Tony Cummings spoke to Nashville-based songsmith CHRIS MCCLARNEY

Chris: Ha ha, it doesn't haunt me. When I wrote that song I was writing it for my church. I had no idea that it would go anywhere further than our congregation. I'm amazed and honoured that other people sang it. I try to not get caught up in writing hits; I write for my church and hope that people like them. I don't know if there's another hit on this record, who knows.

Tony: I've spoken to some of the Jesus Culture guys down the years and the great thing about them is that they seem to give more space to artists and let them write songs as God gives them to them. Is that a fair observation?

Chris: Our goal is to honour God and lift him up and as songwriters it's to give melodies and lyrics and theology to make sure people stay connected to God in new ways. That is the ultimate goal, not to sell CDs.

Tony: Many worship songs are direct from Scripture. If you use phrases from Scripture they can be seen as "clichéd".

Chris: There are times where you can be a little cliché but I try to keep it toward God. There is a tension to try and keep things fresh. Hopefully what we write is anchored in the word of God. In some ways you are limited and it is a struggle to write old things in new ways.

Tony: Tell me a bit more about the recording session of the album. How did you put the album together?

Chris: It took about a week. We looked at all the songs and every day we tweaked the songs gradually and saw what felt good. On a Sunday morning and evening church service at the Jesus Culture Church, we invited people to come and we worshipped God. We dove into worship and not thinking too much about the fact that we were recording. We had to edit and polish.

Tony: Jesus Culture are renowned for leaving space in the arrangement for singers to receive something from the Lord and improvise. Is that something you've done?

Chris: Yeah, it's a core value. There's a Scripture that says God inhabits people. There's something special that happens when we take the time to sing a new song which is on your heart right now.

Tony: Is it more difficult to reach that place on a tour as opposed to in a church at home?

Chris: That's a good question. It's more fun on a tour. It's easier at home because people are used to it and know what is happening. However on a tour there is this energy and excitement as there are people who haven't experienced anything like this before. To conclude it's easier at home but more fun on the road.

Tony: If someone meets you in the street and asks you what you do, what do you tell them? That you're a singer/songwriter? Worship pastor? Minister?

Chris: I suppose it depends who I'm speaking to. For example if somebody saw my guitar in my bag I would say I'm a singer/songwriter and if they ask what songs I write, I would just follow up that I write church music. If it's around town and they ask what I do I would say I'm a church pastor. It's very specific to the person but I love to meet new people, so I would say anything to keep them talking. People are always interested in the guitar when I'm at an airport, they always ask where I'm travelling and they ask me to sing a song.

Tony: Social media is changing the whole music world and I find that we're reaching a "single" era where music videos are a lot more important. Have you addressed making music videos?

Chris: We recorded the worship time so that's a lot easier for me to do than to think about doing a music video. It would be silly for me to march along with a camera on me miming along to songs and making a music video. We could just record the actual worship time. Regarding the music industry, people would put out CDs with a couple of good songs and a lot of filler songs. When iTunes came out people decided to just buy the individual good songs. You used to have to buy the whole CD which includes the filler songs.

Tony: What are your feelings about streaming?

Chris: I love it! As a worship leader I want people to be able to listen to worship. I'm not motivated by making money from worship; I enjoy the pay checks but what motivates me is people singing songs so streaming gives people much easier access to music all over the world.