A Little Sumthin'-Sumthin
About Submission...it's all love
by: Jennifer Angellatta
Jumping in my car with directions in hand, I started off. I was a woman on a mission. I had been trading phone calls and emails with Submission Band's promoter for a while; now the time had come to do the interview. I was going over my questions as I maneuvered through the beltway traffic. What would the people want to know about Submission?
When I arrived, I was met with warm greetings as the guys carried their equipment into the studio. This was their scheduled practice time and I was grateful that they had made time to talk with me. A go-go band who practices in a studio? Hmmm. Looks like they're running a first class operation. I found out, after talking with Mr. Anthony Thompson, Submission's manager, that is definitely the way he handles business. I sat down to talk with the fellas, and they wasted no time in getting right to heart of things. Let me introduce you to Submission Band, also known as SMB.
Shannon Moore "Worm" on keyboards, Gregory King "King" on drums, Andruw Wilson "Drew" on lead guitar, Dana McWhirter "Double D" and Sam Wolde "Little Sam" handle the percussion, DaMont Wood "Two" is the lead rapper, Jason Jones "Jay" is the singer, Alphonzo Hampton "Phonzo" is on keyboards, Hopeton Mair "Hope" plays bass. Anthony Thompson and Chris Moore manage Submission Band. Promotions are handled by PCJR Productions (www.pcjrproductions.com).
TMOTTGoGo: How did Submission Band get started?
SMB: We (Shannon, Chris and Alphonzo) started out as a secular go-go band, but the Lord brought us
His way, to do gospel go-go, and brought us to praise His name. It wasn't until 1996 with the collection of guys that we have here now that we 100% realized that this could be a powerful thing that we could use to reach young people in this area. That's not to say that we weren't serious about it before, but we really never thought about how big this could become.
TMOTTGoGo: Where was your first show?
SMB: At Mt Calvary Baptist Church in Rockville, Md. It was on October 15, 1995. The program coordinators for that evening were Ms Rhonda Walker and Reverend Keith Battle. He was one of the founding youth pastors in the area who has really been behind us 100% from the start. Since our start, he's been sticking his neck out for us, allowing us to come into churches and perform. So, we're definitely, truly blessed to have him as a part of our lives.
TMOTTGoGo: What kind of responses have you received from churches as far as being a go-go band?
SMB: When I (Anthony) came along in 1996, we had a lot of negative responses as far as a go-go band coming in. They didn't see the vision of what we were trying to do and what we're trying to accomplish in reaching young people. Within the last three and a half years, churches have gotten behind us and they're constantly ringing our phone asking us to come out to different youth programs, retreats, outdoor outreach events. The list is so long, I can't even begin to go into it. It's just been amazing what God has allowed us to do.
TMOTTGoGo: What makes you not just another gospel go-go band?
SMB: We incorporate a lot of different flavors. Mostly, all of us are big go-go heads, we go back far into the history of go-go so we bring a lot of that into our style. Every body in here likes a different band, and we've incorporated everything into the mix.
TMOTTGoGo: I would consider yall definitely more new school.
SMB: Oh, definitely. It's definitely new school, but we do have a twist of old school in the flavor. We try to please everyone, but first we put forth the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. We just use the go-go as an instrument to get forth God's word, so we use a lot of different styles. We have new school, old school. We try to incorporate everything and come up with a new style no one's ever heard. We love to appeal to the people, so we put on a show while we're up there so everyone will be entertained.
TMOTTGoGo: Who were your musical influences?
SMB: Rare Essence, Back Yard, Northeast Groovers, a lot of jazz, John P Kee, Kirk Franklin, Hezekiah Walker. We've had the opportunity to meet some of them and that's really helped us too.
TMOTTGoGo: There's been a lot of discussions lately about why people would or wouldn't come see a gospel go-go band. What do you think about that?
SMB: You have to value everybody's opinion; everyone is not going to like what you do. We just have to invite them to come. If they wanna come, they do. If they don't, we'll just keep on inviting them.
TMOTTGoGo: What about the point that was made not to talk about Jesus?
SMB: A lot of people said, "I'd come see the go-go, but I have my own opinion about Jesus." It's there for whoever wants to hear it. The invitation is there. The word we want to put out is about Jesus Christ, not God the creator. We want to put out the word about Jesus Christ. We're Christians. We live the life, at least we try to the best of our ability. People may not want to hear it, but if they come to the shows, they're going to hear it. Period.
TMOTTGoGo: So, there's no compromise?
SMB: No, no compromise at all. In the go-go industry, they don't water down what they say. They are not going to water it down, so why should we water down what we believe in? We'll be doing what we feel as Christians our job is, and that's to win souls for Christ. True, people have different religions, and we are not to force our religion on anybody. But, if you want to hear it, you can hear it.
TMOTTGoGo: What kind of things do you have planned for the summer?
SMB: I'm going to highlight a couple of events. (Anthony says as he pulls out the calendar) We're scheduled to play at an alternative prom in June sponsored by Love International Church. On June 23, we'll be going to Norfolk, and on June 30, we'll be part of an outreach in front of the FBI building downtown. July 5, at the Glendale Multicultural center we will be performing as the special guest of a gospel talent showcase sponsored by Purpose Entertainment, Peace in Heaven Promotions, and PCJR Productions. All the events are posted on the website, www.SubmissionBand.com.
TMOTTGoGo: What is the response that you get from out of town to go-go?
SMB: A lot of people look at us like "What? What are they?" Some people look at us like "All this banging," but they're not actually listening to the words. They'll first hear go-go and be like "Man.D.C..fights," because we often get introduced as Submission Go-Go Band, so when other people hear that they would be like, "um, go-go? That's not allowed here." So, we have to put it in our words and stress to other people we have to literally explain to them where we're from and what we're gonna do. Once they hear the Word, the response we get is phenomenal. Once they really see what we're doing and hear what the message is bringing forth, it's powerful.
TMOTTGoGo: Who writes your music?
SMB: Lyrically, most of it comes from DaMont. Musically most of it comes from Alphonzo. Everybody comes in and we just get around the keyboard... and that's the hammer right there (pointing to Dana). So if it don't get past him it don't make the show.
TMOTTGoGo: What do you think about flipping cover tunes?
SMB: That's how we started. Basically, our whole show was cover tunes.changed over. Then, gradually... well, I (DaMont) didn't really listen to gospel music, so I didn't know any gospel music.
Then, we started to listen to more gospel music and we started to incorporate gospel music into the go-go. But now, since we will be recording artists, we're trying to come up with original everything.
TMOTTGoGo: Is your mission to reach people or to perform to people in the church?
SMB: It's twofold. Number one, of course, we do a lot of outreach ministry within the community. Our goal there is to spread the message of God to (people) through a style of music that they're familiar with.
As far as the second fold-- the church. This will allow youth in the church area a place where they can go and have fun. Give them a new school flavor where they can come and have a good time in the Lord. Just give us a chance. Respect our music, just like you would respect anyone else's. If you're walking down the street and we're outside at an outreach, stop by. We love all the go-go bands that's out. It's all love.
