I had the pleasure and opportunity to travel with my wife and youngest son to western PA to see Weapons of God and Messenger play at the Freedom Church in Indiana, PA on 9\/21\/24, a show set up by Dorn Reppert of Darth Plumber Artist Management (DPAM). I\u2019m familiar with all of Messenger\u2019s albums and had met singer Frank Herring before, but had not seen the DC area melodic hard rock\/metal band play live before. Messenger\u2019s show was great, with a setlist that tapped all 3 of their albums, interspersed with metal covers. The band had everyone moving, singing, headbanging, and even some crowd participation on \u201cGive A Shout!\u201d High time to introduce our readers to Frank Herring, singer and bass player, and get them familiar with Messenger.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Frank, how long have you been playing as a musician?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 50 years ago, I started piano lessons in 2nd<\/sup> grade. Those lessons went off and on until 9th<\/sup> grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How did you parlay piano lessons into a career in rock and roll?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I was learning piano with a strong classical direction. But rock and roll was taking off so big and pervasively that my friends were listening, singing, and extolling it most energetically. I asked my teacher if I could learn some. So she got me a collection of Beatles, and other rock and soft rock acts like BJ Thomas. Then I got The Yellow Brick Road <\/em>album book to learn songs and I went crazy learning that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did rock music make you want to play more than just piano?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That is such a good question. And of course the answer is Yes! Beatles and Elton John, Styx hits all pointed me there. But Gene Simmons didn\u2019t play piano! Geddy Lee didn\u2019t play piano! Well, eventually he played synths. Which only solidified my resolve to rock!<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Picking up his story) Starting rock bands in middle school and high school was a challenge. I was able to put together a band with 2 electric guitars, a bass guitar, and drums. No bass players were available, so asking my uncle who played in a country blues band was our only choice. He happily loaned that Fender Jazz style 4 string and a little amp so I could start singing and playing. So for my 16th<\/sup> birthday, Amsterdam played a few songs including \u201cSweet Home Alabama,\u201d that was played about 3 times that night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you\u2019ve mentioned one of your early bands, Amsterdam, what were some others you were in?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amsterdam (16 years)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mai Tai (18-20 years)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sassy (I know, right?) (20-21 years)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solo project (1987-2008)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Messenger (2008 \u2013 present)<\/p>\n\n\n\n At what point did God come into the picture for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At 21, I was doing a lot of hallucinogenics. I was experimenting with spiritism,. Then I found out with what spirit I was engaging. I cried out to God and He responded to help me out of that engagement. Slowly, I found my mind again and was restored to my family whom I had ignored. Music was in me deeply at that point. It wasn\u2019t going to be surgically removed. I am thankful God is willing to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definitely. Did your newfound faith find its way into the music you were playing right away or gradually?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When first learning of the level of interaction God was willing to have with me; answer to prayer, bringing moments of \u201cmore than a coincidence\u201d, and ultimately the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I was looking for Him to speak to me through people, His word, circumstances of the day, then eventually in songs. That took a few months of growing in the faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then I had ideas of writing songs and of having an act that people would have the chance to hear someone who believes express what they believe. It was a while before I actually experienced a real calling to do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You and Vlad (Vladimir Gurin- guitarist) are the core of Messenger. How did you guys meet and how did Messenger start?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I knew it was time to move this ministry into the next level. In 2008 I had written a bunch of new songs and recorded them as hard rock. I auditioned some guitarists as they weren\u2019t working out. Honestly, I don\u2019t know what the difference was in the wanted ad I put out. But Vlad came along and we started working together well. He played solos on the first album, I\u2019m Talking To You<\/em>. Then we collaborated on the songs for You Choose<\/em>. But In To Win <\/em>took us to a new level of interaction and creativity that neither of us could have seen 12 years prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never underestimate the power of two people on the same page!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I take it it\u2019s been a struggle to fill out the rest of the band on a consistent basis?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It has. Off and on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How did you choose the name Messenger?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s a very interesting story. I was working at the Post Office and with a fellow Rural Carrier, we went to the loading dock, where I hoped to share the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. He was an American transcendental spiritualist at the time, of a Buddhist persuasion. After praying with him and the Holy Spirit spoke through me about something which I don\u2019t remember, we went back to our individual work areas. I thought about what happened and then went to him and said, \u201cMan, I totally didn\u2019t expect to hear THAT!\u201d My coworker John said \u201cFrank, you and I are messengers in this world.\u201d I said to myself, \u201cSelf, that would be a good name for a band!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m told that you guys play as a cover band as well, so I\u2019m curious about the difference between a mainstream gig and say- a church for you guys.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It just means we can flip the script and play mostly original music. We love to get feedback from people who hear our music in its best context, which is live performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me ask you something. How do you feel about our ministry value? Do you feel like we ministered Christ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your lyrics are very direct. I feel like you communicate the gospel unequivocally. The Word does not return void, so I don\u2019t think someone who sees your show could walk away without having some sense of God speaking to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wow! That\u2019s a good take on our songs. Thank you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to the covers vs. original music thought. First, I have to give props. The covers you played- Dio, Ozzy, Metallica were not easy ones, by any stretch, and you did them all justice. Did you always do covers? Is it always a mix, or depends what kind of show is booked?