Arguably one of Tooth & Nail Records most promising bands, Sent By Ravens has quickly become the rock band to look out for. Both Grant and I have come to love their music, and especially their lyrics. The words to their songs are powerful, and impact just about everybody who listens to them. Right now the band is on tour and working on another album. We got the chance to sit down with Sent By Ravens' lead sing, Zach Riner, before a show at Murray Hill Theatre in Jacksonville, Fla. It was probably one of the most interesting interviews I have ever done, mainly because of where it occurred: in a mosquito-infested, alley, where you couldn't hear yourself think half of the time because of the loud air-conditioning unit behind us. There was even a point where an older guy with a bunch of bags walked up to is in the little alley and just sat with us while we finished up the interview. It was so much fun to do, and I think you will definitely enjoy reading about this amazing group of guys!
Jonathan Kemp: What would you say has been the craziest thing to happen to you guys on stage?
Zach Riner: There’s been some crazy stuff. We got stuck playing one time at this club and they made everybody wait outside and our show got pushed longer and everybody just came inside while we were playing our set and nobody wanted to listen to us. That was kind of awkward. Just for me personally, I head-butted a kid one time. I gave myself a black eye. He was in the front and I just did a head-bang. I hit right here (points to in-between his eye and his nose). I had to finish the set and my wife said it looked like I was about to pass out. The next day I had a huge black eye and the kid had a huge know on his head. But he was the only kid that was there that was wearing one of our shirts. So, he was fan; so, that was good.
Grant White: What part of our touring would you say is your favorite?
ZR: Just seeing different places than you’re used to. Most of us grew up in the south, there’s two of the guys that are from Hawaii so they have a whole different take on life. We just get to see places that aren’t the South and get to spend time in other places that we wouldn’t normally get to see. Sometimes you’ll go on a vacation somewhere and you’re hanging out with your family or something like that. We’re just with our friends. Sometimes we stay at places for days at a time. It could be in the mountains or in the desert. It’s cool to get to experience things for longer periods of time than you would expect to normally.
JK: What do you think is your least favorite part?
ZR: Ugh, fast food. I don’t like fast food. I mean I like it, but it’s not good for you.
JK: It’s gotta get old too after a while?
ZR: It does. It does man.
JK: So, before a show what do you do to get psyched up?
ZR: I don’t know man. I do warmups. We all stretch and get ready. I do like vocal warmups but nothing crazy. I just jump around. *Laughs*
GW: How do you get the fans psyched up at your shows?
ZR: We just play our songs. I’m not the most energetic - like circus-voice kind of thing. I don’t feel like I have that. I’m more like kind of quiet. We play our songs live and if they get into that’s cool, and if not...I share my heart a lot. So, it’s kind of weird. Sometimes people are just listening and sometimes people go crazy. It just kind of depends on the people.
GW: What song is your favorite to play?
ZR: That’s a tough one. Right now we’re playing some new songs. So, those are my favorite to play right now just because we haven’t been playing them. We just wrote them, so it’s fun. From Our Graceful Words, I like playing “Beautiful List.” That’s probably one of my favorites because I have a clear picture thinking about my wife and the story it’s telling. It’s personal to me. So, it’s cool every time we play it I can picture that situation and it just makes me feel good.
JK: So, you guys signed with Tooth & Nail. How would you say your experience has been with them so far?
ZR: They’re awesome man. It was cool to be apart of something we all looked up to a lot in the past. We loved a lot of bands that have been on that label. Everybody’s really cool. They kept us around for a second record, so we’ll see how it goes.
JK: Have you guys done a lot of touring with Tooth & Nail artists?
ZR: Some. We toured a lot with bands that are same generation Tooth & Nail artists as us. We toured with Emery before. We probably played more with the band Write This Down as far as label mates. We’re buddies with those guys. They’re a good band, a really good band.
JK: I think they were here not too long ago. They filmed their music video at Murray Hill.
ZR: Yeah cause they were with Disciple I think.
JK: Yeah I think so. I didn’t get to go to that show, but I wish I had.
GW: Where did you get the inspiration for your band name?
ZR: It was from the story of Elijah when he was in the wilderness. God sent ravens as provision. A raven is an unclean bird, but God sent ravens for provision for him. So, it kind of parallels with all of us. None of us are perfect, we’re not too preachy. We feel like we can do what God has in store for us. We pursue that and His heart.
JK: Do you guys try to portray yourselves as a Christian band that plays Christian music? Or as a Christian band that happens to play music as well?
