An interview with Robyn Florian '88, Greenville College, Spring 2000

Robyn: First if you could just give us an overview. I know you had gotten married recently so if you could just give us an overview of what's gone on from here to Nashville - what courses your life has taken from here to Nashville and what courses your life has taken so far.

Jonathan: Well, it's pretty cool. I moved to Nashville at the end of Jan. of '95 and I came in late as a freshmen so I was a semester behind so actually I walked with my class in May but I stayed an extra semester. So I moved to Nashville in Jan. and then when we got there I worked different retail jobs for a while until I started with a Christian band who'd been around for a while called "Out of the Grey" and did a summer tour with them. And Margaret Becker, who I work for now, is really good friends with them. So she needed somebody like on the spur of the moment to go do a South African tour.

Robyn: Oh darn!

Jonathan: And I just happened to have a passport so it worked out. The guy who was supposed to do the tour, his record company pulled him out last minute and within a week's time I was getting tickets for South Africa so I've pretty much played with her ever since. A couple years ago with the encouragement of some of my friends; they encouraged me to start writing again and to record a project. So I had a few friends who did like an independent artist thing and they demonstrated some of the pros of doing that as opposed to waiting around for a record company to notice you or something. So we recorded a full 10 song independent cd.

Robyn: Is that what you sent us last year?

Jonathan: Yeah

Robyn: Okay - and so that's it. I noticed on the Jars site, I was putting some stuff up on Jars on the site and on one of the sites it direct sent to you.

Jonathan: Right

Robyn: Was it their main site or was it Jars World. I hadn't been on any of these sites ever so I can't remember which ones

Jonathan: I think it's jarsofclay.com

Robyn: Okay - it's their main site and I thought "That's a pretty decent endorsement"

Jonathan: Yeah Well, see, the title song on the cd was called "Hand" and that's one I wrote with Dan Haseltine and Steve Mason and I brought a concept to the song to them and we sat down in an afternoon and wrote this song and it turned out to be the title song and then they liked how it came out so much they ended up asking if they could use it for their new record. So it ended up making it out on the new record.

Robyn: Oh, that was nice.

Jonathan: Yeah, I was like "well, let me think about it, YES."

Robyn: You get a little bit more when you write. See I know the difference because Rick did not write.

Jonathan: It's funny because a lot of people don’t write in Christian music. It's interesting how the two different people approach it.

Robyn: Stephen Curtis was just getting started when I had moved to town and his first album was just coming out. So, I initially knew him as songwriter and it was interesting to watch how differently careers would evolve from that kind of person than from people who kind of stepped into certain places.

Jonathan: You kind of have more control over where it goes.

Robyn: Yeah. So, this project is out. Have you done individual concerts on that?

Jonathan: I've had a few. I was really busy initially with that cd going on the road with Margaret opening up for her wherever we'd go and she'd let me sell it at her table. It was cool. I was in charge of her World Vision table so I'd be out there selling my cds and then doing World Vision at the same time.

Robyn: What has been the most enjoyable part about touring with Margaret? Besides Margaret herself?

Jonathan: Yeah - just being able to play to her audience because I was at one point sitting in that audience. I've been a huge Margaret Becker fan since I was in high school and she came here to Greenville a couple of times and I was getting her autograph and all that stuff. I really enjoy her music and just playing and seeing her minister and to be able to glean from that. It's really… And she doesn't mind. You know, she wants us to learn. She doesn't try to keep secrets or try to keep all the glory to herself. She really endorses us, highly, and it's really like a group effort it's not like the Margaret show. She really tries to give us solos and any time she's going to give us a solo she's like "take it away Jonathan!" She'll say our names and make it more of a family thing instead of just about her.

Robyn: Have the other guys played as consistently as you have or have there been other players?

Jonathan: Yeah, they've kind of come and gone. There's been like three different guitar players that have played with her since I've been with her but pretty much her drummer, Jeff Quimby, and myself are kind of the core of the band and a little higher up than the guitar player, bass player.

Robyn: Okay. How often do you have the opportunity to collaborate with people like Steve and Dan, are there others? Were they here at the same time as you were - is that where that relationship comes from?

Jonathan: Yeah, they were two years behind me.

Robyn: Are there other people down there that you have worked with as well?

Jonathan: Yeah there's a really talented writer who's now the A&R of my records, his name's Brad O'Donnell, and Erin O'Donnell is his wife's name. He writes all of her songs. And he and I wrote a couple of songs, no actually just one song on the record. He's just a brilliant writer. He's won several awards and I kind of came to him saying "guide me oh great Brad" you know. He's another person who made it very comfortable to write with.

Robyn: Great. As far as your time here, what do you feel like you either appreciated most, that you had access to certain people or equipment, professors or things you have found most helpful being in Nashville? Would there be one to two different things that you would point to?

