When a crowd catches Rend Collective Experiment for the first time, the first few minutes are all about investigation. You can almost hear the thoughts of the audience as they ask, "Who is this band? Oh, they're from Northern Ireland. Cool accents. Whoa... what is happening here?"

The accents are what get people's attentions. The strange instruments and the high-octane, very physical expressions of praise onstage definitely maintain interest. But it's the pure, palpable joy of the rotating troupe of musicians that presents Rend Collective Experiment as leaders in a new movement of "organic" worship. While the band definitely captures that joy and energy on their three albums—even their latest project, the seemingly stripped down Campfire album—there's nothing quite like catching them live, partnering in praise with an enthusiastic audience.

Editor-in-Chief Marcus Hathcock had the chance to sit down with collective members Will Herron and Chris Llewellyn to talk about Jingling Johnnies, worship around the world, and God's prevailing love.

 

Will: It's called a Jingling Johnny and that's for real. It actually has its roots in Turkey, would you believe? It was some sort of military instrument, but somehow it ended up in folk. We actually found it in Seattle last year.

 

Will: I think there's initial shock probably because we tend to go a bit crazy on stage. Being Irish, in all seriousness, kind of helps as well break a barrier down. I think people are like on board with you immediately. We don't really try to be anything that we're not on stage.
 

I think people just kind of appreciate that and we always really try and emphasize the fact that we're actually all coming as a body together, as a collective together in worshiping God as opposed to the stage somehow separating us. We're actually all just in a room together. People generally just get on board with that and we just worship together. 

 

You've said in worship that it doesn't matter if you know or even like a song—He is worthy to be praised. Is that something you're pretty passionate about? In worship, is there a mindset you've encountered before?
 

Chris: Yeah. It's a mindset that I've encountered in myself, but that's the thing. Maybe everybody can emphasize with this. Whenever you hit your earlier twenties, I feel like you kind of hit a new phase in faith where you encounter real life. You've probably seen some hard stuff by that point. You can find yourself coming into worship kind of cynical and feel like it's all a bit of a pantomime.
 

I think I've had to really shake myself out of that mindset in the later half of my twenties, realizing that God's worthy no matter what the circumstances. Even in "Movements," our song, it says whatever hits, keep making movements towards Him. It doesn't really matter what the music is or if it's our taste or if our life is going the way that we want it to. Ultimately you've just got to keep pursuing God.
 

 

What are you guys seeing out there? You've traveled, you've seen all sorts of context, countries. What's happening out there in the church with regards to worship?
 

Will: I think there's actually drive for authenticity. I think the Church is actually getting quite smart in that regard, in terms of even worship leading or even worshiping on stage and all that kind of stuff, but I think every human being wants something authentic. There's this drive for something organic over the last number of years.
 

Everybody just got on board with that particularly in this part of the world. That drive for authenticity is not only something physical, in terms of food or whatever, but it's actually a spiritual thing as well. I think we kind of encounter that and that's something that we try and really pursue in our song writing and in worship on stage because we all know what it is to go into church and you can just do the right things. As a worship leader you can do the right things and you walk away, but there hasn't been anything authentic there and God doesn't really care about anything else but authenticity, really. He wants us. He doesn't want some sort of formula of chords and actions.

 

Chris: Yeah. It's interesting. In Kansas City, Missouri, we were at a National Worship Leaders conference and we were in a Q&A session. It really helped to get the temperature as far as what worship leaders are feeling.

It seems like there's a real drive towards a real fresh expression. People are really seeking to find even musically something that's going to spark something in the hearts and the minds of the Church. They really seem to be looking for that freshness.
 

I think that freshness will come from authenticity as well. From not only seeking to replicate what's gone before, but also just finding your own voice and finding your own flavor. If God's image is in us, then we all have a unique voice and we have something to bring of our own. We don't have to copy.
 

 

Will: That's a great question to ask. We could probably give some silly answers first. I suppose God's continuing grace and love for me kind of just gets me excited. I just can't believe it, really. It's overwhelming in the fact that definitely if I was God, I would have left myself behind a long time ago and given up on myself, and yet He's one that never gives up on us.
 

Me and Chris were having this conversation earlier on. I was looking at John 21 where Peter—he'd give up one of his best friends unto death and Jesus comes alongside and has breakfast with him. He must have been feeling really awkward as in I'm done. I'm no longer a disciple, but actually Jesus' plans were that he'd actually lead the movement. He would lead the church.
 

That's just something that's amazing, and then in the end Jesus just says, "Feed my sheep. Follow me," and Peter's, like, back in the game. You're just like, "This is unbelievable!" and then the Spirit fills him and he becomes a man he could never have imagined. I think that's just overwhelmingly exciting.
 

Chris: We always talk about theology on the plane. All the time. That's a joke. We talk about stupid stuff. This one time it worked out so well. 
 

Will: That was the one conversation this year.
 

 

Chris: Northern Island, it's almost like the Bible belt of the U.K.—one of the most Christianized parts of Europe. The church is actually really thriving in Northern Ireland. Southern Ireland is in much the same boat, I guess, because we're part of Protestant Christianity. Maybe it's hard for us to really get a grasp of what's going on down south, but I get the impression from missions things that we've been a part of and everything that it seems to be alive and well.
 

It's very encouraging to realize that the Holy Spirit is active across the globe and He really is. Where Christian culture hasn't necessarily invaded yet, just because there's no Christian contemporary music and there's no Christian radio doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit isn't alive and active.
 

I haven't got off a plane in Slovakia to notice that the Holy Spirit isn't there. It's really humbling to see what's happening. We've been in weird parts of Eastern Europe and it's all happening and you would imagine that it wasn't. That it was cold there, but no, He's doing stuff.

 

Thank you for what you do. Love the joy and the happiness in the music. You couldn't write a dark song if you tried.
 

Chris: No, we're not good at that.
 

Will: Yeah, we don't do intense.