, the path to where they are today wasn’t always clear. It was during the writing and recording of Luminate’s album
Luminate frontman Sam Hancock (lead vocal/guitar) grew up in Washington, IN, and began leading worship at his church at 14. While Sam continued this role through high school, he also struggled with the same issues of many teens. Upon graduation, Hancock was at a crossroads of choosing business school or music school. He chose music and enrolled at the Visible School of Music in Memphis. It was there he met Dusty Jakubik (bass), who was looking for a fresh start after the group he was in fell apart after signing a major label deal.
Jakubik liked the music Hancock was writing, and while he wanted to start a band, he was wary of working with someone who still had some growing up to do. “Sam was coming out of a period of rebellion in high school,” recalls Jakubik, who decided to consult with his friend Cody Clark, a guitarist in their mutual hometown of Tyler, TX. “I already knew I wanted to work with Cody. We both shared the idea that we wanted a band that was a brotherhood. We wanted to be close and for the Lord’s hand to be in everything we did. I told Cody, ‘I don’t know about this kid, Sam, but he’s incredibly talented.’”
It soon became apparent that there was no doubt they should work together. With the addition of then 17-year-old Dustin DeLong (keyboard) and Aaron Matthew (drums), who had performed with By The Tree and Kari Jobe, the pop/rock band was completed in Fall 2005. Luminate (meaning, to shine light into darkness) began non-stop touring with its first appearance at Cornerstone Festival in 2006. In 2007, the band met an A&R representative from Sparrow Records at the festival. This relationship eventually led to Luminate signing with the label in March 2009.
Yet there was distraction in the ranks as Hancock split his time between the band’s home of Tyler, TX and a relationship in Los Angeles. “The guys spent two years wondering if I was the right leader for the band, but they believed in the vision and stuck with it. I think they realized that this was part of the journey I had to walk through to be who I am today,” says Hancock.
That story, and the many others contained in the full-length album
Come Home, were brought up in the following interview of Hancock, conducted by NRT's Bill Lurwick.
Sam, you guys are in your 20s now, right?
Yeah. We have one 30 year old. He just made the jump, but our youngest is 21. The rest of us are 23, 25, 27 and then 30.
The reason I bring that up is Luminate has been together for about five or six years... so you guys were a little bit younger when you first started out. There were some growing pains with you guys, weren’t there?
Yeah, quite a few. In forming a band you have to figure out if the people you’re playing with are in it for the long run, and if they’re called to do this. We’ve been this group for a little over three years now and it’s literally the perfect group of guys. We’re all brothers. It’s amazing what happens over time.
The first song off the new album, “Come Home,” is really doing well at radio already. You wrote it, and it’s kind of a story about part of your journey with the group. Can you talk about the song and that journey?
Well, I have to go back three years to start this story off. Two years into the band, I met a girl and I got into a relationship with her. She’s an awesome Godly girl and she moved to Los Angeles, so I would make trips out to L.A., and I began to enter the world of fame and fortune and celebrity. My main struggle is fear of not succeeding; it’s failure. So my temptation was to take the easy, quick route and even put this band Luminate--the original call in my life--on the back burner.
So, my bandmates--my brothers--they had to watch me go back and forth to L.A. for two years, just crazy stuff. So, I had to make the decision in January 2010. I finally was like, “God, I can’t do this anymore. I’ve got to get out of this,” and I wasn’t happy. I didn’t feel like I was successful even though I was getting more financially stable. So, the guys welcomed me back with open arms, so to speak, and I had to leave behind that empire because it was false and it was broken and it wasn’t what God had for me at the time.
So, I left the girl behind and sure enough, as soon as I came back home, I started to realize that the doors for Luminate started swinging wide open. Our EP came out, and after that our new full length record is coming out and “Come Home” is climbing the charts and I’m like, “Who cares about money? This song is saving people. This song is being used by God in ways I could never dream or imagine.”
So, now I finally feel at home. I feel successful and that’s all the song is about. It’s about being willing to leave behind whatever empires we’ve built ourselves and really ask God, “Is this what you have for me, or should I leave it behind because all I want to be is part of your kingdom?” His empire never fails. It’s time to come back to our original call and purpose and consult God first on everything.
I was listening to the project and there’s a song called “Hope is Rising” that really stood out to me. Can you talk about that song?
This song is for all those who think they’re too far gone--those who think their addictions are too strong, that their sin is too evident in their lives. They don’t think they can shake it and don’t think God loves them anymore. Sometimes we build up this idea that we’ve done too much and God can’t use us anymore, and really it’s just our own thoughts. God loves us just as much as He did when He created us.
So, this song is about realizing that every prison has a door, and for every captive of sin, those chains can be broken because God promised that. So, it’s just accepting that hope and realizing we’re all to carry out a purpose. We can’t carry it out until we’re willing to leave behind the junk that we’ve built up and let God’s hope fill our lives and God’s purpose fill our lives.
You’ve got 12 cuts on here. Do you have a personal favorite?
Oh my goodness. I knew you were going to ask that. Man, to be honest, each song is deep, intimate, personal story for my life. “Come Home”, “Healing in Your Arms”, “On Your Side” and “Hope is Rising” are songs that make me feel free. These are songs that people may not know, but these are the words that God tells me when I doubt Him. I just want people to be a part of that growth and overcoming things with me.
Well, I really liked that in the bio it said that you guys didn’t want to just be a band, but you wanted to be intimate with each other.
There are so many different ways of doing it. I’m not sure which one is the perfect way to do it, but we all equally own and operate this band as a unit. So, it comes down to songwriting. We all do this because we’re called to do it and we don’t want anybody to be left behind if we do become successful. We want to all be with each other in the hard times and the good times.
Hey, Sam. I appreciate you spending time with us at New Release Tuesday. God bless you, brother.
Thank you so much for the time. I appreciate everything you all do.