ZR: We don’t like the line between Christian and non-Christian music because that puts us in a whole genre. So, a lot of kids don’t want to listen to if you’re a Christian band. So, it puts us in a position, well we say what we say no matter what. We want to write things that people can listen to. I’m not saying it doesn’t necessarily have to be Christian. I don’t want to get pigeon-holed in that genre, that’s what it is. But to answer your questions, yes we are, we’re a Christian band. We write about those things. I feel like we’re doing it the best way we know how; because we write songs that are about experiences and things that go on in our lives. It’s not necessarily worship music. Every bit’s not about me talking to God. Some of it’s about an experience I’ve had with a friend who was on drugs or times where I’ve screwed up in my life. Yeah, we’re a Christian band. We definitely are. That’s a very loaded question when it comes to that. Cause we do, we play in bars and we play all kinds of places. I don’t think there should be a line when it comes to a Christian band. Not for us anyways. There’s some bands who don’t wanna play in those places cause they don’t want to lead people into a weird spot. Which is completely fine, but that’s not who we are. That’s not what we feel like God’s calling us to do.
JK: So, your first full length record, Our Graceful Words, would you say there’s a central theme that you’re trying to get across? Or is it just an amalgamation of songs?
ZR: The main theme - what I’m talking about the whole time is dealing with things in a loving way and being able to deal with some of these really hard life decisions in a way you feel that God would do with you. That’s kind of the basis of what they’re all about. There’s a lot of different things about friends and people that I don’t really want to mention. There’s personal things in songs that are about them that I tried to have a hopeful outlook. How would God want me to deal with this person? Or how would I want this person to deal with me if I was in the same situation.
GW: Yeah on Wednesday my youth pastor talked about a proverb in Proverbs that talked about how a harsh word sparks up anger but how a gentle word can really soothe a person and make them feel different and make them respond different than if they’re angry at you. How do you think that would tie into the kind thing that you said about an album?
ZR: I mean it’s the truth. The way you deal with anybody - if you let anger rule what’s going on, it’s always gonna put you in a weird spot. There’s always exceptions. Like the record, the things that I’m talking about are really hard life things that either I’ve dealt with or some of my close friends have dealt with. Had I been hard or had that person been harsh with me then it would have changed things a lot I think. One of the songs, “Stone Soup,” is about harsh words that were for me but it stilled my heart like pursuing that. And I think that goes even one step deeper into that, is that even if they’re harsh to you that doesn’t mean you have to be the same way back.
JK: So, what would you say is your favorite song lyrically off Our Graceful Words?
ZR: “Stone Soup” is one of mine, and “True Bride.” Those are probably two of my favorite ones because they’re so personal. “Stone Soup” is more of that situation of someone being harsh to me in the past; and “True Bride” is more like a worship song. It’s not about a bride, it’s about all of us: the Bride of Christ. It’s like I’m worshiping on stage. So, it’s really cool to be able to do that.
GW: One of your most popular songs, “New Fire,” where did you get the inspiration for that?
ZR: At Murray Hill Theatre, believe it or not. A friend of ours had some troubles when she was a little bit younger, this was four or five years ago. It’s about the situation and it’s about the things that I have dealt with in my past that were going on with her; and the ability to pray with her. It’s all about that prayer that we had and about family. That’s funny that it was here and we’re having an interview here.
JK: So, the new album you’re working on, how’s that going?
ZR: It’s good, it’s being mixed. It’s done.
JK: When do you think it’s gonna come out?
ZR: Probably the Spring. Sometime in the Spring, I don’t know. They haven’t given us a date yet, but it’ll be sometime in there.
JK: Do you have a title for it yet?
ZR: No, we don’t. We’ll have one soon yet. We’re trying to decide the songs and stuff. But hey whenever we get done with the interview, whoever’s gonna be listening on the internet or whatever, don’t be jealous but I may let them listen to a new song. *Laughs*
GW: Into your new album have you tried to maintain the sound from Our Graceful Words, or did you try and change it up a little bit?
ZR: Ok, this is definitely a first. I don’t think I’ve talked to anybody about this. It’s a little less screamy, but it’s more angsty. It’s a little more *Grunts* We shot to do more radio stuff and kind of branch out from just the Christian genre. I think it better represents how we are live, opposed to Our Graceful Words. Our Graceful Words is a little bit less edgy and when you see us live we’re a little more intense. I think this new CD really captures that, and that’s why I’m stoked. I hope people that liked Our Graceful Words like it, and people that didn’t find what they wanted to find from our live show they can get it in this CD.
JK: What’s the theme that goes through this album?
ZR: The theme is almost a play on the other album title, but it’s realizing that your words hold weight and how much they can affect people and to really be cautious of that. That’s kind of the underlying theme through the whole thing.
