CCM: Have you built really strong, lasting friendships from participating in Winter Jam in the past?
TM: Yeah, absolutely. I think like anything else—like a men’s group or a Bible study—with this sort of tour, being out there consistently this long, it gives you a chance to do [more of] that. To have some real talks, real relationships, and like most of those things end up doing, it kind of helps you realize that we all go through the same stuff. You do, you make lasting friendships and relationships.

We’ve been blessed to tour with some great people over the years. But you have to be intentional about building relationships and spending that personal time together, because everyone has lots on the go, and it’s easy to just go from the bus to the venue to the meetings and not really get to live much life together. We definitely spent some time doing that on the last Winter Jam, just getting to know people better and walking out life together. We serve a big God—He’s immense.

CCM: Lately, you guys have been doing a lot of international touring. Coming from Canada, what unique opportunities present themselves on this side of the globe for you?
TM: Yeah, we have done a lot of touring abroad, and have pockets of family all over the world. We’ve been blessed to kind of been able to do that over the years and been doing it long enough. With Winter Jam, there are so many amazing cities on this tour—60 cities and over 600,000 people is what they’re telling me. It’s just a pretty broad scope and spectrum, but this type of show is a blast to play—it’s a whole different type of energy.

There’s something cool that happens when you’re in an intimate room and everybody can see each other’s faces, and that’s a beautiful thing. But this is a whole different type of energy and adrenaline that happens when so many people come together, love music, and love God—it’s a powerful thing. Whether it’s a new song, belting out an amazing worship song, or whether it’s us just turning the amps to “11” and cranking out something on that level, everybody’s worshiping in their own way and it’s a very cool, contagious kind-of atmosphere.

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