Q&A with Housefires
All photos by Taylor Baker.
Known for their singles “Build My Life” and “I’ll Give Thanks,” Housefires performed Sunday evening at U-Church to start the line-up for spring 2020. Lee Clarion spoke with Tony Brown, Kirby Kaple, Jonathan Jay and Nate Moore prior to U-Church about the behind-the-scenes process of songwriting.
How did Housefires begin?
Kaple: “It was just a community of us that were all from the same church -our church is made up of house churches - and we wanted to give approachable music that [the house churches] could replicate in their home.”
“It just seemed like something special, so we [formed a band] so our house churches could know how to worship, and instead of us going to the houses and doing church for them, we wanted them to know ‘you can do this. This is so easy.’”
What are house churches?
Moore: “It’s the model you see in the early church all throughout Acts. House church is very simply meeting in your home — Acts 2:42-46. We share all things in common, pray together, worship together and break bread. We believe in the power of community and meeting in your home, where you live.”
What does your writing process look like?
Moore: “We do a lot of co-writing... because community is such an important process of what we do. We value a lot of not just the song, but what happens after the song, the spaces in between that. A lot of what you hear on the record is not just the song itself, but what that song leads us into as a community.”
Kaple: “We pay attention unconsciously to vibe. How does this feel, how does the room feel, how do I feel when I’m singing it, is it catchable. We are all just trying to really get into the vibe of the song.”
Jay: “As a culture, we really celebrate songwriting. We will show each other songs we are working on and even try them out.”
How have you seen growth in yourselves as the band has continued to grow over the years?
Kaple: “From a songwriting standpoint, I’m way less grippy with my songs. I’ll throw them out there in the mix then I used to. I used to hold on and either be nervous because I thought it wasn't good enough, or try to treasure it because I thought it was so good that I didn't want anybody else to touch it. Now the beauty of writing together is people can see what you can’t see, and sometimes you need their story in the song and not just yours.”
Your music tends to have simple language with many phrases that are repeatable. Why choose this style?
Jay: “I think a lot of that was because of the environment the songs were written in. It was about the people that we were looking across the dinner table at as we wrote those songs. Some of the language that you might sing in a high church moment didn't necessarily lend itself to the moment when you're sitting across a table from a friend. Sometimes saying it differently for us has really unlocked deeper truths. You say it differently, you hear it differently, you express it differently.”
Brown: “There is accessibility in simplicity. A kid could sing it, my grandmother could sing it. It is simple on purpose because you can grab hold of it. Whether it is at church or on a screen. Anybody, any stage of life, anywhere with God can enter into it and grab hold of it.”
One of your latest singles, “I’ll Give Thanks,” has become popular recently. What was the meaning and purpose behind that song?
Jay: “That song has become an anthem for our community. I love that songs let you recall your history with God.”
Kaple: “The chorus resonated so much with me because my husband and I had been trying to have a baby for so long, and we couldn’t break through that; now we have. At the time, it was such a desperate season. Jay is laying this chorus out there, and for him it means something completely different. From there it just gets crafted like a snowball, putting our stories in it and our experience with God in it.
For more information about Housefires, click here.