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Well first I have to say that I knew \u201cWar Pigs\u201d was a bust after Pastor (Kirt Anderson of Freedom Church, who was doing guest vocals) stepped away because I busted a string and I couldn\u2019t tune that bass. \u201cWar Pigs\u201d is one of the best songs we play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We started as an original hard rock\/heavy metal band. It is hard to get hired to play these type of shows. We were playing a theme park near DC for \u201cexposure\u201d and someone asked us to play \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d We lumbered through it and got a lot of attention. So we started playing covers and started getting gigs. When it is a cover show, we play 80-90% covers with a few originals. If a Christian venue doesn\u2019t tolerate covers, we just play our stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sadly, I\u2019ve heard musicians say there\u2019s more gigs for cover bands than there is for original music.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Gives a thumb\u2019s up)<\/p>\n\n\n\n I notice all 3 of your albums are independent. Is there still a need for record companies, or have they gone the way of the dinosaur?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks for that question. Once we published In To Win<\/em> independently, we had some interest and contact from a few small labels. We chose to go with a deal that JiB Machine Records offered. But it was right before- I MEAN RIGHT BEFORE- CD\u2019s became antiquated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To answer your question more directly, if it is a big record company, it makes a big difference. If it is a small label, they need a lot of ideas and great connections to make ANY kind of difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A major label can get a band onto tour schedules that help gain the band a lot of fans. They have radio and streaming clout that smaller companies don\u2019t. So, though we can very well produce our own recording, we can\u2019t put ourselves on higher major platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Physical product will never go completely away.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n True.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are some of the highlights (for you) of your latest album In To Win<\/em>– doparticular songs have meaning to you as the composer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Personally, I love a good barn burner like \u201cTime Machine,\u201d \u201cBlind-Sided,\u201d or \u201csatan\u2019s Nightmare,\u201d but I found \u201cCrows and the Hawk\u201d to be intriguing, and \u201cJuly 5 (The Politican\u2019s Song)\u201d was exhilarating because it\u2019s rare to hear an artist eschewing political correctness and telling how it is.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah, \u201cJuly 5\u201d got us some strange reactions. \u201cBlind-Sided\u201d turned out to be a great song. That by itself is a highlight. People suggested that it should be our single when we had already decided that it was our main single (which we aired on Heaven\u2019s Metal Streaming Radio)<\/strong>. It was also an inflection point in the band because it was a moment when God spoke to Vlad about something in his life personally after I had introduced him to the lyrics. Vlad wrote the music. I wrote the lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the riots of 2020, I felt compelled to release \u201cCrows and the Hawk\u201d as a single to express a call to racial harmony. Biblical understanding of this issue is that there is no Jew or Greek, no male or female, and so forth. We got a little response from people who got the gist of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of the riots of 2020, I\u2019d love to see someone write a sequel to Blue Oyster Cult\u2019s \u201cThis Ain\u2019t No Summer of Love\u201d about it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But the song Vlad and I are most proud of is definitely \u201cTake Flight.\u201d We feel like it has the depth and musical composition that expresses a significant level of musicianship and song composition that makes us feel like we achieved something significant in our songwriting careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The youTube algorithms seem to like the lyric video of \u201cTime Machine.\u201d That\u2019s also a highlight for us, lol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s next for Messenger? It\u2019s been 4 years since In To Win<\/em>. Are you guys working on your next masterpiece yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our last drummer moved to Florida rather unexpectedly. We spent a lot of time over the past 2 years, actually, looking for and working with a new drummer. How do you think he did at the show? Chris is pretty good, yes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drummer did great. Had the look and sound down.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But yes. I have written a bunch of songs lyrically and Vlad and I will be getting into the studio together soon to work on this new concept album. I\u2019ve wanted to do a story line album from beginning to send of John Bunyon\u2019s A<\/em>Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>. But I had a sort of epiphany and decided to start writing it based on my own testimony and experience. Vlad was all about the idea, so we are moving forward with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neal Morse Band recently did a couple albums loosely based on A Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll have to check them out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nice. Any last words for the readers? (Perhaps- Steve Barhorst, book us for Immortal next year!)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Absolutely! We had a blast on the Freedom stage. Thanks for your support, Chris. And thanks to Messenger fans everywhere for your support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please folks, support the Metal Missions Mobilization Fund. It helps grease the gears of progress moving bands into a position to play an area when there might not be the funds to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yeah, Steve (Barhorst- BMI Event Center owner and host of Immortal Fest)<\/strong>, you know you can reach Messenger through DPAM! God bless you all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Chris Gatto I had the pleasure and opportunity to travel with my wife and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1021],"tags":[106],"class_list":["post-12395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features-d97","tag-messenger-d67"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Messenger-HDR-Live-Shot-2-2-1024x791.jpg\")
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