Mike Rimmer spoke to veteran Irish pop gospellers ASCENSION

Ascension

Ascension?

We believe that as Christians, we have a message the world is literally dying to hear. God has given us the ability to play instruments so we put the two together to reach as many people as possible. Our aims are to reach non-Christians and to encourage Christians to keep the faith through all the struggles that we inevitably meet.

Mike: How did the band form?

A long time ago, five bored teenagers sat in a lecture theatre in a school, not listening to a teacher talking about, well, we don't know because we weren't listening. Anyway, while not listening, Roger (who is our trusty keyboard player) whispered the immortal words, "Psssssst, wanna be in a band?" Needless to say, we all said, "Nah, too much homework!" And that was the end of that. Actually, we all said yes and started planning world domination there and then. It's a verrrrry long plan. . .

Mike: How's the journey been so far? Tell me about the highlights.

The journey has been awesome - we have been naive at times, foolish, arrogant and proud, but somehow God has taken us and worked through us despite our many faults and mistakes. He has always been there, holding us together, lovingly shoving us back onto the right path when we have merrily gone our own way instead of his. It sounds trite, but there have been so many highlights it's hard to pick out only a few.

Mike: Tell me about recording the album.

Late nights, strong coffee, the smell of burgers, the sound of a monitor falling off the wall, bouncing off the mixing desk and landing on one of the hard disc recorders! It took over a year to record from start to finish. One of the main disadvantages of being in control of your own project and not having to pay for studio time is that nobody tells you when to stop! The recording was painless, but the mixing was a labour of love - running round as many different tape decks as we could find to try out trial mixes, even out to cars parked outside the studio. Apparently Tom Petty does the same thing, but I bet he doesn't drive a Peugeot 306!

Mike: Go on, hard sell the album - why should people check it out?

It's good, it's honest and it has been getting a great reception so far. Will you dare to let the hard-edged but highly polished sound of Trendy To The Roots?' shake you and stir you again?

Mike: What's next for the band?

We have established small distribution agreements with a number of companies worldwide and we are working hard at developing these links. Our aim at all times is to get the album to as many people as possible so that the message can be heard. We're certainly not going to get rich. . . not in this life anyway! Oddly enough, the UK seems to be the hardest place to make progress in. Don't forget to check us out at www.ascension-ni.com