Jonathan: That's a really easy question to answer actually because I came here expecting this huge music thing to just kind of sweep me away and it did. But it wasn't just about having the gear or the studio time to be able to create music which was really beneficial, was having the balance of the spiritual environment to be able to grow that way too. I was playing with the idea of going to Berkeley and doing that sort of thing but I didn't think I'd survive because my walk with the Lord. It's a big city and I didn't know anybody there and being able to come here to this environment, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and have all these things at your disposal it's amazing. And to have just the type of family atmosphere, you know professors that most of them know your name like Frank Thompson and Jim Reinhardt. When they were still here.

Robyn: You were lucky enough to get to enjoy them right. They've since retired.

Jonathan: I think I'd probably have spiraled out of space if it wasn't for those two. Just to be able to have that and then like Mr. Pettit - he really challenged me because he doesn't just - I mean he's a very good teacher but he doesn’t just accept you know half-hearted effort on things. He's very, I don't know if it's because he's from Canada, but he's just very matter-of-fact about "well, that was a nice try, but let's try it again". You know and it's very good because they're not just trying to pat you on the back and say "I get paid the same amount no matter if you learn it or not" - because they would. But he's very up-to-date on things too he keeps things current.

Robyn: Yeah, he's got some neat projects happening right now with some new majors - Digital Media and Media Promotions.

Jonathan: Wow

Robyn: So, they've been busy and a lot of that has been because of his energy and effort.

Jonathan: That's exciting.

Robyn: That's very exciting. As far as just distinctives about Greenville College you mentioned the spiritual atmosphere and balance with the equipment and programs. Is there anything else that you would… I guess what made you decide to change from CCM to Youth Ministry?

Jonathan: I think it was basically based on the fact that I did a lot of soul-searching about my desire to balance myself out because I had pretty much grown up playing in church - like playing piano, not playing around in church. But sort of, that was true too, just kind of playing at my faith. And so I thought I wanted to take my gifts and use them in a ministry aspect and so I thought I'd benefit more from taking the classes to become more effective because in that major was psychology and all these other classes that really were good so that when you do a concert you don't just quickly try to jump into the band and get back to the hotel. You can actually face the people and say my Father you know, this is for Him. You're not going to go "WOW - that goes on". You can actually try to be effective and be able to speak to them.

Robyn: And yet, you were still able to keep going with music. What opportunities allowed you to change your major and get that balance and yet be able to maintain that close tie? Were there specific things that you did and took advantage of?

Jonathan: Yeah, actually I got to be a part of something that was really cool. Lori Gaffner - I sang a special in chapel one time and at the end of the song I led worship a little bit. And Lori approached me and said this is something we don’t really have. At the time we didn't have there and so I got to be a part of an on-going, it was kind of an extracurricular thing 'cause I would lead worship in chapel a couple times a month. It kind of caught on more people wanted to be involved in it so we would have a full band do it here and there. It wasn't like oh you're not a music major, you can't do this, you know. In fact, there's a gentlemen who worked here, his name was Rich Beans, I don't know if he's still here.

Robyn: Yes, he was a student when I was here as a student so I have these other stories about him…

Jonathan: He's such a nice man.

Robyn: Actually he's teaching psychology now. I think he was on staff as a counselor when you were here?

Jonathan: Yeah I actually took a class from him too.

Robyn: I don't know if he's full time in the psychology program… He's teaching for GOAL, etc.

Jonathan: Yeah, I really like him. Well, he approached me and it was like the last semester of my senior year and he's like, "so are you going to do a senior recital?" And I was like "well, actually no, 'cause I'm not a music major." And he was like, "you're not? You know, 'cause you always do music." He was just so shocked because he saw me doing so much music on campus that I wasn't an actual major. So, he helped me push, and this I probably shouldn't tape… We kind of pushed the boundaries a little bit because you weren't allowed to have a senior recital or concert if you weren't a music major. Ralph Montgomery kind of fudged the lines a little bit so I could actually do a concert.

Robyn: Oh good.

Jonathan: So it was really great. It was a great time.

Robyn: Are any of the songs that are on the Hand album songs that you wrote while you were here or possibly ones that were in that concert?

Jonathan: Yeah, there's a song called " Walk on By" and that was one that I actually recorded here and then we rerecorded for the album. And another one I did an arrangement of, an old hymn, called "Farther Along" but "Walk on By" is one I did for a studio project here. I was a music minor so I still had to take some studio classes. And we actually took a track from the last concert here, it's a hidden track on the cd, it's like a song we wrote and it's a funny song called "Bessy" a song about a cow.

Robyn: Well that's all I have for you. Thank you.