make promises always keep them and don\u2019t make any you can\u2019t keep\u2026that\u2019s one for life and music. Another thing I tell everyone is always keep your publishing whenever possible, but that takes forever to go into and if you don\u2019t know what that means you\u2019re not ready for the real world of music and need to learn so you can earn\u2026get a copy of the book \u2018This Business Of Music\u2019 and learn it like a Bible so you know what you are dealing with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moving back into the territory that really interested me the most, I asked Brian again about his views of the church. If you have listened to his records, there are so many lyrics and songs that come to mind. One of my favorite lines is, \u201cJesus I love You, but I don\u2019t understand Your wife, she wears such funny make-up and she always wants to fight, every time I turn my back she\u2019s waiting with a knife.\u201d Healy has the talent to drive a point home with humor and sarcasm, but in a way that has never come across as alienating. Perhaps it alienated some, but for me I always appreciated the lyrical style. In talking about the church with Brian and after soaking in his first, somewhat abrasive, response I pushed deeper. I told Brian that I understood his frustration with the church. I knew it had been somewhat of a focus with DAS, but I asked him that if he thought he might have become close-minded himself, just from the other point of view? From his earlier response I asked if he really believed that people didn\u2019t think that God accepted him as he was? Brian\u00a0relates, \u201cI think I need to clarify that I have no problem with the church at all. I think the majority of the church is doing just great and they are trying to be Christ on earth and do his work. I have a major problem\u00a0with a small, but vocal, group of fundamentalist dominion theology based people in America who have hijacked Jesus for their own twisted view of Christianity\u2026 for their own power, financial and political gain. These people do not accept people as they are until they either whip them into submission to their causes\/belief system, or drive them from Christ unless they build him in their image. This is not\u00a0something new; this is something that has always been a problem. It is something Jesus faced in his time on earth. It was the vehicle which was used and that lead to Christ\u2019s crucifixion. Still that lesson has been lost\u00a0or ignored. I find I am in a place of God\u2019s grace and mercy in spite of myself, not because of it. I truly believe that God is the author and finisher of our faith, but I keep running into or seeing people who want to act as editors by demanding more from people than God does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus wants people to be themselves and be honest with Him, but to a group of people in America that\u2019s not good enough for them. They have to sign off on a list of bulls**t to prove they are saved and most of it is more culture based than faith based. I\u2019ve seen people\u2019s faith called into question because of who they voted for and because they disagreed with Rush Windbag, James Dobson or Glenn Beck. Seriously!? D**ning someone to hell because of a f**king talk show host!? How f**ked up is that? God forbid they have a real issue or they might be gay or they\u2019re liberal or the ultimate\u2026 had an abortion. Oh please come to our church so we can tell you what a murdering slut you were, or its okay fag we don\u2019t hate you anymore now that you\u2019ve joined our club\u2026 just don\u2019t be gay because we will disown you. Meanwhile with straight sex issues people look the other way. The people I\u2019m talking about are the people who build walls to keep the wrong people out of our churches. Well f**k that! I want churches filled with whores, junkies, gay, straight, rich, poor, homeless, all colors, legal and illegal aliens, all backgrounds and the more f**ked up the better\u2026 WELCOME! Christ came to heal the sick and save us, not start a country club. The group or individuals I b***h about claim they want that, but really they don\u2019t. They want to hide and keep their life from the evil sinners. I want to vaccinate people from evil, not quarantine them. Real faith is dangerous and churches aren\u2019t suppose to be safe. Jesus isn\u2019t safe, look who he hung around with. The church should look like Matthew’s party, not a hiding place from the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for the second part of your question, it\u2019s kind of ironic\u2026 usually I\u2019m accused of being too open-minded or liberal. I can understand how someone might interpret me as close minded, but rest assured that\u2019s not the case. To quote Leonard Cohen, \u201cThey sentenced me to 20 years of boredom for trying to save the system from within\u201d The easiest thing for me to do is walk away and not care. I have many Christian friends who have given up on evangelical or non-denominational churches and have fled back to orthodoxy which is fine if that\u2019s where they feel they need to be. I would rather try and expand the body of Christ to the point where the whack jobs are marginalized so the people that don\u2019t fit in have a place to land. I know a lot of what I\u2019m saying is hard for some people to hear and I know I have a very loyal fan base that has to put up with a bunch of crap even if they wear a DAS shirt to church or Cornerstone. I\u2019m very grateful for them for defending me and my music, but I don\u2019t do this for money, I don\u2019t do it for fun , I do it because no one else can take the risk. I have lost a lot of things in life I cared very deeply about, and that has freed me up to be controversial and be the bad guy bursting the bubbles and myths that have been sold off as Christianity in the church and in CCM. Most my other friends in music don\u2019t have this luxury. They know the rules and they play by them, I can\u2019t. I would rather try to change the game and let the chips fall where they may. If this all ends tomorrow at least I know I did my best to do what