Iona - Interview
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We recently interviewed Dave Bainbridge of Iona. Check it out...
Why did you make the decision to go it alone?
FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS WE'D HAD THE DREAM OF SETTING UP OUR OWN LABEL AFTER CONTINUED FRUSTRATION WITH THE RECORD COMPANIES WE'D BEEN INVOLVE WITH. OUR FIRST RECORD DEAL PAID US A PITTANCE IN ARTIST'S ROYALTIES AND IT TOOK ALMOST 10 YEARS AND THE COSTLY INVOLVEMENT OF LAWYERS AND AUDITORS BEFORE OUR FIRST THREE ALBUMS BROKE EVEN AND WE RECOVERED YEARS OF UNPAID USA ROYALTIES. WE ALSO FELT THAT FOREFRONT, WHO HAD THE US DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS FOR OUR ALBUMS, DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH US IN TERMS OF MARKETING - CLEARLY WE WERE NEVER GOING TO BE A TYPICAL MAINSTREAM CHRISTIAN BAND. AFTER THE PEOPLE WHO ORIGINALLY SIGNED US TO THE COMPANY LEFT, INTEREST IN US WITHIN THE COMPANY WANED DRAMATICALLY AND OUR ALBUMS BEGAN TO BE DELETED FROM THEIR CATALOGUE PRETTY SOON AFTER RELEASE. AT THE BEGINNING OF 2000 WE RECEIVED A LETTER FROM FOREFRONT SAYING THAT THEY'D BECOME PART OF THE TIME-WARNER GROUP AND THAT THIS WAS AN EXCITING DEVELOPMENT FOR THE COMPANY THAT WOULD BE OF GREAT BENEFIT TO THEIR ARTISTS. FIVE MONTHS LATER WE HEARD VIA OUR UK LABEL THAT THEY'D DROPPED US IN ORDER TO CONCENTRATE ON YOUNGER TEENAGE CROSSOVER POP ACTS! AT THIS POINT WE REALISED THAT THE TIME WAS RIGHT TO TAKE CHARGE OF OUR OWN DESTINY AND WITH THE EMERGENCE OF THE INTERNET AND CHEAPER RECORDING TECHNOLOGY IT SEEMED LIKE THIS WAS NOW AT LAST A FEASIBLE POSSIBILITY.
ALL WE WANT TO DO IS TO WORK WITH PEOPLE WHO REALLY BELIEVE IN THE ARTISTIC INTEGRITY OF WHAT WE DO AND CAN GRASP THE MESSAGE. I REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE RECORDING 'JOURNEY INTO THE MORN' IN '95, WE SENT FOREFRONT A WORK IN PROGRESS COPY OF THE SONG 'IRISH DAY', WHICH IS ABOUT ST COLUMBA - THE IRISHMAN WHO IS LARGELY CREDITED WITH THE HUGE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY THROUGHOUT SCOTLAND AND BRITAIN IN THE 6TH CENTURY. HIS STORY IS ONE OF TREMENDOUS FAITH AND OBEDIENCE TO GOD IN HIS CALL. FOREFRONT SENT A FAX BACK SAYING THEY THOUGHT THE SONG HAD POSSIBILITIES BUT NEEDED TO INCLUDE THE WORD 'JESUS' A FEW TIMES IN ORDER TO GUARANTEE AIRPLAY ON THE US CHRISTIAN RADIO STATIONS. ALTHOUGH THEY MAY WELL HAVE BEEN RIGHT, TO BE HONEST THIS MADE MY BLOOD BOIL - TO THINK THAT THE NAME OF JESUS COULD BE REDUCED TO A MARKETING STRATEGY! WE THOUGHT THEN THAT THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY FORWARD THAN THIS.
Joanne (Iona's singer) is expecting her second child in May - absolutely miraculous after failed IVF treatment and the doctors saying it was impossible she'd be able to conceive! Please fill me in on the details. How did the delivery go? Tell me about the baby.
