Exclusive Eoghan Heaslip Interview

September 2004

Eoghan Heaslip is an up-and-coming worship leader whose latest album, Grace in the Wilderness, is an impressive, mature and confident piece of work. If you don’t believe us, check out the four-star review for it in our Music Reviews section. We were happy to get a phone call from him in Dublin on 15th September, 2004, and we had a quick chat about his work, his faith and his plans for the future.

Grace in the Wilderness is your follow-up to Mercy. Did you approach this album differently?

Mercy was kind of like a “best of” album for me. Mercy had six old songs, four new songs and two cover songs. This new album was the complete opposite. I used the same producer, Paul Mills, who is an incredibly creative and gifted person. Grace in the Wilderness has eleven new songs of mine.

Mercy and Grace in the Wilderness were both recorded live. Do you prefer this to recording in the studio?

I think I do, although in truth, they are not completely live. There is integrity in that the recording has the bare bones of worship that night; you get the spirit of the night which is irreplaceable - the drums, the keyboards, the bass. Then we redid the main vocals, acoustic and electric guitar. On Grace in the Wilderness I played with some friends of mine, so I had the support of their friendship, but we also made some excellent music. We had an entire week of rehearsals for Grace in the Wilderness - daily rehearsals. Matt and Callum were the bass and rhythm section for the last four or five UK Vineyard albums. They’ve played all over the world. They’re an incredible combo.

You closed your recent album with “Amazing Grace”. What made you decide to use this song rather than something new?

In some ways, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. I didn’t use the entire song, just the chorus or refrain. There’s a familiarity to it, and that enhances the song of mine that it’s tagged on to (“Love Beyond Measure”). There’s also a song on the album called “Doxology”, which I rewrote from the hymn by Isaac Watts: “From All That Dwells Below the Skies”. There’s a way the old hymn-writers word things, and I want to bring that language and vocabulary into what we do now.

How does the Bible help you in your ministry?

It gives me a platform or a foundation. What I’m really struck by at the moment is 1 Chronicles 29 where David is inviting people to consecrate themselves. He describes the silver and gold that he gave himself in the rebuilding of the temple, and he invites the people to give as well. This shows people responding to the response of their leaders. I’ve been trying to drag that forward where appropriate in my worship. Hopefully, people will see my willing response to God and will want to respond as well. I carry the themes and images and reality of the Bible into the times I’m leading worship. The Bible is like personal food and fuel.

Who are your favourite musicians, both Christian and otherwise?

Those who are writing quality worship songs, people like Graham Kendrick and Matt Redman. On the other end of the scale, there’s Kevin Prosch who is the worship leader’s worship leader. His songs are written from very deep places. Other influences of mine are bands like Keane, U2, Coldplay, Peter Gabriel ... I’m a bit of an anorak when it comes to Peter Gabriel. I have all his live DVDs.

Is there anywhere that word-on-the-web subscribers can see you in coming months?

I was in Berlin last weekend, and I’m going to South Africa on the 24th September. I am doing something in Peckham in October. That’s pretty much it till Christmas, but I’m going to be in the UK in January a couple of times. You could check out my website at eaghanheaslip.com

Eoghan, thanks very much for taking the time to talk to us.

You can find a review of "Grace in the Wilderness", at: our music review section.