Kris Neel is one of five friends who compose The Assemblie, an indie gospel rock band from New Iberia. “Stray,” one of their songs, has gotten over 1 million plays on Spotify, which brought them to the attention of a few labels. The band heard a few offers but ultimately decided to remain independent.

As the band regroups to take into account shifting priorities of the musicians involved, Kris has branched out as a solo singer-songwriter and recently released a self-titled EP.

 

If we do not define what success is worth personally, we’re just going to be chasing after what others have defined success to be.” - Kris Neel  

Kris came on the show to discuss how his band got over 1 million plays on Spotify, the inspiration behind his new EP, and the way that his faith shapes all of his music. Some of the things we discuss in the episode include #

• The importance of honesty and vulnerability in art
• Why staying indie makes sense for some musicians
• How a community connection can supercharge an album release
• What kind of misconceptions sometimes arise about gospel music
• Whether there's a difference between being a Christian artist and being an artist who explores Christian themes
• Finding a balance between music aspirations and family connections

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Sponsor for this Episode

Fable House and I are partnering together to produce distinguished music videos for bands with big visions who want to share their music with the world in memorable, imaginative, and soulful ways.

Based in Louisiana, Fable House is a production company that has produced millions of dollars worth of content. They have shot features for the SyFy channel, produced a number of polished music videos, and shot a short film that screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

https://vimeo.com/147341881

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Ready to bring your music dreams to life? Let's discuss: [email protected]

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Related Things

• Kris's site
• His EP on
  • Amazon, iTunes, Spotify
• Kris on
  • Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
• The Assemblie on Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify

 

Kris plays at Presonus on May 23

 

• Bono discusses the Psalms with Eugene Peterson, author of The Message translation of the Bible
• Anchor Chapel, where Kris and I go to church
• Some recent music episodes of The nsavides Podcast that might also be of interest
  • Live music producer WadeSutton on how to optimize your live shows for maximum impact
  • VP of Marketing at CD Baby, Kevin Breuner, on how to make money as a musician without a label

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Bands & Recording Artists Mentioned

• The Assemblie - "Stray"
• Bono
• The Brilliance
• Cool Hand Luke
• Ed Sheeran - "Supermarket Flowers"
• Future of Forestry
• Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"
• Johnny Cash
• Kris Neel
• Lukas Graham - “Happy Home"
• Smalltown Poets

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Books Mentioned

• Bible
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
• The Message by Eugene Peterson

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Art Mentioned

Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald

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