JO'S SECOND SON ETHAN WAS BORN ON 8TH MAY AND MOTHER AND BABY ARE DOING FINE. IN ORDER TO EXPLAIN A BIT ABOUT THE BACKGROUND BEHIND JO'S STORY - HERE IS AN EXTRACT FROM OUR SEPTEMBER 2001 NEWSLETTER - WRITTEN BY JO JUST BEFORE THE BIRTH OF HER FIRST SON ISAAC. FEEL FREE TO EDIT / USE WHAT YOU WANT.
'It is with great joy and thanksgiving that I am able to share with you the wonderful news that Steve and I are expecting our first child due October 9th. I could write a book on all that has happened leading up to this point in our lives. It has been a journey of faith for both of us and there have been tears and heartaches along the way but our God is so faithful. Over the past ten years I have been given many prophetic words and promises regarding my future, but it would take too long to detail them all here. This is just really an outline of what has happened in the past couple of years.
In 1999 I underwent investigations, including a surgical procedure, to try to determine the reason for our infertility. My gynaecologist, a lovely Christian woman with children of her own, had to tell me the devastating news that I would not be able to conceive naturally. My fallopian tubes were abnormal and totally blocked, so my only chance of having a baby that was genetically ours would be through infertility treatment known as I.V.F. (in vitro fertilisation). What of all the 'words' and 'promises'? I could have got very angry and rejected everything, but I chose to have faith. I believed God would do this miracle in His time but I realised it would not be an easy journey.
After months of agonising, praying, discussing, we decided to proceed with I.V.F. treatment. After several more months of drugs, hormones and painful surgical procedures, we grieved its failure. I'd had a gut feeling all along that this was not how God was going to fulfil His plan, but I was carried along by everyone else's encouragement. I compared my situation to that of Sarah (Abrahamšs wife) who took matters into her own hands to bring about Godšs promise of an heir. During the final stages of I.V.F. treatment, the agonising wait to see if that tiny embryo implants into the womb, I believe I heard God speak the name Isaac to me.
After the disappointment of unsuccessful treatment Steve and I decided not to attempt the procedure again. There had been so many problems with the first go, and, medically, our chances of success were very low.
'Months later, after an Iona gig at Cross Rhythms festival, a woman in the audience approached Frank's wife Marlou and said God had spoken a message to her for Joanne. She was a complete stranger and a newcomer to Ionašs music but had been very moved by the concert. The message was simple... 'Tell Joanne to remember Abraham and Sarah.' My heart leapt when I heard it and I remembered hearing the name Isaac. I believed the message truly was from God and my faith for the miracle increased.
One month later, when I was in Guatemala, something else very special happened. Before I even got to Guatemala, I had a feeling something significant would happen there. I had even said to some friends that maybe God had somebody there who would pray specifically for me. So, I went, and I waited. On the very last morning, just as I was about to go to the airport, it happened. One of the missionaries, a woman called Pat, was compelled by the Holy Spirit to pray for me. Nobody there knew anything about my history. She started to pray for God's blessing on the music ministry, for spiritual fruitfulness on my life. Then she placed her hand on my belly and prayed that God would manifest this same fruitfulness in the physical realm and bless my womb. I felt a powerful heat through my belly and I knew God's touch. After Pat had prayed, she said that she heard the name Sarah, again and again, whilst praying.
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Comments
Awesome article! I belong to the CPROG list and have heard of Iona but haven't yet purchased their music. That WILL change soon. There is so much truth about God and music in this interview. God bless and His peace abide in you.
i love iona. my dad is friends with them and actually put on a show for them years ago, he also had them on the 700 club. they are great people. i wish i was more irish!!\
erin cowart
i appreciate the articulate comments from mr.bainbridge. in my definition spirituality is defined as "that thing in our evolution which makes us look up". iona's journey into the morn is the one disc that i couldn't live without. thank you for continuing to create art in a world where very few dare to gaze upon it. as i would say, "to those that have ears to hear-LET THEM PLAY IT LOUD!!"
I thihk so,too
It is only yuor opinion
Why do not I see me posts???
