Checkout the church that Five Iron Frenzy helped start back in the day.

Leanor will be at Cornerstone 2010 (happening now). She wants to let you guys know to contact her if you have a band that is playing she should see. Leanor is also hosting the Cornerstone videos that are uploaded everyday. You can see her rocking out soon at: http://www.cornerstonefestival.com/coverage2010.php

Also, A Mouthful of Thunder (from Denver, CO), will be playing Cornerstone this year on Wed. night. Go see em play!

P.S. If you meet/hang out with Leanor at Cornerstone take some pics and send em in. They might just be posted!

This is a great book by Mike Sares, the guy who helped pastor Five Iron Frenzy and start Scum of the Earth church in Denver, CO. It’s a MUST READ for any FIF fan. You can find it at your local book store or online at Amazon. Below you can read an interview with Mike from the book publisher, Likewise:

You don’t have a typical pastor’s background. Tell us about what you used to do to put food on the table?

I started out as a high school English teacher and I taught at public and parochial schools in the cities of Toledo and Lima, Ohio. There was a one-year stint as both a Young Life staffer and a Presbyterian youth director on the east side of Cleveland. I worked as a laborer in the North Star Steel Mill in Monroe, Michigan, and then as a salesman for Century Marketing. After that, I was an account manager for an advertising firm until they laid me off; then I sold air and wrote commercials for a radio station while washing UPS package-cars every night for an additional four hours. Don’t even get me started on the part-time jobs during college!

You’re friends with Reese Roper and the peeps from Five Iron Frenzy. How did that friendship start? What’s your friendship like now?

Our relationship began primarily because of Reese’s need for free food during college. His modus operandi was something like, “I will humor this pastor who wants to mentor me and I will eat his free food … muahaha.” (At least that is what he told me.) The truth is, I used the meal ticket strategy with most of the band. Most of them were looking for a good church, but they were very suspicious of church authority at the same time. Our fellowship over a meal helped them get to know that I wasn’t out to exploit them and that I really cared.

Several members of the band became integral to the leadership of Scum of the Earth in 2000. Leanor (AKA “Jeff the Girl”) is still on staff. Others came and then left as either marriage or jobs took them away. In 2003, the loss of Reese, who was my co-pastor from the beginning of Scum of the Earth, grieved me. Five Iron Frenzy was calling it quits, and Reese was working on forming a new band and recording in California. Then he met a beautiful girl, Amy, and got married himself. Later, I helped him get a part-time job as the young adults director at Celebration Community Church back in Denver. After that, he and Amy ended up at a Vineyard church – but now, they are at Scum. It feels great. Although not officially on staff anymore, Reese is “Pastor Emeritus.” He has some great ideas for the church. Amy brings spiritual maturity. It is proving to be wonderful as we reconnect with some of our original DNA.

So how did the Holy Spirit hoodwink you into pastoring Scum?

Hmmm … yeah, I am embarrassed to say that Scum was not my first choice! I blame it on the severe grace of God, really.

I was looking for the highest paying job within the will of God at the time. I had been asked to resign my position at the church where I had met and pastored the FIF crowd. God used a seminary professor of mine to corner me. He made me see that the skater-punks I had been working with there needed me more than the next big church young adults group. So we had to create a place.

Why the church’s name? And why is it the best decision you’ve ever made?

Honestly, it was the best decision I NEVER made. It was Reese’s idea, most of the crew liked it; however, I did not. Call it a generational difference, but people of my age don’t “get” the name Scum of the Earth Church. It sounds too degrading. But the generation that chose it understands it. The smartest thing I did early on was to decide to submit to them in this. They knew the times and the culture we were trying to reach much better than I. And since it is taken directly from 1Corinthians 4:11-13 (NIV), it is a much more Biblical name than most churches have. It is both humble and kinda funny – and we like that.

How have dreams or direct words from God figured into your life’s journey?

That’s a huge question, and a good one. I think the best answer I have is to read the book. Quickly, though, these kinds of things are not unusual when one is familiar with the lives of the ordinary people who inhabit the stories of Scripture. I’ll say this much, and it is not in the book. When I was four years old, I saw the moving, life-like, silhouette of a man leading a donkey by a rope on my bedroom wall. I’m pretty sure I was awake, but I could have been dreaming. I wondered about that experience for a lot of years until I first laid eyes on the Likewise Books logo!

Why should Likewisers read “Pure Scum”?

The first reason should be because they trust the Likewise editorial department. What a great reputation that line of books has. Pure Scum could be a useful way to gauge how very good those other books really are (laughs). Honestly, I am honored to be among its authors.

