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By Christina Crook
Name: Joel Augé
Gig: Facebook entrepreneur, singer/songwriter, worship
leader at The Meeting Place
Digs: Just outside Toronto, Ontario (and never moving
to Nashville, we checked)
Album: On the Blue
Web: www.myspace.com/joelauge
Quirk: Sleeps with his iPhone tucked under his pillow
Quote: Authentic truth will resonate every time
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Joel Augé’s solo album, On the Blue, has the
singer/songwriter crooning like butter. The lyrical depth and warm
coffeehouse tone of his ‘I Know My Place’ and ‘So Deep in
Love’ play reminiscent of fellow Torontonian Ron Sexsmith’s
pop-folk stylings.
Options caught up with
Joel at Washington’s Gorge Amphitheatre earlier this year, and spoke
about his music, his popular Facebook game and the responsibility to be
real.
CC: It’s clear, listening to your music, that you
are a songwriter first. Can you tell us a little bit about your creative
process?
JA: Well, I’m really inspired by death metal like
you hear in the background [Laughing] No, but seriously, I’m really
inspired by any kind of human experience. I do love to write, and I’m
a responsive writer. So if something’s going on in my life, I just
respond through song. I’m a relatively prolific writer. I write a
lot, it’s just the way I am. But you have to know that for every good
song I write, there are 20 terrible ones. I believe authentic truth
will resonate every time. We all share the human condition and for someone
to write it down in a real way, it’s guaranteed to impact people.
It’s our responsibility to be real.
Being a Canadian boy, do you feel like you have a bit
of a unique take on this big music fest with so many American artists? Are
you set apart a bit from the pack?
I’m not sure I can tell [laughing] but I do feel
like Canadian music has a different approach, a different mentality about
music. We generally serve smaller communities and there is a real sense of
community in our songs. We’re probably a bit more folk-influenced
than American mainstream music, and in all of my favourite Canadian bands
you can see of folk influences.
Yes, the folk music scene is well-loved in Canada!
Speaking of folk, did you catch up with Phil Wickham earlier this weekend?
We didn’t get a chance but I saw him recently in
Nashville and he sang one of his songs and I was just in tears. He is just
an incredible songwriter and leader. I love Phil Wickham! Go buy his album!
[Editor’s note: Go buy Joel’s too.]
You shared earlier about your road from criminal to
Christian. Can you take us a bit through that journey?
I moved away from home when I was 18 and I basically
lied to try get a great job, and ended up stealing computers and a bunch of
other stuff. It was just a selfish time in my life. After a long road, I
gave my life to Christ after experiencing radical forgiveness through a
number of people, including my parents. Through their forgiveness I
experienced God’s kindness and
that's what drew me in. Forgiveness like this is not
human, it comes from God.
Has music always been a part of your life? It
doesn’t sound like you were always dabbling on a guitar.
No I’ve taken guitar lessons since I was 12 or
13. So I’ve been musical all my life, singing and playing music, but
it’s not my only interest.
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On Facebook
I actually run a little internet marketing company and
we have the second most active game on Facebook. It’s called MouseHunt and it’s
changing my world! Me and four other guys created it and now it’s
exploding. We’ve had 120,000 people play the game, and 40,000 people
play it every day. It’s just nutty.
What does your wife think about it? Does she play?
She does play! She's an avid MouseHunt player. As am I. We both
are. We’re both kind of overwhelmed by it. I was just a Facebook
conference in San Francisco and we just love it. It’s so cool because
it’s another avenue for me to be creative. And I love anything that
brings new ideas into existence.
What do you love about being Canadian?
I love that I’ve seen the whole of the nation
seven times and it's never been anything but beautiful to me. I’ve
travelled across the country, from coast to coast – literally from
St. John’s, Newfoundland clear across in a truck to Vancouver, BC and
on the Highway 17 and TransCanada – so much that I have real
appreciation for how expansive and beautiful it is. And I highly recommend
if anyone has the opportunity to see our nation from coast to coast, on the
road, it’s something that every Canadian should do at least once. It
gives you a new appreciation for our country as a whole. Also, we are very
gifted on a resource level in Canada and I think that God has given us an
opportunity to be good others, which is not an opportunity that a lot of
people have, so we’re kind of set apart in that way.
What do you long to see or
long to change or grow in terms of Canadian youth?
I’m one of those guys who depends wholeheartedly
on Jesus and a real experience with him and I see that in our youth as a
huge potential. I would love to see a desire for people to be truly
gracious and giving to youth because I believe that God leads us to
repentance through kindness and he’s here for everyone. So I guess my
heart for youth would be that we would be authentic stewards of the love
that God has given to us. My responsibility to any youth is letting them
know that Jesus loves them wholeheartedly.
Facebook being a key part of youth culture, you
obviously are a role model by default, even though you may not be creating
music specifically for youth. You’re Canadian, you are 29, so
you’re still young-ish. You are role model for youth in Canada where
there aren’t a lot of really great role models in terms of living for
Christ in the world. You’ve created a game for Facebook and make
music giving you a unique opportunity to speak to this generation.
Great stuff Joel. Tell us what’s ahead for you?
I’m just here to serve. I hope to play a larger
role in my church community at home, at The Meeting House, in Oakville,
Ontario. Really, I hope to be anything and everything God has called me to
be and to live out the truest and fullest potential that he’s set out
for me.
Options Winter 2009
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