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| Divine Martyr; L-R Jason Hyde (Guitar), Olivia Guetle (Vocals, Cello), Mark McKowen (Drums, Keys), Woody Hughes (Bass) |
"The music of Divine Martyr reflects life. A life of struggle, and yet one of hope. One of importance, bringing forth the message of our Messiah through trial and tribulation, and remembering those who have given all for their faith. For life is not without struggle, and yet through struggle we persevere. So we run but do not grow weary, playing to an audience of One..." - Jason Hyde, from the heading "Mission" on Divine Martyr's webpage.
I enjoy all my interviews. There are some, though that I'm absolutely excited when I research the interviewee and read their answers. I'm excited about this one. So be sure to check out their webpage below.
JR: Welcome to the blog. When and how did the band get started, and how did you decide on your name? Who's in the current line-up?
WH: I really felt there was a need to minister to those who didn’t feel comfortable going to church. Maybe because they didn’t feel “worthy” to walk into a church or maybe they didn’t even feel worthy of God’s love. So, I placed an ad on Craigslist in 2016, got a reply from Dan Klinger, a guitarist who was from the Indianapolis area, and he and I started to jam in both of our garages. About a month into it, our current drummer, Mark McKowen, answered the ad and we all started practicing together and putting together ideas for songs. Shortly after, Dan left the band, and then a few months later Jason Hyde auditioned for the role of guitarist, and we figured out quickly how awesome he was and asked him to join. I knew our original vocalist, Darlene Parson, from the Vineyard Church in Greenwood, so I asked her to join us and that’s how the band started.
The name, Divine Martyr, came from Dan. I instantly loved the name because I believe that we as Christians should be willing to be martyred for what we believe in because the Bible says that in the last days we must choose between God and man when we are persecuted. Dan was gracious enough to allow me to use the name after he left.
Our current line-up consists of Mark on drums, Jason on guitar, me on bass, and we have a new vocalist and cellist, Olivia Guetle. We’re really excited about Olivia. She’s got an awesome voice and she’s a great fit to the band. The fact that she can add cello to our songs adds yet another layer of ambience and ether to our songs that really continues to define the “symphonic” aspect of our music that we’ve always envisioned.
JR: Could you tell us about your latest project?
WH: We’re releasing three new songs here shortly. We will be releasing our new song, "Fear," on June 10th, the day before our Get to the Point show. We will then be releasing a first ever instrumental entitled "Mystique" on June 24th, and finally, a cover of a popular CCM song by Kari Jobe called "Forever." We have a date in mind for the release, but it may slip due to some scheduling in all of us getting it tracked with Marcus over at Reclaim the Day. He’s our tracking and mixing engineer by the way and we’re excited about Fear so we’re using him for the other songs as well. We’ve developed an excellent relationship with him and his wife Becca. They’re pretty cool.
JR: As I looked at your website, I was impressed with your Mission. Would you like to share it with us? How did you develop it?
WH: To add to my first answer, I think that in the last six years that we’ve been together we all have seen a real need in the Christian community for outreach to those who don’t feel comfortable in a church setting. To be honest, the church in America has grown stagnant. We’re not afraid to say it. Its message has been watered down. We don’t believe that the church is doing a good job in reaching out to people and meeting their needs. It’s time for a change. It’s long overdue. So, it’s time for us to get out there and go where the Lord leads us. We don’t care where we must go. If we can do it financially, we’ll go anywhere.
JR: What would you say were the most memorable moments of your ministry as a band, such as recording, concerts, after-concert pizza raids, etc.?
WH: We always talk amongst ourselves about the opportunity to open for Disciple, but where I think we were able to minister the most effectively was at the Water Bowl in Muncie Indiana on Easter weekend in 2019. We were the only Christian band among about five other bands with one of them being an outwardly Satanic band. Those are the places where we need to be. And what’s interesting is that that show was where we felt the most welcomed by the fans. We’ve found that the secular community is more supportive of our religious stance then the Christians who think ministering using heavy metal is “sinful”. And that’s another issue of ours – The church in America doesn’t want to support those of us who are using traditionally “alternative” means to celebrate God, i.e. heavy metal. The church doesn’t seem to want to be involved unless it’s standard CCM worship.
JR: If you could address the American Church, what would you say we need to be doing to return to our First Love? Related, when you all are discouraged, where do you tend to find encouragement and inspiration?
WH: The church must teach the Bible with no reservations but in complete love. Right now, churches are teaching love, but with reservations on what exactly to discuss on Sunday mornings as to not offend people. To be frank, if you go to a church and they’re preaching the Bible and it offends you, then you need to hear it. Church leaders need to ensure that its member’s needs and their family’s needs are met. More things like feeding the hungry and visiting the sick needs to happen consistently and on a regular cadence. Not just on Thanksgiving and around Christmas.
JR: Thank you for your time. I know you'll be at the Get To The Point Festival in Greenwood, IN, June 11th, and the following Friday (I believe) you'll be at Kingdom Come Festival in Kokomo. Anything else on the horizon? Do you have any webpages to find out what's going on with your ministry?
WH: Yes, we’d love for everyone to make it to the Get To The Point Festival in Greenwood. That one is special to me personally since that’s my town. Also we’d love to see everyone at KCF in Kokomo. And check out our Divine Martyr website (https://www.divinemartyr.com) to get a listing of all our shows and any new updates on what we may be doing. We have the month of June covered (the festivals mentioned above, and Mercy Jam in Jeffersonville, IN, June 25th), one show on July 3 (Audiofeed Music Festival 2022, Urbana, IL), and one on September 3 (Mosey Down Mainstreet, Lafayette, IN). Please spread the word. We’d love to do more shows this year. Thank you so much for allowing us to share our mission with you!
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