I was recently invited back into the Meltdown fold as a contributor to Detonation Magazine. Naturally, I decided to play it cool… I'd have to check my busy schedule, what's in it for me, that kind of thing. But it kind of got lost as I defaulted to my instinctive bootlicking mode, and I jumped at the chance. I even thought about giving my contribution a snappy name… “Raph's Ramblings”, anyone? “Merriman's Metal Memoirs”? No? Hmm… well, obviously, I'd spent a lot more time trying to find a title than actually working on an article, so I figured I should sort out my priorities… plenty of time for that clever title later. However, my brief was somewhat vague (write something CHM-related, Dave told me), so I sat and pondered this for a while before hitting on the perfect choice for a high-profile entry into Detonation Magazine posterity… the ultimate act of sucking up to the top dog! So here is an interview with UKCHM's answer to Simon Cowell.

The annual Meltdown conference has reached the ripe old age of twenty years. Why was the conference necessary in the first place, and how has it developed over the years? Is the conference still needed?

Back in the late 1980s, when the Christian hard music scene was known as the “White Metal” scene, the people who now form the management team of the Meltdown organisation began touring big, well known Christian Metal bands from the USA . We toured bands such as Bloodgood, Leviticus, Altar Boys and Whitecross, and the concerts were well attended and very successful. We saw people become Christians at these concerts but found that they were facing rejection from the mainstream church, mainly due to their taste in music and dress sense. The Meltdown conference was formed to give these new Christians a place to go once a year to fellowship with likeminded people in an atmosphere of acceptance.

Over the years the Meltdown conference has changed in many ways. The event has become very much a family orientated event with some people seeing Meltdown as an annual get together of long time friends – almost family. It is a unique event in the UK CHM calendar. Is it still needed? Well, each year it maintains its following, gains new people and receives great feedback. We will know when it is time to move on and close the conference. Meltdown will, however, continue to work in the CHM scene with or without the conference.

Detonation is the online magazine of Meltdown music. What was the process that led to the magazine being made? Has it achieved what you set out to achieve with it?

Detonation is the new baby of the Meltdown family, being only a few issues old. I have always thought that a magazine centred around UK and European bands was very much needed. With Meltdown having over 20 years experience working with UK-based bands and ministries, it seemed obvious that we were the people to get a magazine started. We decided on an online format simply to make it more accessible and easier to maintain and publish. It has achieved quite a lot in the short time it has been online, with readership going up vastly between issue one and issue six – but it has an awful lot more to accomplish and we expect to see major growth where the magazine is concerned. In fact we expect the first Detonation CHM Festival to take place in the near future, so watch this space (Detonation) for more details. Future issues may include more articles as well as interviews, video interviews and maybe an MP3 jukebox. Who knows what will come next? In fact while I am typing this response, the idea of streaming a live gig around the world through the magazine has just occurred to me, that would be such a cool thing to try and do… who knows?

When people think of “Christian hard music magazines”, many will point to HM magazine, formerly known as Heaven's Metal. How influential do you believe HM has been in the field of Christian hard music? How does Detonation both compare with and differ from HM?

HM Magazine? – No, not heard about that one J .

Doug Van Pelt, editor of HM magazine has been a friend of Meltdown for many years and has even visited the conference on one or two occasions in the past. HM is a great magazine but it has little or no impact here in the UK with CHM fans due to its very “American” content. I feel that a magazine to relate to the UK CHM scene needs to part of that scene in order to correctly reflect what is going on with our bands and events. HM is and always will be a great magazine, possibly the finest CHM magazine available and I am sure that it has influenced bands around the world to continue and flourish. I am not sure how Detonation differs other than to say that we are still finding our feet and developing our house style, perhaps this is a question that can better be answered in a few years time.

You've been at the forefront of Christian hard music in the UK for many years, in many roles. How did you start out in your ministry? Where are you now, and where has your journey taken you?

It all started with arranging local concerts for small bands, sometimes local bands, in the town community centre. We staged monthly shows which attracted very decent audiences, and from this came arranging UK tours for US bands. From here we decided to start a band ourselves, the amazingly successful Seventh Angel, one of the UK 's first thrash metal bands. The Meltdown conference quickly followed, as did the management of many other bands, the Greenbelt CHM stage and our very popular In-Tune conference (a teaching event for Christian band members and show promoters). Right now I am sitting at my pc typing out my responses to this interview. It has been a long and interesting journey. I would very much like to develop the In-Tune event and take it into Northern Ireland and Europe but that part of the journey is still to begin.

