Interview with Trent
Trent are the 5-piece worship band from Trent Vineyard church in Nottingham.
Regulars at New Wine, we're excited to have Trent with us at Skegness Week 1.
We met up with Matt Loose from the band and asked him a few questions...
What do the band members do for a day job?
We cover a range of things! My day job is as a lecturer in genetics. We also have a worship pastor and guitar maker, a researcher in the built environment, an employee of the local water board and a drummer who does something to do with air conditioning NHS hospitals - but we're not quite sure what! We're all kept pretty busy.How did Trent come about as a band?
Trent as a band has existed for a few years now. Within our local church Trent Vineyard, Nigel (the worship pastor) felt it would be good to move towards a band setup for Sunday worship.So, instead of a rota with different musicians playing each week with a different worship leader, we established regular groups of musicians who would always play together. We tried to move away from a worship leader and backing musicians to a model where the whole band collectively lead worship together - there is still one guy who sings at the front, but we all write songs together, arrange songs together and try and lead through our instruments.
We've been playing together for nearly 10 years now and tried to think back to our first rehearsal the other day - none of us could remember it! It seems like we have been rehearsing forever! Fortunately we all get on pretty well most of the time!
How do you feel about coming to Spring Harvest 2010?
We're all really looking forward to Spring Harvest this year. We played at the after hours venues two years ago and had a great time, but it will be good to be at one venue for a full week.It is always challenging to serve and lead a large group in worship, but we really enjoy the relationship and fellowship that builds up within a congregation over a week together. We're really excited to see what God has in store for Spring Harvest 2010 and we're honoured to be a part of it this year.
Tell us a bit about the band’s heart and its role in your local church...
Sung worship is the heartbeat of every Vineyard church. It happens throughout the whole life of our church, from serving hot food to the homeless on the streets of Nottingham (we have a full band playing sometimes these days with generators and the works) to the discipleship year (church leadership training) and small group meetings.A very good friend of ours from Oxford (Simon Ponsonby) commented on the worship songs we've written, saying that "our feet are planted in the church with arms reaching out". We've taken that to be our worship vision statement and goal. However, within our church we are just one of four bands who cover the services each month.
In the wider life of the church there are nearly two hundred individuals involved in worship. Trent is just one small part of that community of worshippers and we aim to serve our local church and, if possible, bless the wider community as well.
What do you do guys do to unwind?
A great question. Some of us are triathlon runners and cyclists, some of us prefer the gentler pursuits of reading, relaxing with friends and perhaps a film or two. Unfortunately when you get to see us you can probably work out who is who!A couple of us have small families and so the idea of having time to unwind at the moment is a strange one! Perhaps the best answer is sleep!
