BETWEEN THE LINER NOTES
Hawk Nelson: The Modest Musicians
By Hannah Goodwyn
CBN.com Producer
CBN.com
– Pop-punk band Hawk Nelson can definitely rock. But, the band doesn’t give off an “I’m a rock star” vibe. They’re just regular guys who like to make music.
CBNmusic.com met with two of the band members, lead singer Jason Dunn and bassist Daniel Biro, to talk about life, music, and their pursuit of God.
Being a band and making music means a lot of to these guys, but their faith is most important. Just before they step on stage, they pray. When the sound check goes too long and they don’t have time, everything goes downhill from there.
“Usually, those are the bad shows”, Daniel says.
If at all possible, the band tries to set aside time to show God how grateful they are for His faithfulness.
“We have a collective moment and ask God to bless it. We have to recognize that we’re not that talented of a band. And any skills and opportunities we do have, they are because of Him. We’ve just got to remember that always,“ Daniel says.
It’s not a false humility in these guys; it’s the real deal. They simply love what they do and thank God that He lets them goof around, be themselves, and play band.
“Just the fact that we get to do this everyday, I’m pretty thankful for that. We could be doing something else. And I don’t want to be doing anything else, you know,” Jason says as if he’s afraid to wake up from his dream life.
“I could almost cry I’m so thankful,” Daniel says.
Hawk Nelson’s “In the Beginning…”
By no means was it a cake walk for the band mates of Hawk Nelson to get to this point. They spent countless hours rehearsing and sharing their music before they tapped into the Christian music scene.
“We all had jobs and every month we’d put 200 dollars into the band fund and build a bank account to make enough money to pay off debt we took to make a CD,” Jason says.
He vividly remembers the long days spent building the band. Everyday, he’d go to work from 6 a.m. till about 3 p.m. Then, the guys would meet to practice from 4 p.m. until midnight, repeating that cycle every day, five days a week. They felt they needed all the practice they could get. According to them, their songs didn't sound so hot at first.
“I wish our friends would have just been honest with us,” Jason says laughing.
“If you guys are reading this, just be honest next time,” Daniel says.
Seriously though, it was rough for them. But, they pushed through it.
“I believe if it’s your calling, and you work hard, God will bless that,” Daniel says. “So we just wanted to work hard and we just did whatever we could.”
“I always live by the verse – ‘God will give you the desires of your heart.’ It’s something I’ve always desired. I love music. I love playing music. I love attention. I crave attention. So when I’m on stage, I’ll do anything just to get people’s attention. It just seemed to fit the job description of being a front man of the band. It was something I was passionate about and I just kind of went for it,” Jason says.
It’s for God and the Fans
Music fans usually can get a pretty good idea of a band’s philosophy through the songs they write. That’s especially true with Hawk Nelson. Front man Jason Dunn writes from his experiences and thoughts, a hobby he’s had since he was 14 years old. As a group, they want people to hear a good message in their music.
Jason explains it like this: We want “people to just go away knowing life might be hard, but you just need to look at the bright side of life. And just enjoy life to its fullest.”
Daniel says, “As long as you walk in God’s plan for your life, you can really live to your fullest. And the fact that we’re able to do this is an example that God can take anyone and we believe that for all of the people in our audience. We try to get that across every night … that we want to encourage them to walk in God’s plan.”
This is part of the message in their hit song, “Zero”. It’s a ballad about reaching out to those who hurt, who are in pain even to the point that they want to kill themselves. Jason wrote it after a friend committed suicide a few years ago.
“Life’s not always easy,” Jason says. “But, you need to stick with it and just go for the calling God has on your life. Otherwise, what’s the purpose of life, if you’re not really into the calling God has for you. It’s kind of an encouragement to kids to keep going for it, you know.”
These songs have a meaning for kids’ lives; they’re changing lives for the better. And that’s why we do this.”
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UPCOMING ALBUM RELEASE
Look for their new album, Hawk Nelson is My Friend, in stores on April 1, 2008.
 Hannah Goodwyn serves as a producer for LivingTheLife.com and CBN.com. She also writes regularly for these sites.
For more articles and information, visit Hannah's bio page.
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