Latest / Crosswalk Talk: Celebrity Christian Interviews / Tommee Profitt on The Resurrection of a King and Reimagining Hymns

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Tommee Profitt on The Resurrection of a King and Reimagining Hymns · Crosswalk Talk: Celebrity Christian Interviews

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, Tommy, thanks for joining me, David, thanks for having me. Tommy,
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  Speaker 2: Prophet Award winning composer and producer, has a new album,
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  Speaker 2: The Resurrection of a King. I really liked it. It's
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  Speaker 2: really really good. It reimagines beloved hymns as modern worship
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  Speaker 2: anthem speechers well known singers as well, CC wy EN's Crowder,
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  Speaker 2: Jen Johnson, John Reddick, Ben Fuller, J M McDonald, Phil
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  Speaker 2: Wilkom among them. Tommy, this album reimagines classic hymns with
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  Speaker 2: a cinematic sound. What drew you to this idea? How
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  Speaker 2: did you decide to pick which songs? I mean, that's
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  Speaker 2: a good question.
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  Speaker 1: It all stemmed from I did a Christmas album several
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  Speaker 1: years ago called The Birth of a King, and it
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  Speaker 1: was reimagining old Christmas hymns and carols and just giving
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  Speaker 1: them a movie soundtrack that felt weighty and serious and real,
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  Speaker 1: you know. And I thought for a long time it'd
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  Speaker 1: be cool to do an Easter equivalent, but I didn't
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  Speaker 1: know I did have the idea that it'd be hymns yet,
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  Speaker 1: I just was like, well, what songs would it be?
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  Speaker 1: And then finally when that unlocked. I mean, dude, the
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  Speaker 1: list was I had fifty songs, and I was like,
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  Speaker 1: I gotta cut this down, so it ended up still
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  Speaker 1: being a nineteen song album. But yeah, it was just
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  Speaker 1: really fun to explore these old songs that have such
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  Speaker 1: rich hairtene in the lyrics, but sometimes stripping them out
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  Speaker 1: of a melody that worked on a hundred years ago, and
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  Speaker 1: just doing something new with some of them, not all
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  Speaker 1: of them, you know, and putting an orchestral movie weight
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  Speaker 1: to them. Man, it was powerful working on it because
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  Speaker 1: it just felt like scoring the moment Jesus walked out
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  Speaker 1: of the two Like, how what would that powerful music
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  Speaker 1: sound like?
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  Speaker 2: You know what I mean? How would you describe the
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  Speaker 2: phrase cinematic sound? Because that's what it's being described at
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  Speaker 2: I remember I had a college class in rock music,
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  Speaker 2: and I remember reading about all the different types of
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  Speaker 2: rock music and reading what music sounds like in print
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  Speaker 2: is always kind of odd and cumbersome. But how would
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  Speaker 2: you describe words what a cinematic sound is if you can?
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  Speaker 1: And well, for me, everyone has a different definition, which
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  Speaker 1: is interesting I found out recently. For me, it's something
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  Speaker 1: that feels epic and grand and like it's in a movie,
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  Speaker 1: which oftentimes correlates to strings and brass. Naturally, That's been
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  Speaker 1: how we've scored movies for decades now, you know. But yeah,
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  Speaker 1: weighty and serious, but epic and grand as well and orchestral.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And like you said that, this this album, The
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  Speaker 2: Resurrection of a King, follows the Christmas themed The Births
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  Speaker 2: of a King. Did when you were when you were
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  Speaker 2: recording The Birth of a King, did you were you
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  Speaker 2: kind of thinking about an Easter album? Was that it
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  Speaker 2: was out of your mind? No, no, no, I had
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  Speaker 2: no clue.
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  Speaker 1: And honestly, even a year ago, I didn't know I
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  Speaker 1: was going to be doing this project. It kind of
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  Speaker 1: just dropped into my lap and I just felt so
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  Speaker 1: nudged and called to make it, you know. I felt
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  Speaker 1: it felt urgent, like right now, the world just needs
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  Speaker 1: God so bad. And I'm up here in my studio.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you were joking before, like it looks like
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  Speaker 1: spaceship here. And I love being in this room, and
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  Speaker 1: I love making songs and cinematic songs for movie trailers
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  Speaker 1: and TV shows and video games.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 1: But as I'm doing that having a blast, I'm also
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  Speaker 1: just looking out the window and just seeing the world
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  Speaker 1: fall apart, right at the same time, and there was
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  Speaker 1: a conviction there of like they they need answers and
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  Speaker 1: they need hope, and I know the answer. How can
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  Speaker 1: I not do my part to offer light and hope
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  Speaker 1: into the world right now?
