Songsmith - Stuart Townend Interview

[An extract from Tom King's interview in the October 2006 edition EN. Read the entire interview online here.]

Stuart Townend’s songs have captured the hearts of Christian people across the whole church spectrum. As he embarked on a new tour, he talked to EN.

EN: What, or whom, are your primary musical influences?

ST: I suppose my musical influences are quite varied. My church upbringing acquainted me with hymns, but I particularly loved the gospel sound of Andrae Crouch. Then there were secular music influences, which included David Bowie, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Irish folk, and Stevie Wonder, plus some classical music from my piano lessons. This helped me keep a foot in both the classical and pop genres.

EN: Tell us a little about how you write your songs.

ST: It can be very varied. Sometimes you just get a line of a melody, and that sets you on a path of adding to it, and thinking through the content. Some-times, particularly when I’m working with Keith Getty, we work through some of his musical ideas, and then decide a particular theme, based on what songs we think might be lacking in the church repertoire.

EN: Hymns seem to be very important to you. Why is that?

ST: There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, I love writing in the more concise, formal lyrical style that hymns require. I’ve always been interested in words and poetic form, so I like the challenge of a set meter and rhyming pattern. But I also like hymns because they’re so accessible to a range of churches and worship styles, from organs to bands. I love the idea that something like ‘In Christ Alone’ can work in a cathedral as well as a contemporary worship setting.

EN: What do you think makes a good hymn?

ST: That’s a whole subject in itself! I think the best hymns express the truth of the gospel in fresh, poetic, but passionate ways. Instead of using clichés, the best hymns bring revelation and illumination to familiar truths.

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