Bellarive is a band that seeks to create music hosting the conversation about what it looks like to be humans interrupted by and encountering the presence of God. The Orlando, Florida based band followed up their initial EP with a summer 2012 release of the beautifully crafted project The Heartbeat. Their rich worship songs have already made an impact that promises to grow with time.

NewReleaseTuesday's Bill Lurwick talked with Bellarive vocalist Sean Curran about the band's heartbeat and history.

Tell me, how did Bellarive get going? How did you guys get together?

Honestly we just met at our home church. We all started going to church at this place in downtown Orlando called Discovery Church, and we were serving in the student ministry there and just really pretty quickly felt like we had some connection musically and spiritually. We loved singing together.

We didn’t really anticipate being a band or anything, but we really loved leading worship together, and then some songs started to come from what we were learning in that church and what our community was going through. We were just writing some music.

Then after we had some songs we figured, “I think we’re a band. I think God’s really doing something with the six of us, so let’s step into that and pursue it and really see what the vision is.” That’s how it started.

Sean, there is a song that listeners may be hearing on the local Christian radio station. Talk about the song that’s headed out to radio.

“Taste of Eternity” is a simple worship song. We were thinking about what a song would be like if we really talked about the tangible, physical act of stepping into God’s presence, stepping into His throne room, kneeling at His feet and praising Him for all that He is and all that He’s done for us.

God’s really designed us to worship Him in everything. So it’s a constant thing. It’s something that’s been happening since the dawn of creation. So we just thought about that. That’s a fairly large thought to take in, that in this moment, even in our human skin, we can step into an eternal realm where we’re linked with all the praise that’s come before us and after us, this huge song that’s been sung to God. That seemed like a very powerful, overwhelming thought.

So we tried to wrap that into some lyrics in “Taste of Eternity.” We’re going to be praising God forever.

There’s a song called “Tendons” on The Heartbeat, the project from Bellarive. That's a really interesting song title. What’s that all about?

That song is a very personal song for a few of us. A lot of times in the church on Sunday morning, we praise God on the mountaintop. We pray very joyful things. That is awesome, but sometimes we forget about the valleys.

We forget about those times where there’s some tension, there’s some real struggle going on in your life, and trying to direct your heart towards God to praise Him through those times as well and to allow him to pull you through those times is really important.

That song was about being in the thick of a mess, being in the thick of a very difficult time and laying yourself down in the midst of that to allow God to pull you out. It’s difficult and sometimes it hurts.

That chorus just says, “God, no matter what it takes, bring me back to You. Rip these tendons that hinder my reach.” That imagery is tough, but it’s a good depiction, I think, of where we all get to sometimes. We get to places that are difficult and allowing God to pull us out, it’s such an amazing journey.

The song “Shine On” is a kind of song title that’s been done by many, many folks over the years of Christian music that we’re familiar with. Talk about Bellarive’s take on that title.

“Shine On” was really just a song talking about being delivered from darkness to light. We really connect with that song. I think that, as followers of Christ, we all go through the light and the darkness and back to the light. God pulls us through all of those things.

It's just talking about waking up. God’s given you life. Rise from the grave kind of thing— it's really empowering.

The album closer, “Stories,” kind of weaves everything from the previous 11 tracks all together. I love it because it’s an anthem about what we really believe and whether they’re just stories or whether it’s really something more in our lives, right?

Absolutely. It’s a journey. It’s a tough almost 10 minutes long. I actually spent some time in Israel serving at an orphanage and living with these kids and loving on them. They were all part of the Orthodox Jewish community, so you really couldn’t talk about Jesus, and that was really interesting.

You just had to love them the way Jesus would and look for opportunities and be sensitive to their spirit there. Being in Israel, I couldn’t help but think about what Jesus had done and where He had actually walked.

You visit these sites and talk about the scriptures coming to life. It was amazing. Putting myself in that space is really what versed a lot of the content for the song “Stories.” I was thinking about what it was like when Jesus was walking the Earth. They didn’t have cell phones, communication was through word of mouth. Imagine these people seeing these miracles, seeing God personified in front of them, and then having to go to their friends and say, “Have you heard about the man who walks on water? I think He’s the one that is here to save us, to redeem the world. He’s the one. I’ve seen the king.”

That kind of concept was just really jarring for me, soul stirring. That versed the idea that He is the one, and heaven came down.

I'm excited about this project, The Heartbeat. I’m hopeful that years from now Bellarive’s The Heartbeat will be one of those projects that I go back to over and over again over the years, just as a reminder of what great worship is.

We're excited about what you guys are doing with The Heartbeat. We appreciate you spending time with us, Sean.

Thanks a lot. Good talking to you.