Delirious?

This article is about the Christian rock band. For other uses, see Delirious (disambiguation).

Delirious?

Delirious? (known formerly as The Cutting Edge Band) were a Grammy nominated and multi-Dove Award winning English Christian rock and worship band, featuring Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stuart Garrard (also known as Stu G) on guitar and backing vocals, Jon Thatcher on bass guitar, Tim Jupp on keys and piano, and Paul Evans on drums and percussion.

They are perhaps best-known for their modern worship songs 'Rain Down', 'Majesty', 'Lord You Have My Heart', 'Thank You For Saving Me' and their 1994 song "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever", which has been called a "modern worship classic" and is their most popular song in the United States.

The band was made up of multiple personalities from 1993 to 1996, before the decision was made to take the band full time with a finalized lineup. Between 1997 and 2001, the band targeted the majority of its work towards a mainstream audience, with several singles reaching the top 20 in the UK music charts. However, since 2003 the focus has mainly been placed on the CCM market. Former drummer Stew Smith left the band at the end of April 2008, and it was announced via a press release on the 6th of July 2008 that Delirious? would retire as a band at the end of 2009.

History

The Cutting Edge years (1993-1996)

'The Cutting Edge Band' began life as a worship band for a youth outreach event called "Cutting Edge", instigated by the Arun Community Church in Littlehampton, West Sussex, England. The events became popular via word-of-mouth, leading the band to play at other 'Cutting Edge' events along the south coast of England - monthly events in Portsmouth and Southampton. The events in Portsmouth only lasted a year but the events in Central Hall, Southampton were to run for three years, the duration of the Cutting Edge events. The group remained as the house band for Cutting Edge for several years. The turning point came in 1996 when Martin and his wife Anna were involved in a serious road accident. During a period in hospital Martin made the decision to leave his full-time employment and form the band that became known as Delirious?. The turnout at the events grew so much that the regular venue (a local school hall) had to be replaced with the school's sports hall, whilst the organizers had to charge a small fee to control the numbers attending. Similar challenges took place at the Central Hall in Southampton where up to 1200 people would gather each month. In 1996, an event was held in the open air, on the green next to Littlehampton's beach. An estimated 4000 people attended, while Channel 4 filmed it for a documentary.

The band were able to release their increasingly popular material thanks to lead singer Martin Smith and keyboard player Tim Jupp's roles as recording engineers and producers at a local recording studio. Four EPs were released under the "Cutting Edge" name, in addition to a solo EP from guitarist Stu Garrard, which featured the entire band. Many of the band's most famous songs were written and recorded during this time, including possibly their most famous: 'I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever.' Others included 'The Happy Song', 'Lord, You Have My Heart', 'Thank You For Saving Me', 'Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble', 'I've Found Jesus', 'I'm Not Ashamed', 'Find Me In The River', 'Shout To The North' and 'Obsession'. The music became well known in Christian circles, and demand grew for recordings. By 1996, they had sold over seventy thousand EPs by mail order. These EPs were later released as two albums in the UK, and one double album in the US. A similar composite edition of Cutting Edge was released to retail and sold Gold in Canada according to the CRIA and the band's Canadian distributor.

The last ever Cutting Edge was held the following summer in 1997, again on the beach, where the band played from their Cutting Edge back catalogue and the King of Fools album.

Taking the band full-time (1997-1998)

On 30 August, 1995, Martin, his wife Anna, and bassist Jon were involved in a near-fatal car accident. Jon and Anna were unhurt, but Martin was hospitalized for several weeks with broken bones. While in the hospital, Smith went through a period of depression, before making the decision to become a full-time musician. At this point, Delirious? was conceptually born. The band changed its name in January 1996, and they began to start work recording their new album. They gained unexpected mainstream success in 1997 following the release of King of Fools, the first studio album released under their new name. King of Fools eventually went 'Silver' in the United Kingdom, and Delirious? became one of the most popular and well-known Christian rock groups both in the UK and the United States. Songs such as "Deeper" and "History Maker" gained anthemic status and still surface regularly at Christian youth events. Delirious? also released three singles to the mainstream UK Charts - "White Ribbon Day", "Deeper", and "Promise". The last two both reached number twenty with very little radio airplay; "Deeper" remains the band's best-selling single with over thirty thousand copies sold. The group signed to EMI for its British releases but in 1997 the group signed to both Virgin and Sparrow Records for distribution in secular and Christian markets in the United States. The success of the King of Fools album allowed the band to tour the UK for the first time comprehensively in 1997's 'd:tour'. Delirious? chose to tour without a support band, instead using a DJ and a large visual aspect to the performance.

During the summer of 1997, Stewart Smith and his wife lost their unborn baby through a miscarriage, inspiring the song "Summer of Love" on the DeEPer EP, a re-release of the "Deeper" single. The re-release attained number thirty-nine on the UK Charts.

