Exclusive interview with Austins Bridge
by Monica P. Watkins
What is the origin of your name?
Mike: Actually the Austin part of the name came from Austin, Texas. That’s where the idea for Austins Bridge initially came up. That was the first place Justin and Jason ever met. As for bridge, we make music that bridges not just generational gaps, but musical genres. We’ve all got a little bit of a different style.
Jason: We all come from different backgrounds, so we wanted to make sure that all that’s represented. When you go into a church or any kind of venue, there’s an eclectic mix of people, so our goal is to try to create music that appeals to as many of those people as possible so we can allow everybody to get the message that we’re trying to bring.
You certainly do have varied tastes in artists and music – from the Oak Ridge Boys to J Moss, from rock to country & bluegrass to R&B – how are your collective musical tastes reflected in your music?
Justin: Mikey brings the country flare. Jason listens to a lot of rock music, so he brings that aspect. I guess I’m more of the R&B, pop, soul guy. It’s really kinda cool when you get all of us together; you can hear a little bit of all of those blends together.
Your music has been labeled as country/bluegrass style, correct?
Jason: I don’t know how you really classify our sound, because in a concert setting is where we really show all the aspects of what we do as a band. I mean you’ll come to a concert and you’ll see us do some rock and roll; you’ll see some soul, blues, jazz, and of course you get the country/bluegrass, too. We know that somebody in their 60s or 70s may not necessarily prefer a rock song or a modern worship song. It depends on what their musical taste is, but somebody in their teens might. Then we’ll bust out a couple of old hymns, because that’s what we cut out teeth on in music. We’ll have 80-year-old women come up and give us hugs and kisses on the cheek just talking about “that song was great”. So we can still do our rock and roll songs. They love it all!
Do you ever find that people are surprised by your sound when they see you for the first time?
Jason: We went to one show a while back and we stepped out of the van obviously, you know I’ve got long hair, chains and tore up blue jeans and stuff like that. The preacher kinda looks you over and asks himself, “you know, did we make the right choice bringing these guys out?” One Sunday after a show the pastor even got up on stage and said, “Man you know I was a little nervous when they stepped out of the van, but these guys have been great!”
You are a brand new group, and your debut project has been nominated for three of the most prestigious awards in Christian music (Dove Awards). How do you feel about that?
Mike: Pretty cool. When we first found out, I was actually horseback-riding with Justin. We got the call and we jumped up, screamed and hollered, called all our friends. We couldn’t believe it, you know, so the initial response was just absolutely thrilled and surprised, shocked and overwhelmed! It’s very humbling, though, because if you look at some of the other artists who are nominated, it’s like, those guys are great!
Including New Artist of the Year!
Justin: Yeah, that’s a big one. That’s kinda the clencher, but win or lose, it doesn’t matter. When we started out, one of the things we talked about was what we’re in this for. The nominations are great, and it gives you a sense of credibility, but at the core of it our heart is still focused on serving for Jesus and preaching the gospel, so that’s what it’s all about.
As a new group, you have already experienced God’s favor in many ways. What’s one of the most exciting things you’ve experienced so far?
Justin: There’ve been so many...God shows up in some awesome ways, especially in our concerts and services. He never ceases to amaze us. One particular service that I can remember was Pennsylvania. It was right when we, as a band, had already established the reasons why we were doing this; it’s not for popularity or fame. You know, we got really down to the core of who we were as worshippers, and we just kinda gave that service to God. We said, “Alright since this is where we’re at, you take it from here”, and I’ll never forget that night. That service was the most amazing! I mean such a spirit of worship came in that place. Mikey was on his face, on the floor face down, and I can’t even remember what I was doing. Jason was just weeping. I mean we didn’t even get to finish the concert. People flooded the altars. There were 2,000 people there that night and just the presence of God moving in such an awesome way. I think that everything that has happened up until this point has been the favor of God for sure. I mean all this stuff is happening so fast. We’re a brand new group, and nobody really knows about us yet, and God has really got His hand on it. We’re so thankful!
What does the future look like for Austins Bridge?
For us to keep creating good songs...We’ve actually written a lot of songs for a new project, and we’ll be going in the studio real soon. A lot of those are a testament to what we’ve been through over the last year, and I’m personally looking forward to getting those out there. I mean they’re great, so I think we’re all really anxious to get the new stuff out and let people hear it. There’re amazing messages in those songs. They’re really from our hearts, so, what the future holds? I have no idea. We’re just ready for the ride!
