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 Somethin' About Fred (2004) Fred Hammond spoke with Gospelflava.com about his latest project, Somethin' 'Bout Love, and touched on his musical influences, his new artist Shea Norman, his motorbike passion, and a whole lot more as well.  Gospelflava.com: You started your professional career playing bass and providing backing vocals for The Winans, on their albums from the mid-1980's. Now you have come full circle, with Pastor Marvin Winans singing with you on your album Somethin' 'Bout Love. Tell us about working with Pastor Winans.Fred Hammond: That was a very proud moment for me. I finally reached a place where one of the guys who helped birth me in the industry could be a part of something I do. He was very gracious and he just mentioned over and over again that he was very glad to be a part. I have a few people that I look up to. Rance Allen is one of my fathers in music, along with The Winans. I looked up to Rance like a grandfather, or a father, and The Winans put me out as a son. Gospelflava.com: Anyone who seriously listens to your lyrics knows that you have been through some tough times in your life. How difficult was it to be transparent on this project? Fred Hammond: It’s easier to keep your stuff then it is to expose it, because some people don’t get it. At the cross, at the feet of Jesus, there were some people who said, “Good! I’m glad that you’re dead.” Then there were some that were crying and saying, “Why are you doing this to this innocent man?” It is not easy to do.
Fred Hammond: Warryn and I were just coming up with a groove and Coconut happened to be here, so we all said, “Let’s just write this.” We came up with this little groove. I put that little Jamaican thing right in the middle of it. Then Warryn came up with something else. It has a quartet quality to it. I believe that quartet music is going to make a really good resurgence in America. It is the foundation of Gospel music. I always try to have a little flavor of that in there somewhere. Gospelflava.com: Hallerin Hill and Juanita Winn were brought on to do some co-writing on the project. What do they bring to the record? Fred Hammond: Both of them bring a solid insight. After I explained to them where I was going, they brought such a deep, but simple, lyrical content. They know how to say what I want to say, and put it in a way that people can understand. That’s how I write. So when we got together, we were able to flesh it out. Juanita was a very big help after I found out what kind of writer she was. We could just talk through things. She would do a verse and I would do a verse. Same with Hallerin. He brought me a wonderful song, “How Do You Love That Way?” It was just where we were in our lives. It was special.  I believe that you should switch it up to keep your stuff fresh, or you will start sounding like yourself. After twenty-something years, it gets tight. God has blessed me with the ability to change with the seasons. My first album came out in 1985, I’m Going On. Each time I have to change seasons. I think that it’s smart to do that.Now there are so many people doing praise and worship, and they are doing it really well. There are so many groups that are coming out that I didn’t want to be a copy of myself. I don’t want to sound like James Brown. When Inner Court came out, one thing that people said is that “everybody is not going to be able to get with this.” There were companies and people that were saying, “I don’t know about this. This is strange.” It was a struggle. People were into something else at that time. That was 1994. Now it’s 2004 and look at how much praise and worship is in the industry. Now I don’t see anything new. I liken this message to a Bishop Jakes message. He's one of my influences in that every time he ministers, he ministers to hurting people. I was at a service one time and as I was writing this record, I just needed some confirmation. He made a statement that praise and worship is fine and that’s great, but he would rather go to a conference where people are hurting and deal with that hurt, than to deal with a 'throne room experience' and talk about the Greek word for worship, and then to learn 7 more words and the Jewish word too. There are only so many ways that you can say that, but there is someone’s son who is dealing with a crack problem. When he said that, it hit me that I had to deal with people where they were, based on where I was, and where I’ve been my whole life. It is amazing that of all the movies that God would use to affect the world, He used the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life to affect pop  culture, and the whole world. He could have went with Paul’s life. He could have went with the day that Jesus was born and miracles of Christ. He could have went with the story of Daniel or Abraham, but none of that was effective, except for the last 12 hours of Christ’s life and how much love he had for us. It all reverts back to the cross.After