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  Speaker 2: You know, hey, man, of that why i'd read you
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  Speaker 2: said you felt commissioned to make it. I guess since
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  Speaker 2: that's what you're talking about, let's talk about hymns. Why
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  Speaker 2: are you so passionate about hims? What do we lose
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  Speaker 2: when we fail to seeing hymns?
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  Speaker 3: Man?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I grew up singing him in my church, and
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  Speaker 1: I'd go to my grammar's church and they would sing him.
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  Speaker 2: So I was very familiar. Know.
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  Speaker 1: I do think over time we're doing less and less hymns,
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  Speaker 1: and like I said, and we're very much these days.
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  Speaker 1: I think humans are about style and trends and what's current.
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  Speaker 1: You know, like all of a sudden, jeans are really
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  Speaker 1: baggy like that kind of thing, and so I think
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  Speaker 1: it's it ties the music as well. So like the hymns,
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  Speaker 1: do you just read the lyrics and the words. They're
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  Speaker 1: pretty poetic and rich, like I said, But I think
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  Speaker 1: it's hard for some people to wrap their brain around
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  Speaker 1: singing it feels very marching band and you know, old style,
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  Speaker 1: and I think there's still so much good meat in
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  Speaker 1: there to to pull from. And so that was that
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  Speaker 1: was my hope. And I didn't know if it'd be possible.
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  Speaker 1: Some of these hymns. I was like, oh man, what
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  Speaker 1: are we going to do with that one? I couldn't,
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  Speaker 1: you know, how can you resurrect no pun intended this
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  Speaker 1: old hymn and just playing around with different ideas. I
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  Speaker 1: just felt like these ideas were coming and it just
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  Speaker 1: felt really special. Those words they work in a lot
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  Speaker 1: of different contexts.
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  Speaker 2: You know. Yeah, they're rich, they're rich theologically, and they
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  Speaker 2: tie us to our past. I think that's one thing
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  Speaker 2: we kind of lose. We tend I think it's Protestants.
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  Speaker 2: We tend to think that the church began with Christ.
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  Speaker 2: Then fast forward to we're at Martin Lutheran. You know,
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  Speaker 2: now we're Billy Graham, and now we're now, yeah, are
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  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty six. So it's good to tie our
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  Speaker 2: faith to people of the past. I think that's one
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  Speaker 2: thing you're talking about. But like you said, we have
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  Speaker 2: these rich hymns and you're trying to I guess maybe
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  Speaker 2: bring them to a new generation that might have forgotten them,
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  Speaker 2: So that's yeah. So I think it feels familiar and.
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  Speaker 1: Brand new at the same time. Yeah, you know, there's
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  Speaker 1: lots of nods in these songs, the reimagined ones to
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  Speaker 1: the original melodies at times, or different parts of them,
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  Speaker 1: So it's not just like brand new songs. You know,
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  Speaker 1: on every single track.
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  Speaker 2: You've become known for your cinematics. Take us back to
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  Speaker 2: the beginning. How did you first get into music and
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  Speaker 2: how did you develop this this style that you're kind
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  Speaker 2: of known for.
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  Speaker 1: I always my Parry's bought me a small keyboard when
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  Speaker 1: I was little, and I just became obsessed with it instantly,
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  Speaker 1: just wouldn't stop playing it, and I would listen to
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  Speaker 1: a lot of things I heard on TV, like commercial
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  Speaker 1: jingles and TV theme songs, and I'd try to figure
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  Speaker 1: them out by ear. And somewhere along the way, I
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  Speaker 1: think I just really was fascinated by movie music and soundtracks,
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  Speaker 1: and not not even the scores per se, but even
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  Speaker 1: the trailer music. That was like the thing that really
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  Speaker 1: lit me up and got me excited. And so I
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  Speaker 1: was that weird kid that like listened to trailer music
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  Speaker 1: on my iPod.