JK: What’s your writing process? When you go to write for an album what do you usually do?
ZR: It differs. Probably the main thing is they’ll come up with some kind of riff - we all write together. They’ll normally come up with a riff and I’ll try to figure out a melody or they may even have a chorus and a verse and I’ll just write melodies and lyrics to it. Sometimes I’ll write on a piano or just on an acoustic by myself. That’s the way it went this last record. It was kind of either or.
JK: Do you ever just sit down and purposefully write a song or is it always spontaneous?
ZR: With the band it’s normally spontaneous. With the last record - the new one - we had to write it in a smaller period of time. It took us two weeks to finish almost everything, to get it solid before we went to record. Then we wrote one song in the studio. I sit down and write sometimes but I try to sit and down and have fun. I try not to have the vision of “Oh I need to sit down and write this kind of song.” I do that, but not for this band. It feels more organic to me when it’s something we all have something to do with.
JK: Do you have a side project that you write for?
ZR: I do, but I haven’t done anything in a long time. It’s called Mas Faith. It’s me and my wife.
JK: So does she play or sing an instrument?
ZR: Yeah she sings and plays the guitar. She’s really good. I don’t know if you’ve heard the EP? The Effects of Fashion and Prayer?
GW: I listened to some of it before.
JK: Yeah, me too.
ZR: There’s a song called “The Best in Me.” It’s actually gonna be on the new record. We rerecorded it. It was like a six minute song but we shortened it. She was actually able to come to the studio and do her part over. So she sang the drop chorus and that was awesome. The last CD we had two songs on there that we were made to redo. It was kind of not our choice; and this album we had more sway. So, we could redo the song without it having to change the major parts of the song. So we were happy with it.
GW: When did ya’ll get interested in music first?
ZR: Dude I’ve been playing guitar since I was maybe 12 or something. I’m still not as good as these dudes. I started singing in a band when I was about 15. That’s like 11 years ago. I’m getting old man. *Laughs*
GW: When did you decide that’s what you’re gonna do? Like that’s gonna be your life?
ZR: I don’t know man. When I started being in a band that was like tunnel vision: that’s what I wanna do. Then I got out of high school and was a teenager. I did stupid stuff for sure. I focused into about a year of college and then I was like, “Well, I just wanna play music.” I didn’t go back after one year of college. I was like, “I’m just gonna do music.”
JK: So that band you were in, was it also a rock band?
ZR: Yeah it was a rock band for sure. It wasn’t a Christian rock band, but it wasn’t bad. It was back where I’m from. I’m from Georgia.
JK: How long have you been a Christian?
ZR: I mean I’ve known about God all my life from my mom and dad and stuff. There’s always a point in your life of when did you become a Christian and when did you start really following God? There’s a big difference. Like I knew who God was and I pursued [Him] a little bit when I was 15. I started playing in a worship band when I was 15. I got out of that and then played in another band. When I was 21 I moved up and found out about these guys and they were just an instrumental band. I found out about them and that this is what they wanted to do. And I just prayed about it and that was the first time I actually really made huge life changes for something that God told me to do. So, that’s the point where I like to say that’s when I started following. Like, I knew God but I didn’t really know him.
JK: What do you see in the future for Sent By Ravens?
ZR: I don’t know man. Hopefully more records. If we can just make it so it’s a good flow and we can be on the road, make enough money to be comfortable at home with our families. I just wanna keep doing that. I wanna have a good time until I get too old.
GW: When you do get ‘too old,’ what do you think you’re gonna do?
ZR: My wife’s opening up a bakery right now in our little town. So, we’ll see how that does. I personally want to open up a hot dog shop, like a gourmet hot dog shop. There’s something called poutine from Canada. I don’t know if ya’ll have ever been up north but they have something called cheese curds. It’s a mix between cheddar and mozzarella and it’s white and when you bite it it squeaks. But anyway, they take the crumbles and they put it on top of french fries and they cover it with brown gravy. It’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever had. I’ll serve that with hot dogs and all kinds of stuff. But that, and I work on guitars in my spare time. I’m like half way done with an apprenticeship to be a luthier. So, that’s kind of what I do.
Older Guy: Hey gentlemen.
ZR: How are you?
OG: Pretty good, may I join ya’ll for a minute. (Starts to sit down.) If I don’t kill myself.
ZR: How you been?
OG: Good. Is it gonna be a good show tonight?
ZR: I hope so! It should be.
OG: I’m tired of boring shows.
JK: Well, I think that’s it.
ZR: Word. That was good. You guys do a good job.
JK: Thanks!
