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"I'm Not Into Shocking People
With My Music" (Editor’s Note: ninetyandnine.com will be publishing periodic articles on Apostolics who are pursuing non-traditional channels to share the Gospel. If you know of anyone who is doing this, email us a short bio/description at editor@ninetyandnine.com.) Plan:Be’s Travis Carter is not just the New York-area band’s drummer and co-founder, but also its biggest promoter. He’s relentless in chatting people up in person and via email, always alert to making one more contact for the band because Plan:Be is his major ministry vehicle for spreading the gospel. Plan:Be rocks the house with their high energy music, but they don’t see it as entertainment so much as a witnessing opportunity. Happily for them, they have the talent to back it up, having been recently selected to play at the UPC’s National Youth Congress in Nashville and winning a regional “Battle of the Bands.” Having grown up as a PK, Carter is well-versed in gospel (and most other kinds of) music. In this far-ranging interview, he discusses Plan:Be’s reception by saints and sinners, why music matters, and how to properly evaluate your musical influences. This interview was conducted over August-September, 2003.
90&9.com: Right off, I need to know why the band is called Plan:Be. TC: To be something takes a conscious decision on the part of the individual. It is a word that is empowering and represents what is happening now. We want to be relevant musically, lyrically, and spiritually to what is happening now. The band is called Plan:Be because we feel “the plan or intention is to BE....” For us it is to be real, to be ourselves, to be the ones to set the trend, to be the ones to break new ground. Our goal ultimately is to be honest examples of Christians who live their life day to day. Originally it was Plan B because Tony and me were in two different bands that both fell apart. When that, happened we decided to go with “Plan B.” After the band started taking off we got tired of being referred to as second choice plan b. 90&9.com: Give us a brief background of how and why the band got together. TC: The band got together because we love to play music. We also seemed to like the same type of music. Tony and me were friends before we were a band and finally decided to officially make ourselves a working band. Tony had some tunes, which gave us a foundation to build from. We had gotten a gig all set up in a month from the time we started. The only problem was we had no bass player. The bass players we tried to work with were all flaking out on us. Or they had no transportation. I mentioned the idea of Annette playing bass. Tony thought it was a cool idea. Annette was such a cool choice because she has her own look, she holds high standards when it comes to modesty and spirituality, and she was someone we knew would be faithful and do her part. Plus she is my sister. 90&9.com: Which makes it easier! So, the music you guys play and sing is…shall we say, non-traditional, as far as Apostolics go. Why is that? How would you describe your music? TC: I’m not quite sure what traditional Apostolic music is exactly. The music of the church seems to change a little bit with each generation. Choirs that sway and move to the music was once considered taboo and now they have choreographed choir moves with singers that provoke the audience to physically respond to the music. Each generation provides challenges to the former generation. It’s a good thing for the most part. We need to be challenged and test the legitimacy of what we, as musicians, do for the Lord. Unfortunately, there is an element out there that feels that any music beyond the music you hear in a church service cannot be blessed of God. It gets out of hand sometimes. I think some of our leaders make sweeping generalizations too easily because it gets a good crowd response. Never mind that you might isolate a kid with real questions and issues. I guess they feel it’s easier to eliminate everything instead of answering questions specifically as to why certain things are really unacceptable. Music and expression often get squashed because of this mindset. Youth need to know what the Bible says is wrong and right and then apply it to the things and choices in their lives. It is not the music that is evil, but instead it is the intention and the spirit of the performer that moves music toward good or evil. That is my belief. Don’t criticize the music. Criticize what is wrong in the music, whatever kind it is. That way of thinking is much more useful to a young person or anybody for that matter. You asked why are some people uncomfortable with the style of some of our tunes? If they are it’s simply because they don’t like that style of music. Nor should they feel obligated to like it. I am not offended because someone doesn’t like the music I like. I am offended, however, when they make comments that have no substance or thought behind them. What it comes down to is they probably don’t like that style of music. Simple, huh? I’m not into shocking people with my music. I’m beyond that. Too old for that stuff. This is music that I love. It’s from my heart and it’s cool to know God enjoys the expression of His creation. I would describe our music