Martha Munizzi Interview (2006) - Articles

Martha Munizzi

Martha Munizzi spent some time with GOSPELflava.com to talk about her top-charting new album, No Limits. She also discussed her distribution deal with Integrity Gospel and explained what it’s like to work with her twin sister, Mary Alessi.

GOSPELflava.com: Your new album is getting everyone excited. You turned to Noel Hall for production this time around. How did you two get acquainted?

Martha Munizzi: That’s interesting. Our paths crossed at a “One in Worship” conference in Detroit about two years ago. He’s the music director for Bishop Andrew Merritt. We just met and said hello. Later Noel called and said, “Thank you for your ministry. I really appreciate it, we have the same heart.” I just really liked him. He kind of just sat in the back of mind for a long time.

When it was time to make this new record, we were deciding the next steps we were going to take. I just prayed and I said, “Lord you’re going to have to put the right producer in my heart.” Noel came to my mind, so my husband Dan and I talked about it, and really, we didn’t discuss anyone else. I asked some friends of mine that know Noel very well, and they were like, “Yeah! He’s great.”

So I called him up, and asked, “How would you like to work on my next record?” He was floored. Not an exciting story, but our paths crossed at church one day.

GOSPELflava.com: People sometimes think that artists hit their pinnacle or peak in God when they score a hit record. How have you grown since the last album?

Martha Munizzi: I am more secure and a little more confident in what I do. I’ve had a lot more experiences since the last album. With every major event, I feel stronger, and I am comfortable on the platform, at ease with what I do. Also, the Lord has given me a deeper revelation about praise and worship. I think that He’s given me deeper songs, and I feel closer to the Lord than I ever have. That’s in so many different ways. My kids are getting bigger —you start seeing God in your kids. I see in my children how God loves us. I think the main thing is that I feel more confident in what I’m doing, and I have had more experience.

GOSPELflava.com: Gospel music and CCM artists are still, for the most part, unfamiliar with each other. It seems as if they are still divided, maybe not purposely. God has used you to break down some of those barriers. What more can be done to bring the two communities together?

No Limits

The title track is a funky number that is tearing up the charts already, featuring Tommy Walker’s signature sound on keyboards. Martha Munizzi speaks of breakthrough and of stepping into one’s season. The companion piece.....

Read full album review.

Martha Munizzi: I think that it is happening. In little increments, maybe, but it’s happening. First of all, we have to realize that we all have different styles that we like and are drawn to. That’s just the way it is. We are diverse in our differences and our likes and dislikes. I’ve asked artists that I know on the CCM side if they have heard of Fred Hammond. They will often say that they’ve heard the name, but never heard his music. I think, how could you not know Fred’s music?

Then they ask me about an artist on the CCM side, and I give them the same response that they gave me about Fred.

I think that we’ve got to do some investigating and we have to spend time investing in someone else’s ministry and getting their CDs. They’re CCM artists that I just love, like Switchfoot. I can’t pattern my music after them, because it’s not what I do. For my own entertainment, enjoyment or ministry, I love to hear different groups like Switchfoot. I think that individually, artists taking the time to connect with one another and doing some things across the line is important.

GOSPELflava.com: What has your venture with Integrity done for your ministry?

Martha Munizzi: Integrity has been really great, they’re our distributors. We have our own record label, Martha Munizzi Music, and Integrity is partnering with us. We wanted someone who understands ministry and someone who understands what our goals are internationally, and no one does that like Integrity, as far as the praise and worship genre is concerned. We went back and forth with several record companies, but we just felt at the end of the day that Integrity was the one to partner with to facilitate what God had put in our hearts to do. That was more important that what our agenda was. I felt like they understood it, have done it before and were doing it. They are doing a great job, and we are excited about it.

GOSPELflava.com: They are so many great songs on No Limits. How did you go about writing “Name Above All Names” and “Renew Me”?

Martha Munizzi: I don’t know how “Name Above All Names” came about, except from the Holy Spirit. I was just walking around one day outside of my house, and I just started to sing that song. It just flowed and I kept it in my spirit for a long time. I would sing around the house, in the kitchen and while walking the dog. It just stayed in my spirit, and I loved it.

I sang it to Noel, and he helped me take it to the next level. He’s so gifted musically. When we would rehearse it, I don’t know if it was hard for anyone else, but it was hard for me to get through it. It was something on it that I just connected with so much. It’s about the name of Jesus, that’s what it is. When you sing the name of Jesus, there is so much power. It’s going to move you. It’s going to touch your heart. That song does that for me.

“Renew Me” was a song that when Noel and I got together, I had a melody, but I didn’t have any words. I started singing the melody. Sometimes I ask God, “what is not being said that needs to be said?” I felt like the message that needed to get out was “create in me a clean heart”; to cry out to God to really change me. As we were writing it, the words just began to flow: “I really need You to change me. Change my heart. Change my life. I’m broken before you.” It’s just that David spirit. I love the melody. I love the message. I believe that it will be a breakout song.

GOSPELflava.com: People often wonder if you and your twin sister Mary Alessi ever plan to do an album together.

Martha Munizzi: You know what, we haven’t really discussed it. We know that we will down the road. That’s why I wanted her to do a song with me. She sings that with me, but we are both so involved in what we are doing. She pastors with her husband, that’s her main gift. I think that we understand the commitment of doing a record together, and what that takes. We have kids. Down the road, I think that we are going to do something together.

GOSPELflava.com: What’s next for Martha Munizzi?

Martha Munizzi: The main thing is to get No Limits out there. I’m doing a concert with Cece Winans at the Apollo Theater in New York City. We will be doing more conferences, and also Megafest. I am doing some stuff behind the scenes, such as putting a movie score together along with a script. It is just the beginning stages of it, but I feel that there is acting in the future, to really taking what I do to a greater audience.

I think that it’s time for Gospel music to take its place.

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— interview by Dwayne Lacy —