The Newsboys’ drummer, Duncan Phillips, had much to share from his experiences in worship, especially with people of many backgrounds and religions. His sense of humor made me laugh, and he has some amazing stories of the band’s experiences around the world. Duncan even has a few words of advice regarding relationships and living out the Great Commission. Read on to hear the top 10 things you must know about Duncan and the Newsboys’ latest album, Go.
1. The Newsboys are committed to Christ in their music, especially in fulfilling the Great Commission—to go out and speak the Gospel everywhere. The Newsboys have traveled extensively for the past year. Duncan told how amazing it is to travel to Morocco, Finland and Denmark. In the next months, they plan to head to other places such as South Korea, China and possibly Turkey. What leads them to play across the world? Duncan explains, “The last thing that Christ did before He left was preach the Gospel, and the Newsboys are trying to lead by example in that case.” The Newsboys want to mobilize Christians in preaching the Gospel around the world.
2. Duncan tells how he witnessed God working among the people of Israel. The Newsboys have been worshiping God all over the world, even to places such as Israel, where they played at a New Age festival. At first the crew guys and promoter were wondering why they had come to play, but their attitude changed soon after the Newsboys’ music was heard. The people loved them!
The promoter came to Duncan after the show and asked them to come back again. He thought the music was amazing! Duncan agrees that the power of music truly touched the people that night. “Something really happened there, I can’t really tell you what it was, but we’ll be back in Israel again,” he said.
3. “In Wonder,” one of Newsboys songs from Go, is one of Duncan’s favorites.After asking Duncan his favorite song from the newest album, Go, he said, “Man, that’s a tough one!” Instead of choosing one, he chose several, such as “Wherever We Go,” “Mission,” “Something Beautiful” and “In Wonder.”
Since Duncan had just experienced the beauty of Alaska from a recent show, he elaborated a little more as to why “In Wonder” meant so much to him. “The song taught me about the wonders of God and how He uses His greatness and incredibleness to reveal himself,” he said. Duncan had the opportunity to fly over miles and miles of beautiful mountains and glaciers while he was staying in Alaska. The beauty of the mountains kept running through his head as they played “In Wonder.“
4. The Newsboys express thankfulness to God for help in releasing another record.The biggest challenge for the band has been getting the new record finished. “We really do believe it’s the best record we’ve ever done.” Duncan was proud to say that they had finished the record and succeeded! The fans are showing their excitement about the record by the number of sales. This is the first pop-rock album Newsboys has released in nearly five years.
5. Duncan misses his family while he’s away.While on the road, Duncan misses his wife, Breeon, and two girls, Taylor and Madison. “I can’t explain to you how much I miss them,” he says. As a member of the Newsboys, he knows it’s part of the job to travel and leave family when necessary. ”I think if you’re called to do something, which I believe we are, whether it be the best builder in your town or the best cleaner or musician, if you’re following your call, I think you’re going to have times of sacrifice.”
6. Duncan met his wife at a bank.Duncan always thought he’d meet his wife at church or youth group, but that wasn’t the case. “I remember seeing this girl working as a teller and thinking she was the most amazing girl I’d ever seen in my life. I didn’t want to ask her out at first because I thought she’d say no, but I did, thank goodness.
It was really tough at first because we didn’t have any mutual friends or any mutual points of interest that we knew of, so it was almost like going on a blind date. It was great because she didn’t know about the band much, which meant she didn’t have any preconceived ideas.
I think she freaked the first time I invited her to a show. There were a few thousand people there, and she probably thought, Who is this guy? When we went out the first time, it was a level playing field. Now we’ve been married for nine years and have two wonderful girls. I’m blessed more than I ever thought I’d be.”
7. Duncan encourages dating in groups.Duncan stands firm on his opinions regarding dating and relationships. He advised both girls and guys to keep relationships open and real. Going out as groups takes the pressure off. When more people are around it keeps everyone accountable.
“I’m a real believer in going out with groups; that’s what I did when I was younger. Also, make sure you keep your friends; don’t leave them, but just stick together. The best way to date is to love each other, look out for each other and have fun,” Duncan says.
8. Duncan’s favorite movie in his younger years used to be Back to the Future trilogy.Now it’s between “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars.”
9. Duncan loves to read the Bible. “I try to read it every day. I really believe it’s the greatest book ever written. It’s the instructional manual for our lives.”
10. Duncan’s favorite vacation spot is a secret. When asked, he wouldn’t tell us. “I can’t tell you that. You’d want to go there! I’m going to keep it secret.”
