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CONVERSATIONS: FINDING FAITH’S ANDREW TIERNEY AND TIM DUNFIELD

Finding Faith outdoor

DAVID ADAMS catches up with Human Nature’s Andrew Tierney and US pastor Tim Dunfield – who last year released their first album as Finding Faith – about what’s been going on for them since…

Human Nature’s Andrew Tierney and US pastor Tim Dunfield released their debut album as Finding Faith last year and the songs on it are still making waves. They spoke about the response to the album, what it’s like living in Las Vegas and news Human Nature is being inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association’s (ARIA’s) Hall of Fame…

 

It’s more than a year since we last spoke when you’d just released your debut – and self-titled – album, Finding Faith, together. Have you been happy with the response?

Tim – “Yeah, we’ve been really happy with the response, especially in Australia. We’ve just had such great and positive feedback and comments from people. Whenever we hear about life change, whenever we hear about people saying that the song really impacted them, we’re so blessed that that happened. So it’s really been a great response…Here in the United States, we’ve had good response – not maybe what we’d hoped but that’s just part of the deal with the music.”

Andrew – “It’s been a journey really for this whole record, even from the idea of making an album – that [wasn’t something] we ever set out to do. It kind of was an evolution from best friends and then writing for our church and then we had the opportunity to make the record…[If people have said] one of the songs brings them somehow a different presence of God in their lives or brings them closer to God or a moment of worship each day, that seems to be all we need to be proud of what we’ve done. That’s what God called us to do, to put down these songs as a witness to what He’s done in our lives and then He’ll use it how He wants to…I think the one person that tells us the album has made a difference in their lives gives us reason to actually be thankful we got to make it.”

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Andrew Tierney (left) and Tim Dunfield (right) are Finding Faith. PICTURE: Supplied. 

You alluded to it there – but has the album changed your lives in any way? Have you spent any time touring with it or has it just been the release?

Tim – “It’s mostly been the release – we’ve been out touring when we’ve had a chance to do that…and we’ve been fortunate enough that we have two great churches here in Vegas that we were able to perform at [as well as at] other events. But we both have fulltime jobs – I’m a pastor [at Sin City Church] and Andrew with Human Nature – so we have been a little bit limited in our ability to tour. However, we’re hoping that in the new year, God will open up some doors and opportunities to do it a bit more.”

 

Love Be The River is currently at number 20 on the TCM chart in Australia [at the time of interview]. Apparently there’s a bit of a backstory to the song. Andrew, are you able to share some detail on how that song came together?

Andrew – “It was really inspired by Tim and I talking about the fact that we both live in the desert. Tim would preach a lot about the desert, funnily enough, and I made a joke that probably every pastor in Las Vegas uses the desert as an analogy because it’s so true – God uses the desert all through the Bible to illustrate different seasons of [people’s] faith and different struggles and how He will show up in those moments to provide a river or stream through the desert…
     “So it’s really something that’s close, being here in Vegas, just that reality of living in a dryness and a kind of barrenness. But, as Christians, we know that it’s the rivers that run through that, that we all have that hope in. That’s what saves us and what carries us through to the next day…What we talk about in this song is every Christian’s journey – just allowing God’s love to be that river that will feed us and carry us and fill us up.”

IN SHORT –  ANDREW TIERNEY

A favourite Bible verse? “Worry about nothing and pray about everything” [Philippians 4:6]

A musician I admire? “Chris Martin – a great lyrist and unique vocalist”

Something that’s recently made me go wow? “My little daughter who turned three [recently] – it made me go wow!”

 

IN SHORT – TIM DUNFIELD

A favourite Bible verse? Paul’s words to Timothy – “God has not given us a Spirit of fear but a Spirit of power and love and self control” [II Timothy 1:7]

A musician I admire? “Prince – absolutely.”

Something that’s recently made me go wow? “Kanye West”

 

Would you say that your faith has been impacted by the creation of and then the release of the album? And if it has, in what way?

Tim – “I would say it definitely has…Music has always been part of my life – I’ve been a musician my whole life as well as being a pastor and I’ve thought about releasing music before – I released a worship CD at a former church…but I’ve never really had the opportunity to do something on this scale before. I’ve always been fine with that – that’s what God wanted me to do and I’ve always believed that He gave me this gift for a reason but perhaps it was just for the church and so I’ve been content with that.
       “[But] as…we’ve had the ability to put out this album and see the response of it, it’s really impacted my faith journey. I’ve seen God use me to reach people through music that I have never been able to in the past. But it has also taken me all of these years to get to a point where I was probably ready for Him to do that with me…So it’s actually just made me more and more thankful [for] who God is and how He’s protected me and used me in this life…”

 

You’re both based in Vegas. How do go keeping grounded in a place which is obviously all about glitz and glamour?

