If Elijah looked down from Heaven and saw that he'd helped inspire an English rock band, how would he react? Probably with approval. They've been in similar work: Elijah was God's man in an unbelieving age. Thirty centuries or so later, After The Fire are God's band in a similar secular age. But rather than standing on top of mountains After The Fire go to the social centres of 20th century life - the pubs, clubs, dances and discos.
For six years they have slogged around the secular music circuit, surviving 600-mile journeys, days without sleep, missed meals, truculent promoters, noisy and drunk audiences. Keyboards player Pete Banks has almost gone to sleep at his keyboards. Music critics have praised them and also been amazed by them. A New Musical Express writer was astounded that they didn't 'turn on' through drugs or drink before performing.
They're also £4,500 in debt and wondering what lies ahead after their first album is released this month. To quote Andy Piercy - lead singer and lead talker -
"We've gone through everything that a group will go through apart from having our gear stolen."
Pete Banks is the only survivor of he original band formed in December 1971 with help from 1 Kings 19:12. He explains:
"The verse was read in a service or something. Elijah was in a cave: there was a wind, an earthquake, a fire: and after the fire a still small voice and God was in the voice: I thought, Cor that's a good name."
The line-up has changed several times since then. Now it consists of physics graduate Pete (28) on keyboards; occasional pig farmer and qualified telephone engineer Andy (26) on lead, acoustic guitar and vocals; retired civil servant Ivor Twidell (20) on drums; and former salesman Nick Battle (20) on bass guitar. Together they produce a sound reminiscent of famous bands Genesis; Yes and Greenslade, with characters as diverse as the instruments they play.
Andy is the bearded extrovert talker; Pete the thoughtful, quieter, steadying influence; Nick, brim-full of youthful exuberance and Ivor, the big, gentle butt of countless band jokes. Or that's the way it seemed as we chatted over tea and bread pudding. The motivation to be Christian rock musicians working secular gigs was summed up in an early prayer, says Andy:
"We knew that we couldn't work on the Christian scene, become a superstar band as it were and then step across to the secular scene because you are a nobody there. So we said, 'Right, we are going to work our way up the secular scene. Right from the bottom we are going to pay our dues'."
Because their medium is rock music, direct evangelism - like a talk between songs - is out. Explains Andy:
"We never say we're a Christian group. We're just a group. I mean nobody gets up and says, We're an atheist group. A rock group is just so different from a folk presentation where words are so important. When people go and see a rock band live they want to get excited by the music. They pay their quid and they want to get off on the music."
Their Christian lifestyle has been:
"quite a dilemma to the music world where it's push, push, push, grab, push yourself in,"
says Andy.
"It's hard. You're under the same sort of pressures that non-Christians are but non-Christians can react. The easiest thing would be to swear in a bloke's face, maybe hit somebody and you're sorely tempted to do it sometimes. All the time you've got the added pressure that you've got to keep control of yourself."
How do they manage that when they're confronted with a promoter who won't pay up? Andy:
"You get really annoying situations from promoters who rip you off. But we don't see it as a hassle, because in a sense you expect it. Their scruples and moral standards are just so totally different to Christian ones."
Maintaining that lifestyle has led to some pretty funny situations: Miles, a journalist with the music paper New Musical Express couldn't believe that anybody could be in rock music and be Christians. In a review of the band, he wrote:
"It is this Christian side of their music that troubled me. Though I'm sure many rock and roll musicians are Christians, this is a different matter to trying to put across a Christian message through rock 'n roll. To me rock 'n roll is the music of rebellion and of sexual liberation - music which cuts through hypocrisy and guilt, music which attacks patriarchy and authoritarianism, and as such constitutes a direct attack on what I think of as traditional Christian values."
Nick remembers chatting to Miles at that Bristol gig. Their conversation went something like this:
Miles: "Don't you turn on before a gig?"
Nick: "Turn on? I don't understand?"
Miles: "You know, take dope or drink."
Nick: No, we don't, we're Christians. We don't do that."
Then Andy arrived and ordered six pints of orange juice. Miles' face dropped. He said to Andy:
Miles: "Well don't you turn on?"
Andy: "No. Only in prayer."
"He just didn't know where to look then. He didn't know whether I was pulling, his leg or not,"
says Andy. The band drink only orange juice at gigs. Pete:
"That's not to say we don't drink. But at gigs we always ask for orange juice and take orange juice on stage. It's also a way of getting something extra from promoters: especially at smaller gigs where they are really tight about money."
Some promoters find their teetotalism hard to accept.
"There was a guy in Leeds who had a sort of argument about it,"
Ivor remembers,
"We asked for orange juice and he said: 'No I'll buy you a real drink lads. I'll buy you a real drink.'"
NME journalist Miles also saw them pray before the Bristol gig - a practice they adopt at all gigs. Prayer meetings amid beer crates to the background of disco music is a regular experience. Says Andy:
"Sometimes you've got to really strain to hear the other person praying. We encourage one another. We are a body; like a little church moving around. That's why it's important that we are a unit. We're sensitive to one another and look after each other."
The unit is also backed and supported by the fellowship of other Christians:
"We nearly always try and arrange accommodation with Christians," says Pete. "And there's a sustaining spirit from them. Sometimes Christians just stroll backstage before a gig and have fellowship."
