SUSIE Magazine caught up with Jason Dunn of Hawk Nelson on their tour stop in Denver. Keep reading to find out about the new album, Live Life Loud, what it’s like to co-write with TobyMac, and what Jason’s mom has taught him. (Don’t forget Mother’s Day is May 10!)
SUSIE Magazine: You included “Tis So Sweet” on this album. Why did you include a hymn?
Jason: It was more for selfish reasons. “Tis So Sweet” is a song my grandma used to sing to me as a kid. When we were recording the record, there was just something missing, and we thought, What if we threw “Tis So Sweet” in there? We were throwing out different hymn ideas, and that one just kind of stuck. So we wrote another chorus and it seemed to work.
Before we even recorded it, I Googled it to look up the story behind it. A woman wrote it after she basically lost everything. I noticed that a lot of hymns were written from that point of view. But when she lost everything, she didn’t give up. If I lost my family and everything I had, I’d be tempted to think, God’s obviously turned His back on me, so I’m outta here. Forget it.
But, she had the strength and courage to keep going. She thought, You know what? I can get throughthis, and she obviously did. That story makes me want to be a better person. That makes me want to trust God more.
And we threw some bag- pipes in there. That was a selfish thing, because I’ve always wanted bagpipes on a record. And it turned out great. I was shocked because it was a last-minute thing, and we had about a day to arrange it, but it sounds good!
SUSIE Magazine: What’s the story behind “The Meaning of Life?”
Jason: I went to L.A. to write that song with a guy named Matthew Girard, with whom I’d worked before. He’s a fellow Canadian and he’s written songs for some Disney groups—songs that put him on the map as a writer. It was kind of weird that he’d even consider working with us, but I think that with the whole hometown connection, he thought, OK, why not?!
But he had no real belief in anything, so as we were hanging out in his living room, it gave us an opportunity to share our faith with him. He’s a pretty successful guy, and I show up at his house at 11 a.m., and his butler tells me to make myself comfortable. So I grab a guitar and just start strumming.
He comes in and tells me to keep playing. Within five minutes, we had the chorus of a song written. And he says, “Jason, what do you want to write about?”
Here was my window of opportunity! So I said, “We play music, that’s what we do, but there has to be more. People have passion and goals. And sometimes we miss that mark. I don’t want to miss my mark. I don’t want to look back 10 years and think, Wow, we played a lot of shows. That’s not enough for me. We’re aiming to find our meaning of life.” And he said, “OK, cool. That’s a good approach.” And I got to share my faith, which was a really cool thing. He was open to the idea.
SUSIE Magazine: On your most recent tour, you teamed up with Toms Shoes. Why was that important to you?
Jason: Toms Shoes is an organization I really believe in. There are a lot of people who want to do things; who want to be world-changers, but actions speak louder than words. Everybody has a clothing company, and everybody wants you to wear their shirt on stage. But at the end of the day, they’re Christian businesses trying to make money just like everybody else.
I wasn’t seeing that with Toms Shoes. They’re 100 per- cent nonprofit, so they don’t care to make money. They just want to make a difference. They’re breaking even just to help people.
There’s a foot disease in which the skin bubbles up and gets infected. It’s 100 percent preventable and curable if people would simply wear something on their feet. But in undeveloped countries, many walk around with no shoes, so the bacteria from the soil gets in the cuts on their feet and they get this disease.
People in Ethiopia think it’s a curse from God, and they throw people out of the village until it’s gone. Again, it’s completely curable with a pair of shoes. This is the mission for Toms Shoes—to get footwear for people in Third World countries.
SUSIE Magazine: What does it mean to “live life loud”?
Jason: I was the class clown in high school—that was my way of living life loud. But I noticed this quiet girl. She didn’t live life loud vocally, like I did, but she lived life loud through her studies, and now she’s one of the smartest people I know. She’s a doctor and trying to find cures for cancer.
People have goals and opinions, and their voices need to be heard. Through every track on the record, we’re trying to say, “Here’s how to live life loud—through our faith and through our actions.” It’s a way we can encourage students to stand up for what they believe in.
SUSIE Magazine: What’s up with your album cover?
Jason: That’s my dog, Murphy! We originally had a little red-headed kid with missing teeth, smiling with 3-D glasses on. I thought it was awe-some! Later, one of the guys asked if he could borrow Murphy for the day to photograph him. The next thing I knew, he was on the record cover.
SUSIE Magazine: As you know, Mother's Day is right around the corner. What's the best thing you've learned from mom?
Jason: My mom is like Captain Christian; she’s the perfect Mom. To this day, every time I talk to her, she ends the conversation with, “OK, Honey, I love you. Be a blessing!” Teaching me to be friendly is one of the best things she has taught me. There’s a Scripture that says a man has friends who shows himself friendly, so that’s been my life. I give the credit to my mom for that.
SUSIE Magazine: What’s it like co-writing with tobyMac?
Jason: Every time we tour with a band—when the tour is over—people say, “Man, we gotta get together and write a song.” But it never happens. tobyMac said that to me once, and I held him to it. We were both on different tours, so we e-mailed back and forth. I’d send a verse idea, then he’d send a verse idea, and we’d collaborate and mesh everything together. That’s how we created the song “Eggshells.” It was a fun way to write a song.
Random facts about Jason:
• He grew up loving Adventures in Odyssey. “We had the movies AND the tapes!”
• He misses his native Canada a lot! “When we’re in Seattle, they have CBC up there, which is a Canadian channel on TV. I never thought I’d miss Canadian TV, but I see a commercial and I’m like, Oh man, I miss that! Little things like that get me nostalgic and homesick.”
• Like many Canadians, he’s a huge hockey fan. “I could watch hockey every day of the week! I don’t have any demands when I’m in the band, but I have to have the NHL package for the TV on the bus. That’s my only requirement.”