Interview: Desert Rain Project - "The Calling"
- nelsimone
- Apr 29, 2022
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 24
>Is there a story behind your Artist Name/Alias? Is there a specific meaning and what is the inspiration behind your name, how did you decide on it?
Yes, there is definitely a story behind the name we chose. In my teenage years, one of my favourite artists was Steve Taylor - a Christian rocker; our band name is taken from a line in one of his songs - ‘Babylon’ in the form of a prayer – “Rescue me, these idols lie, I cannot bear the shame, let this desert rain”. This paradoxical two-word phrase always stuck in my mind, so when it came time to think of a band name it just seemed an obvious choice.
>Who does your Album Art? Is there any specific story, design or inspiration behind it?
Mostly I have done the Album Art in consultation with other members who are part of my Project Band. For our first 2 releases – ‘Free’ and ‘For God so Loved the world’, my niece – Robynne Prinsloo – did a fantastic job for us! For this latest release - ‘The Calling’, we have used a freelancer who has also given us exactly what we were hoping for. With our Album Art, we always want it to represent and portray something of the song’s meaning and message.
>Is this track - "The Calling" - part of an album or EP?
At this stage, it has just been released as a Single. However, since this is our ninth track, we are toying with the idea of releasing two new tracks later in the year, and then planning on compiling all our songs into a full album! We are really excited about this – watch this space!
You can read the Lyrics and give it a Listen & a Like here:
Spotify⏬
YouTube⏬
Lyrics⏬
>Where and how was this song Produced? [Recording, Mixing & Mastering] Please share some of the journey in writing this song and what your experience of producing this song has been.
The song was jointly conceived and produced at Mark 7 Studios in Centurion (South Africa) as well as in my rather humble loft home studio in Leamington Spa (England). I am the main songwriter, lead vocalist and do the acoustic guitar. Desert Rain Project has a great working relationship with the Music Producer - Markus Roland Els (who also happens to be my nephew). Usually, we write songs in an interesting format - I normally produce a very rough draft of the song which is sent to Markus; then once the song structure is agreed upon, the drum track is finalised and other instrumentation is added. This results in various music files being sent back and forth over the internet as all the various parts of Desert Rain Project collaborate and add layers to the songs. One of my bandmates, Steve, is sometimes involved with helping on the drum track in the Studio, but in this case, for this song, it was only Markus and me who were part of this one (an uncle/nephew effort), with Markus writing and recording the drums. I would like to take this moment to point out that my nephew, Markus Els, is something of a musical genius, and I want to express my gratitude to him and his Studio for all the hard work and exceptional Music Production, the writing and recording of the instrumentation as well. Markus has played an immense role in writing musical parts for ‘The Calling’ which have added hugely to how it turned out - his work with the electric guitars and instrumentation overall is pivotal to how all our songs end up sounding. Markus did the Mixing for this song as well. I am also very grateful to the ‘Master’ Rogan Kelsey, who as always, did a fabulous job in Mastering our song. An extra bit about the Band -- When we started this new journey to produce original songs about 4 years ago, we consciously added the term ‘Project’ at the end of the band name because we knew that we would not be able to operate as a normal band due to our different geographical locations. However, this has also enabled us to be really flexible with who we bring in to collaborate on our various tracks, and we have had some truly incredible talents contribute to our songs over the years. I am hopeful and expect that it will continue with even more collaborative work in the future!
>How and when did your music career begin? Would you like to share some of your background (general and/or music)?
Even though Steve and I do not have full-time musical careers and both work full time in other industries, music has never been something we have used as a means of income. In fact, this project is purely done out of our love for music and what God can do through it. Steve and I are the two surviving members of the original band ‘Desert Rain’, which was a Christian youth band that operated out of the East Rand (Gauteng) in the 90’s in South Africa. We had a good couple of years doing youth group meetings in all kinds of churches and gigs in all settings ranging from pubs and bars to pizza restaurants. Those years were both incredibly fun and incredibly rewarding as we saw Jesus work through us in other young people’s lives. We were inspired by 90’s Christian bands like Whiteheart, Petra, Audio Adrenaline, DCTalk, Jerusalem and singers like Rus Taff and Michael W Smith. We would have loved to have done it full time then, but it never quite worked out for us and sometime in 1997 we disbanded. From the moment I became a Christian I was captivated by music, and I started to write original songs quite soon after I could play guitar. I remember meeting Steve at church when he was around 15 or 16 and was already playing drums at that stage. Then around 4 years ago, we made contact again and have since been working as Desert Rain Project.