They regard the support of Christians as vital particularly during times of stress or when they are questioning their ministry. The constant grind of touring gets them down. They've done as many as 30 gigs in six weeks: They've done a 630-mile round trip, stayed awake for up to 30 hours, missed meals and 'felt like zombies'. Andy:
"People say that a hardship brings you closer to the Lord. In a sense being in a rock band is a permanent hardship. People don't see the hours of slogging, hours of driving. We only recently had two roadies. Once we hired a van and did all the roadying ourselves So four times a day we'd load and unload two tons of gear, play and drive. More than once I've stood on stage desperately trying to keep awake."
Pete:
"Once I was so tired I just couldn't play well: I was literally falling to sleep. The squalor gets us down. Sometimes our van is a lovely van but up until recently there wasn't much of an engine and the poor thing is falling to bits. There's only three seats in it and there's six of us. So we have to go in the back and sit on the gear. It's like a closed box. In the summer it's like an oven; in the winter it's freezing. But any touring band is in the same situation. Any band trying to get anywhere has got a similar sort of lifestyle ... but they can hit out when they are tired and fight for their rights which we wouldn't do."
Their times of hardship has increased their dependence and love of God. Andy:
"We've learnt to love the Lord more because we've learnt how more dependable He is. Sometimes we're under strain and we get fellowship from a family . Which is just what we need. The Lord never seems to let us get below a certain point. Just at the right point the Lord will slip in a little something ... Like a telephone call: like finding an envelope on the organ as you go on to do a gig, and there's £15 inside. My own church recently gave a donation of £l0. And it just warms your heart; You just smile inside."
They've also had the continual frustration of not achieving their aim of a contract with a secular record company despite very good reviews in the music press. Ex-Radio Caroline DJ Johnny Jason perhaps summed up that frustration when he was quoted as saying:
"Is there no justice in the World that a band like this has no record contract?"
Music writer Chas De Whalley in Sounds said:
"You will find them quite strangely un-derivative and fresh. Much to my surprise I found After The Fire remarkably enjoyable. Even on stage the four Fires seem to be one of the friendliest and unaffected bands in a long while."
So why haven't they got a contract? The band are at a loss to explain it although they believe the New Wave has now taken a lot of record company resources. Andy:
"It's one of those things we are just going to understand in retrospect. It makes you feel like weeping sometimes ... you just can't understand it."
But as well as the low times there are also the highs and they rate Greenbelt this year and The Marquee Club concert in London in May as the best. Almost 1000 fans packed the prestigious Marquee and another 300 were turned away. The club management were astounded by their following although most fans came on free tickets. One talent scout commented:
"I've never seen people so genuinely enthusiastic about what they are doing."
Pete remembers:
"We had a real joy and praise in our hearts after that concert. It was amazing."
"We felt there was such an air of victory,"
says Andy.
"It's a secular place. The heart of music biz in England, and a Christian group packed it. There was an atmosphere of love in a place that is normally used to the aggression of groups. We believe it was honouring to the Lord and we won something back for the Lord ... it was a victory."
They have a real 'soft spot' for Greenbelt.
"We grew up through it,"
says Andy.
"It's the time of the year when we see everyone we know. It means a lot to us because we're with Christians, whereas 95% of the time we're out in the jungle as it were. It's like coming back to the family. We need it. We need that encouragement."
So what effect have they had on the people who hear their music? Ivor remembers individual influences:
"One girl in Chatham always comes to our gigs. One night she came to a gig in a church. That was a big step for her."
Nick:
"And she brought friends who wouldn't normally go to a church."
Andy:
"We have all sorts of people drawn to the group at bookings - non-Christian people, backslidden people. I know one backslidden Christian who comes along and slates, swears, anything to shock us. He likes to tell us what a load of rubbish Christianity is. Yet he keeps coming to see us. There are non-Christian people all around the country who consider themselves our friends and are just moving more and more along the way to Christianity."
Pete:
"We are reaching through love and, friendship the people that just have nothing ... the 95% who have nothing to do with the church in any way."
But they won't see the completion of this ministry until their first album - recorded at ICC Studios in Eastbourne - is released. The album has been produced and engineered by the band, and includes an all-important lyric sheet. They pressed 4000 albums and already have 1000 advance orders. The band believe it will round off their ministry, because their fans will be able to hear and read what they have been playing and singing for so long. Andy explains:
"Up to now we've had a certain ministry of winning friends and proving that people can be in rock music and be Christians. In a live situation one of our aims has been to win friends so they will buy an album and hear what we're saying."
All the things they have been singing, talking about and acting out as Christians will be encapsulated in the album.
"The lyrics are very positive and you can preach on them," says Andy. "They're not the be all and end all of the gospel; not John 3:16 in every line and every song. An album is not a total evangelistic concept, but it's a large step, whereas just live work is a very small step."
The lyrics - written by Andy; music by Pete - try to present truth across the spectrum of life. Some talk of the problems and hassles of living; others are parables. They are aimed at bringing people to realise their need. They're also banking on the album to help pull them out of a £4,500 debt which is restricting future plans.
"We can't afford to go forward because we need another investment off £10,000 in lights and rig and truck. We can't afford to stop because we already have a debt of £4,500," says Andy. "It's like you reach the top of a hill and you're just about to go over it and your back wheels start slipping."
Pete believes there are two alternatives when they've sold the albums. They could wind up or promote the album with secular record companies. The album is due out this month. Let's hope it kindles a lot of faith in a lot of hearts.
