On the day the OMV for E PLURIBUS UNUM was released from Joplin, Missouri based band THE ORDER OF ELIJAH, I had the privilege of chatting with singer SHANNON LOW about the undertones of the video, how recording the record PATHOS, LOGOS, ETHOS went down, the decision to openly discuss his faith, and of course their recent tour that started with a show opening up for one of my favorite bands WE CAME AS ROMANS.
CB: The video for E PLURIBUS UNUM came out today, right? Very exciting for the band, no? Tell me what was different about recording this record and video than your other recordings. Anything stand out that you feel helped or hindered you?
SL: One thing that was totally different was that I flew for the first time out to Detroit….
CB: Shut up! That’s awesome! Did you like flying?
SL: I did! I can check that off the list! One of the things that was different and I liked was while I was in Detroit, I pretty much did all the lyrics in a hotel room, in sheer isolation for like a week, I didn’t anticipate it either but right after a really difficult semester in school, I finished finals and the day I got done, I flew out. I went from a world of chaos into just nothing; boredom. No car, don’t know anyone here, lyrics just poured out. Working with Nick, he would pick me up and we went to the studio and hammered that out. The boys recorded the music like three weeks before.
CB: You said a word that grabbed my attention; isolated or isolation. How did this time alone benefit your creative process, both writing and recording?
SL: I think it depends on what point you’re at in the process. Whenever you’ve got a target to shoot for, those moments come better. Well, we’re constantly barraged with advertisements about consumption, participate or purchase. Something that a lot of people don’t do much is to just get away on your own. In my case, it turned out to be exactly what I needed to gather my thoughts. Our brain says “I want my distraction!!” and at first I had to adjust myself. But after a bit, after that sensory perception overload, we can think about why we are the way we are a little more abstractly.
CB: When do you think isolation becomes an issue for people, where the self reflection becomes unhealthy, or when isolating could be negative for a person?
SL: We’re a social species. But me personally, have always been a bit of a loner; I was an only child growing up. I was never one to be around a ton of people, but I feel more comfortable when I’m not surrounded with a ton of people. Now that I’m older, my choice or what I do still reflects that. I live alone with my daughter and most of my interaction is with a 6 year old, but we need to build a healthy relationship with isolation, or being by ourselves. I know people that never spend time by themselves, they’re always around people or people are around them. But I think the popularity of this trend is something that we need to break away from. Be ok to be alone, go to a movie by yourself, there is a balance.
CB: We are inundated with a barrage of talent all the time. It seems like new bands are forming all of the time! But I love technology as well.
SL: There is a need for it, you can follow any artist, politician, painter, band, whoever or whatever you’re interested in, you can follow it with social media or digital media. It’s like bands are now having to vie for the attention of their old fans and to make new fans. It is a must to be in tune or connected with how fans and potential new fans, get their music. Studies have shown that giving little bits of information at a time instead of releasing all of the everything, is a way that bands have in connecting with fans. Like how TV shows are on the rise and movies are not as popular because the story lasts longer in the minds of the viewer.
CB: I get so frustrated when people either hide behind social media or don’t blame others (people and companies) for what honestly, is their own duty to understand the apps they’re using, what the do and don’t do or can or can’t do. I mean, ultimately, Facebook is a good thing. It does good things, but the bad seems to always win when it comes to what people are talking about. Like I love that I can, operative word is can, reach out and connect with someone I went to middle school with or other times in my life and see how they’re doing. Tell me a little about how you connect, or the band connects, with people or things relating to the music, to the past and are those connections important now, to the present – the now – of the band.
SL: People from my past…I’m very disconnected with the people from my past. I really don’t have any connections with the people in the past. A lot of people I went to school with or that are a part of my past, don’t really relate with the art that we are putting out…well, we’ve taken a pretty controversial stance on many different subjects and people have a hard time with digesting any type of abstract art. As far as with E PLURIBUS UNUM goes, the lyrics are written and very much inspired by Zack De La Rocha. It’s written from the point of view of a religious pandering government is talking to you, to the people. The video is a complete satirical mockery of it all! We leave no side unscathed.