I believe God and this life have given me to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay, I know this is a long story, but I wanted to figure out how to bring this back around. I see the flaws with the few, vocal fundamentalists. Oddly enough, while we were doing this article one of these guys popped up in a thread that Brian started online. I won\u2019t say who it was, but the anger and intensity behind this guys words was almost unbelievable. So, my next question to Brian was how we take back the church seeing that it has gone so far off course. How do we bring it back around to being about Jesus, not a political party, not of set of rules and not a system of \u2018do & don\u2019t\u2019 so God will be happy with us. I knew his answer would be controversial, but it was eloquently simple as well. Healy said, \u201cI have yet to see any scandal, any problem in the church, or with any ministry, that could not have been solved a lot sooner had someone just done something really simple, and oddly enough it\u2019s something Christians are very reticent to do\u2026 that\u2019s call bulls**t!. I have seen more lives or ministries and more people go under because no one had the nerve to just say bulls**t! They heard someone say something that they knew was untrue, that they knew was ridiculous, but they didn\u2019t have the nerve to just say bulls**t!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean you think about it , Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart , James Dobson, Ted Haggard, Larry Norman, Keith Green and all these guy\u2019s\u2026 if someone would have just said Bulls**t, you\u2019re out of your f**king mind! That\u2019s not the way the faith is, it\u2019s not the way it works. There\u2019s no scripture to back that up, what the hell are you thinking! WAKE UP! They were just as betrayed as the people they let down, we owe it to our pastors and leaders to call bulls**t! Now, while I think that needs to be handled with grace and compassion under the same way you would approach someone under Matthew 18:19, I\u00a0also believe at the same time calling bulls**t would save the church a lot of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOddly, the church would rather not do that, they\u2019d rather let the insanity go on as long as it appears people are getting \u201csaved\u201d. Folks just look the other way even though it\u2019s something that they know has nothing to do with Scripture or the Bible. It\u2019s almost that it\u2019s so socially uncomfortable, or so popular and profitable, they\u2019d rather just let it go south and burn the bridge and the good, misguided or simply wrong people who got suckered are just grist to the backslidden mill because they were betrayed. We sort of use it to just glean the herd as if their lives or hearts mean nothing. We have to get to a point of maturity and as the body of Christ to just know bulls**t and not standby while some guys try to make a cultural issue spiritual, call Someone\u2019s giving some testimony that obviously doesn\u2019t make sense about how many thousands of dollars a day they spent on their drug habit, call bulls**t. Not only do we owe it to ourselves as His church, but we owe it to them as brothers and sisters in Christ not to be this deluded and not to be falling down or running toward the wrong path. By us calling bulls**t we are doing them a favor. If someone called bulls**t on Jimmy Swaggart when he preached on rock music, it may have saved his ministry\u2026 but to not have the nerve to do it when some pastor was going off on rock music?! If someone had just said, \u201cbulls**t, you\u2019re nuts\u201d, instead of going to start going down this insane slope of your own opinion becoming equated to scripture. That would have saved others a lot of time, pain and struggle. When in doubt,\u00a0call BULLS**T!”<\/p>\n

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After numerous releases that have pleased the ears for the last couple of decades, what is up next for Dead Artist Syndrome? That brings us back around to the beginning of this interview, back to where we asked Brian about obstacles. Healy confesses, \u201cThe other problem (back to the original question) is that I\u2019m lazy and I get bored easily, hence the sporadic work habits. When I work at it I\u2019m tireless to the point of manic but knocking over the first domino to get the ball rolling takes me more effort than the task at hand would. I put it off until I d**n well have something to say. I love doing it; I just hate the crap it takes to put the pieces together. I got into music, acting and the other arts I partake in to get out of having a real job, but it is in fact a real job and hard work to create. That said, it has great perks and its the real job I hate the least”<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of unfinished stuff on my hard drive like Kissing Strangers<\/em>, which is the next DAS project. Now I just need to get the lyrics and vocals done, but by the time I start to mess with it my mind has moved on and I simply can\u2019t fain interest because probably have a new idea I\u2019d rather start. I feel bad about it because someone would kill to have my gear or my home studio. I use to bag on Derri when he had Neverland that if I had his studio I\u2019d be in it everyday\u2026 well, thanks to technology I have a pretty good studio but what I didn\u2019t understand was it\u2019s not just looking through the glass saying \u2018OK, hit record and I sing.\u2019 It\u2019s like living on own your own the first time and you realize butter doesn\u2019t magically appear in the fridge like when you were a kid, you have to buy it and put it there. Well, the mic just doesn’t set itself up, the EQ doesn’t dial itself in, the mix just doesn’t magically appear in the headphones, you have to do it. When it was the old days you went to a studio and you did it, and did it quickly because time is money and you are paying for it. When it\u2019s a room down the hall and it\u2019s always there taunting you, it\u2019s hard to say goodbye to a book or Speed TV to go down the hall and get it done. It can make you lazy or a workaholic. I kind of choose lazy\u2026 that and you\u00a0spend so much time learning to use the always changing technology that you\u2019re too bored to use it and you convince yourself you got something done when the actual art hasn\u2019t really progressed. Me and Eric Clayton joke about it all the time because we both like to live in all night hermit mode till the last possible minute when you bring other people into a project.