Alathea: Interview with Rocketown artist Alathea

MQ: Going back to the creative process. I know there's not a magic formula, but is there something you do that's a process or a routine or ritual in creating music? Whether it is going to a certain place, light a certain candle, wear a funny coat...

Carrie: I think that one of the things that we really do is that the three of us, like with a lot of groups, we have to be together. We kind of have to figure it out all in the same room and we have to get all of the distractions and everything out of our head wherever we are. One of our favorite places to Alathea on songwriting do this is where we live in East Tennessee in our cabin. To be at home is a great thing but even while we're on the road we have to find time. It's really hard but we have to find time to be alone, to be together and to be away from all the stuff that's in our lives...and kind of have some magical moments that just really happen and I think that is how we do it best. That's probably our ritual, just getting together and finding the time to hone in on whatever we're thinking about musically.

MQ: You mentioned being on the road. I've got to ask you about your trip with Compassion International to Ecuador. How you got hooked up with them? Any interesting stories?

Mandee: We have been artist/speaker type people for Compassion for the last three years. About a year ago we got to go to Ecuador to meet the little girl that we sponsor. Her name is Maritza and she's a little orphan girl that lives in Ecuador. Definitely the highlight for me on the trip was meeting Maritza. It was amazing. I think what I learned from Maritza was that she has absolutely nothing. She doesn't live with her parents. She lives in really extreme poverty but because she has nothing she has such a big faith. I think that for me that having so many things...that faith is hard for me. I think that I'd rather have faith be easy and have nothing like Maritza. I think that it one of the things that I learned from her that week. We also went to this one Compassion school. Compassion has projects all over the world. This one school that we went to was in the middle of nowhere. You know, we're from East Tennessee so we think that where we live is remote but this Ecuador place was really remote. It was on the top of this mountain and it was beautiful. It was stunningly beautiful. It took us a while to get up to the top of this mountain and we pulled up to this school and the kids go there every day because of the sponsorships from people in the states. They go to this school and they get food and they get clothes and they get education. They get to learn about the love of Jesus. They get healthcare there as well. So, we pull up to this school absolutely in the middle of nowhere, top of a mountain - and these kids come piling out of the Alathea discusses their Ecuador trip school. They all were smiling. They had little callouses on their cheeks because they were so close to the sun. It looked like their little faces were glowing. When we saw them all I said, 'God's hand is here, it is definitely here!' They come running out and we spent all afternoon with these children and it was amazing. As we were getting on the bus to leave, this little girl handed me this piece of paper that said 'DIOS TE AMO. GOD LOVES YOU.' And I was sitting on the bus looking at that, I was thinking 'How does this little girl in the middle of nowhere on the top of a mountain...how does she know God loves me?' The reason she knows that God loves me is that God loves her. The reason she has experienced the love of God firsthand is because somebody, somewhere picked up her child packet and decided to sponsor her. I think for me it was really, really great to see firsthand that Compassion International is changing the lives of children who need to meet Jesus. They need hope and Compassion is offering that. So that was probably one of my favorite things. Alathea shares about their Ecuador trip I came back with an amoeba though, too.

MQ: ...a little hitchhiker...

all: laughing

Continue to page 4...

Alathea's Ecuador trip

Alathea interview continued...