I think that Pure Scum might be helpful for young believers who are trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus when it ceases to be a step-by-step-onward-to-glory process. The story is full of setbacks, not just in my own journey, but also in the journey of our church. I didn’t grow up in the Protestant Evangelical world, so my perspective is different – that could be useful, perhaps. And I think, for older readers whose kids are the ages of those that attend churches like Scum of the Earth, it might be a glimpse into how to relate to the next generation and not make them run away screaming.

What was the hardest part about writing “Pure Scum”? The part you enjoyed the most?

The hardest part was definitely sitting down and taking the time to write it. Pastoring, for me, is a very relational job. It is the opposite of secluding myself in a room, writing on a pad of paper or typing on a computer. I already had a full-time job, and writing sermons took up almost all of my introverted time already.

The part I enjoyed the most was writing it all down. I know that sounds like I am contradicting myself … but as I wrote, things made more sense. I was literarily (not literally) processing. I was forced to look at the arc of my life and the movement of God in it. I came away with an appreciation of His presence and wisdom that I had not fully noticed before. It’s kind of like reading the faith story of how God works in someone’s life and then realizing that this someone was you.

How do you think Christians should think about risk-taking in life?

I think that they shouldn’t think so much and just take more risks – the kind God asks us to take every day and which we conveniently shuffle to the backs of our consciousness. So what if we fail? Jesus is for losers (at least that’s what Steve Taylor told me). And what’s the worst that can happen, death? Um, Jesus has that covered. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The Church was birthed in risk, from the Incarnation to Pentecost and beyond. That’s one of the things I love about young people like those at Scum. They haven’t started protecting themselves like most of us older Christians. There’s nobody quite as dangerous as the one who believes he or she has nothing to lose.

What’s the most challenging thing about your work at Scum? What’s the coolest part?

The most challenging part is not giving in to the desire for safety, for normalcy, to rest after these last ten years. It’s daunting to give my time and my affection to yet more people who might break my heart. I can warn them not to make the wrong choices before them; but am I willing to help them pick up the pieces after those same wrong choices have shattered their lives? The coolest part is seeing them take those first faltering steps at following Jesus … and to see them running after him down the road.

I want to be like Mike. How do I start ministering to the left-out and right-brained?

Find someone who is already doing it near you and spend time with that person.

Then honestly become friends with outcasts and artists on your own. Go where they hang out. Attend their shows, openings, readings, etc. Invite them over to your place for a home-cooked meal. Stay in touch during the week. (If you’re my age, learn how to text on your phone and join facebook.) Speak the words of Jesus without condemning. As Mother Teresa said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

What else do you want Likewise readers to know about you, the church or the book? (Something funny, quirky, unique –whatever comes to mind)

I’m way too tall for a Greek, but that’s because of my Cretan heritage (and you know what the Bible says about Cretans in Titus 1:12). Some historians believe the ancient Cretans sailed east across the Mediterranean Sea and became the Philstines. What a lineage. My only defense is that sometimes those who run the farthest away from God run the fastest back.

The new track “Waiting On Your Love” by Justin McRoberts was released today with none other than Mr. Reese Roper singing on it. It actually has the bridge of Every New Day in it. Find out more from Justin talking about it and listen via the player next to the song’s lyrics below:

I originally wrote the song “Waiting On Your Love” as an indictment of the system that destroyed my father; a system of greed and power, whose utilitarian values had been gestating in the bloodstream of America since Manifest Destiny was accepted as justification for annihilating Native American culture; that is, from the beginning.

As my career as a songwriter has progressed, the story that “man is not defined by his success” has moved to center stage. Most recently the story has found a redemptive strain in my role as an advocate with Compassion International.

Though the song was started and mostly completed in the summer of 1998, it took me quite a while to finish, partially because of it’s emotional content. Therefore, along with several other songs about the loss of my father to suicide, “Waiting On Your Love” did not appear until my 2nd release, quite un-creatively entitled “Father,” in 2000.

In the meantime, Frank Tate at Five Minute Walk sent me out on my first national tour; FIF’s “Holy Roller” tour. We played 48 shows in about 55 days, most of which were in roller skating rinks. Now, there is quite a bit memorable about those 2 months. And much about them set the tone for the rest of my experience as a professional musician. But here is the key: Up to that point and even since, I had not and have not seen a band have the kind of relationship with their fan-base, their colleagues or the promoters who booked them as FIF.

I needed to see that.

I needed to know that there was a way to enter into a career fraught with (and quite often driven by) the same utilitarian values I was learning to despise and war against but not allow them to define my path. I needed know that I could serve people, support people… be first and foremost about people… to work towards making friends instead of fans and partners instead of contacts… and trust that, in doing so, my needs would be met. To put first things first. In Five Iron Frenzy and the Five Minute Walk family, I saw that at work.

And so, as I revisit my role and career in light of becoming a father later this month, it is only appropriate that I revisit the songs I was moved by and those I was moved to write; hence the collision of Waiting and Every New Day.

