I wrote this song at a pretty depressed time in my life. At that point my hope came from the thought that maybe there was a more real reality than the one I was experiencing. That’s still my hope.
Like many Hi songs, when I brought it to the band it was ok musically. Decent. The band went and made it fantastic. It’s probably my favorite arrangement musically on this album. Each band member plays a huge role in this arrangement - you can hear their personality as you listen. It reminds me why I’m in a band with these guys.
-nathan
I wrote this song just after a fight with my wife surrounding a recurring sin of mine. The song is directed at the sin. The lyrics aren’t anything profound, but I hope you hear a few things happening in the tone of the song as you listen.
I hope you hear how much hate there is in my voice for the one I’m singing this song to. I hope you hear the strong resolution to leave and never come back. More significantly, I hope you hear the question in my voice as I say one thing but fear just the opposite.
The words of this song are resolute. The tone anticipates another defeat. I wonder if anyone else can relate.
When I was a student I cut myself. No one else I knew did. I wasn’t sure why I did it, but looking back, I think I understand now. It was a controllable, explainable, finite pain. I made the pain start. I made it stop. I controlled exactly where on my body it happened. When I cut, I felt it. When I stopped, it faded. I knew why it was happening and I could make it all end, any time.
Compared to the uncontrollable, undefinable, infinite pain I was experiencing deep in my soul, the physical pain of cutting was a relief. While I cut my physical self, it distracted me from my real self. Even if it was just for a moment, it was a welcome distraction.
If you’re cutting and if you can relate to my experience, I have a couple things to say to you.
Don’t try to stop cutting. Cutting isn’t the issue. A deeper, more real pain is the issue. More specifically, a fear of dealing with that deeper pain is the issue. Deal with the real pain and you’ll lose your taste for cutting.
Stop labeling yourself. You’re not a “cutter”. You’re human. People have pain and some of us have to carry much more weight than we should have to carry. It’s not fair, but it’s part of living. We try and we fail and we try again. But until you’re dead, it’s not over. Labeling yourself as a “cutter” is (a) giving up and (b) a lie. You’re so much more.
-nathan
I wrote this song while a friend of mine was dying. I remember being on my knees in my office, praying for God to heal his cancer. I was afraid of losing my friend, but my biggest fear wasn’t that he’d die - it was that I’d eventually forget him - that’d his death would eventually not hurt - that I’d become numb. That’s what really scared me.
At the end of the song the temperature changes and you can feel warmth breaking in again. While there’s no stopping death and loss, there is hope for the person who’s become numb.
Here’s another version.
who can stop the rain
who can make it stand on the other side with the other man
who can make the wind turn the other way
so my fingers numb and i can feel my face
who can stop the pouring rain?
who can take the knife out of my hand
before i hurt myself before it cuts again
have you felt this way can you understand
like a sinking down or a missing friend
you can stop the pouring rain
no more cold, no more pain
you can stop the blowing wind
and now i feel the sun again
This is for our friend Sam Torres and his youth group. “Our God Is Amazing” chord charts.
“I am retarded. God is perfect. Jesus died on the cross. Now everything is great.”
Here are the chords: G C G D. Repeat. If you want to get crazy, throw in an Em in place of one of those Gs.
Add above lyrics to above chord progression. Boom! Worship song.
First off, yes, I know I’m over-generalizing. There are great worship songs out there. And even the above formula can be meaningful. But I am concerned that most music we categorize as “worship” music is either (a) 10-15yrs old or (b) a rip-off of 10-15yr old thinking.
People change. Culture changes. Songs that were right for us to sing 10yrs ago don’t necessarily say what we want (or need) to say today.
I believe the Christian Music Industry has far too much influence in our songwriting and song producing.
Christian Music Industry is just that. It’s an industry. It has to sustain itself. It has to turn a profit. It relies on popular culture’s approval to survive. It’s forced to follow. Therefore, it can’t be objective. It can’t be innovative. And it can’t (and shouldn’t) drive the content of our music.
But it does. And the current state of worship music is the result: Formulaic, history-derived, predictable music and lyrics. Because someone is less likely to complain if the song is familiar - even if they hate it.
Complainers drive the Christian Music Industry. Christian Music Industry drives our music creation. So our music is essentially a product of complaints. Not of passion. Not of personal experience. Not of hurt or frustration. Not of desperation or loneliness. Not of joy and excitement. Again, those things may be in there as an added bonus, but they’re not what’s driving the music we’re cranking out. It’s the complainers.
We’re calling for a change. For a return to meaning and humanity as the basis of the entire process - from songwriting to mixing and mastering to marketing and even pricing. For a purposeful disregard of “what our target wants” in favor of music that communicates what we’re really feeling today. Because it’s not the job of the masses and it’s not the job of the Music Industry to decide the content of the songs we sing. It’s the job of the artists. It’s why we were made. And if we’re simply functioning as a machine that cranks out what the Music Industry is asking us for, it’s just a matter of time before we’re replaced with an iPad app.
