Aaron Newberry from Sons of God Interview

Here is CRR's interview with Aaron Newberry of Sons of God, who are signed to Come & Live!. They also released their new EP The Genesis Prologue in February.

CRR (Brooks Ginnan): Hey man, can you say your name and what you do in Sons of God?
Aaron Newberry: My name is Aaron, I play guitar, keys, sing and I founded Sons of God.

CRR: So you first got your start in music after being with As I Lay Dying?
Aaron: I first started making music LONG before AILD. It was really the usual, playing in local bands in Muskogee and Tulsa, and from there I would make connections and slowly began to expand my career by going on to play with other acts that were touring nationally. I was 14 when I started playing in my first band, that was when I was still playing drums. But I definitely began focusing on making my own music after my experience with AILD.

CRR: How did that all start?
Aaron: I'd just toured with so many bands up to that point and I thought to myself often that I could make my own music and there was nothing stopping me from doing so. When I was younger, I would experiment with stuff on Cakewalk and although it was very raw and unpolished, I loved what was coming out. So, once I moved to Atlanta and spent about a year there, that's when I began piecing Sons of God together, little did I know that people would come and go too frequent to really be able to practice or play shows.

CRR: How was it to be in As I Lay Dying?
Aaron: Well contrary to popular belief, and I'm not sure how it has happened, but I was never a member of As I Lay Dying. I'm going to go ahead and set the record straight. I was playing guitar for a band out of Grand Rapids, MI, called The Tide. We were managed by Mark LaFay and after a few months with the band, I was getting restless and moral was a bit low due to internal things so I decided to leave the band. On my drive back home to OK, I got a call from Mark and he asked if I'd be interested in playing bass for As I Lay Dying. I said of course and then began talking back and forth with Tim. I sent them a DVD of me playing live upon request and they sent me rough tracks from Frail Words and Shadows to do some overdubs with my vocals. They dug it enough to ask me to fly out to San Diego. When I showed up, Josh (who is now their bassist) was there as well. He and I both tried out at the same time, we took turns pretty much for 3 days and that was it. Nothing spectacular, just tryout sessions that thankfully resulted in the right guy getting the gig and some awesome new friends for me now.

CRR: When did Sons of God officially become a band (in current state)?
Aaron: In it's current state, I believe it was October of last year.

CRR: How did you get signed to Come and Live! Records?
Aaron: Well, having met up with Chad is previous bands I was with that Tooth & Nail was showing interest in, Chad and I just got to know each other a little. I was promoting a show in my hometown and one of the bands on tour told me about Chad Johnson starting a new label and leaving T&N. I thought he was crazy. So, I decided to email Chad and talk to him about it, when he confirmed that was the case, I sent him "Caution," the demo version and he said he loved it but that was the last I heard. A few days later, my friend Casey called me and asked me where I was. I told him I was home and he said he and Chad were going to be in a nearby city that night and that Chad wanted to talk to me. I went, it was a Sleeping Giant and Glorious Unseen show. We hung out and talked more about C&L! and Sons of God's involvement with them and it was just kind of, natural. We also spent that night praying in the center of the venue after the show with a group of people and some amazing things happened, definitely some people healed that night, it ruled.

CRR: How is it to be with Come and Live?
Aaron: It's awesome, many people ask what they do for us and I think people are surprised with my answer to that question. More than giving us money, bonuses, advances, tour support or whatever, they disciple us. It's not about money, it was never about money, it's really just a family and their greatest desire is to disciple us. Often times, the business aspect isn't even involved when we hang out, we will just be together in community or praying hardcore. The greatest gift they've given me is simply their time and care. If it wasn't for C&L!, I even wonder to myself where I would be or if my faith would even still be intact. Things have been difficult spiritually for me lately and C&L! has stepped in every time to pray for me and encourage me.

CRR: You recorded a new EP and it released in February. How did the writing and recording process go?
Aaron: Well, it was new. I recorded that EP a year ago but I suppose considering it came out in Feb. that it is still pretty fresh, haha. It was a hectic process. At the time, it was just me and I was in between tours as I was playing guitars for Spoken at the time. I had five days to get it all done and it was definitely rushed because our time in the studio was short and I was playing all the instruments. I barely made my flight back out to tour because we were in the studio ALL night until my flight left early that morning editing and mixing. I full expect the next record to be much better, but given my circumstances, I'm pretty happy with how the EP turned out.

CRR: Do you have any plans for a full length album?
Aaron: Absolutely. Right now the plan is to get in by the Fall. Things have continued to get pushed back a little but with each member living in a different city and separate states it's been difficult to get a schedule together. It's a miracle we are able to tour for two weeks this year. We are in the process of finalizing those plans, currently writing for it most certainly and we are looking forward to really bringing Sons of God as a band to life.

CRR: What are SoG's plans for touring this summer and in the distant future?
Aaron: We will be doing an East Coast tour July 26-August 6 with Soul Fest thrown in there on August 4th. Right now, those are our only plans for touring, but we keep tossing around a lot of other dates. It's really our focus right now to make a great record and tour on that, so that may very well be our only tour of 2010.

CRR: Any last things you want to say?
Aaron: I'm just so appreciative and thankful for the support we've managed to gain, even though we haven't played out. It really has been overwhelming and we are really excited to get out on the road. Also, a huge thanks to Come & Live! for being amazing and for loving us in a manner that really encourages us to show people who Christ truly is. If you have questions about anything, especially about Jesus or Christianity or if you are jaded from bad experiences with the church, we would love to talk to you. We talk to all our friends/fans all the time about anything, so just know that is why we are here. Feel free to email us (wearesonsofgod@gmail.com), find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Thanks so much!

Be sure to check out Sons of God's Myspace page to listen to some songs and check out their missionary label, Come & Live!.