In 1998, the band released their second live album, d:tour, which featured many of the songs from the King Of Fools album in addition to some songs from the Cutting Edge period. It was recorded at Southampton Guildhall on the final night of the 'd:tour'.

The first mainstream push (1999-2000)

After a brief hiatus, the 1999 album Mezzamorphis attained number twenty-five in the UK mainstream album charts (number two in the independent section), and soon became certified silver in the UK. During this time, the band found resistance in the mainstream due to their "Christian" label, despite widespread critical acclaim in the music press. However, the work was aimed as a "secular" audience, causing many former fans to shun the album and claiming that Delirious? had "sold out" to mainstream markets.

Several singles from Mezzamorphis gained some British chart success. For example, the first single, "See The Star", peaked at number sixteen on the charts (a career high for the band), following an appearance on television show The Big Breakfast. Despite the success of the single, the song choice was slightly controversial as it was arguably one of the weaker songs on the record. In the band's 2007 book, guitarist Stu G stated that:

"...there are differing opinions regarding whether this was the right choice or not." - Stu G

The second single, "It's OK", subsequently reached number eighteen. In the US, "Gravity" was chosen over "See the Star" as lead radio single for promotion.

Exactly one year later, in 2000, the band released a worship-oriented album, Glo (short for glorious). This album was the number one Christian seller for eight months. Several songs from the album, while not being released as actual singles, gained immense popularity in the Christian-music world, most notably the guitar-driven "My Glorious" and the more introspective "Jesus' Blood". The track "Investigate" eventually became a favourite concert closer for the band. That year, Delirious? toured the US and appeared to an audience of 55,000 at the Creation Festival.

The second mainstream push (2001-2002)

The second attempted mainstream album, Audio Lessonover? (an anagram of 'Radio One Loves Us') was released in 2001. The single "Waiting For The Summer" reached number twenty-six on the charts, hindered by limited radio airplay. This led to a planned second single, Take Me Away, being cancelled. Critically, the record itself received less favorable reviews in comparison to their previous three albums, whilst commercial album sales were also lower. Again they received criticism for "selling out" to achieve success in mainstream markets. The band members are often questioned about the apparent critical 'failure' of the album in interviews to this day. In 2009, bassist Jon Thatcher stated:

"I think it's a good album. I'm glad we made that record. I think after Mezzamorphis it was probably another step further that people weren't expecting but I think that's what good bands do." - Jon Thatcher

That year the group took part in major tours with Bon Jovi and Matchbox Twenty.

The band's first compilation, Deeper, was released in early 2002. It was a double album, comprising of many remastered classic worship songs from the Cutting Edge albums, in addition to tracks taken from previous work such as Glo and King Of Fools. It also included several new versions of popular Cutting Edge tracks and a new song, 'Not Forgotten'. Later that year, Audio Lessonover? was significantly edited by the band, and restyled as Touch. This new version of the album was intended for the North American market, although it was also made available in the UK. Some editions of Touch included a second disc featuring several live tracks, although these recordings were later incorporated into the band's third live album, Access:D. Another compilation, Libertad, was released in late 2002. The record featured newly recorded lyrics made specifically for the band's growing Spanish audience. It was comprised of twelve classic Delirious? songs taken from the Cutting Edge recordings. Even today, Martin Smith will occasionally sing stanzas of his songs in Spanish as can be heard on the live albums Access:D, "Unidos" and "My Soul Sings". Access:D was released towards the end of 2002, capping a year which had seen four full album releases from the band. A two disc set, it featured many tracks which had previously been seen on their studio albums King Of Fools, Mezzamorphis, Glo, Audio Lessonover? and Touch. A special edition was made available in an exclusive tin case.

The post-Audio Lessonover? 'trilogy' (2003-early 2008)

In 2003, Delirious? released World Service, the first of what guitarist Stu G later described as 'a trilogy'. Although this was more of a worship-oriented album, Delirious? released two singles to the German market: "Inside Outside" and "Every Little Thing". The former sold over twelve thousand copies, was number one in German radio station SWR3's chart, and spent seven weeks in the German singles charts peaking at number seventy-two. Delirious? also released two free MP3 downloads on mp3.com, both topping the Guitar Rock charts (the first for a full month). The first MP3, "Majesty (Here I Am)", hit number fifteen on the worldwide charts; the second, "Rain Down", reached number twenty-eight. The two together had amassed over 500,000 listens/downloads after fifty days. Delirious?’s World Service is finding success in the United Kingdom and America as well. The band’s American single 'Rain Down' has become its biggest multi-format hit since "Deeper".

