Just a few weeks before the birth of her third child, Clem Jackson caught up with a very busy Lou Fellingham to talk about her multi-tasking life and her new album release.
Lou Fellingham is well known as the lead singer of Phatfish and, increasingly, as an accomplished worship leader at many conferences and events. She’s also a solo recording artist, songwriter, wife to songwriting partner Nathan, and, following the birth (4th July) of her son, Jude, a mother of three very lively children. I caught up with Lou on the release of her new album Step Into The Light, through Kingsway, to find out more about all that’s going on in her busy life. I began by asking her how she manages to combine all her many roles.
LF: I don’t know; pass. I guess you just juggle, have lots of help from friends and some grace – and then you cry a lot, at least I do.
CJ: On your latest album you and Nathan have co-written nine of the eleven songs. How do you work together on that, what’s the process?
LF: Well generally, for my album I’ve usually got a fairly clear idea on some lyrics or melodies – I have a starting place for quite a lot of the songs. For this album we co-wrote with Gary Sadler; we basically sat in a room for three days and brought ideas to the table. I feel quite a lot of ownership of the songs because they’re songs which serve my vision for the album, but it was fun to work together and incorporate other people’s ideas. Nathan and I have been working together for a long time now and so we don’t actually really argue that much on stuff like that, we just work it through. He’s very good and very gracious at taking my ‘heart’ as I am trying to shape it lyrically and it works.
CJ: It’s often said that for many people their theology comes from song lyrics so how do you go about making sure that the lyrics in your songs are theologically sound?
LF: Well we feel very strongly that that is important. I guess we try and make our lyrics biblically based and try not to make any statements that are not biblically sound. There are moments when we delve into the scriptures and say ‘well what does it say, how does it say it and how can we then push it into a form that actually makes sense in this song?’ Obviously we’ve got depth from our church background as well; we’ve got good preaching, and hopefully a combination of everything works.
CJ: Apart from “Amazing God”, which is already being used quite extensively in churches, which of the other tracks do you think might have a similar impact in congregational worship?
LF: We’ve already done “To God Be The Glory” at quite a lot at conferences this year and that’s worked really well. Even if you don’t have the same guitarists the general melody and chords work really well. We’ve also done “To Him Who Is Able” and “Christ In Me” which have both worked well. “Holy, Holy, Holy” has worked in church and I’d also like to use “Lamb Of God” too. But it’s all a case of feeling it really; some songs are right in some situations and not in others.
CJ: You mentioned “Holy, Holy, Holy” there which is a much more stripped back track on the album. How much of that was influenced by the work of Mark Edwards who produced the album?
LF: When we originally wrote it we did it with just guitarists and sang it with two-part harmony and the simplicity of it was strong enough and just seemed to work. It’s nice to have a bit of contrast on the album and I think this song in itself has that kind of stillness to it lyrically and melodically. When we came to record it we thought we’d just leave it like that and Mark introduced the flute and woodwind sounds to enhance it.
CJ: One of your songs on the album, “My God Cares”, you’ve dedicated ‘For Helen’. What’s the story behind that?
LF: Helen is a friend of mine who I met through taking my son Jesse to school. She lost her brother last year and basically she doesn’t know God, she hasn’t got a faith as such. When we talk to Christians sometimes it’s difficult enough to explain difficult circumstances. But when people have no concept of God either, it’s even harder. With Helen, I felt helpless in many ways as to how to respond. I just felt ‘actually I don’t know how to explain this to you because you don’t have any relationship with God but I know that God does care for you’. The chorus came as I was walking down the hill one day after seeing her, so it was based really from that situation.
CJ: You’ve had your own loss recently when your mum died. How difficult has it been for you to carry on and what helped you through what were, I’m sure, some really tough times?
LF: It’s an on-going process; there are still some days when I weep, when I really miss her and wish she was still here; days when I get frustrated and cry out ‘Why didn’t she get to enjoy life God?’ For me personally, just trying to get a bigger view of who God is helps. So often it’s about me and my loss and Mum’s loss in not seeing her grandchildren grow up. But in the context of who God is, and who we are called to be as a people and our eternal perspective, I’ve lost time with her here but she’s gaining and God knows. It’s always challenging but I know that God does love me and I know that my mum is in a much better place - I just have to apply that truth to my heart.
CJ: Worship leading, singing in concerts, recording. What do you enjoy most?
LF: I enjoy doing the live stuff the most. Whether that’s leading people in worship or doing a gig, I enjoy those the best. I like to be able to look people in the eye and connect with them really, that’s at the heart of what I like to do as a singer – to communicate.
CJ: How then does the issue of over-production, which we get on some albums, square with live presentation; do you find that a challenge?
LF: Yes, sure, people come expecting what they have heard on the album and so you have to find the balance. Sometimes there’s an integral part on the album that you can’t actually play live but you can bring in a track. For this album at the release gig in Brighton (May) we actually got a friend along to play extra string parts and other sounds and we had two backing vocalists to try and give a good reflection of the album. It’s always a challenge but what you might lose from the studio is often more than made up for by what comes alive in a live performance.
CJ: What do you hope people will take away from the album?
LF: As always, for people to enjoy the songs, for their lives to be enriched in some way and for the songs to be used as well in their churches. Overall though that people will get fixed on God and hear God as a result, that there will be ministry to people – I care more about that than anything and if it sells well that’s a bonus really.
Product info: Step Into The Light / Lou Fellingham / Kingsway / KMCD3101 / £13.00