>Where do you draw inspiration from? And who are some of your Musical influences?
I mentioned some band names before, but ultimately I have to say that although we love various types of music (both Christian and secular) whenever I hear something that I think is beautiful it always draws me back to the Creator of all things - God will always be our ultimate inspiration. The gospel message of Jesus – ‘God come down to earth to rescue us from such a fallen world’ and the Grace that is available to us through Jesus is the huge motivating factor in our lives and our music. We try our best to represent what that means to us through our songs and especially our lyrics.
>Who is your favourite Local South African Artist and who is your favourite International Artist? And do you have any Music Role Models?
My favourite SA band is Tree63. I think their last album ‘Land’ was a masterpiece and some tracks still move me to tears when I listen to them. Also, a special mention goes to Johnny Clegg and his various bands. His uniquely African style of music and harmonies have left an indelible mark on my musical brain; I still love listening to that exciting music even though I don’t think I would ever be able to produce anything similar. As far as musical role models go, on the secular side, Boston was the ultimate rock band and Whiteheart was the ultimate Christian rock band. End of argument! 😊
>What was your intention, purpose or meaning with the song "The Calling" - what does it mean to you?
The intention as with all our songs is to create a song that anyone would enjoy listening to. We hope both the music and the lyrics resound with the listener. For this track, we felt it lent itself musically to a bit of a U2 kind of style. The lyrics are based on the words of Jesus Christ which we find in several scriptures: Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (KJV)
Matthew 11:28 – “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (NASB)
John 7:37 -38 – “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” (NASB)
>Who/what inspired the song and the lyrics specifically? Can you share a few thoughts that you had at the time of writing this song?
When people spend their whole lives pursuing only physical or even emotional fulfilment, at some point they will hit a crisis and need answers around the meaning of life as an individual in the grand scheme of existence. The song ‘The Calling’ approaches this from a biblical perspective. The message is that, even though you may all be part of some wider group or various groupings in life, the Personality behind your very existence has a valid claim on your life, and He will be calling you and knocking at your door not only because He knows the answer but because – He is the answer. The Great Creator is the answer to that question in your life; he knows you individually with all your weaknesses and failings. Jesus is full of Grace and has everything you need; you just have to decide to open the door. Personally, I opened that door at age 13, and I can testify that my life has not been the same since. Opening the door to Jesus is however an ongoing process in all of our lives and does not stop at conversion. We need to be doing it on a daily basis and our lives will have even more meaning the more we do so. Our biggest roadblock in life is our sin and only Jesus has the authority and ability to deal with that.
>Is it dedicated to anyone specifically? What are your hopes for this song and project?
This song is dedicated to anyone looking for answers and specifically all that I mentioned with the previous question. Our hopes are that this song, in some small way, will draw people closer to God.
>Do you have any exciting updates and upcoming news that you would like to share? What are your plans for the future?
Some exciting news and updates are that we are hoping to release 2 more songs later this year, hopefully compiled into a full album including all of our other tracks as well. I am planning a trip to South Africa in July 2022, which we hope will include some Studio time and an opportunity to record lead vocals at the great Mark 7 Studios. This is an exciting prospect – Markus has acquired some amazing new gear and mics, so really can’t wait to try these out!
>Any final comments or thoughts that you would like to share with the readers/listeners?
Go well and go with God! We hope that you will take a moment to listen to this new song – ‘The Calling’, as well as to some of our other songs and may it truly Bless you!
Please give the song "The Calling” by Desert Rain Project a Listen, a Like & a Share!💛
Available on all Digital Platforms. We really appreciate the support and any feedback, thoughts from you the Listeners. We hope to get all Music Artists the response they deserve – for all their great music & hard work!
You can follow Desert Rain Project on Instagram, YouTube, Spotify & on Facebook: @desertrainproject @drpdotcom https://www.instagram.com/desertrainproject/ ; https://web.facebook.com/drpdotcom
Please feel free to also go check out the Studio - Mark 7 Studios here: www.mark7studios.co.za.
Big up to the Head Producer & Engineer – Markus Roland Els; you can follow him on Instagram & on Facebook:
{Personal Side Note: Any song that does well out there represents a ton of work from the Artist, Producer, Manager, etc that promote it; it’s a steady process, but a good product is always worth it. Remember that every Listen, Like, Follow & Share counts – Thank You!🙌}
Musical Love, Respect & Appreciation goes out to all our Listeners!~🎵🖤
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