Matt Sutherland, Randy Hill, Howard Lyon, Jim Hazel, "Doc" Yager
:: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 ::
Interview with Randy Hill of Liberation Suite
I recently interviewed Randy Hill (drummer/lyricist/vocalist and charter member of Liberation Suite) over the course of several days, emails, and phone calls. I first heard LS in the mid-70s and have enjoyed their music from the original self-titled Liberation Suite to their 2001 release, Fight For The Light (click for my reviews).
The Interview
rb: Thanks for taking the time to visit!
rh: I'm honored to speak with you.
rb: You were a teenager when LS started. Did you ever imagine you'd still be in the band more than a quarter century later?
rh: I didn't think I'd still be alive a quarter century later. Whadayamean! Just joking. I don't think I really thought that far ahead. I mean, you always hope something is going to last forever--or at least a long time, but you know how volatile bands can be. If they last more than a year or two, you're doing pretty good! I truly thank God that He has seen fit to keep us together for this long. I can only pray that we will continue to bring God the glory He deserves for as long as He wants us to keep doing this.
rb: Tell us a little about Liberation Suite's commitment to ministry over the years.
rh: We have always tried to stay focused on the ministry of evangelism and our ministry to the church with varying degrees of success. When we started the band in 1971, we were very young--I was 16--and we had just become Christians. Before that, we had all been members of several "garage" bands in San Marcos, Texas with hopes of making the big time. After we became Christians, everything changed. Well, almost everything. We still wanted to be famous, if only so that we would have a platform to tell the world what Jesus had done for us. I think there were probably a lot of Christian bands at the time that had the same basic (and naïve) vision. We shared this vision with our pastor, Jimmy Darnell, one day during a band meeting in the early 1970's. He told us that Jesus would never be popular with the world. We didn't want to hear that, but of course he was right. As the years wore on and Christian music started losing its innocence, it became quite a tightrope act for us to keep our eyes on our original vision of evangelism and not get caught up in the Christian music scene machinery.
rb: LS is the only band I can think of that releases one project per decade. I doubt that sales in the Christian market have allowed you to live off of album sales during that time! What other projects have you been involved with to pay the bills over the years?
rh: I wish I had an easy answer for you, but I don't. It's become a big joke to us now, but the truth behind why it has worked out this way is a long, convoluted story and would take up much more time than your readers could possibly bear! I'll give you the "Reader's Digest" condensed version: We were living in England when our first album "Liberation Suite" was recorded and released by Word/Myrrh records in the mid-seventies. Our contract with Word was a one-album deal, not years of multiple albums. We had played at the first Greenbelt festival. Without any contacts there, we took our van from Ireland, went over on a ferry and drove across England. When we arrived, they gave us a prime slot--actually two--and we were well-received. The last day of the festival Norman Miller offered to do our first album with Word UK.
In 1976, after two and a half years of constant performing throughout Britain and Europe, God called the band back to Texas. In 1977 we moved our entire operations to Los Angeles, California from Texas and eventually signed another one-off album deal with a British label called Chapel Lane, which was spearheaded by the person that helped get our original contract with Word--ex-Word A&R man Norman Miller. "Stride For Stride" was the result of that signing, and the album was distributed around the world by Word and Star Song Records. It would be nine more years before we would go back into the studio, this time to record our third (and independent) album, "Water And Blood." Through an unbelievable series of faux pas, a bad master of the CD was shipped to our distributor, GMI Music in the Netherlands. Faster than you can say, "WAIT A MINUTE. YOU HAVE A BAD MASTER. DON'T RELEASE. DON'T RELEASE!" it was, of course, released throughout Europe. Back to the drawing board. We re-recorded, remastered and re-released the new improved version of "Water and Blood" ourselves. GMI was unable to replace the stock of bad CDs that they had, so we were stuck with the good ones, while throughout Europe, unassuming fans were buying an inferior product. In 1993 Barry Bynum, our lead guitarist, felt that God was calling him back to Northern Ireland to work in a solo capacity. Of course, this was a big blow to the band and the new release of "Water and Blood," and it would be another eight or nine years before we were at a place where we felt it was time to record our new album Fight For The Light.