It’s easier to do what we’re asked. It’s more efficient to recreate what’s worked in the past. It pays the bills. But let’s stop calling it art and call it what it is: business.
It’s the job of the artist to say the words everyone is thinking but are too afraid (or don’t know how) to say. It’s the job of the artist to feel the pain of the world around them, not just their own, and to articulate it in their art. It’s the job of the artist to work in opposition to popular culture in order to move that same culture forward over time. It’s the job of the artist to live on less income, because big labels don’t pay prophets - they pay hit-makers. But you’re not in this to make hits. You’re in this to edit your world - to add meaning and beauty and honesty. It’s your job. That might mean no label support. It might mean smaller gigs. No radio play. You don’t get to go viral.
We’re living in a day of silenced prophets and overload of meaninglessness. Don’t blame the Music Industry or the complainers. If you’re an artist and you’re not speaking, you can blame yourself. Or you can get back to doing what you were made for.
Here’s what that means:
We no longer charge full price for CDs at concerts. We have “suggested” pricing, but if someone doesn’t have enough, we cover the rest - even if they’ve got nothing. For us, it’s a small price to pay to be part of someone’s experience - the way certain bands have been for us.
We encourage piracy. Rip our music into iTunes and then give the CD to a friend who needs it. Go buy a CD-burning tower and mass-produce copies if you want. We appreciate the extra distribution. Maybe don’t start a band called “Jello Industry” and pawn off all our songs as your own. But aside from that, share away!
We spend (a LOT of) time choosing our words and arranging the music. We throw a lot more stuff out than we release. If we don’t have something to say, we don’t write a song. When a song comes, we drop everything and work until it’s complete. We let a song sit for years if it’s missing something - when it comes we finish the song. There’s plenty of formulaic, meaningless “music” out there and we’re not interested in contributing to that pile. If we release a song, it’s a meaningful thing - at least to us.
We play music the way we feel it. Sometimes we play rock shows. Sometimes we play classical house shows. Other times we play electronic shows using only laptops and midi controllers. We’ve played acoustic shows with wurlitzers and glockenspiels and double bass. It’s all the same songs and same band, but sometimes saying the same thing in a different way brings more meaning to the message. (I love this about our band)
We are our own engineer, producer, and distributor. We’re not pandering to labels. We’re not distributing CDs through Wal-Mart. If we do that, they decide the terms. In our opinion, the exchange of music should be between an artist and a fan. (Yes, you can still buy our albums on iTunes, but we suggest our Bandcamp page instead… or come to a live show and we’ll sign it for you!) And if we want to record the sound of a dead man singing from a coffin in a tiny chapel, we’ll do just that (the recording of a song is also part of the communication). Check out “Done” on our upcoming album (soon!) to hear what that sounds like.
We have a special bent toward students. Our mission statement could probably read “…of struggling people” rather than “students”. In fact, our upcoming album release is all about becoming old. We play shows for all ages and we’re just as happy if a 50yr old buys a CD as if a 16yr old does. But we’re very aware of how critical the years are between Jr Hi and College graduation. Those are the years we decide who we will be. Consequently, they’re some of the most confusing, lonely, and depressing years of our lives. For us in Hello Industry, music was a lifeline during those years. We hope ours can be for students today.
We’re in this for life. Hello Industry (in one form or another) will exist as long as we do. Creating something of substance happens over 20-30 years, not 2-3. So watch for tickets to our exclusive holographic tour in 2025.
We’re searching for partners. If we were focused on gigs, we’d be looking for venues. We’re more interested in changing the way people think and act, in a measurable way, over time. That’s a movement, not a gig. It requires partnerships with student organizations, foundations, schools, churches. It requires support and word-of-mouth advertising from our friends and fans. If you’re with an organization and this is resonating with you, email us and let’s talk. Maybe you run a conference you’d like us to play for or maybe you manufacture cheese slicers. If we have the same heart, there’s a way for us to parter together. If you’re a friend or fan you can contribute by donating toward the purchase of CDs which we’ll give away or discount for students who can’t afford them, or you can just paste our name (it’s Hello Industry) and website all over the internet. Or if you’re hi-tech, Facebook like or mention us on Twitter. Choosing to pursue music and impact the way we are means freedom to do things the way we see fit - it also means we’re far more dependent on friends and fans for support than a typical labeled band. We need you! Join us!
So that’s who we are, or at least who we hope to be. Not sure if that fits well with the current music industry scene or not, but we’re here nonetheless. Hello, Industry. ;)
-HI