In early January of this year (2005) one of Floodgate Records' new bands, Forever Changed, came to my hometown for a concert. I was blessed to be invited to the show and to meet with the guys that comprise the band for a pre-show interview. They were a bit late after having some trouble with their van, so Brian and I got to talk to the staff and volunteers at the venue and see what else they had going on.


The Core is a wonderful teen outreach ministry that is a part of Christ Community Church in Columbus, GA. The Core is the youth club and there is also a huge skateboard park for the kids who would rather skate than listen to music. Jonathan, the manager of the Skateboard Park, told us that on the nights that the park is open any kids are welcome to come skate, so it's not just members of the church. There are bible study classes on those nights and in order to skate, the kids have to attend the study. The number of kids and teens that we saw there showed us that the rules are definitely not a problem for the kids. Raven, who runs the Core side, told us that they have live music on Friday nights and Monday nights, as well as having regional competitions for local bands. While wandering around, we saw teens from all walks of life, dressed in styles that ranged from Goth to casual jeans and T-shirts. No skin-tight, shorty-short, let the entire world see EVERYTHING I've got styles though ...

which was really refreshing when compared to what I see at the mall and on TV. About 200 teenagers were there and it was immediately apparent that this wasn't your average rock concert and it sure wasn't your average venue. The kids were all getting along, not being rowdy and being as well behaved as they would have been had they been packed in my living room. The police officer that was providing security commented that the Core events were known as some of the easiest duties because the kids were just so great. My hat is off as a parent and as a journalist to the crew at the Core. Not only is that EXACTLY the kind of place I want to see my kids going to, it's also a dream for a journalist because they are so well run.

After our tour the Forever Changed crew pulled in and we sat down to talk while they ate. These guys are serious about their faith and their calling ... but not at all too serious about themselves. In our time together I got to see just how deep they can go with their faith and their beliefs and just how funny they can be as well. They have a natural gift for balancing seriousness with silliness and it works wonders. Add to that their natural talent and you have a hard combination to beat. At the end of their show I know that the crowd agreed because the chant of "One more song ... One more song" could be heard down the street. Watch out world ... Forever Changed is coming, and their ministry just may well change your life .... forever.

Kim - How are you guys doing?

FC - Good, full, good.

Kim - I've heard that the best part of the road is the food. Is that an accurate statement?

FC - It's up there. It's hit or miss. The times that it's good, it's really, really good. Sometimes it's nonexistent and we have to go to McDonald's or something like that. We get a lot of lasagna, stuff like that. Stouffer's.

Kim - Would you guys mind introducing yourselves and telling what you do in the band?

Dan - I'm Dan Cole and I sing and play the guitar.

Tom - My name's Tom and I play the bass.

Ben - My name's Ben and I play lead guitar.

Nathan - My name is Nathan and I play drums.

Kim - All right ... so now you've met Forever Changed. You guys are from Florida, so how did you end up signed with a label out of California?

Dan - About a year ago we got a call from a label, Floodgate, out of LA. One of their people was traveling with one of their bands, Number One Gun, at a venue in Jacksonville that we've played several times. We're really good friends with the owners and we've got a great relationship with them. It's a place called the Murray Hill Theater in Jacksonville. Anyway, the manager there showed this A & R rep from Floodgate our stuff and a few days later he called our manager and he was like "Hey Forever Changed I love your stuff! I'm going to show the CEO your stuff". And he showed to Tim Taber, the guy who runs the label. From then on we started building a relationship and they actually flew out to that same venue in March and it was a snowball effect from there.