as music that comes from the heart of three artists. We always put our music through a filter known as God. 90&9.com: How has your music been received by Apostolics? TC: I like this question. Plan:Be music has been overwhelmingly accepted by Apostolics everywhere. You will find Plan:Be fans from New York to California. We’ve played in Wisconsin, St. Louis, and NYC to name a few and the response has been great. Some of the best shows we have played have been for Apostolic people. They get so into it because they know we are just like them. Pentecostals know how to get emotional when it comes to worship. We love feeling the presence of the Lord and seeing kids seeking God. During one of our shows in St. Louis we were singing “Run To The Altar” and a kid came down the aisle of the church with his hands raised and he was crying. Youth leaders and other young people gathered around him and you could feel God’s presence in that place. It was incredible. I was having fun with the music and then it hit me. I said to myself, “Y’know, this is what it’s all about.” Man, that was amazing. Also, we’re all faithful to a local UPC church. Our doctrine is the same and we feel such a great spiritual connection. We are accountable to our pastors. We support kids efforts to express themselves artistically. It’s very exciting. I wish I had a Plan:BE when I was growing up as an Apostolic young person. The closest was David & the Giants. I used to blast “He’s Got It Under Control” all the time growing up. What I’ve found to be equally as thrilling is to see how many adults love the music as well. I love to work with leaders who are willing to think “outside the box.” Many pastors and youth leaders back up the band. It’s so cool to be a part of this. Honestly, it’s a blast. I would love to do a tour and know there are pastors and youth workers who would be aware of when the Spirit is moving. Man, I want to see kids getting the Holy Ghost at our shows. I want them to sense something powerful and spiritual when they come to a Plan:Be show. 90&9.com: How has it been received by the mainstream Christian and non-Christian audience? TC: Well, pretty good I think. I am a public school teacher in NYC and my students will come to the Plan:Be shows. Most of the kids are not Christians at all. They invite their friends and they’ve told me “Mr. Carter! You guys rock!”, “I don’t know, I feel comfortable being here [a show at my church]”, “I felt something tonight during the concert. Maybe it was God”, “ Hey, Mr. Carter, I’ve heard Tony’s testimony. Now I want to hear yours!” They tell me all these things. It’s so cool. I’m very conscious about what people outside of the church say about the music. First, I ask if they like the sound. Most do and give a little critique. I value that because they are not obligated to like it simply because it is “Christian.” If they like the music then they will listen to the message. One student told me she knows the words to most of our songs now. She is not Christian, but she attends our shows regularly. I was thrilled. If you read the lyrics you will find out so much about the Lord. Many people who are not in church dig the music and comment on its musicality and quality. If people don’t like the music then the message has less of a chance of getting through. 90&9.com: Do you have any musical heroes you want to emulate? TC: There are so many great musical heroes to emulate it would be hard to get to every one. I find myself trying to emulate the sensation I get from certain bands or musicians, many times, rather than trying to copy the exact style or phrasing. Communication is key. I really enjoy when musicians have fun. I love watching live performances and DVDs. I really get into how the artist relates to the audience and the energy put into a performance. One guy, John Schlitt from Petra, has got to be one of my favorite personalities just because he is so sincerely enthusiastic about anything and everything. He’s great to imitate, too. He gets with the crowd immediately and shows honest interest in the fans. I guess it’s the feeling you used to get when Hulk Hogan came into the ring. Wow! Bigger than life! It’s cool when musicians don’t take themselves too seriously either and leave room for fun in a performance. Five Iron Frenzy is a great band for that. I am definitely guilty of putting a little fun in the show. I’m not sure Annette and Tony always appreciate it as much as I do, though. 90&9.com: Didn’t you guys recently win a “Battle of the Christian Bands” contest? TC: We played a Battle of the Bands sponsored by the YESSS Beach Festival in Ocean Grove, NJ. We competed against a few Christian bands in the NY/NJ area. It was a chance to win some prize money and play another show at that same venue. They had a variety of bands playing, everything from Praise and Worship to straight-up Punk. It was cool. We were scheduled to play last. When we went on it was like a blast of energy came into that place. The judges were looking at originality, lyrical content, and crowd participation. The crowd was pumped by the time we started. Later, after we had won, kids came up to us and said they felt the presence of God during our set. It was cool to sign their CD’s and T-shirts, but it was even greater to know that we were part of a move of the Holy Ghost. 