The band's sixth studio album, The Mission Bell was released in the UK in 2005. The album received very positive reviews, with Christianity Today, Jesus Freak Hideout, and Cross Rhythms all praising The Mission Bell for "Effectively stretching the boundaries of worship music". "Paint The Town Red" was released as a CD and iTunes single in the UK, entering the charts at number fifty-six. Several singles were released to CrossRhythms radio in the UK, all charting at number one for several weeks. The Mission Bell was nominated for the May 2007 Dove Awards, in the Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year Category, although it didn't win (Jars of Clay's Good Monsters won).

Delirious? spent much of 2007 recording and working on their new album Kingdom of Comfort with producer Sam Gibson. It was released internationally in April 2008. This strategically coincided with the launch of the third version of their official site. Several songs from the album were made available as free downloads both before and after release, including 'God Is Smiling', 'We Give You Praise', a new recording of traditional Christmas carol 'Silent Night', and new tracks 'Hallelujah' and 'Mothers Of The Night', which were not featured on the album itself.

Retirement (mid 2008-late 2009)

When Stew Smith left the band at the end of April 2008, Paul Evans was drafted in to replace him as the band's drummer. Before leaving, Stew mentioned that a live album and DVD had been recorded while still on tour in Brazil, as a collaboration project with André Valadão. This was titled Unidos, and has since become available in several countries, although no announcement has yet been made on a possible UK release date.

On the 6th of July of the same year, the band announced via a press release that they would be "taking a break" at the end of 2009 to allow the band to focus on things close to them. Martin said that he wanted more time to spend with his family and devote more time to the CompassionArt project.

However, the band later announced that they would release a final single to the UK charts in November, 'Love Will Find A Way', which was featured on Kingdom Of Comfort. The single entered the charts at number thirty, but had dropped to number fifty five by the end of the first week.

Another live album and DVD, My Soul Sings, was recorded in Colombia during that year, and released in 2009. During the promotion for the album, Smith mentioned that a Greatest Hits album, History Makers, would be released on November 17, 2009, and a final live album, recorded at their final live gig at Hammersmith Apollo, would be released in May 2010.

Delirious? will conduct a small farewell tour of Europe at the end of 2009. They will then bring their career to close with a series of dates across the UK in November. At the end of their final gig in November, they will cease to function as a band.

However, Martin Smith has hinted that the band may reunite some day if that is God's plan.

"Seventeen absolutely fantastic years, and we're still great friends. What a testimony it's been. The chance of us all getting together and playing again is very high. Now it's time to take a rest." - Martin Smith

Future Activities (2010-)

Many of the band members have started work on, or announced, future projects that they will pursue after the band ends in November 2009. Lead singer Martin Smith will be pursuing the Compassionart project, the decision that triggered the split.

Keyboard player Tim Jupp has launched his own one-day Christian music festival in West Sussex, England, called 'The Big Church Day Out'. Delirious? headlined the first annual event in May 2009.

Guitarist Stu G and bassist Jon Thatcher have formed a new band with Jason Ingram as lead singer and Paul Mabury as drummer. The band is called 'One Sonic Society', and they started work on their debut album in June 2009. Stu G has also been writing and recording for many artists around the world, and will continue to be a member of the Compassionart writing team. Thatcher is also working on a visual project called 'Arkyard'.

Old drummer Stew Smith has already launched his graphic design company, 'Smeezer', which has designed advertising campaigns for Premier Percussion, clothing lines for high street store Fat Face, and the marketing of 'The Big Church Day Out' festival.

New drummer Paul Evans continues to play for various artists and for Soul Survivor, and is currently considering returning to college.

Naming confusion

The question mark is part of the official name. On the band's early albums, the final s before the question mark was rendered as a 5. According to drummer/bandmember Stewart Smith, this occurred because the keyboard he was using at the time did not have the letter "s" and he improvised with the number 5 on the keypad—a convenient reflection of the band name. In some circles, therefore, the band's name often appears as Deliriou5?. The band's logo changed in 1999, and the glyph was replaced with a character that could be an s or a 5. It should be noted that the name has always been spelled as Delirious? in official, non-graphical literature. This is consistent with the names of the band's record company (Furious?) and publisher (Curious?).