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThe down side is when working alone no one is there to say \u2018hey, you wasted eight hours running down every rabbit hole the gear has, pick one and move on\u2019. To us we can lead ourselves to believe its productive because the more you get done on your own, the smaller the box becomes for someone to come in and mess it up with their creativity and talent, which you want, but at the same time you want that maniacal control over the song. Of course it cuts both ways\u2026 like a Mike Roe or a Derri will show up, totally get where you\u2019re going and it works. Better yet is after all that time you put in and they think you\u2019re crazy, hearing it totally different than you do and take it to a place you never thought of but it magically sounds exactly like what you were hearing in your head. It\u2019s not always parts or notes; it\u2019s a feel, a tone, a sound or something that\u2019s almost mystical where it just sounds right. That\u2019s the most incredible feeling when you all look around the room and go \u2018Oh Yeah’ and everyone knows that’s it!”<\/p>\n

Well, after wetting my appetite with the Kissing Strangers<\/em> nod, I asked (and hoped) that maybe Healy might have that album coming out sooner then later. I asked him about the upcoming release being this year, and even asked him about a possible collaboration with Eric Clayton. The collaboration was not something rumored; it was just something that I, as a fan of both bands, had often thought would be really cool. After hearing them work together on Jesus Wants You To Buy This Record, I was hoping something else might be on the horizon. Healy responded, \u201cI\u2019d like the release to be this year, but no promises. I have to start liking it again and get to know the songs a little better and see if that\u2019s what I really want to say or do. Today I like it, the next time I mess with it I might wonder what the hell I was thinking and toss the whole thing and start over. For all my lack of talent I really take this part of my life seriously and don\u2019t just like tossing out product for the hell of it. In regards to working with Eric Clayton, someday that will happen. We talk about it all the time, but we work so slow apart from each other, together it would be like who outlived the other to get to the final mix.”<\/p>\n

So then, in conclusion I ended by asking Brian about the subject of (you guessed it) the church. There has to be a way to bring this home, to share the idea of bringing unity in this body of believers. Since it is such a small part of Christendom that seems to speak so loudly, how do we take back the small part of the church that has lost its way? Brian answers, \u201cWell that\u2019s the easiest question you have asked because Jesus gave us the answer on the cross: Forgive them, they know not what they are doing. It\u2019s that simple and it\u2019s that hard. People of faith need to revolt in love, grace and forgiveness, it\u2019s time to turn the tables on the church and the world. We need to trust and believe in the grace that we are saved by and not our own desire for fairness\u2026 look, I have said some very harsh things in this conversation and I\u2019m people can and will say I have been unloving, ungracious and judgmental and like everyone else I\u2019m sure I can and have been guilty of that and will be till the day I die. I don\u2019t claim superiority, just the opposite because I am as guilty of all that I accuse others of. I am a sinner saved only by the grace of God, the complete and total undeserved favor of God bestowed on me by the death of Christ , the only begotten Son of God, on the cross. Nothing I can say or do will add or take away from that simple fact that though I am a sinner, Christ died for me. While I know all that, at the same time I have seen the church go down one stupid rabbit hole after another like Alice in Wonderland buying into to whatever crack pot idea that other Christians, the media, or the big name author\/pastor of the month hands them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of it can be avoided if people actually learned what historic Christianity, and our church fathers, are about. The church fathers, you know the guys who lived and died 1000, almost 2000, years before 1776. Before our country, before Columbus, we had a long historic Christian faith. What was accepted? What was rejected? The talk, the debates, their writings, learn to understand the pitfalls and strengths of your current beliefs in light of how the church fathers saw those ideas you hold and simply trust in God and His grace. All that said, I always stress three basic things in all these stupid interviews because I\u2019m just like any other idiot looking for the light in darkness. Remember, always question authority, be yourself and be honest and never believe you totally understand the ways of God. Always live everyday under God\u2019s mercy and grace with the full knowledge that there but by the grace of God go I.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photos courtesy of Marie Healy, skelton photos by Bob Healy You are about to embark on what is possibly the longest interview ever written. This one was a lot of fun to do. Brian and I have talked numerous times … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mf2_syndication":[],"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[35,93],"class_list":["post-846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-august-2009","tag-brian-healy","tag-dead-artist-syndrome"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":864,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846\/revisions\/864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}