90&9.com: Did you receive any musical/career opportunities through this contest? TC: We got some pretty good promotion out of it. It holds some prestige in this area. I would love for it to lead to opening for major label bands and then eventually lead to headlining or co-headlining with some of the bands that we admire. 90&9.com: Tell us about your Youth Congress experience. TC: Man, it was awesome. I totally loved it. I could definitely do that for a living! The more people, the better. Singing to an arena of Pentecostals? Hey, man, I’m one of ‘em! It was great. I hope to do it again and maybe sing two songs even (little joke there). My dream is actually to do a one-hour show with ten thousand young people! I would feel on top of the world and it would totally rock, bro! Kids would be so excited. I honestly think our organization needs things like that. We have so much talent in the UPC and such a limited amount of diverse expression. We need to be the trendsetters! Man! The energy would be amazing at a show like that. Imagine all those Pentecostals worshipping God like we do...together with a band...and lights...Don’t get me started. Oh yeah, too late. Anyway, I want to connect with people that think that way. 90&9.com: You sold how many of your debut CDs at Youth Congress? TC: I thought we’d sell more. It was around 150 or so. I guess it was okay considering we played at a pre-service event for one song. We gave some CDs to Pentecostal Publishing House and they sold out. I thought that was cool. Hey, somebody was listening. 90&9.com: What’s the response been to that? TC: From the CDs we sold? People have been emailing us and signing our websites guestbook saying how much they loved the band. One girl told us that we helped her get her friend and her friend’s family into church. Thought that was cool. I love hearing from fans and friends. It means the world to hear that somebody out there is getting into your music. It’s even better when we can play in their town and then we get to all hang out and enjoy the music together. Hopefully there’s a Ping-Pong table around, too, ‘cause I like Ping-Pong. 90&9.com: What are the band’s plans for the future? TC: Well, I think it’s safe to say that we would like to take over the world. No, really. We would. 90&9.com: But in real life, you guys do what? TC: In real life I wait for people to call and ask me if Plan:Be is available to play their next event. In order to stay financially afloat, I am a NYC public school art teacher. I am Sunday School director at my church and play drums there, too, as well as lead worship. I love to be creative and think black and white photography is cool. I do some painting and then continue to fantasize about where the next big Plan:Be gig could be. I consider myself an artist. I am one who thinks “I wonder. Hmmm. What if...” In real life I love to stay up late and hate to get up early. 90&9.com: Finally, what type of Christian music do you guys like to listen to? TC: First let me say, some music may be great, but the lyrics kill it. Or the lyrics are cool, but the music is weak and seems cookie-cutter. It’s a personal thing. Sometimes you hear secular stuff and it totally rocks but the message coming across insults you and your God. It’s important for me, personally, to be able to say, “Hey, that music sounds great but the lyrics and lifestyle make it off limits for me.” For too long, I felt I had to say everything was either good or bad. Black and white. Now I can recognize the good and bad of something. Unfortunately, when the lyrics being sung are blasphemous or ungodly then the whole project is tainted. Thank God for bands that have both good lyrics and tight music. I’m open to so many kinds of musical expression. What bands? First of all, my parents raised me on Andre Crouch and the Imperials. My first band was Petra. They opened my eyes. Music I listen to now varies. I really like songs that I can feel. I love to feel the kick drum in my chest! I like things a little rough around the edges usually. Not sure if that makes sense but anyway, here are some of the bands in my CD player, for better or worse: Third Day (nice sound; clean Christian rock band), The Waiting (great lyrics), Ashley Cleveland, POD (Satellite), Pillar, Kings X (Dogman), Switchfoot, Five Iron Frenzy, Patsy Moore, PAX217, Sanctus Real, and anything new at least one time. Love to talk bands and Christian music. I love when music moves me emotionally, when it gives me a satisfying way to express everything from doubt to passion. I love it when a band creates music that makes me want to jump and shout. But I am also awed by a song that gives me a lump in my throat. I really enjoy when lyrics and music stay clear of Christian clichés. I try to keep myself open to new music, whether hard or soft, and learn something from it. Maybe someone will do the same for me.
ninetyandnine.com © 2003, ninetyandnine.com --------- Kent d Curry is an executive editor of ninetyandnine.com. ninetyandnine.com will be reviewing Plan:Be’s self-titled CD next week. Their web page (www.planbemusic.com) is under construction, but their album can be purchased through: http://indieheaven.gospelcom.net/view_artist.idh?artist_id=61872 |
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