of Go Fish
by Cara Bell
Recently, I did an e-mail interview with Go Fish. If you haven’t heard of them before you should check them out. They completed their new album called “Infectious” and it has been in local Christian stores since the end of August. From Minnesota, these guys are awesome! Their singing abilities are wonderful and once again you should check them out!
T4JYM: When did your group form? How did you group form? Did you all start out together or pick up members long the way?
GF: The group was officially started by Jamie back in 1996. He started it with the intention of offering a unique style of music that is a little bit of a break from the norm, and focused primarily on vocals. It was Jamie and two other guys that are no longer in the group. It is actually kind of funny, because Jason and I (Andy) were in the audience at the CD release concert for the first album, and from that point on, we were determined to take our music to a whole new level, and hoped that someday we would be able to be part of something like that. Little did we know that we would both end up in the same group that we once watched together. Jason auditioned back in 1997 as the need for a new member arose, and likewise with Andy in 1999.
T4JYM: What is you main focus? Teens? The lost? Why is this your main focus?
GF:We have actually been quite surprised with how God has blessed us with such a broad spectrum of fans. We see people anywhere from four years old to 80 years old. It is certainly something that has been able to reach just about every age. I would say that we certainly focus a little more on the youth generation. The three of us relate all too well to the struggles and hardships that young people face, and our mission is just to hopefully let them know that even though we cannot fully help with their problems, that at least we do understand, and that ultimately God is the only one who can bring true satisfaction in their lives. The whole origin of our name “Go Fish” is from the verse in the bible where Jesus is calling his disciples to be “fishers of men”. That is our goal with our music, to be “fishers of men” and fulfill God’s call to win people to Him.
T4JYM: Where do you see your band in the future?
GF: Well, we certainly hope for long term success in our music. Not the success of the world, because every time we see our tendencies to lean that way, God firmly lets us know that His purpose for us is much bigger than that of the world. We just want to have as much fun as possible in the time that God has blessed us with this opportunity, and to bless and honor Him with what we do. I think that one thing that has always made our fans so loyal is that we make sure that we take the time to talk to every single one of them after the show, whether it be 50 people or 5000 people. The intimate involvement of our fans is so important to us, and we pray that we never lose that appeal, or the desire to make our fans feel that they are a part of us. Where we are now is really where we want to be in the future, but hopefully we can be that to more and more people as things grow.
T4JYM: Who is your biggest musical influence as an artist/band?
GF: We all have such a diverse spectrum of influence in our lives, musically, that it is hard to put a finger on exactly who is our biggest, but I would have to say that one group that definitely is one that we hold in the highest respects as far as music and performance is DC Talk. Those guys rock.
T4JYM: Do you ever wonder is success will change the band?
As I stated earlier, I pray everyday that we will remember that passion that drives us now, and that we will remember that the One who gave this all to us now can just as easily take it away in an instant. Christ is the only reason that we are doing what we are doing, and He is the only one that gives us strength from day to day to continue doing what we are doing.
T4JYM: What’s your favorite color?
GF: Blue
T4JYM: If you could meet anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would you meet and why?
GF: Well, I personally can’t really think of anyone that I would absolutely die to meet, but I know that Jamie would give several of his limbs to meet Clint Eastwood. He has followed him since he can remember. If ever we are lacking something to do, we always know that Jamie has a good ol’ Clint Eastwood movie to watch.
T4JYM: Do you write your own music? Do you play your own instruments?
GF: Yes, we right 99% of our own music. That certainly makes us feel much more involved in what we are doing, and also really lets us express our joys, hurts, and understanding (or lack thereof) to those who hear our music. We also play our own instruments for much of what we do. Having been primarily acappella in the past, we are all quite happy to be able to add our upbringing on instruments to what we do. Jamie has played the drums since he was 4, Jason plays piano, guitar and trombone (that’s right, the trombone), and I (Andy) play the guitar and piano.
T4JYM: What’s the biggest thing that you have learned from performing and ministering through music?
GF: We have learned that we cannot do this on our own strength, because if we did, we would quickly burn out. We have done many shows, been to many places, and found ourselves in several circumstances that have caused us to question “what in the world are we doing with our lives?!”, and every time, God puts us in our place by having one person come up to us in the midst of our tantrum and say that we really touched them in a way that they had never experienced before. That’s when we realize that a nice big piece of humble pie is in order. We are merely tools for God’s greater work.
T4JYM: How would you describe your music style?
GF: That’s actually a very good question, one that we have been trying to answer ourselves for a long time! We have always focused on vocals as the key element in what we do, and trying to make great harmony. I would say that you could compare our style anywhere from “Take 6” to the “Eagles”
T4JYM: What groups have you performed with and what do you think of them?
GF: We have opened up for “Point Of Grace” a couple of times, and “Jaci Velasquez”. We have also been a part of some different showcase performances that involved “Tait”, “KMax”, “Zoe Girl”, “Scott Kripayne”, and a few others. Those are the times that are a lot of fun, because everyone is there just to have a good time. They are all certainly great people, and all incredibly talented.
T4JYM: What groups would you like to perform with in the future?
GF: Well, we would certainly love to perform with DC Talk. As I mentioned before, we ahve done some small stuff indirectly with Tait and KMax, and they were both a lot of fun. Toby Mac certainly can’t be left out of the whole scene. Although we have not had the opportunity to perform at anything with him, we have met him on a couple different occasions, and he is great. To us, they are just really the example of performance that we respect.
T4JYM: Are you involved with your churches at home? What roles do you play?
GF: We are all quite involved with our churches at home. It is actually with the younger kids for the most part. We lead small groups, praise and worship, or even look after the wee little ones.
T4JYM: How did you know of or develop your musical talents?
GF: The three of us have all kind of had music engrained in us at a very young age. Jamie discovered his passion for banging on things at the age of four, and was encouraged by his family who gave him his very first drum set. Jason grew up singing country music while driving the tractor on his farm, and I (Andy) was forced to take piano lessons since the age of 5. I think we all came from fairly musical families, so it was something that just came natural to us. As years went by, we all became very involved in music with churches, schools, or just learning new instruments on our own.
T4JYM: Do you have an accountability partner?
GF: Yes, I do. My wife, Amanda certainly keeps me accountable for all that she possible can, but beyond that, I also have a couple of good guy friends who keep my feet on the ground. I think that is very important, especially now more than ever as we are faced with more struggles and temptations. I know that I myself am not strong enough as one man to fight the battles of this world, and so it is very important that my wife and friends keep me accountable in their own ways, and in turn, I hopefully can do the same for them.
T4JYM: What advice do you have for the youth of this world?
GF: Unfortunately, no advice I could ever give can truly make the change in someone’s life, but hopefully it can sometimes be enough to plant a seed for of hope for some. The one thing that we become painfully aware of every time we do a show or encounter the youth of today, is that confidence and self worth is such a low commodity these days. I wish I could remember every story of the young teenager that comes to us after the show and pours out their heart about how they were on the verge of, or have attempted suicide because they feel that nobody cares about them. It breaks my heart every time, and will continue to do so. If there was just one thing that I wish these youth could understand (or anyone for that matter) is that no matter how many times the things of this world let us down; whether it be friends, family, school, or anything – that there is a Father up in heaven that sees our pain, and so badly wants! to comfort us in those times of pain. He is someone who will NEVER let us down. If only that were something that we could fully grasp, I know that there would be a lot less pain in the world. I have to rely on that daily, because as soon as I let go of that, the chaos and pain of the world starts to get me down.
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