Mike Rimmer spoke to ED MORALES, CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT, CROSS CONNECTED, AVANTE and pioneering independent distributor BROKEN RECORDS.

Ed Morales

BROKEN RECORDS
http://www.brokenrecords.com
When it comes to tracking down the best independent music on the planet, the internet has established itself as THE means of finding hot Christian music that doesn't have a Nashville major behind it. Pennsylvania-based Broken Records, with its huge website of independent Christian artists' albums means surfers don't need to spend forever and a day searching for that illusive album. I spoke to Broken Records' 37 year old founder Keith Mohr about his pioneering company.

Mike: Tell me about your background in Christian music?
Keith: "Most of my experience comes from a sales back¬ground and a musical prediction background. I am a Christian music industry veteran with 13 years of music ministry experience. I toured the USA with the group Harvest between 1992 and 1994. It was during that time that I felt God calling me into a ministry that would usher in new music that was so powerful, so fresh that people would come to a realisation that God desired each and every one of his creations to know him intimately. The Broken Records website commenced in the early autumn of 1997 after I saw a need to help the artists I was producing and recording at my studio. That need was to assist the artists and bands with on-line distribution and promotion. Currently, I run Broken Records with a very small staff of highly underpaid friends! For my real liv¬ing, I run my own production and recording biz where I am committed to helping independent artists make the tools they need to go out and share the message. We have a unique programme to entice artists to work with us... We'll record them for whatever they can afford. Imagine running a business on that principle. I love that!"

Mike: How did Broken Records come about?
Keith: "The name Broken Records popped into my mind, from the Scripture verse Psalm 51:17, 'The sacri¬fices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and con¬trite heart, 0 God, thou will not despise.' It really spoke into my life. Figuring that the name Broken Records was already being used, I searched the net and to my surprise found the domain name was still available. Call it what you may, but look¬ing back on that event, I knew there had to be a divine reason for the name. That was all the con¬firmation I needed, and Broken Records was ready to become a reality. It started with just four artists and groups. Now it has almost 300 committed groups and artists who are united in purpose and in spirit!"

Mike: How does it work in terms of how it promotes independents? Is it simply about selling CDs?
Keith: "Not at all. Selling CDs is the icing on the cake. We do not 'sell' anything. We enable artists and give them the tools to help themselves. We pack¬age and present the music to the best of our abili¬ty and try to make the "site easy to get around on. Broken Records is about a movement. Christian radio has been slow to include independents in their playlists. I understand that they need to report who they are playing back to the labels, and the labels feed the stations. This by default locks out much of the music being produced by the front line musicians who are indies. So, we are acting as the 'label' through our strength in num¬bers to get our feet in the "door for the artists, develop relationships and do it the old fashioned way, by saying please and thank you. Our goal is to change the way Christian music is produced and marketed. We are truly an enabling and encouraging ministry."

Mike: Why do you think independent artists are impor¬tant?
Keith: "I believe all Christian music is important. But as indies who are self funding and self promoting, they have a tendency to not 'preach to the choir' as most label artists do, since the labels know that is where the bulk of their money comes from. Most indies are quite radical in their approach to their music and their faith. I like that! Most have the abandoned spirit to them and follow what God is truly leading them to do. Those are the kinds of artists I want to be involved with."

Mike: What's your perspective on how Ecommerce is changing the Christian music scene and the role of traditional record companies?
Keith: "It is nothing short of a miracle. The ability to marry an artist from Canada to a customer in Japan completely makes me jump for joy! There is still a need for traditional record companies, espe¬cially those who have a desire to break traditional marketing techniques. These labels can take a very talented artist, provide them with the tools to do the job, promote them and send them out into the world.

Mike: How do you see things developing in the future?
Keith: "The best thing that can happen for independents is realising the need to help one another. That is a major goal of Broken Records and one that I preach to the artists. There is certainly something that happens when like minded people come together for a unified purpose. Any movement in history started from a vision, the vision spread because of desire, the desire turned into determi¬nation, and determination evolved into change. The largest hurdle we face as independents is thinking we can make a change one by one. The world is just too large for that. What will create change? It will happen when artists lay down their desire to be the next big thing and be content with what God has them doing for that moment in time. Exchange pride for humility, envy for contentment, taking for giving, serviced for serving."

Mike: Would you be up for British independents to join Broken Records?
Keith: "Sure! We have one band from the UK, Third Day Rising, these guys are wonderful. They have sold some product from our site and been a great sup¬porter of the organization. They even said thanks to Broken Records in their liner notes of their lat¬est project. It really doesn't matter where the artist comes from or where we send the orders. We'll take any artist, good, or 'musically challenged', just as long as they see the big picture of what God is trying to do."