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  Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
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  Speaker 1: No one else I have ever met has said that,
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  Speaker 1: And I'm like, why why is no one else? It's
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  Speaker 1: good music, right, And so I don't, dude, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know how it happened, but slowly, slowly, I found myself
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  Speaker 1: in a place where I was implementing trailer elements into
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  Speaker 1: pop music and hip hop music and Christian music and
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  Speaker 1: worship music. And I just have always had a love
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  Speaker 1: for big, epic, grand sounds.
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  Speaker 2: I guess one of the more popular ones that you're
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  Speaker 2: known for us I guess you work with n F.
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  Speaker 2: There's many others. I learned as I was reading your
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  Speaker 2: list that you you I think the elements with sylbea mackew.
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  Speaker 2: You helped him with that song as well. So I
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  Speaker 2: think your stuff is in lots of songs. We just
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  Speaker 2: don't know it. Tell me about the history of you
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  Speaker 2: at you and n F. I guess you were you
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  Speaker 2: guys were good friends, and you still are good friends.
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  Speaker 2: You still work together. It seems you kind of rose
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  Speaker 2: in popularity and prominence at the same time. Yeah, we
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  Speaker 2: are both from Michigan and I with that time. I
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  Speaker 2: had a side job.
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  Speaker 1: He had a side job, But we both loved music,
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  Speaker 1: and he came over one night just to hang out.
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  Speaker 1: I think we're going to watch a movie. But I
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  Speaker 1: had just gotten some new studio stuff and some new sounds,
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  Speaker 1: so we were like, well if we just make something
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  Speaker 1: for fun. It was kind of just two dudes hanging
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  Speaker 1: out making something on a Friday night, and that song
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  Speaker 1: that we made ended up being the song that got
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  Speaker 1: him signed to Capitol Records and brought us both along
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  Speaker 1: this crazy journey man. That's just we didn't see coming,
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  Speaker 1: you know.
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  Speaker 2: What I mean.
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  Speaker 1: So it was like literally I was in Michigan in
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  Speaker 1: my basement just making something with my friend, and then
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  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it's you know, on TV and
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  Speaker 1: growing and these touring arenas now, and it's like just
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  Speaker 1: a very homegrown thing, you know when you see something
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  Speaker 1: from the very start, you know, knowing where we started,
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  Speaker 1: and we were both just you know, scrapping by trying
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  Speaker 1: to do any music we could. Like, it's a it's
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  Speaker 1: crazy god story.
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  Speaker 2: You know. At the time, what was was cinematic sound?
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  Speaker 2: Was that in hip hop much or was that kind
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  Speaker 2: of anything?
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  Speaker 1: I don't think so, maybe not quite the same way.
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  Speaker 1: You know, hip hop is very linear a lot of
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  Speaker 1: times where it's you know, eight o eight and drums
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  Speaker 1: and the vocal and that's it. There's not a lot
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  Speaker 1: of chord changes and musicality in that genre naturally, and
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  Speaker 1: so that was one thing that I think was different
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  Speaker 1: and unique, was there lots of chord changes, and you know,
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  Speaker 1: he also raps and sings, and he can do a lot.
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  Speaker 1: He's very versatile. And so to do that over a
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  Speaker 1: brand new sound that was kind of a little hip
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  Speaker 1: hop but also alternative and had movie music in it
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  Speaker 1: just hit at the right time in the industry. That
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  Speaker 1: was kind of a new, fresh sound. You know, tell me,
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  Speaker 1: tell me the first time you.
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  Speaker 2: Heard your your your music on television or in a movie.
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  Speaker 2: And that was so dude, I'll never forget it. It
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  Speaker 2: was a Will Smith movie trailer for Concussion, and we
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  Speaker 2: had a song called Soldier that was in one of
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  Speaker 2: the trailers. And I found out that day They're like, hey,
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  Speaker 2: it's going to be in a trailer. It launches today,
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  Speaker 2: And I remember I had my I wasn't home to
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  Speaker 2: listen to my big studio speakers, but I sat and
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  Speaker 2: I watched it on my phone and it was kind
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  Speaker 2: of like all my dreams of my entire life came
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  Speaker 2: true in that moment. Is like the fast action clips,
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  Speaker 2: you know, of all the movie scenes put to a
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  Speaker 2: song that I recorded and then boom it hits and
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  Speaker 2: it says the title with the little outro music that
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  Speaker 2: I landed in my head when I was hoping it
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  Speaker 2: would land in a trailer, you know. So yeah, that
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  Speaker 2: was that was kind of I had chills and it
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  Speaker 2: was I think that hooked me too. I was like,
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  Speaker 2: I want to do more of this music for movies,
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  Speaker 2: music for trailers, just making music that's emotional and powerful
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  Speaker 2: and enhances of visual you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's
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  Speaker 2: hard to imagine. Are the best movies without the music?
