An Interview with Page CXVI: Music, Coffee, and the Role of the Gospel

I had the awesome opportunity to interview Dann Stockton, a member of the band Page CXVi. Enjoy!

Photo from http://blog.pagecxvi.com

NWL: When I first heard about your music, no one could tell me how to actually pronounce your name. How do you pronounce your band name?
Dann: We go by either Page CXVi or Page 116 for people who can make quick roman numeral calculations in their head. We go by both. (laughs) We wanted to make it as confusing as possible.


NWL: What role do you play in the band?
Dann: I play drums.



NWL: I read that you started playing together back in 2006, leading worship around the country, which is how you got the idea to record. Can you tell me about how you all met?
Dann: Page stemmed from The Autumn Film, which was our main project. We met in colorado through mutual friends. I had met Tifah our vocalist through mutual friends, and then we met Reid through a mutual friend as well. We were all kind of drawn to the hymns from the get go. When we started arranging them, they kind of immediately got feedback: "These are great. Where can I get these?" For a long time we didn't have them recorded, but eventually we decided it was a good idea. Then, just decided to name it a separate project. That's how it started.

NWL: We had an incident where I misattributed your names in a previous article for the blog. I read elsewhere online that your names were Paula, Randy and Simon, and I attributed it as such. When I posted it, you told me via Twitter that you were an anonymous band, and in fact NOT American Idol judges. Who knew.
Dann: (Laughs) Yeah that article was written by a blogger and friend of ours who knew we wanted to be anonymous and thought it would be funny. Kind of a running joke.


NWL: What is your heart behind being an anonymous project?
Dann: We're actually not as bent on being anonymous as we were. When we started it, we wanted it to be anonymous. We thought it would be interesting,  a little mysterious. We wanted the idea of an anonymous worship project that wasn't attached to people, something that could grow and continue on. We wanted it to be separate from the Autumn film. Lately, we've been figuring out that it's cool being anonymous, but it's harder to find out information about us as a band. We're definitely not as set about it now.

NWL: There is something about hymns. Your band obviously recognizes it, and I think many are starting to if they haven't already. What is it about hymns that seem to resonate in a timeless way?
Dann: I think it came from our individual backgrounds: we were raised with hymns, we sang them growing up, without ever fully understanding or relating to them. When we came together as a band we all came to the same conclusion.We couldnt connect to mainstream worship, and saw this need to bring hymns back. We love hymns based on their rich theological content, the heart of the writers, and the spirit behind them. We realized, "If no one else is gonna do it, we will." We asked ourselves "What are the lyrics saying, and how can they be reflected in new arrangements and melodies." That's actually where our name came from.

NWL: Can you tell us about that?

Dann: The name came from page 116 in C.S. Lewis' "The Magician's Nephew," where Aslan sings Narnia into being. We loved the idea of creation, something beautiful and rich, being brought into being by melody. In the same way, to us hymns were already saying something beautiful but maybe weren't being communicated. That's what we wanted to bring to them.


NWL: What your band does is definitely unique from so many worship musicians. And there is definitely a viral quality to you--very word of mouth, which I think is awesome. What sort of feedback do you get from first time listeners? 
Dann: Thank you! Word of mouth is definitely our biggest source and thats what we rely on. So far response to us has been overwhelmingly positive. At first we tried to nail down a demographic, "Who's listening to us?" But as time went on, we found there's a variety of people and churches who enjoy and connect with Page--anywhere from parents, who say their kids listen to us in the car, to much older people, saying that they appreciate that we're trying to make hymns popular again. So anywhere from 5 to 105.

NWL: What's your favorite coffee place and what do you order when you go?
Dann: I am a huge coffee fan. There's a local place called Aviano coffee, which is an offshoot of Intelligencia based out of Chicago. If it's a really good place, you can't beat a cappucino in my opinion. Also, there's a place called Blue Bottle Cafe that's excellent.  I actually just started roasting my own coffee, so yeah. (laughs) I'm a pretty big coffee fan.

NWL: I feel like if you consider yourself a musician, a coffee addiction comes with the job description. 
Dann: Funny story actually, Reid our guitarist didn't drink coffee when we met, and I, at one point, told him "Real men drink coffee." After that Reid started drinking it and now he loves it.

NWL: What would you say to worship leaders who want to modernize classic music the way you guys have been doing?
Dann: I would say the biggest thing is to just write what's in your heart. Don't copy anybody.  Also, when you're writing, the biggest thing is laying down a first draft, and letting it be terrible. Just let it sit and revisit it later. It's a process. I think the most genuine stuff, the stuff that will make a difference, is the stuff that comes out of your own heart.

NWL: What role does the gospel play in Page CXVi's music?
Dann: The gospel is essential to what Page does. It's everything really. It's where everything comes out of. The gospel is central to what we want to accomplish. What we want to do is be good stewards of what we've been given as musicians, and let ourselves be led by the Holy Spirit and be faithful to that.



STUFF TO CHECK OUT:

Follow Page CXVi on Twitter
Get music and chord charts from PAGE CXVi 
New music from The Autumn Film