A Moment (or two) With Ian Eskelin
06-20-2007
by Kevan Breitinger

My recent conversation with Ian Eskelin only confirmed my impression of him as the hardest-working guy in the industry. And one of the most interesting as well.

CMCentral.com (Kevan Breitinger): Hey Ian. I really appreciate you taking the time, since it seems you’re the busiest guy in the industry, from what I can tell.

Lately it’s been little weird, but you know what? The fact that my phone’s ringing is fun.

Yeah?

You know what I mean; I’m in the music business, and some people don’t have that luxury, so I’m thrilled.

It’s great that you feel that way about it. You’re writing for everybody, you’re producing , you’re all over the place. And I read that you had said you have to have that creative outlet with All Star United. So I’m thinking you’re happiest when creating, that’s when everything’s working best for you?

Absolutely. It’s funny, we’re created in God’s image but we’re all given different talents, things we have to do with our lives. I feel blessed to have found out early on in my life what the calling was for my life. Since melody and lyrics and songs just keep pouring out of me, I knew it was something that came from God. I might have produced for a lot of different people but I love when I get the opportunity to pick up the phone and call on my ASU friends and say, ‘get over to the studio, we have to make a record’ (laughing). You know, I just crave that time because there are certain songs on an ASU album that I’m never gonna get cut on an Avalon album (laughing).

It’s all fun, and I enjoy that side of it too. I love doing all the different aspects of the music business. But it is fun when I get to create with my friends and do some things that really don’t have the same set of rules that I might have when an A&R guy calls from EMI or something.

Well, it comes across, and that exuberance has a lot to do with its greatness.

Well, I’m happy you said that. That’s great, because that’s what we’re going for. It’s easy to go into the studio and suck the life out of things. But for years ASU was known as the hardest working rock and  roll band in the industry. We were doing 300 shows a year. But life progresses and you end up getting married and having a baby and trying to pick your battles better. On this record, we went back to the same philosophy we had with the first ASU record, which was just throw all the rules out the window, have fun with it, press record and see what happens.

It’s working, that’s exactly what I like most about it. But what do you do to chill? Is it hard for you to handle some down time? I read that a few years ago you were getting settled, liked being in one place, what with having kids and all. Where are you now with all that?

For years my biggest problem in the CM industry was this: you’re an artist and you write an album, and then you go on tour for two years. And then you’re forced to write another album very quickly, and then you go on tour for another two years, so you’re only making 10 or 11 songs every two years. I really enjoyed the live shows and that was all great, the touring was fun and exciting and great to see people face to face. But I feel like I have so much creativity flowing out of me that it was almost a bummer that I only got to do 10 songs every 2 years.

Sure, that makes sense.

So right now I feel like I’ve finally fell into the right balance. Like yesterday I was in the studio with a new band called 7 Glory. I wrote and produced 2 songs for them. This weekend I’m sitting in with a band called Our Hearts Hero. Today and tomorrow I’ve got time off so I went to WalMart with my wife and my 3 year old and bought groceries.

Sounds like a nice balance.

And then tonight I’m gonna go hook up with my friend Adam from Stellar Kart and we’ll write some more Stellar Kart songs. So I feel like I like with these different challenges, I get I get to wear different hats all the time. If I choose to write some big AC ballad tomorrow, I can do that.

Like you said, we’re made in the image of a very creative God.

I really do enjoy that I can sit down and write for Brian Littrell and it’s gonna be completely different than what I might write for Everyday Sunday.

I didn’t realize that your scope was so wide, from Avalon to Brian Littrell to ASU and Stellar Kart? That’s a pretty wide spread.

Yeah, it covers the gamut. Honestly, I just really like music. I don’t really discriminate too much. A good pop song is a good pop song, it will hold up in any format.

That’s an interesting perspective; I don’t hear many musicians say that. One of the things I love the most about the new album was what the title song had to say about the dangerous part of God. I love the lyric about the diving board standing 7 stories high.

Wow, you really did your homework, that’s amazing (laughing)

Well, it really struck me because I love that aspect of God, but you hardly ever hear it mentioned. So it caught my ear when you tapped into it.

You know we hear all the time about love, love, love, and of course it is the crux of the Bible but we are fearfully made, man. When I think of God, and the priests going into the back room….

Oh right, they had to wear the rope around their ankle!

Yeah, when you stand in the presence of God, man, you’re toast unless you’re prepared. People were scared to death. They had to pull them out by that rope in case they died. God is such a beautiful mix of love and danger, that’s why I love the title Love and Radiation. There are several songs on the album that talk about glowing for God. God puts this love in our hearts and we can’t just hide it, we have to be that city on a hill. And radiate that love, and that’s where the Love and Radiation comes. Several songs mention that we can be brilliant, ‘shine like diamonds sharp with light burn like stars across the night.’ I love the concept of glowing for God.

I agree, I don’t think the Lord is as safe as we project Him to be. It’s kind of grievous the way we tone Him down, unconsciously.

Yeah, he’s not Jesus in a pink bunny suit (laughing). He was a radical locust-eater ready to die for us.

What’s your favorite song on the album, Ian?

Those are difficult to talk about. There are songs I like playing live, like “Song of the Year.” Which I like for different reasons. It’s old-school ASU tongue-in-cheek social commentary. Plus we wanted to put a sticker on the front of the album saying ASU featuring The Song of the Year (laughing).

Then again there are other songs I enjoy for their passionate side. And I like the fun side, “Lets Rock Tonight.” ASU has been blessed to have our songs show up on TV, and that one tends to float around on sporting events. So I like different songs for different reasons.

One thing really cool about ASU is that once I realized that…hmm, I don’t know how to say this correctly without ticking off my record label. But once I took a big step back from the industry and realized that music is something that I shouldn’t stress over, it really became fun. It allowed me to have a broader scope of the things that I do.

The reality is that making CM is a tough, cutthroat business. I learned early on that is very easy to find yourself in a situation where you’re owing a record label a million dollars (laughing). You feel like your world is over and you have to regroup and ask yourself, ok, what am I gonna do now? Am I gonna quit and go work at a bank? Or am I gonna continue to walk down this road with the gifts that God has given me? Once I realized that I’m not going to have another job, that I’m gonna do this for the rest of my life, it actually became easier. Especially when I figured out that I don’t care if I make any money at it. Obviously I’m gonna take care of my family, and I work very hard to do that. But you give it over to God and say here You go, I’m gonna work my tail off for this. I’m gonna do all I can and I’ll let You open the doors. You can’t just sit around and chill. At some point you gotta get up and do.

Getting up and doing seems to be no problem for Ian Eskelin or All Star United. Check out our review of Love and Radiation here.