It's twofold. First, to create art, and to create music that reflects our standards. Hopefully, it continues to excel and we will get better at song writing and performing as each record goes by. The second part of it is to write songs that struggle with deeper issues, where our faith collides with our doubts and our questions, those intersections where we struggle with the things that we ask ourselves, and God. To write about the underlying issues that go in and out of our day.
CHARLIE LOWELL

I would say both, to an extent. I think we struggle a little bit with being called ministers. I think we realize that God certainly uses us to minister. We see our songs being used in ways that we had no intentions of, and that completely blows us away; that keeps us writing. Honestly, [our songs] keep us doing it, and putting out what's best. That's the part of what we do that makes it bearable, because we're the means that God uses to minister with these songs. Would I claim to be a minister? No.
CHARLIE LOWELL

I think it's a pretty tough thing to insert gospel truths in three and a half minute gospel songs. The more we do this, we're seeing that it's a pretty absurd concept in itself. However, I feel like music is obviously a powerful tool, and when we combine certain lyrics with certain pieces of music, it touches me like no eloquent speaker, or learned theologian could ever affect me. So I think that there is an acknowledgment that there is a power there that is beyond us. It's communicating just one small element of the gospel. Sometimes it's a tough thing to do, but we see it work on different levels, so that keeps us doing it.
CHARLIE LOWELL

Back since we met in college we had interesting influences from the modern folk scene, heavy on the Indigo Girls, James Taylor, David Wilcox, a little bit of Nancy Griffith, Emmy Lou Harris, and some of the more mainline folk stuff. But then our influences were also from techno and rave music. So it was this bizarre combination of very "rootsy" acoustic song writing, and then this technical programming techno music.
CHARLIE LOWELL