As far as paying the bills, we all work day jobs and have been for the last 20 or so years. Most of us own our own businesses, which has allowed us a little more freedom to put time into the band. (Note: see PeytonHill Communications, Inc.)
rb: As you mentioned, LS lived in Ireland for some time in the early days. Have you been back to visit in the last decade or so, and do you still have a following over there?
rh: We toured Ireland twice in the early 1990s. We lived just outside of Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1974 and in the space of about six months, we played in just about every town in the province. We have a huge amount of friends and fans there, and Lord willing, we'll be back again someday. Although we really only spent a small amount of time living there, it still feels like home to me.
rb: I was thrilled to find out that the original LS album had been re-issued on CD. Tell us a little about the process of getting the original tapes and rights so that the re-issue could happen.
rh: I attempted to track down the original master tapes in 1999 with little luck. It seems that Word Records here in the U.S. had never heard of Liberation Suite despite the fact that we were featured on one of their first Jesus Music compilations, Jubilation Too. Then in 2000, I placed a call to the president of Word Records, U.K., Graham Williams and asked if he could help us locate the masters. In what I think was an incredible act of giving, Graham tracked down the tapes personally, packaged and insured them, and had them shipped to our office in Austin, Texas. No fuss, no muss. When I opened the package, I found inside the two original master tape boxes with mastering notes from the original sessions and the tapes themselves--all in pristine condition.
rb: Barry Bynum was a big part of LS in the early days, and the new Fight For The Light album is the first one he's not part of, other than being your co-writer on the remake of Oh Lord You Know (That I Feel So Fine). Do you stay in touch with Barry, and do you think you might ever collaborate with him again in the future?
rh: Yes, we keep in touch. I mean, we've known each other since we were 13 or 14. We've been through some pretty incredible experiences together. We performed together last November at a concert here in central Texas. Barry joined us on stage and we performed Heal The Brokenhearted for the first time in many years. As far as collaborating again, you just never know what God has up His sleeve.
rb: LS has had three sets of brothers: Barry & David Bynum, Paul & Howard Lyon, and Duane & Terry Clark. It seems to be a Southern rock thing, what with the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd...is it harder to keep a band going smoothly with brothers in it? I have two sons, and they get along well, but they can get on each other's nerves pretty quick, too.
rh: Hah! This is where I can really let it rip! No, I think I'll restrain myself. Let me just say, I have some great stories that may make it into a book some day. By the way, I also had some of my own family in the band. My cousin, Bobby Hill, was one of the original members of Liberation Suite. He played trumpet in the band along with Paul Lyon, but left the group about a year before we left for England.
rb: When did Matt Sutherland join LS?
rh: Matt joined the band in 1996-97, I believe. I picked up a local music paper one day and saw an ad that he placed in the classifieds looking for a Christian band to play with. I called him up, and we met with him as a band at a local coffee shop, peppered him with questions and by the time the last cup of coffee was finished, he was in the band. Matt is a fantastic bass player and has a real ear for writing some great melodies. He co-wrote several of the new tunes on Fight For The Light.
rb: The Fight For The Light liner notes mention the fact that you, Jim and Matt all lost your fathers during the recording of Fight For The Light. Howard lost his mom a couple of years earlier. Did these difficult losses impact the project, such as in the songwriting?
rh: Most of the songs were written before any of our fathers--and Howard's mother--had died. But yes, losing them was a huge blow. It really changes your whole outlook on life.
rb: Speaking of songwriting, you've been writing most of the LS lyrics lately. Do you typically write those first and then the band comes up with the music, or do you add lyrics to existing music?
rh: I usually write the lyrics first, and I almost always come up with them in the car while I'm driving somewhere. I know it doesn't sound real safe--and you probably should avoid me on the freeway--but somehow the act of driving frees up the part of my brain where the lyrics form, and one by one, the words to a song will pop out. I usually have some kind of beat or rhythm in mind and then pass it on to Jim or Matt for them to have a go at it. Jim is great about taking some of my more lame lyrics and polishing them up. The finished product usually ends up sounding completely different from what I originally had in mind--and always much better.
