Zealand – United & Free

CCM: The album title has an instant Christian meaning of freedom or liberation, but was that intentional for you musically as well, given what you say you’ve learned about making music?
PJ: Yeah, I think so, whether I knew it or not at the time. That song wrote itself somewhat organically at a youth conference. We’d led worship and a speaker had spoken and challenged the kids. They had a chance to respond and it was really powerful. Anyway, we had this little riff and a couple lines that we were messing with in sound check. My wife heard us messing with this idea and really liked it. While the kids are responding, she said, “You need to play that song.” I said, “It’s not a song. It’s just an idea.” [Laughs]

The idea came from reading the story about the guy who gets lowered down through the ceiling to Jesus’s feet in the crowded house. Jesus looks at him and says, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” Then he realizes the Pharisees are getting hot under the collar, so he says, “Now pick yourself up, roll up your mat and get out of here.” It’s like he was saying, “I’ve set you free. Now it’s up to you to get up and walk in this newfound freedom. Go for it.” I love that story. I think it’s one of the coolest stories in the Bible.

I said, “Okay guys, here we go. I’m going to start that idea we’ve been working on. Just follow me and try to hang on.” We did and something amazing happened. By the end of the song, these kids are up on their feet just jumping up and down. They’re feeling free and liberated. We went into the studio and tried to recapture that night. It took quite a bit of work and I think we got it.

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