StrongHold infuses a non-preachyChristianity into fund-raising CD
In the song "If These Walls Could Talk," a young man feels frustrated and alone, said songwriter Alex Garner. Two voices, his and Ryan Marquardt's, sing together throughout. Another presence always is available to the isolated one, if only he seeks it, said Garner.
"You feel so alone. You feel you don't have anyone to talk to. There is always someone there, whether it's a human or God."
On a recent Tuesday in a basement studio, at producer Mark Lockett's house in Normal, Garner and his band mates from StrongHold were making a podcast for their MySpace Internet page when Garner explained his interpretation of the song.
It is Track 1 on StrongHold's CD, "Hope Avenue," songs from which will be performed Friday night at a CD release party and fund-raiser. (See accompanying details.)
The band members, along with guitarist Nate McClintock - all three age 18 - say "If These Walls Could Talk" is their best musical accomplishment.
They call their work alternative-Christian music, but there are pop elements, and they want their music to have crossover appeal to secular music listeners.
All the music started in acoustic format. Many of them received electric overlays in the revising and recording processes.
Noticeably missing from a "Christian" CD are the praise and worship phrases contained in most Christian music. Jesus isn't named in any of the songs, although he is implied frequently.
That is by design. Band members, wanting to approach peers in a way they feel will be meaningful without being off-putting, created songs about relationships, friendships, insecurity and hardships while infusing Jesus into the music in a more subtle way.
"Not everybody is full on with their spirituality," Marquardt explained. "You can interpret each song in a Christian way or in a non-Christian way or you can interpret it both ways. We mean it both ways.
"I personally don't believe in shoving Jesus down someone's throat," Marquardt continued. "I don't feel it's a way to get a message across."
StrongHold also avoids forcing complexity into their music. It is a layered, mature message and layered music delivered simply, said Lockett. Lockett's music, primarily from his days in a band called The Normals, is among influences for StrongHold, said McClintock.
McClintock said he's played in jam bands that didn't grasp the richness of simplicity.
"We would always try to be the best - who could play the hardest, like Eddie Van Halen," he said. "It sounds like blah together. This is simple and it just sounds awesome."
In "If These Walls Could Talk," McClintock created three basic guitar rifts containing just a handful of notes. He plays those riffs and nothing else throughout the song.
On electric guitar, and using an echoing device called a Memory Man Delay Pedal, the notes produce a cosmic reverberation reminiscent of The Normals, or classic U2 riffs from the "Joshua Tree" LP.
StrongHold's recording sessions ended in May, as McClintock and Garner prepared to graduate from Normal West High School. Garner is enrolled at Illinois State University, McClintock at Heartland Community College. Marquardt has a year remaining at Bloomington High School.
StrongHold now takes another leap, as it learns how to play together live. The band is starting to play in coffee shops, and they seek other venues. They intend to stay together at least one more year, while Marquardt completes high school and the others start college.
They can foresee another CD; they have unrecorded songs. They can dream of music careers.
Really, though, the three young artists said, their only immediate goal is to raise $5,000 for a family in Mexico they promised to help through a Texas-based Christian group called Faith Ministry.
Like the music, Lockett interjected, this focus is both simple and worthy.
March 2004
Ryan Marquardt is 15 and Alex Garner 16. They are on a rooftop in Mexico, in the middle of the night as the rest of their church missions team is sleeping and they are supposed to be.
They had used their spring break to come to Mexico to build homes with a team from their church, Bloomington's Second Presbyterian with Faith Ministry, a Texas-based Christian group devoted to aiding impoverished families with education, shelter, medicine and evangelism.
From this roof, they see desperate poverty. They see the concrete block houses that the team and Faith Ministry build for the people of Miguel Aleman, Mexico, to better these conditions.
They look down upon the now-deserted street below and talk about how children played there with abandon hours earlier.
Said Garner, "They still had faith. They smiled all the time.
"We wrote a song for all of the kids called 'Hope Avenue,' which is about how they're still happy and don't have anything, and about how we take for granted things that we have here. And we're still not happy. We look to the wrong things for happiness."
March 2005
The two songwriters begin working with Mark Lockett, an Internet site design and site manager experienced in producing and recording music. They want to produce one song to raise money for Faith Ministry. Lockett convinces them to record a full-length CD.
Lockett, 28, also wrote songs in high school, with a band, The Normals, which went on to make three CDs and tour nationally and internationally. He says he is willing to give his time to Garner, his cousin, and to Marquardt because of their talent and chemistry.
Marquardt pays him in food and doughnuts - with coupons to Bagelmen's and Denny's Doughnuts, which his parents own.
Nate McClintock joins the group as a lead guitarist in January 2006.
March 2006
Marquardt is 17; Garner is 18. Their CD nears completion, and they are on their third trip to Miguel Aleman with Faith Ministry. They have made a pact to raise $5,000, enough to build a concrete block house through the ministry, by selling the CD.
The closing meal is on a Friday, but the trip remains incomplete. In the prior two years, they have come to adore twin boys, now 6, with the coincidentally similar names Alex and Brian. They hear one of them might have died.
They learn where the family lives and bring a Spanish-speaker from the team. The twins greet them warmly. "Americanos!"
Marquardt and Garner leave to retrieve some of the meal leftovers for the family. They simultaneously come to a decision. Their $5,000 will help this family - the twin boys, two sisters and the parents.
They return with food and announce their plan. The parents are overwhelmed. The mother tearfully explains that the family will use the money for schooling.
The CD: "Hope Avenue" by StrongHold
A CD release party will be at 8 p.m. Friday at Grace Hall, Second Presbyterian Church, downtown Bloomington.
Entry is free, but donations are requested. CDs are $15 for one, $25 for two.
CDs also are available at Berean Christian Stores, Bloomington; Harvest Bookstore at Eastview Christian Church, Normal; T.C. Buzz coffee shop, Bloomington; or by calling band members at (309) 531-7464 or (309) 824-3174.
Proceeds: StrongHold has pledged $5,000 to Faith Ministry to assist a family with schooling costs.
Band Web pages:
• www.myspace.com/strongholdil
• www.soundclick.com/bands/pageartist.cfm?bandID=399234
About Faith Ministry:
Posted in Lifestyles on Thursday, October 5, 2006 12:00 am Updated: 11:12 am.
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