Indie Artists Alliance interviews Shawn Thomas, long time supporter and friend.
Shawn, How long have you been making music and how did you get started?
Oh, wow -- my first recording project was back in 1991 (I was 22... I'll let you do the math - ha!) -- just a demo cassette, and then my first published album (on cassette) was in 1993. My first 3 albums were recorded at a studio in Dallas/FtWorth and the producer there, Jeff Peters (I think he's in LA now), really became my teacher and mentor as far as learning recording, production, and especially Pro-tools. The only thing still available from that period of time was a CD released in 1999 called, "Out In This World" -- its out of print, but you can still download it at sites like iTunes and Rhapsody. After that, I didn't release anything until 2003, and from that point on all of my music has been spiritually based. The music in the 90's that I put out was mostly secular, but every now and then I would include a gospel tune -- I think that's where my heart has always been, but I just wasn't familiar enough with Gospel and Contemporary Christian music at that time. Plus, I hadn't come out as a gay artist yet either, so once I had confronted my fears and reconnected with my faith, it was truly like the flood gates opened up for me (creatively) when I started writing Christian music.
Are there any other full time members of your band?
I'm pretty much a do-it-yourself independent artist -- not that I don't enjoy working with other artists -- and I've often had other musicians and singers lend their talents on certain tracks. I think part of it is having a studio makes recording so accessible without having to worry about being on the clock -- so I have the freedom to experiment and play things in myself in lots of ways -- and to make LOTS of re-takes for when I mess up!
You do so many different things, what genre of music do you usually perform?
Well my music is usually categorized as "Contemporary Christian" or "Praise and Worship" just because of the lyrics -- but I guess style-wise I'd say I'm a "pop" artist with rock and country influences. Also, I guess within the GLBT community there's a genre called "Out and Proud", and I've seen my music labelled as that before too.
That pretty much spells it out, but, not using typical genre classifications, how would you describe your music?
Ha! It sounds like Josh Groban meets Justin Timberlake at a Christian revival for the GLBT community!
Who or what has been your inspiration to do what you do?
When I was a kid I learned to play guitar singing to a songbook of John Denver. I saw him in concert twice too. More recently I attribute Steven Curtis Chapman's music to introducing me to Contemporary Christian music -- and as far as Praise and Worship, I love Chris Tomlin.
Tell the fans about the last song that you wrote and what inspired you to write it.
Well, I just released a brand new CD, and I've been writing on it for several months -- and I can't actually remember which song was the very last one I wrote. It might be a song called "By Faith" -- which I at least know was one of the last ones I worked on for this project
By Faith" is inspired by Paul's letter to the Romans. For me that scripture is truly about grace, and I love Paul's emphasis on that it is by faith that we are made righteous in the eyes of God.
Do you have any new things going on? A new CD perhaps?
I do have a new CD called "Worship & Desperation". Its different than my previous CDs in that these songs are not directly about me or my personal experiences. They are all what's called "Praise & Worship" music -- which means they are songs intended for everyone to be able to sing-a-long, and to use in worship -- whether at church or in your car. There's also a songbook available and video media for churches and praise teams to use in their worship services. For the past 2 1/2 years, I've only been touring part time, while serving as music minister at a church in West Palm Beach, FL. Beginning in January, I will return to full-time traveling and touring to churches and organizations in support of the release of "Worship & Desperation". There's a calendar and booking information available on my website (hint, hint...)
The first single from "Worship & Desperation" is an up-beat song called "You Are Here Lord". I'll be releasing a music video for that hopefully in the next couple of months. I'm excited because I've been taking dance off-and-on for years, and recently started back up again -- so right now the plan is to include some tap and jazz choreography in the music video! whoo-hoo! Should be fun if it works.
Where are some of the places that you have been playing?
I perform mostly at churches for either their regular worship services and/or for a separate concert event. ....also have had the opportunity to sing at several "Pride" events across the nation. Most of the churches I visit either have a specific outreach to the GLBT community (such as Metropolitan Community Churches), or they declare themselves to be "open and affirming" (such as many United Church of Christ, Methodist, and independent churches). I have occasionally been invited to visit churches that are not necessarily affirming of the gay community, and I've felt blessed by those opportunities as well, and look forward to more in the future.
Where can people learn more about you? What's your web site?
My main website is www.shawnthomasonline.com. The website for the ministry is www.aaronsrainbowproject.com. And the website for the recording studio is www.shawnthomasstudios.com
Can you give some helpful hints to other musicians who may be reading this?
DON'T GO IN TO DEBT! There are many ways to do things yourself -- and if anything, I would invest what money you have into recording equipment and training so you don't have to fork out a bunch of cash every time you want to record a song. Duplicating is fairly inexpensive -- but studio rates can kill ya. Plus, you can market your songs online and through downloads without even having CDs pressed. Once you have control of your recording overhead, you'll have a lot of power and freedom.
Is there anything else that you'd like to share with the fans?
I'm really looking forward to returning to full-time touring. I've been visiting churches for almost 6 years now, but there are quite a few that I haven't been able to return to for while -- so I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends -- and making some new ones. Oh -- and of course, sincere thanks to Indie Artists Alliance for this opportunity for an interview!
