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10 Questions with ... Mark Schultz
January 8, 2007
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NAME:Mark SchultzTITLE:MusicianLABEL:Word Records
Discography:
Broken & Beautiful (2006)
Mark Schultz Live - A Night of Stories & Songs (2005)
Stories & Songs (2003)
Song Cinema (2001)
Mark Schultz (2000)1) Offer a brief history of your career.
I came to Nashville after graduating from Kansas State University with a Marketing degree so that I could become a "professional" waiter. I met a youth minister and his wife, Mark and Susan DeVries, at the restaurant and they convinced me to leave a life of busing tables and become a youth director for their church. I was a youth minister for eight years. It was the best job I have ever had. I was writing songs about mission trips, senior banquets, etc., and those songs became my first record. I played my songs for the youth and their parents and the groups just kept getting bigger. I finally did my own show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and Word Records was there so they asked me to make a record with them. That was six years ago and I released my fifth record this past fall.
2) Known for your "story songs," you have to be a good observer. Where do you do your best people watching?
I think I learned so much from being a youth director. I was so involved with the youth and their families. I stood on the mountain tops and walked through the valleys with so many different people. It was a time of such rich relationships. I love that I will always just be "Schultz," the youth director at First Presbyterian. I think everyone should have the opportunity to be involved with youth because you hear so much about yourself and life in general. I really cherish those relationships and am still very connected with those folks.
3) What's the story behind "Broken & Beautiful"?
I wrote this song with Matthew West at the chapel next to my church (where I write all my songs). When we first came up with the idea, I felt so strongly about it because it was an upbeat song with a message that was so deep and hit me in such a special way. I went home that night thinking it had a possibility of going on the record. The next morning I was brushing my teeth, started singing the melody and tears were running down my face. It was then I realized how powerful the message really was. It is a song about redemption, about forgiveness, about surrendering to God so that he can breathe life into you again.
4) Would you consider your first love to be songwriting? Or do you like performing equally as much? Or are both of them equally frightening?
It's a great question. I think they go hand in hand. The biggest thrill for me is to play one of my own songs to an audience for the first time and hope that they feel the same emotions that I did when I was writing it. That is such a magical moment for me. I love it. But going backwards, I realize that something special happens when I am writing a song that I can't really explain. It is that moment when something bigger than me takes over and creates something beautiful and lets my hands and voice be a part of the process. (I think God shows up and works most of it out and then hands it back to me.) When I have songs that I really believe in, it gives me the confidence to stand in front of the audience and speak and entertain because I fell so secure in what I am doing.
5) How do you know that you've written a good song? What's your barometer?
Another good question. I think the best barometer is how I feel about it deep in my heart, gut, etc. Some songs just roll out and I can't help but sing them over and over. They feel effortless like they were destined to be special before I ever sat down at the piano to write. Those are the best because if they feel that way early in the process then you know that people will want to play it over and over after you put all the instruments on it. It is the song in its purest form. That is the thing. If you can be moved by a song in its most simple form (piano and vocal or guitar and vocal), then you have a nice song. Instruments only enhance. I never write a song and hope that the instruments will take it over the top and make it special. If it isn't special in its simplest form, it isn't gong to be special by sticking things to it.
6) Is there a specific theme or message to the new record?
Yes, the theme is the title of the record, "Broken and Beautiful." Here is an example. In the song "She Was Watching," the daughter looks up to her dad and watches how he lives out his faith. In the second verse he comes home after being laid off and she can see her parents in the kitchen. She wonders what will happen. Will there be an argument, will there be yelling? Instead she sees her mom and dad dancing in the kitchen as her mom sings his favorite song. It makes a huge impression on her because they chose to trust that God has something better for them instead of giving into fear. Being a Christian doesn't mean we sugar coat our problems and pretend we don't have any. It means facing them head on, realizing that in our brokenness we need God and his guidance and then let him breathe his life into ours. We rely on his strength, not ours. That is the beautiful part of being broken.
7) Do you have a songwriting mentor, someone that inspires you in your songwriting?
Yes and no. My mentor in life is Mark DeVries. He is not a songwriter per say but he is someone who is an expert in relationships. In his work with youth and families over the last 20 years, he has established himself as someone who has studied interpersonal relationships but he also has a knack for finding God in those relationships. He is a great encourager as well. Sometimes I will walk in his office and tell him I have a new song idea. He will put his feet up on the desk, put his hands behind his head, and stretch out in his chair like he is on vacation. I start to sing a few lines and he closes his eyes, smiles and more often than not there will be tears running down his cheeks before I am finished. He has been my champion.
8) Can you pick a favorite song on the record?
My favorite song on "Broken and Beautiful"? Nope, I can't do it. It's like asking which is your favorite child. They are all so unique and special for different reasons. "She Was Watching" is one of my wife's favorites because it is her story. "40 Days" is great for someone who is searching for God. The ballad version of "Until I See You Again" is a wonderful way to end a record. "Lord You Are" is a great praise and worship moment. My wife thinks this is the best written album I have ever made, and that is why I married her. [smile]
9) You talk about your own adoption and birth mother on this record through the song "Everything to Me." Why is the time right, now?
I was able to go to Mexico and see several orphanages with a non-profit organization called the James Fund (they support orphans all around the world). I fell in love with these kids and thought, "You know, the only difference in these kids and me is that I got adopted and raised in a great family." I was hurting so badly for these kids because they were bright, beautiful and most had never experienced unconditional love. I wanted to do whatever I could to help raise awareness and money, so these kids could get adopted and have the kind of life that I have had. Maybe that is my purpose in life. Maybe God let me get adopted so that I could help others who wouldn't have otherwise gotten the chance.
10) Imagine life without music. What would you be doing?
Still waiting tables? You know I hope that I would somehow have gotten the opportunity to serve as an encourager to people. That is what I loved so much about being a youth director. Helping people reach their potential, helping them dream and find out what purpose God might have had in mind for them. That is what I love doing and in a roundabout way, maybe that is what the songs I write do as well. Inspire and encourage.
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