There are little hidden meanings that we put in the video, like towards the end, we burn the constitution on the grounds (property) of a church. We have a part where Nixon and Trump shake hands and another part where Obama and Bill Clinton shake hands and at the end they all become friends because, in reality they’re all on the same page – come on! There isn’t one US President that hasn’t bombed innocents in the name of trying to play world police. Democrats and Republicans differ only in the ways they interpret the Constitution and everyone always speaks about it so objectively. I think our country has flourished the most when we’ve actually had a balance between the parties, when there is a balance between capitalistic and socialistic values. In fact, the Constitution is pretty fucking vague; it doesn’t give you direct or specific answers when you start asking particular questions. In surveys, when the questions are asked about values instead of political identities, the majority of the people in the US line up in the middle.
The political parties have hijacked some of these topics and if you have any other opinion about these subjects that don’t fall in line with what the party aligns itself in believing, you’re made to feel like you’re betraying your party! If there is anything that I can give as a theme or basic motive for E PLURIBUS UNUM is to abandon your party.
CB: Yeah, I can see that might make a difference, but then what? How do you unify when everyone seemingly has their own way of seeing an issue or government dictate over – How do you establish those connections and come together?
SL: You make connections with yourself. You become your own God. From election to election, between 30 and 50% of the population sways in and out of their party lines; depending on who the corporations put in front of us, because the corporations are the ones that lobby into the media. If people could step away from party identities.
CB: What’s a band you’re currently into or like right now?
SL: I love that new PARKWAY DRIVE record.
CB: Oh, it’s a doozy! I dig that as well. So, in going back to our conversation at the beginning about social media and the role it plays within our culture; politically, economically, and how we are adapting to this way of connecting with “like minds”, how does this relate to the music you’re putting out?
SL: It’s very easy to sit behind a screen on your phone or computer and fire off at things that they don’t agree with and have no regard to what they’re saying or that there is a person on the other side of their device or computer; a person that has feelings and even has more similar values than they realize. But instead of listening, they want to fire off the good points or the points that will make them look good to whoever reads it and agrees with them.
CB: The article title in this one piece reads “Former Christian Band Now Atheist Release E PLURIBUS UNUM Video” – I”m paraphrasing because it isn’t right in front of me, but let’s talk about the activity surrounding this decision or change in your life.
ICYMI: here is the definition of the word atheist according to American Atheist website’s homepage:
Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods. (Source)
Which is kid of confusing if you ask me because they say that the definition in dictionaries throughout the years is incorrect and doesn’t truly define what they are or believe.
Webster’s defines it as a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods.
SL: I shed the cocoon of my faith over the course of the last year. From experiences I have had and the band had, that was our choice. We got a lot of push back from the Christian community. I wanted to be honest back in 2016 when I felt this was the decision for me, or the right decision to make. THE ORDER OF ELIJAH always had a rather secular message to it in the first place, but after being in the Christian music part of the industry, I wanted no part in that. Eventually, we walked away and I think it was a good decision.
CB: I mean what do people expect? Like had you stayed under the guise of being a Christian band, while the ideals of truly being an agnostic or an atheist were what you were learning and discovering within yourself, you’d be condemned for not being honest.
So then you’re honest and now you’re judged and condemned for not being a part of or that you’re renouncing some royal throne or massive inheritance, spitting on all Christians from the beginning of time until the end of it, not only that but you’ll burn in the fiery pit of hell, for eternity. Self-discovery will award you with different little gems, won’t it? I recently was given this gem, “Don’t be a King of Two Kingdoms.” Meaning, be who you are in all situations and in front of any group or individual. Often, we only convey part of what we belief; not intentionally to be dishonest, but not to be judged or to avoid confrontation. Given the chance to tell how you feel or think without the fear of judgement or ridicule; to be the king of one kingdom is to be your one true self; not several versions of yourself.
In speaking with SHANNON LOW, I admired his honesty and loved that larger purpose feel of THE ORDER OF ELIJAH’S music and the band’s answer to their calling, so to speak, refreshing.
THE ORDER OF ELIJAH have made plans for the summer to continue to tour and create more of the good stuff like what’s found in the track E PLURIBUS UNUM and continue to expand and question the ideals and principles that come up through the power of music. You can find out more about THE ORDER OF ELIJAH on their Facebook profile here.
Til Next Time – MRML – Cherri
