Tastyfresh's Dj Andy Payne recently caught up with Steven Nixon of the Rhythmsaints. Via email, he had this to say to some questions we asked him...

Tastyfresh: Who are the permanent members of Rhythmsaints?

Steven Nixon: I always envisioned Rhythmsaints to be a collective of talent, headed by myself, that grows and changes with the needs of each individual project be that a song/track/album/video or live appearance. To this end I've worked with a variety of people who've added their talents to the Rhythmsaints vision.

The main people I work with are programmers/musicians as - although I'm musical I'm not a musician - my one major success is shadowing the keyboard riff in Felix's "Don't You Want Me!" Zarc came on board for the first album, I worked on "(Golden)" with Matt Wanstall at Perfect Music and then with Jason on the latest album "Continuum." I've been really lucky to work with people who are able to understand fully the inane blips, bleeps and grunts I make in an effort to communicate how I want this acid line to sound or that base line to undulate. Vocalists are enlisted as and when required and I've worked with some great people both in the UK and in L.A.

Lee-Jane is as permanent a member of Rhythmsaints as anyone can be and I really like the ways in which we can experiment with her voice on such tracks as "Man In The 5th Dimension," "L.A. Story," and "World." Although I looked at taking on board a full time vocalist for Rhythmsaints in 1996 I finally decided against it after completing "Continuum" in the UK in March 1996. I really believe that the power of dance music in it's instant relativity to what's happening in the clubs, the world and in technology.

It's an amazingly fast moving scene with very little sense of what has been before it, always clambering for the next new idea, riff, group, sound etc. and as such, it's a scene that I feel doesn't naturally lend itself to a 'live' performance, or for that matter album length projects. There are some people, (the Prodigy, the Orb) who can really pull off the translation of their music from massive club tunes to a live set up and PA but there are some extremely dodgy 40 somethings wandering around aimlessly, miming to a sampled saxophone riff! So I'm happy to stay off stage, except for DJing, and keep the ice cream cone costume and straight-jacket in the closet, where it belongs. Matron.

One final 'member' of Rhythmsaints is Leonard Zimmerman Jr. a close friend, (the brother I never knew I had!), from Georgia who I work with on the visual Engineering side of Rhythmsaints. Together we design the visual look of Rhythmsaints from album packaging, advertisements etc. to stage costume designs and underwear. Well, I'd love to design Rhythmsaints underwear.

Tastyfresh: Is Rhythmsaints a Christian band?

Steven Nixon: It all depends on your definition of a 'Christian' band. The term has been so manufactured and perverted it doesn't really mean anything. It's a label that makes people feel better in approaching your music. They know where you're at so there's no chance of being challenged. I am a Christian. I may doubt it sometimes but I do believe in many of the things attributed to the Christian faith. It is a faith that cannot be summed up and boxed into any one liner, sound bite, bumper sticker, song or album. It lives within and outside the context of who I am as a person. It shares and shadows the myriad of other things that make me a person - my love for my wife, my age, favourite films, music, books, life. It is me as a person who writes the material for Rhythmsaints, and each song/track reveals something about about my perspective on life, the universe and fish. Is Rhythmsaints a Christian band? I believe in God. Does that make Rhythmsaints a Christian band? I have 3 albums released on a Christian record label. Does that make Rhythmsaints a Christian band? I know that God uses this music to touch peoples' lives in ways I cannot imagine. Does that make Rhythmsaints a Christian band? I write dance music. I live under no exaggerated ideas of it's ability to change the world. Although I have witnessed it's ability to entertain and make people dance. Does that make Rhythmsaints a non-Christian band?

Tastyfresh: Why are you a Christian?

Steven Nixon: Because of grace. That's grace as in GRACE not grace as in Brothers, or Jones. And it makes sense, in some non-sensical, amazing, beyond the realms of imagination sort of way!

Tastyfresh: What are your influences?

Steven Nixon: Club culture, Star Wars, Blackadder, emotional responses to audio stimuli, Star Trek, Michael Crichton, Shakespeare, Pet Shop Boys, Lee-Jane, my imagination.

Tastyfresh: Who is the lyricist in the band?

Steven Nixon: I guess that would be me. Guilty as charged your honour. Song writing is so strange. I wrote my first song whilst working at a radio station twiddling my thumbs for half an hour. I actually had to ask someone what the structure was for a song (Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, etc.) It was the word elevation that started me off. Liked the word. Wrote the song. Bought the T shirt! I like words. All those individual letters formulating to make a string of letters, and then a word, (hopefully.) I couldn't write without them.

Tastyfresh: What are your songs all about?

Steven Nixon: The songs cover a myriad of different subjects. But you have to be careful in explaining what they mean because people listen to and hear different things at different times. Hopefully they're all pretty entertaining. But they can mean whatever anyone wants them to mean. Lee-Jane actually got challenged about saying that on the phone to a fan who'd bought "(Golden)." He wanted to know what "World" meant and she said "It means whatever you think it means." Sometimes I let things slip and so the most persistent trainspotter will be able to piece together what I feel but my thoughts are of no consequence. The songs really do become something else. But at the end of the day, this is dance music and it only really has one aim...can you tell what it is yet?

Tastyfresh: Some of your music is instrumental. How can your faith come across in these?

