Tony Cummings spoke at length to the singer/songwriter JOSH GAUTON whose 'O, Peace' album is receiving accolades

Josh: "We haven't actually done lyric videos - more like narrative video, music video type thing. There's a tendency in the church world to rely heavily on the lyrics and forget about the music. I wanted to emphasise the whole thing as a holistic piece rather than, 'Here's some words that I've put to melody.' That's a bit of a crude analogy, but I think, for me, that's not the right way of approaching it."

Tony: Did you use actors?

Josh: "I think I acted in two of them and was in one but wouldn't call that acting. I guess storyline, visuals that support the theme of the song, in a broad sense, leading people to think more about the topic being discussed - use the melody, use the lyrics that jump out, in that process, rather than the other way around."

Tony: So are some of the songs not aimed particularly at congregational worship?

Josh: "Yeah, that would be fair. Probably a better summary would be that people would think that it's not for congregational worship. I've never quite understood what the difference is when you can go any gig, any genre, and there'll always be people singing along. I kind of feel like congregational worship has, at times, pandered to that middle-of-the-road so everyone can get involved kind of thing, where, actually, bringing something of a uniqueness helps that congregational process. There's a bunch of songs on that album that I've done as part of a church service thing, as well as natural making music, and I feel like they work just as well. I know that some people, because of the style, will think, 'OK, that's something else', which is fine. But I see myself more as an artist than I do as a worship pastor. Their duty of care is to the people they're leading. My duty is to make art, whether that looks like something easy to sing congregationally or something that needs a bit more work. That world is what I feel drawn to."