You've worked with a lot of bands and artists. Who or what has surprised you the most? Was that a pleasant surprise, or an unpleasant one?

I have had many surprises and disappointments over the past 20 years and I could (and maybe should) write a book about how to be a true “Christian” band – if such a thing actually exists. I have witnessed very well known Christian musicians behaving like infants throwing their teddy out of their cot because they don't like the view from their Meltdown bedroom window. I have seen Christian bands refuse to share equipment with other Christian bands on a festival stage (even though they claim that God owns their gear). I have seen bands plead poverty in order to get a Meltdown pass for free and then spend a fortune on CDs and merchandise while on site, etc, etc

I have also seen some amazing things like the pleasure of seeing exceptionally successful Christian musicians get their hands dirty and actually help with the work needed to make the event happen. I will never forget Oz Fox, guitar player with Stryper, the most successful Christian metal band of all time, offer to help carry our staging – and then without asking actually do the washing up at my home. I wonder if his attitude helps Stryper to be so successful?

I have seen bands that are as musically gifted as a cheap music box from the pound shop seriously change the lives of people in their audience. There is more to music ministry than nice equipment, a good image and great music.

Rock star attitudes are my number one hatred. I cannot stand a band who has sold 50 albums – mainly to friends and family, behaving as if they were someone who had sold millions of albums and expecting me to kiss their ass. The Meltdown team has developed the ability to spot a true humble Christian band within minutes of them walking through the door. It really is “by their fruits you shall know them”; no truer words were ever written.

Through the whole existence of Meltdown, you've had a team around you to keep the ministry focused and help to make the conference a success. Who are these people, and how important are they, not just to the ministry, but to you personally?

This is the one question that always frustrates me. I must point out that Meltdown is not ME . Meltdown is a team of people who have worked together for 20 years to make everything happen. I am one of two leaders of Meltdown. Lynn Ellison is the other and has been there from day one. Lynn is the silent leader, in other words the one who works so hard behind the scenes doing all the boring stuff that makes things happen. She works on the accounts, the bed reservations, the catering, the legal stuff and everything that no-one ever sees. She works so hard it is ridiculous and the weeks leading up to the Meltdown weekend is the most stressful time the year for her. Meltdown could not take place without her – simple as. Max Cook and Richard Clark have been with us for so many years it feels that they were there from the very start. Max handles our sound and stage management, while Richard looks after the needs of our guests over the weekend, a sort of conference caretaker. Dave Nuttall provides us with drums – and wonderful drums too. He owns and manufactures Jalapeno drums and can be found at www.jalapenodrums.co.uk He also completes the line up of the conference management team. Where the conference is concerned, we are a team. They are all great friends to me as well as colleagues in ministry. Great people.

Meltdown also runs the In-Tune teaching events. How is an In-Tune event different from a Meltdown weekend?

In-Tune is very different from Meltdown. It is at the moment by invitation only. The one day long conference offers teaching and advice to people who in some way work through CHM. They could be band members (and most are), promoters, crew, management or just someone interested in finding out how a band can help their church outreach. The next In-Tune takes place towards the end of March 2010. If anyone is interested in attending they should email us for an invitation.

Can a Christian band actually do more harm than good?

Yes, and have done on many occasions. Again, another book could be written here.

I'm a 16-year-old kid, fresh from school, my heart's on fire for Jesus, and I've started to learn the guitar. Now I've hooked up with a like-minded friend, and we've formed a band. Now we're going to give the Gospel to the world. What advice can you give me, Dave?

Wait until you have actually learnt to play that guitar and then come back to what you want to do with your talents. Don't give the world the Gospel with dreadful guitar playing and badly written songs. Mature as a musician first then offer your talents to God and see what happens next.

Do you believe the hard music scene, and the people involved in it, are marginalized by the mainstream church? If so, can you see a solution that would keep both sides happy? If not, has this situation changed since Meltdown began? What kind of support has Meltdown received from the church? What sort of opposition have you received from any quarter?