Christopher Wright

ED MORALES
www.common-man.org
Asking Eddie Morales to describe his music is a big mistake! "The music fundamentally is folkrocklatinacoustictexaselectricfunkbal-ladpop," he says without batting an eyelid! However you pigeonhole the sound, the heart is very evident. 'The One And 99' is an album born out of struggle and much heart searching as Eddie wrestled with God over a number of years.

Eddie got saved as a teenager but didn't continue walking with God. The pursuit of a music career kept him in and out of various bands in Texas, some with critical acclaim but none taking him into national success. Even after recording a successful solo album in 1993, his frustration with life caused him to return like a prodigal to his God. Having re-dedi¬cated his life to Christ in 1994, it was five years before God released him into music min¬istry. He reflects, "There was a lot of training, refining and polishing the Lord had to do to me before I was released in ministry."

In 1994, Eddie attended a seminar on the subject of destiny. He remembers, "One of the teachings was how we can focus so much on the 'destiny' and not on Jesus that it becomes idolatry. I was busted! I knew that I was headed into that trap. I decided then that I would place music on the altar and allow him to provide and guide what needed to be done. So began the arduous task of what eventually I called 'actively waiting'. Praying, fast¬ing, learning, praying again and trying to be faith¬ful in all small things he would provide until the appointed time of God. Much of the small stuff T didn't want to do for various reasons, mainly ego, and there were struggles and arguments with God. However I got smart and yielded and these small things turned out to be the most extraordinary life changing experiences ever."

Moving to San Antonio, Morales hooked up with another Christian artist, Chris Taylor, to work as guitar player in Taylor's band. He played on Taylor's debut solo single and album, 'Down Goes The Day'. Then on January 1st 1999, everything started to fall into place! "I had received no notifi¬cation from God that I was being released to record. Within two weeks, I had a band, studio, songs, producer and the funds (this was to be done debt-free) to complete the full project. He had provided and released me to record. All this time, I had prayed that God would provide me a tool for ministering his word and in essence this is what he gave me. He was to be the focus. It was to be back to basic, guitar oriented recordings. Unpolished. It was going to be my best effort yet because it was for the Lord - or so I said. So began the process."

The process left Morales struggling. His previous solo album, recorded before he had returned to God, was a sophisticated, layered, state of the art produc¬tion. 'The One And 99' was simple, acoustic driven and stripped down guitar pop/rock. During the recording, he worried what people would think of him as an artist. "Frantically, I began to seek old friends and other musicians to layer the sound and make it what T wanted. BUT ... hadn't I prayed for a tool for ministry, had¬n't I asked for him to provide the strategies and resources? And here T was trying to take control again. During the five years of 'actively waiting', I had thought I had placed everything on the altar, that I was cleansed of my 'self in music and total¬ly freed to pursue his call. But there was one ele¬ment left which would not have revealed its ugly head unless I had gone through this process. I still had my identity of who I was and that self was still deeply tied to music. What people thought of it still mattered and reflected on who I was as a person. Since I was 16, through parents' divorce, girlfriend break-ups, friends' betrayals, good times, bad times, good bands and bad bands - my music and my songs were always there for comfort and consolation. It was the one steady thing I had and didn't want to give up. However, God had other plans. He wanted that place. So I repented and turned over the controls back to God and allowed 'The One And 99' to be completed as he wanted."

Out of a journey which has caused Eddie to respond to God with a humble heart came an album with a ministry impact. Eddie has a unique ministry which he describes as "reaching the unsaved, religious Christians who do not have a relationship with Jesus, and Christians lost in the 'depths of greyness'. These are the grey areas many like to live in to justify their actions. They compare themselves to the drug addicts, murder¬ers, rapists, thieves and 'believe' they are not that bad. Basically using the dark as their standard for their lives rather than the light. An example: 'sex before marriage is all right if you love that person.' However, we all know this kind of morally relative thinking is a trap and the worst thing about it, many never realise or admit they are in it. Often times this 'grey' type of thinking is perpetuated by many of the politically correct churches. Sometimes so-called 'conservative' churches also perpetuate this because they are so busy knocking the obvious sins, they fail to see their own. Once you realise that sin is a sin is a sin and that to God lying equals stealing equals homosexuality equals adultery equals murder equals gossip then you can become humble and begin eliminating the judging of others, justifying actions and begin to be as Jesus - using him as your standard."