rb: I like the fact that you have some fun songs like Cold Front and To Serve Mankind, but the overall message is very clear and obvious. Did you write most of the songs specifically for the Fight For The Light project, or was it more a case of writing a bunch of songs and realizing you had enough to put out another album?
rh: Most of the songs on Fight For The Light were written over the ten year period between Water And Blood and Fight For The Light. We've never had the luxury of lounging in the studio and writing songs between sips of Perrier.
rb: I was wondering who Brian Kumbalek is, and how you came up with Fight For The Light for a title track. It seemed a little unusual to record a dozen songs by the band, and then use an "outside" song for the title track. And who sings lead on the song?
rh: That's Jim singing lead on Fight For The Light. Had we known at the time how well he sings, he probably would have sung the rest of the songs on the project as well! Brian Kumbalek is better known in blues music circles as Brian Lee, a fiery guitar player from New Orleans. I found this particular song on one of his earlier albums, and was so taken by it, that I thought we should cover it. We had endless discussions on whether or not to "feature" it as the title track, but it's such a great song that we finally decided that it truly deserved the title position.
rb: How much touring has LS been doing the past couple of years?
rh: We have spent the last couple of years in the studio recording Fight For The Light. As I mentioned earlier, we all have day jobs, so time is precious. We spent as much of our off hours as possible hammering away in the studio. Our last major tour was in Europe in the early 1990's. Since the new album has been finished, we have played a smattering of gigs around our home base of Austin, Texas.
rb: Benny Hester, a popular Christian artist in the late 70s and early 80s, apparently became a Christian at an LS show in Las Vegas. Have you ever had a chance to meet Benny or do a concert together?
rh: We first met Benny in Las Vegas in 1973. At that time we were with an evangelistic tent ministry called "Christ Is The Answer." We were one of two bands that traveled and performed with the tent throughout the southwestern United States. Benny was a popular local secular performer in Vegas at the time. He heard us play and offered to help us record a demo at a Las Vegas recording studio that he worked closely with and eventually wound up accepting the Lord at one of the tent rallies. He had an independent album out at the time called, Benny which I think is probably one of the finest albums ever made. Unfortunately the recording studio that he recorded it at burned down, and with it, the master tapes.
rb: I saw the interview with Rick Derringer in your magazine. Is there any chance you might have a guest appearance from Rick on a future LS project, or have you had a chance to jam with him at all?
rh: You are talking about True Believer, a magazine that I have published for the last five years. Rick was one of my guitar heroes when I was a teenager. He is really a monster on guitar. Anyway, I saw him play with Johnny Winter in 1969 in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. I had finagled my way on stage and watched the show from the sidelines.along with about a hundred other fans. Pretty soon there were so many people on stage that I got pushed up next to Rick and he stepped on my foot while he was playing! Thirty two years later, I'm interviewing him for my magazine. Is life weird or what?! He's a great guy and a young Christian. He is still one of the best guitarists around. Who knows what will happen from here? Maybe he'll be a part of the next album. Life is weird, and it gets weirder every day.
rb: We are strangers and aliens after all. Are there any current or past Christian artists that you enjoy listening to?
rh: My favorite "Jesus Music" album is Love Song's first. I can still put that album on the turntable (yes, turntable. Remember those?) today and be transported back in time. It was well written, well recorded and should hold up musically for years to come. Then there's Larry Norman. We played with him twice at the Royal Albert Hall in London, in 1974 and 1981. We also played with him in Germany in 1991. We included several of his songs in our concert repertoire in the 1970’s. He's had some health problems, and we've agreed to do a song on a benefit album for him.
rb: How about current artists? Is there anyone out there now that you enjoy?
rh: I really like PFR. Maybe it’s the Beatle influence in their music. I was a huge Beatle fan growing up in the 60s.
rb: You've heard of Sixpence None The Richer, right?
rh: Oh, yes. They're from New Braunfels, near here. We've played there a lot. I really like their latest cover of the Crowded House hit, Don’t Dream It's Over. From what I’ve seen and heard, they really seem to have kept up their Christian witness in a very difficult place in which to do that.
rb: Did you know Leigh Nash, their singer, is married to the drummer from PFR?
rh: No, I didn't know that.