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  Speaker 2: And so so much so that you can go to
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  Speaker 2: a trivia night at a local school, which I do
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  Speaker 2: a lot, and they play the music to a movie
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  Speaker 2: and you know, like three night out. Do you know
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  Speaker 2: what it is? Are you still doing this? I mean,
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  Speaker 2: are you are what's what's what's your what's your year? Like? Now?
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  Speaker 2: Are you? Are you mostly collaborating with artists? Are you
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  Speaker 2: writing your own music? Are you making music?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: Shows and TV? Yeah, I'm kind of just doing all
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  Speaker 2: of that.
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  Speaker 1: This This was a hard this album, The Resurrection of
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  Speaker 1: a King, was definitely a hard pivot for me because
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  Speaker 1: I did so much in the mainstream space and out
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  Speaker 1: of nowhere, I'm dropping a church album, and that's my background.
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  Speaker 1: I was a worship leader in my life, like and
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  Speaker 1: then it was just a job change to make movie music.
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  Speaker 1: And now I'm like, it's full circle, all kind of
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  Speaker 1: tying together. So I definitely feel like it's a shift
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  Speaker 1: for me, and I'm now just all the plans that
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  Speaker 1: I had for the next five to ten years, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: are probably gonna have to be rethought out since I'm
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  Speaker 1: kind of going in a different direction, which I'm very
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  Speaker 1: excited about. I feel like it was a god thing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was looking at your Spotify have five million
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  Speaker 2: streams a month in Spotify. That's more than many artists
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  Speaker 2: that I listened to regularly. And so the music, the
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  Speaker 2: person behind the music is kind of who you are.
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  Speaker 2: How did you come to faith? Before we let you go?
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  Speaker 2: How did you come to faith? Tommy? You would you
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  Speaker 2: grow up in a Christian I did. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: I grew up in a Christian hall and went to
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  Speaker 1: a Christian school, grew up in church. I grew up
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  Speaker 1: playing in church and My parents really just instilled a
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  Speaker 1: lot of really good you know, teaching me to use
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  Speaker 1: talent for God. And when you're a little kid, you
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  Speaker 1: don't really know what that means. Like I is playing
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  Speaker 1: this piano piece during the offering, I was using my
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  Speaker 1: gift for God, like I you know, but over time,
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  Speaker 1: as I grew and matured and just realized what that meant,
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  Speaker 1: to give your talents to God, like that was a
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  Speaker 1: really that's something I think about a lot still, you
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  Speaker 1: know what I mean.
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  Speaker 2: As we're looking at your own video right now and
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  Speaker 2: people listening to the podcast and know what we're talking about.
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  Speaker 2: But is this where the magic is made? Is this?
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  Speaker 2: Is this your studio? Is this? Is this?
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  Speaker 3: Is it?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? I did.
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  Speaker 1: It's pretty cool because I actually just added a light
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: bulble over here a couple of months ago, and so
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  Speaker 1: now every time I'm on a zoom call, it adds
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  Speaker 1: this like anamorphic lens flare.
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  Speaker 2: And I did not do that on purpose.
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  Speaker 1: I don't even know how it's happening, but it kind
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  Speaker 1: of fits the movie theme. It looks like I'm, you know,
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  Speaker 1: being in a Mike Michael Baby movie or something.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, We're we're going through space at light speed or something.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure what's going from here. It's fun though.
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  Speaker 2: Hey Tommy, you're talking to you. Thanks so much. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: you too. I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 3: If you enjoy today's interview, please make sure to subscribe
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: and share the episode with a friend. A big thanks
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: to the team at Life Audio for their partnership with
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: us on the podcast.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: If you go to lifeaudio dot com, you.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: Will find dozens of other faith centered podcasts in their network.
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  Speaker 2: See you next time.