You asked the questions. The Afters have the answers…
MyGodIsEnough: What was your inspiration behind the song "Never Going Back to OK," and why did you decide to use it as the album title?
The Afters: The inspiration behind that song came out of a conversation we were having about Radiohead's new album. See the April CCM Magazine issue for the complete answer...
throughhislens: It's always been a dream of mine to get an artist to come play at my church for some kind of concert of prayer or something along those lines... How does someone go about getting you to play, especially when funds are limited?
The Afters: Open it up to other churches and ask them to help. We would love to play every show for free if we could, but there are so many costs involved with bringing a tour on the road. Gas prices are really high. Many people get together with other churches, which helps them to reach out to others to come to the concerts. The problem is that too many churches are too competitive with each other.
MissChris93: Love your songs. You just keep crankin’ ‘em out, don't ya? Do you write melody first or lyrics? Favorite song?
The Afters: It varies from time to time. We don't have a set formula that we go by, just whatever the moment needs. Beatles "All You Need Is Love." "Let Down" by Radiohead.
Josh [Havens]: My favorite song changes from week to week. This week, it's a Derek Webb song.
throughhislens: So I read in CCM that you all had a song used on “American Idol”'s advertisements (Congrats!)... How does it feel to be a part of mainstream culture, and do you ever struggle with giving proper credit to God for everything? (Yeah, I know, kinda deep... but I've been struggling with this a lot recently myself).
The Afters: We think there's an amount of credit that you can give yourself. It's not like you don't work for it. It's not like you don't practice. God's not playing the guitar for you. You have to have a good work ethic. On the other side, God opens doors for you. God gives you the initial talent, and you can be thankful to God for that. I fear feeling guilty about feeling good about accomplishments. I think that it's OK to be excited when you have a good accomplishment. God is the giver of every good thing, and we should definitely be thankful for His involvement in every aspect of our lives. That even goes into our hardships that we go through. I've been in a place of, "God, where are you?" so many times. After that time is over, I realize that God wanted me to be there in that hard time so I could become who I am today. A lot of times, we think only the good stuff should happen to us.
For more info, check out the band’s official website at theafters.com.