rb: LS was part of the original Jesus Music era by virtue of being young, long-haired (what happened to that?) Christian rockers in the 70s. Because the movement was centered in southern California, did you feel separated from the cultural phenomenon, or did you feel like LS was directly connected to the movement?
rh: When we started playing, we thought we were the only Christian rock band in the world. We really had no clue as to what was happening outside of Texas at the time. And because we developed as a ministry, quite apart from what was happening in California or anywhere else for that matter, we never felt the connection. On the contrary, I think we've always felt like outsiders. As far as our hair goes, it goes.
rb: What are your favorite LS songs to perform in concert, and why?
rh: Heal The Brokenhearted by far. Barry Bynum wrote the song. It's simple and from the heart, and ranks right up there with the best of worship songs in my opinion. When we sing it together, I can feel the spirit of the Lord descend on the band.
rb: Tell us a little about your family. Are your kids musicians?
rh: I have been happily married to my wife Dawn for what will be 29 years next month (April). We met at the Christ Is The Answer tent revival in 1973, fell in love and were married by the time we were 18. We have two "children": Jessica, 27 years old who was born in England when we lived there, and our son Ethan who is 25. Ethan plays lead guitar for a popular local band here in Austin (plug, plug) called Three Year Charm. He's one of the best guitar players in the world, but that's just my opinion! They have kind of a King's X sound. I get to live vicariously through my son--everyone wants to be a lead guitarist! Jessica is an extremely talented woman who has worked side by side with me editing and writing for True Believer magazine. They are both my pride and joy and I thank God continually for the wonderful family He has given me. My wife Dawn has stood by me faithfully throughout the years supporting my ministry and my dreams.
rb: What hobbies or interests do you have outside of music?
rh: I love to paint (acrylics), hunt for arrowheads, and I am an avid genealogist.
rb: So have you found any famous relatives?
rh: I read a lot of C. S. Lewis, and my mom is related to him.
rb: That's cool. I enjoy reading Lewis. Do you enjoy sports at all?
rh: No, I played the bass drum in our junior high and high school bands, and I was forced to go to way too many cold, rainy Texas high school football games. My brother is into sports, and Jim Hazel, our guitarist, really likes baseball as does Howard "Howlin Howie" Lyon. I think they both had dreams of being professional ball players as kids. Me? I was the kid that was always picked last for the team in school. Even though I played basketball and football in high school, I mainly warmed the bench. I just never got into it.
rb: What's your involvement in your local church? I believe several of the band members have been active in church worship, right?
rh: I have played drums for the worship team at my church for almost 10 years now. Jim Hazel plays guitar as part of the worship team at his church. James "Doc" Yager plays bass with his church's worship team (even though he' s a keyboard player!) and Howard sings as loud as he can (which is pretty loud) from the congregation at his church.
rb: Do you see LS putting out any more records in the future?
rh: Well, I certainly hope so, and hopefully before another 10 years is up! A band has only so many decades to record in you know! Jim has a 16-track analog recorder he set up at his place, which is where we rehearse. We recorded Fight For The Light there, and we've got about half of another album written, so it shouldn't take a decade for the next one. I'd be 57 by then!
rb: I was thinking you'd keep doing them until you're 77.
rh: That would be great, wouldn't it? I can see it now..."Liberation Suite: The Assisted Living Tour 2033"!
rb: Thanks again for taking the time to do this interview. I've enjoying reliving the old days a little as I've listened to your early records, and it's great to be able to chat with someone whose music I enjoyed as a teen growing up in a town of 80 in rural Canada. May God bless you and the band in the years to come, and thanks for the memories!
rh: How on earth did you find our album in rural Canada? Thanks so much for your support and for listening to our music over the years...it means a lot to us.
rb: It was the hair. My best friend and I used to drive 70 miles to the big city to go to a Christian bookstore and check out the LPs. One day we spotted Liberation Suite, and to be honest, I thought the cover looked like a Truth or Jeremiah People kind of thing, sort of a Christian Up With People; then I turned it over and saw you and Barry and figured anyone who looked like that had to rock. I can't remember if we listened to a demo or just bought it based on the photos, but we were not disappointed! Thanks again for taking the time to do the interview.
