Circleslide frontman, Gabe Martinez, tells a funny story in his website blog about a chance encounter with Nicole Kidman and his star-struck reaction to her.
We laughed about it in our recent conversation but it begs the question: who have you met in your musical journey that has impacted you in this way? And it's almost like Gabe was waiting for me to ask. His enthusiasm levels are high as he shares, "The coolest moment for me in this band was the time we were playing a GMA event and when we went backstage to warm up, there was Phil Keaggy, just sitting there playing his guitar. We were all blown away, but he talked to us for the longest time. I got to ask him about Keith Green, guys like Larry Norman, and he was so kind, so generous with his time. It was the coolest thing for me because growing up I was a huge Phil Keaggy fan."
I'm a BIG Circleslide fan, even recommending "Uncommon Days" as one of the years best (see review), so I mention that in a few short years, Gabe himself might have this same effect on younger newer musicians. "Well, I hope I am as thoughtful and great about it as he was," Gabe replies. "He exemplifies what a Christian artist should be, you could just see the love of God on that guy." Unfortunately, that's not always the case, and I mention some no-green-M&Ms experiences I've had.
Gabe knew what I was talking about. "Yeah," he sighed. "That's disappointing, isn't it? And disillusioning. Because people do have higher expectations of Christian artists, that we represent Christ. So it's especially nice when you meet someone who is actually everything you thought he'd be and more."
The four guys of Circleslide, Gabe, his brother Tim (bass), Aaron Gillies (lead guitar) and drummer Mark Alvis have waited a long time for the July 11 release of "Uncommon Days." Though the album was pre-released last summer, the label wanted to wait for the right distribution before the final release. The band has spent the past year building their fan base by putting in 200 dates on the road. Gabe willingly acknowledges the challenges of waiting so long. "It's been a journey for us and tough as a band. You have all these fans, and family members, lots of people waiting for the album to come out. Reviews like yours come out and create expectation. The Bible says hope deferred makes the heart sick, but there was a good lesson for us in it, to just keep going. Our song "Get Up" talks about not standing still when times get rough but to keep trusting in the Lord. We had to put that into practice as a group. I think it all turned out for the best because we got to work with Pete Kipley (MercyMe) and a couple of great songs actually came about through the waiting process, especially the one being released now to radio, "Gravity." God knew what He was doing, and it's always good just to trust Him. So we kept touring, ministering, just dusting ourselves off to keep going. In the long run, we're better off for it."
It's life on the road, among other things, that we'll be looking at in Part 2 of this interview.