Yes, the CHM scene is marginalized but it always will be; it is a very small scene. The problems we faced with the mainstream churches back in the 80s still exist, but in a much smaller capacity. Most churches now accept CHM bands and, if they don't, my advice would be to find one that does. The problem really does not need a solution anymore since it is far easier now to find acceptance in a church and my experience of church pastors is the loss of attendance tends to help change attitudes. Find a church that will do what Jesus did and accept you for who you are. Meltdown has had horrific problems with some churches and great support from others. There is a great passage of Scripture that talks about shaking the dust off your feet and moving on. Some of the criticism we have had has been outstandingly stupid like being told that because we are using red and green concert lights the event is Satanic – because Satan likes red and green. He also said that black speaker cabinets were of Satanic origin. He obviously had a wonderful understanding of basic Scripture!

Most people who buy an album by a Christian band are already Christians. Does this detract from the ministry of the band in any way?

Not at all. In fact bands need Christian fans for vital support. Buying albums helps the band in so many ways. Besides, what is wrong with entertaining people?

Meltdown has run a very successful stage at Greenbelt in recent years. How did that happen, and what have you learned from it? Does Greenbelt need Meltdown? Does Meltdown need Greenbelt ?

Both Greenbelt and Meltdown are very successful events and were successful well before we decided to shake hands on a CHM stage. Greenbelt are great people to work with and our stage is well received at the festival. It was provided by us to help consolidate CHM bands in one place over the weekend. It works well and we look forward to continuing working with Greenbelt in the future. We don't “need” each other as such, but working together is a great way to build unity between two long established events.

When you were at school, and all your friends wanted to be train drivers, astronauts and footballers, how was your career going to pan out? Have you never been tempted to play an instrument yourself? Are you secretly a frustrated lead guitarist. When you're not totally wrapped up in Meltdown-related activities, what are you doing? Who is Dave Williams outside of the ministry?

I am, and always have been, as musical as a bad music box in the pound shop. Playing an instrument is not for me. I actually did achieve one of my childhood ambitions by becoming a working magician, working with Lynn as a master puppeteer. We had a puppet called FiFi, a little French girl who had tons of attitude, and a puppet snowman from Yorkshire . I never wanted to drive a train or fly a plane. Right now I teach ICT at a very big FE college. That's really interesting stuff, bet you really wanted to know that.

Sometimes God asks us to do things we'd rather not do. Can you honestly say that you've always done those things? Have you ever ignored God's instructions and done it your way? Aren't there times when it all gets too much and you just feel like packing it all in for an easy life?

No, Yes and Yes.

Is there something about your ministry as a whole that you wish you could change? Does anything about the direction Meltdown is heading make you angry or frustrated? Any regrets about paths not taken?

There really is no point in crying over the past. Too much water has passed under many bridges for me to think about past times. I hope that Meltdown keeps doing what God wants us to do. I have many regrets about my personal life but again, the past cannot be changed or reversed. All we can do is look forwards to what is to come and make sure we do a better job based on what the past has taught us.

Will Meltdown still be around in another twenty years? Will it still be in its current format?

If it is I doubt I will be running it. I will be in my early seventies then and I think I will deserve a quieter much more MOR kinda life. Who knows…?

So what about the immeadiate future of Meltdown?

Meltdown is going through some important changes right now. First and most importantly, we are about to make major changes to the annual Meltdown retreat. This year (2010) there will no residential retreat, the first time in twenty years without a residential weekend. The event will however make a dramatic return in 2011 when we re-launch the Meltdown retreat at the Cefn Lea Christian centre in North Wales. The new Meltdown will once again follow a similar format but with some minor changes (If it aint broke dont mend it). Accommodation will be in large static caravans and the weekend will again provide quality teaching and great music. Watch the Meltdown page for more details.......

The In-Tune conference is going from strength to strength and the next In-Tune takes place on March 27th at Kingswinford Christian Centre. In-Tune is a conference that gives teaching to bands and people who work in the Christian music industry. For more details email Brian on brian@detonationmagazine.co.uk

Meltdown will be releasing a compilation album of some of the best UKCHM bands in time for this years Greenbelt Festival and we are expolroing the possibility of the Detonation Festival to take place in Cheltenham during Greenbelt weekend.

Lots to do.......

Raph Merriman

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