Thanks once again to the FIF crew for being a part of my story. In particular, thanks to Reese for his appearance on the track. I hope y’all dig it.

Justin
@justinmcroberts

The Five Iron Frenzy DVD should be available at all these fine Hot Topic stores.
Be sure to buy them all!!!

Don’t see your store listed here? Check FIFDVD.com for the most updated listings.

JUST ADDED:

Bull Moose (New England)
Newbury (New England)
Park Ave (FL)
Plan 9 (VA)
Vintage Vinyl (NJ)
Ramalama (OH)
Reckless (IL)
Waterloo (TX)
Amoeba (CA)
Dimple (CA)
Music Millennium (WA)
Rasputin (CA)
Silver Platters (WA)
Streetlight (CA)
ZIA (AZ/NV)

The release date of the FIF DVD has been pushed back to APRIL 13th, but pre-orders will be shipping on MARCH 19th.

Get it early by pre-ordering it now at FIFdvd.com

Exclusive clips from the documentary coming soon!!!

Also, make sure to sign-up for the FiveIronFrenzy.com e-list and Twitter for update notices on the dvd, website and future FIF interviews!

… right from http://fiveironfrenzy.com/v3/#tboard!

Share the love/hate you have for FIF with the world! Make new friends. All of Twitter is your stage. Start a conversation. Do it now. Or not.

Alternate URLs that also point to the board:

http://fifboard.fiveironfrenzy.com
http://board.fiveironfrenzy.com
http://frenzyboard.fiveironfrenzy.com

Make sure to visit FIFdvd.com for all the news. And stop by FiveIronFrenzy.com again for more downloads and some exclusive dvd clips coming soon!

The Rise and Fall of
FIVE IRON FRENZY
“…catch the feeling!”
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Make sure to visit FIFdvd.com for all the news. And stop by FiveIronFrenzy.com again for more downloads and some exclusive dvd clips coming soon!

The Rise and Fall of
FIVE IRON FRENZY
“Blocky”
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The Rise and Fall of
FIVE IRON FRENZY
“Blocky”
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It has been six years now since Five Iron Frenzy broke-up as a band. What have you been up to since then? What are you doing now?

What’s is like working at Singing Serpent? What made you want to start it/get involved with it and be based in NYC?
We toured with Soul Junk during the summer of 2000, and that is when I met Glen Galaxy. I began talking with him about this business start-up, and the rest is history. I love working with my partners, I love the artists we support, and the work that we do. We decided we needed a New York presence back in 2005, and seeing how Melinda is from around here, we decided to make the move. It is very different from Denver or the west coast, but we are liking it a lot.

What was it like to work on a the most recent Brave Saint Saturn album, Ant-Meridian?
Brave Saint Saturn projects have always been a little fragmented, and this one felt that way too. I really enjoyed making the record. I don’t record or write as much as I once did, and it felt really good. I’m pretty happy with what we made overall.

How does it feel to have the BS2 trilogy completed? Will BS2 be touring in the near future?
It’s always nice to complete something that you start. The main thing for me is, whether or not I like the way the band sounds, and whether I think we have something to say or not. I will always enjoy working with Reese and Andy and Keith, so I’m open to more projects for sure.

Do you have any plans for follow-up solo album Ascents? Is DennisBayne.com down for good?
Definitely, that will be the next thing I do. I’m working on some more straight up gospel/worship stuff, and I’ve got a ton of personal songs I need to get done and out of my system. I’m not sure if I’ll use the ‘dennis bayne’ name though.

What are the things you miss most and least about being in Five Iron?
The people, the travel, the freedom. Also just feeling the touch of God occasionally on what we were doing, that is something I will never get enough of.

Do you have any funny or interesting stories from FIF days you’d like to share?
I was the responsible guy. Once when we broke down they sent me out to talk to the old guy that stopped to see if he could help. While he was hooking us up to his car the band was making off color remarks about something – they thought it was funny how I would glare at them in embarrassment.

This guy hooked us up to his Oldsmobile with like a six foot chain. We were a van and a trailer full of junk, and he had this ancient sedan. I didn’t think it would move. He took of SO fast and drove like 80 miles an hour, with us so close I couln’t even see his bumper. I thought we would all die. Seriously, I don’t know how we survived somethimes.

Do you Twitter?
no.

There is a Five Iron Frenzy dvd coming out this winter. Have you seen it yet?
not yet, I’m excited.

Do you think FIF will ever to a reunion tour?
Eh….

Any thoughts you’d like to end the interview with?
Thanks to anyone interested in our band, I’ve always been amazed at the way Five Iron connected and still connects with people. We had and still have some incredible fans, there is no doubt about that.

-Dennis.