all of the worship, it all goes back to the cross. Some people say to move past the cross. I feel you. Knock yourself out —but there are thousands upon thousands of people, perhaps even millions, who need to know about the blood of Christ and His love that he has for everybody. They don’t feel the love. They don’t know the love. They’ve made mistakes. They’ve blown it. They don’t feel the love, because they look at how the people over them have treated them. So they look at God like that. They say to themselves, “God is like my mom." Or "God is like my dad. My dad beat me. My dad was disappointed with me when I didn’t choose the right career. So God is disappointed in me because I made a mistake. So what’s the point?” That’s not the love of God. We have to show people, in order for them to go beyond that. Once they get that, then we can send them on to places of higher learning and the church. Gospelflava.com: What is the future of Radical For Christ (RFC)? Fred Hammond: RFC has kind of changed now. It’s not really an RFC like it was back in the day —that season is done. RFC is just an attitude around here, at Face to Face, which is “I’m just a radical for Christ.” I will probably always be RFC, whether it’s just me, or me with a guitar player, or me with five people. It doesn’t matter. I’m 'radical for Christ'. It’s not a group, it’s an attitude. It moved from 35 people in
Gospelflava.com: You are putting out the debut project from Shea Norman on FHammond Music in the near future. Can you tell us something about this awesome crooner? Fred Hammond: Shea is a wonderful talent. What you see is what you get. He is a very humble guy. He is no nonsense, er, well there is a lot of nonsense because he is a jokester! He’s a skilled musician and he has a story to tell. I believe that he’s going to do well and go far in the industry, and in the music ministry. He’s just a nice guy. It was difficult to get producers involved on his album. I was on tour and I was trying to get five or six producers to really help and work with him, but everyone was so busy, so I had to do most of it myself. We did get a chance to work with Alex Asaph Ward. That’s my man. Between Alex and myself we just kind of did it. Shea is a great musician and basically, He and I locked ourselves in the studio for about two weeks. It’s always difficult to find that first album for that first person. You don’t want to do something too far left or right. You try to find the middle ground. We tried to stay close to a very heavily Gospel-oriented album. We tried to keep a little traditional and then spread out a little bit. A first album is always the hardest, because you have to find their niche, or what people want from them, and what people need. My approach on albums like Somethin' 'Bout Love is. 'what do people need', not 'what can I give them'. For example, on my own record, “Find A Way to Love You More” was not a song that I wanted to put out [at first], because that’s too personal. It exposed me too much. I did not want to put out “How Do You Love That Way?” I battled with that one. People were going to say, “I knew it was something.” But you know what? When we see Jesus, one of the ways that we will know Him, is by the wounds. You would think after a few thousand years that they would have healed up, but He’s going to let us see them. Sometimes we have to be transparent, and hopefully that will help somebody else. Gospelflava.com: Can we expect something from Joann Rosario soon? [see More, More, More album review] Fred Hammond: In August 2004, we are going to get back in and start working with her. I visited with her last week for an hour or two to listen to where her heart was. We played some tracks that we had done. She really had a bad time with her voice, but it is like 85% back to normal. So we decided that we will get started in August, so she can have something by the first of the year [2005].  Gospelflava.com: What else is FHammond Music getting involved in? Fred Hammond: We're trying to get into some television things. I have a few meetings with a few networks about a couple of Gospel-based reality shows. We are looking to branch out a little bit. Gospelflava.com: We know that you love your motorbikes. Tell us what’s going on with that. Fred Hammond: I sold three of them and I kept three of them. I just finished on my Go Fast streetbike, customizing that. It’s ridiculous looking. We go driving downtown, it has a big ole' fat wheel on the back. Then I have a couple of cruisers, a West Coast Chopper and a Yamaha that I just customized. I enjoy that. That’ s a relief for me. You have to have something on the side that you just enjoy. I think that it’s important that we have that. Fred Hammond is continuing his journey through life and is steadily putting out great music that is fresh, and ministering. There truly is no other artist like Fred Hammond. Thanks Fred —and keep the good music coming. Email This To A Friend
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