Steven Nixon: I don't know as it does. Or doesn't. Music has certain inherent spiritual qualities to it and these qualities can be amplified through the use of words, sounds and rhythms. I know BT is experimenting with certain sound waves etc. that, he believes, can send the listener into a hypnotic state. I do believe in music's ability to manipulate emotions, that's why we have 32 bar snare rolls and piano breakdowns, but if the whole hypnotic state enducing qualities were true then we'd have some pretty dodgy hypno-therapists at number one. Mind you there has to be some explanation for the Spice Girls.

Tastyfresh: What is the current state of musical creativity in Christian dance music?

Steven Nixon: There are some extremely talented people knocking stuff but there's still too much crap. Complacency is a major problem, that and the business of economics. Some stuff, some of my stuff included, should not have seen the light of day but generally standards and expectations in the Christian scene are lower and most people are glad to get their hands on anything they believe is good to listen to and the people pulling the strings are only too glad to package it and put it out.

Tastyfresh: What has the secular reaction to your music been?

Steven Nixon: Secular, hmmm. It's been really encouraging. The breakthrough really came with Larry Flick at Billboard. He gave "(Golden)" a great write up and calling Rhythmsaints "A talent not to be ignored." I think most people did ignore that, but hey, the sentiment was there! He followed that with another piece on my DJing at a party in L.A. It was reported as a resident slot at a Hollywood club called Rage, which is a gay club. So that was interesting. Then "Continuum" was written up as a great work as well. I spoke with Larry a few times and the way he received the CD's was a miracle and he seriously enjoyed the stuff. I know Danny Tenaglias got a white label of "Continuum" and a copy of "(Golden)" and I got chatting with BT online and sent him some of my stuff and he loved it. That was amazing to have an Email with this guy who I totally respect freaking out over the music! He recommended I send it to Music Now, his pre-Perfecto label based in Washington D.C., which is run by Deep Dishes manager. I did and we had dialogue for a few weeks but couldn't do anything at the time as I was relocating to England and all the music was owned by NSoul. I'd love to work something out with them. I met C.J. Mackintosh at the Dome in Hollywood before I came back to England and Cindy, our US rep, forced a few copies of "Continuum" into his hands and recently I sent the stuff to DMC (the DJ service) and they loved it as well. It's been pretty encouraging all round really.

Tastyfresh: Why was there the need for your "Continuum" album? Were you not happy with "(Golden)"?

Steven Nixon: I was very happy with the whole "(Golden)" experience actually. I thought it was a more mature, cohesive and entertaining album than "Deep Sustained Booming Sounds" and the critical response seemed to back that up. I recorded "(Golden)" in August 95 and it was released in the US in October 96. As I have stated previously the whole club scene moves so fast you need to be releasing singles and remixes all the time to stay in touch. That was not an option but by January 96 I felt I was ready to embark on another album project. I originally wanted to do an album that was completely separate from Rhythmsaints, as L.A. Continuum. I wanted to work with a few select people in L.A. and the UK to achieve a real hybrid sound clash of the two approaches to dance music. That idea wasn't right for Nsoul at that time and with "(Golden)" only being released three months earlier there was a need to do a smaller project, hence my idea for "Continuum" as a Rhythmsaints album. Although originally pitched as a remix album, "Continuum" grew out of those confines pretty quickly once I started writing new material and began working with Jason in the studio. I love "Continuum" and am extremely proud of it. More so than the previous 2 album projects. It's a solid, big, noisy, danceable album. Sandra (Stephens) sounds great, the Korg Prophecy kicks some serious bottom and the remix of 'Living Joy" is a delight.

Tastyfresh: Who are the artists to look out for in the future?

Steven Nixon: Paradigm Shift are extremely talented and have established a sound that is instantly recognizable and accessible to a wide variety of dance music tastes. I'd be interested in hearing what they do with a dedicated vocalist. I was talking with Chris from P.Shift recently and he said that they'd been asked to remix a track from "Continuum." Now that will be massively interesting! Greg and Stefan from Virus are capable of some extreme, sound melding that's very similar to the stuff that Sasha and Digweed experiment with in their Northern Exposure nights. It would be great to see both these artists working in the UK where I am sure they'd be infinitely more appreciated. I'm hoping to work on a movie script with Greg soon. We've been talking about doing it via Email as neither of us could afford the postage or telephone costs!

Tastyfresh: What is wrong with Christian dance music?

Steven Nixon: It exists as 'Christian' dance music. It's segregated.

Tastyfresh: What is the future for Rhythmsaints?

Steven Nixon: Well were currently foot loose and fancy free and looking for a new label to work with. I've started working on new Rhythmsaints tracks and I've recorded one song with Sandra Stephens that could be really top drawer (Heard it on the radio the other day and quite liked it!) I'd like to concentrate on 12"s and remixes and work towards an album project after building up a good body of work - i.e. the way its meant to be done. We have a few options on the table at the moment but nothing definite. It's an exciting time.

Tastyfresh: Is there anybody you would like to work with?

Steven Nixon: I would dearly love to work with the Pet Shop Boys, Enya, Steve Martin, George Lucas, Yello and I really need to work with Calix (formerly of Resolution) on some new stuff and I'd love to work on some new material based around Celtic music.

Tastyfresh: Thanks for your time Steven, we are looking forward to anything you do in the future. God Bless!