MARTYN JOSEPH bares his soul in conversation with Tony Cummings.

Martyn: Well you'd probably have to ask Greenbelt that. I don't think I stopped singing about Jesus, I just sing about him in a different way. Greenbelt aren't into people that go and sing 'Jesus loves you' songs in a very blatant way. They like depth to what's taking place, though of course that can go the other way and can be seen as a fear of Jesus or whatever.

Tony: Why do you think Os Guinness has called Greenbelt a theological disaster?

Martyn: I'm not sure what he's trying to say. If he's saying Greenbelt takes risks, if you need your theology totally worked out then maybe Greenbelt is a disaster. I think Greenbelt is a place where you can go with your slightly heretical ideas if you like, and you can voice them without fear of being told that somehow you're outside of the Kingdom or outside of what God is doing.

Tony: But the division between gospel truth and trendy error is very important.

Martyn: That's true. But if I just get these experts all the time telling me how to run my life without any alternatives to that I'm nothing more than a robot or whatever. I don't really know what I'm trying to say...all I really know is that I think people who are sometimes alienated by the evangelical world feel at home in Greenbelt.

Tony: John Smith (Australia's radical Bible teacher and regular Greenbelt speaker) has been a big influence on you hasn't he?

Martyn: Without Greenbelt taking the risk of bringing a radical thinker like John along who perhaps hasn't had his questions ironed out by Youth For Christ or whatever contributed to me surviving a theological crisis in my life. Because there was someone around honest enough to say 'you can believe and yet not have the whole thing mapped out'. I had felt pressurized because of the circle I walked in, unless I had answers to absolutely everything.

Tony: This change in theological perspective has obviously hugely influenced your songwriting.

Martyn: What annoys me is when people say I sing political songs, that really gets my back up. The Gospel is not just about singing to teenagers saying "God can take away your guilt of your masturbatory habit therefore become a Christian." It has far more depth to it than that.

Tony: Do you still sing songs written when things seemed simpler to you? Do you still sing 'Sold Out' for instance?

Martyn: I still sing 'Sold Out' I don't sing songs like 'Lay Down' which basically says 'lay down all your troubles, follow God and everything will be okay' I don't sing that anymore. I sing 'Sold Out' because yes I think we need to be open to Christ because otherwise you're not going to have the power or the love to be able to change the world.

Tony: Isn't it true to say that a great deal of your early success in the Christian subculture had more to do with your good looks than your musical talent?

Martyn: Funny, I used to get asked 'is this a problem with girls?' and I used to think the guy asking it had a sexual problem.
But you've asked it in a different way Tony, so your readers can rest assured! I think without agreeing with what you're saying in terms of the way I look, yes, I don't think anyone who's ugly could have got away with the songs that I used to sing! There is something that has to be attractive when someone sings on a stage. So therefore I cannot deny that when someone has a pleasant face it undoubtedly helps rather than hinders.

Tony: What made you record a live album?