The Story
An interview with co-producer Andy Bell
Andy Bell
Is there any meaning behind the album title – other than being the name of the last track?
I have to say that there is. The album was originally titled “Look at Me Now” because that phrase really encapsulated how we were feeling at the time. There had been a lot of turmoil surrounding the group that we had come through and the phrase was very empowering at the time & felt like the right theme for the album. God brought us through a great deal at that time.
As we progressed on the album and more time passed from that moment, “Look at Me Now” seemed to fit less and less as the resounding theme of the album. “Goodness & Mercy” had been tossed around as a possible title, but we eventually landed on “A PLACE FOR ME.” We discussed it as a group and decided that it was the best fit for the album. There is a lot of unrest in the world with war, political upheaval, and sever depression-like economic difficulties and the message that, in God, there is “A Place for Me” in this crazy world really resounded with everyone.
Why is the album dedicated to Pastor Tyrone Sampson? Isn’t he a member of the group?
Pastor Sampson passed away while we were in the final stages of making “A PLACE FOR ME.” It was quite a shock. E.D. actually wrote the first track, “Suddenly Came Too Soon,” as an homage to Pastor Sampson shortly after he passed away… it’s the only song on the album that Pastor Sampson didn’t sing on.
Pastor Sampson LOVED God and LOVED music. My last resounding memory of him is leading the congregation at Celebration Tabernacle in praise & worship on the last Sunday night he was fully conscious. He was rushed to the hospital just a couple hours after that and never regained full consciousness.
Dedicating “A Place for Me” seemed like the least we could do to help honor the man and everything he worked to accomplish.
Is it safe to assume you’re happy with how “A PLACE FOR ME” turned out?
ABSOLUTELY. This is my favorite album we’ve put out to date. It’s so rewarding to listen to and hear all of the love and countless hours everyone put into writing & making it happen. Plus, I LOVE listening to it… especially at the end of a long day.
Who wrote all of the songs? Did you hire any outside writers?
No, we didn’t hire any outside writers. The closest thing we had to an outside writer was the lyrics for I’ve Got a Right, which was written for the group as a gift from E.D.’s friend Pookie Lane & then added to by E.D.
The writing for this album was actually very unique compared to E.D. Mondainé & Belief’s previous two albums. This is the first album that has original material written by John Tolbert and myself, in addition to Robin Gordon and E.D. Mondainé of course. Many of the tracks were written while jamming together.
An example of the organic nature of how these tracks came about is “You’ll be Alright.” John showed up one day and started playing these two simple arpeggiated chords on his guitar. We were all mesmerized by how pretty they sounded and said, “Dude, don’t stop. That needs to be a song.” We all got to our instruments – and the rest, as they say, is history.
You must all have a pretty good working relationship then.
Oh yes, I’d say so – and even more than that as we’re good friends. Granted, we get on each other’s nerves from time to time, but that’s expected with anyone. It really helps that we have the same core beliefs as we attend the same church and most of us on the production team and even in the group are either ordained pastors, licensed ministers, or are training to be ministers. A group of people with their lives in order and with the right priorities can overcome pretty much any personality differences that arise from time to time.
Did you have any particular artists in mind when you were producing the tracks?
Definitely – oh yeah. There is nothing truly “new” under the sun, so it only makes practical sense to utilize what others have done to help assist you.
When we were getting ideas together for Appointed Time, I remember thinking, “What would Barry White do?” That track just cried out “Barry White” to me and, as a result, we added strings to it. I’m a big fan of his Love Orchestra.
I also made sure to pay attention to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On album before we finished up You’ll be Alright. That track more than any other on this album reminds me of that classic Marvin Gaye album because of its clear social awareness and commentary about what’s going on in the world around us.
I also had a “How would Luther Vandross sing this track?” moment during the recording of Goodness & Mercy. E.D. Mondainé has such a rich voice reminiscent of Luther, Donnie McClurkin, & Ron Isley and I really wanted to capture that in the track. His first few takes on the second verse were quite different than what you hear now.
Any regrets about the album?
Yeah, I have one regret… ONE.
And what is that?
That we weren’t able to get permission to put our version of the Stevie Wonder classic “As” on the album. We created what’s called a derivative work, meaning we took Stevie’s basic song and changed a lot of the words and the musical arrangement. We recorded it, edited it, and mixed it. I then contacted Stevie’s publisher, filled out their request form, submitted a copy of the new lyrics with a mix of our version of “As,” and waited… and waited… and waited.
After several months, I contacted the publisher to make sure they received everything I had sent. They told me they had but had not received anything back from Stevie Wonder’s company. The publisher went on to explain that this is typical for requests to use Stevie Wonder’s material and that they rarely get approved.
We had to make the decision to move on and finish the album without “As.” It’s too bad because the track’s done. There was a lot of time, effort, and work put into it the song and it’s just too bad that we can’t put it out there for everyone to hear.
At least it’s finished and, if we ever get permission to use it, we can always put it on a future album.
Do you have a favorite track on the album?
I’m partial to Appointed Time because I wrote the music for it, but that aside, I really dig listening to Wherever I am. It’s such a cool track.
Other people I’ve talked to have a different song that they like best. They all sound super nice. There isn’t a single track I skip when it’s spinning. I think it’s the most solid Belief album from top to bottom hands down – and that’s saying something.