Andrew – “It is a town of excess and anything you might want to get your hands on, you can. I think it would be the same in any city – if you want to find your vices or your temptations, you’ll find them, but in Vegas it’s just much easier, I believe – it’s actually in a way…a little bit celebrated…As family men, which we both are, we live outside the strip and we can kind of see the strip for what it is. There is amazing things on the strip – there’s amazing restaurants, there’s amazing shows and things, so I don’t want to put the city down. It’s just it happens to be built on, you know, ‘good times’…and that’s why it’s called ‘Sin City’. But, I think, as Christians living in Vegas, we can see the greatness in it and we can see the darkness in it. I’ve lived here 10 years now and where both Tim and I live, it’s just normal family life and our churches are normal suburban churches. It’s just that 20 minutes down the road is one of the most famous and celebrated temptation zones in the world…” 

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And it’s the same for you Tim?

Tim – “Yes, absolutely. I was thinking about it today – when my wife and I came to Vegas for the first time it was late at night and we drove down the strip and, you know, were overwhelmed and awed by the lights and everything and a little shocked at some of the billboards. And yet, when we went into the first casino we came to and found a beautiful buffet…we just looked at each other and said ‘We’re home – this is where God wants us to be’. And we’ve always felt that way.
     “You know, Las Vegas is a bit of transient city – a lot of people move here and they only spend a couple of years here before they realise either they don’t like what Vegas stands for or they lose their money or whatever it is. So people who have only been here for five or six years can be considered long-term residents. My wife and I have always kind of been transient – she was born in London, England, and I was raised in Hong Kong and Singapore – so we’re used to that transient lifestyle. So it’s easy for us to live in this town and form friendships with people who are just moving into the city or are transient…So we just really feel like the city suits who were are.”

 

Andrew, I understand you’re about to come Downunder to tour with Human Nature and while here you’re going to be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. That’s a pretty big thing.

Andrew – “It’s an amazing honour. This is our 30th year together as a group so it’s been quite a highlight year for us and just to have the ARIA Awards choose us to be this year’s honorees, it’s really humbling. I’m proud of the career that we’ve had and it’s just nice to think that the industry and the country at large feel that we’ve had such a long-standing impact on Australian music and culture. So it’s just a pinch yourself moment and something that I’ve been looking forward to sharing with my mum and dad and also the record company we’ve been with for so long…It’s not something I ever worked toward…[I’ve] just been blessed to do my hobby…as my career. So when you get to these milestones, you look back and think ‘Wow, we’ve had an amazing ride so far and we’re still together and still enjoying it’. So it’s going to be a really nice night.”

 

As Finding Faith, are there any new projects in the wind for you?

Tim – “Andrew and I are actually in the process of writing again with hope of a new album coming soon. We’ve both been in a very creative phase and we already have a couple of songs that we’re in the process of demoing, so we’re excited about that and what the future holds…Both of us are excited about the possibility of new music coming and potentially a new album down the road.”


PREVIOUSLY: 


And lastly – Kanye West’s Jesus is King is making headlines around the world at the moment. What’s your take on it? 

Tim – “I’m fascinated by what he’s doing. It’s not every day you have a cultural moment like we’re seeing happen right now. One of the most controversial and largest hip-hop artists in the world is suddenly proclaiming Jesus is King where just a year or so ago he was proclaiming that he was king. I look at Saul and his conversion on the road to Damascus and I think ‘If God can take a person like Saul and turn his life around overnight, He can do it with Kanye’. So I’m just excited to see what this means going forward as Kanye develops in his faith…He’s a new believer right now but as he continues on this journey, I want to see how that impacts his family, how it impacts his relationships, [how] it impacts his music. So I’ve very excited and optimistic to watch his journey.” 

 

Anything to add to that Andrew?

Andrew – “I feel exactly the same as Tim, I’m super-inspired by it. When the album dropped…I actually sent a text to Tim and said ‘Wow, this album’s inspired me’. Just the statement itself…I loved what he was saying…I just feel what he is doing is amazing and it’s bold…I think for God to call someone like Kanye to be a mouthpiece for His Gospel, how amazing is that? I don’t imagine that Kanye is going to have an easy walk and he may, as we all do, fall from grace – and for him that will be in the public spotlight, but I just think the fact that he will open people’s eyes to how amazing God is, is a wonderful thing. So I’m fully supportive and I love the record.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

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