Discography

Main article: Delirious? discography

Studio albums

• 1993-1995 Cutting Edge recordings
• 1997 King of Fools
• 1999 Mezzamorphis
• 2000 Glo
• 2001 Audio Lessonover
• 2002 Touch
• 2003 World Service
• 2005 The Mission Bell
• 2008 Kingdom of Comfort

Compilation albums

• 2001 Deeper

Singles

Year	Title	Peak Chart Position UK Singles Chart	Peak Chart Position SWR3 Singles Chart (Germany)	Album
1997	"White Ribbon Day"	#41		King Of Fools
	"Deeper"	#20
	"Promise"	#20
	"DeEPer EP"	#36
1999	"See the Star"	#16		Mezzamorphis
2000	"It's OK"	#18
2001	"Waiting for the Summer"	#26		Audio Lessonover?
	"I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever"	#40		Deeper
2001	"Inside Outside"		#1	World Service
	"Every Little Thing"		#2
2005	"Rain Down"		#2
	"Paint The Town Red"	#56		The Mission Bell
2008	"Love Will Find A Way"	#55		Kingdom Of Comfort

Delirious? live

Delirious? regularly play at Christian events such as the Greenbelt festival in the UK as well as mainstream festivals such as at the Glastonbury Festival. In the USA, they have played at such events as Acquire the Fire (an event hosted by Teen Mania) and Spirit West Coast. In New Zealand they have made appearances at the Parachute Music Festival, the largest 4-day Christian music festival in the southern hemisphere. They have also been the support act for several notable secular bands/artists, such as Bon Jovi in 2001 and Bryan Adams in 2002. In 2005, they helped lead worship at Soul Survivor and also took part in the closing festivities of World Youth Day to an audience of 1.2 million people, following Pope Benedict XVI's Mass in Köln, Germany. In Singapore, they have played three time so far. twice so far in the inter-denominational fellowship Festival of Praise held in the Singapore Indoor Stadium and one in Faith Community Baptist Church G12 conference on the 12-15 March 2009. The band played a live show on the 14th of August 2004 in Athens, Greece, in the Omonia Square, as a part of the varied cultural activities that took place during the Olympic Games of Athens. At 15 June 2008, Delirious played in front of 30,000 people at EO Youth Day, in Dutch Gelredome Soccer Stadium.

As part of the launch of their new site which involves a members only section called the "Living Room", Delirious? have begun to sell tickets for what they call Living Room gigs. These gigs are presumed to take part in small venues across the UK (and later perhaps the world) in which the band will play to a limited audience and give away freebies. The first of these gigs was at the London Embassy in Mayfair and limited to 100 tickets to the public. The band gave away a special three-song EP of their 2008 album 'Kingdom Of Comfort'.

Tours

Delirious? have performed many UK tours throughout their career, in addition to many high profile tours of the US, Europe and other parts of the world. The full list of UK tours can be found below:

Date	Tour	Shows	Support
1997	d:tour	10	none
1998	May '98 Tour	6	Blueberry
1999	PreMorphis Tour	9	Blueberry
1999	Mezzamorphis Tour	9	Switchfoot
1999	PostMorphis Tour	6	Aqualung
2000	Glo Tour	5	Steve
2001	One Wild Night Tour	5	supporting Bon Jovi
2001	d:tension Tour	18	Kendall Payne
2002	Fire Tour	9	All Star United
2004	January '04 Tour	5	Superhero
2004	World Service Tour	14	Rock N Roll Worship Circus/Taylor Sorenson
2005	Paint The Town Tour	7	Kendall Payne
2006	The Mission Bell Tour	13	Tim Hughes/Reuben Morgan
2007	Omnisonic Tour	11	Electralyte
2008	Kingdom Of Comfort Tour	12	Tree63
2009	History Makers Tour	6	none

Band members

Martin Smith

Main article: Martin Smith (songwriter)

Martin James Smith, b. (1970-07-06) July 6, 1970 is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter of the band. He is well known in Christian circles as the composer of some of the most famous church songs of recent years, including 'I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever', 'Majesty (Here I Am)', 'Lord You Have My Heart', 'Thank You For Saving Me', 'What A Friend I've Found' and 'Happy Song'. Martin is married to Jon Thatcher's sister, Anna and they have six children.

Stu G

Main article: Stu G

Stuart David Garrard, b. (1963-07-06) July 6, 1963, better known by the stage name Stu G, is the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and secondary songwriter for Delirious?. He has written many songs for Delirious?, including "Come Like You Promise", "Metamorphis", and Pursuit of Happiness. His most famous song is probably "Majesty (Here I Am)" (written with Delirious? lead singer Martin Smith). Stu G is the only member not related to the others by blood or marriage. Martin, Stewart, and Tim are each married to one of Jon's three sisters. He has appeared on the Newsboys' CD Devotion on guitar and also on Terl Bryant's CD Timbrel with backing vocals and guitar. He has also written songs with Hillsong London and Graham Kendrick, and has contributed to Tim Hughes' album Holding Nothing Back, released in April 2007. In a documentary coinciding with the Delirious? live DVD "Now is the Time", Martin Smith claimed of Stu G that he "can't think of many guitarists that are better than him".

For many years, his preferred Guitar has seemed to be the Gibson Les Paul, although recently he has been frequently seen playing Fender Telecasters, and sometimes a Fender Stratocaster. He also plays many others, including a Gibson ES-135, an Epiphone SG double neck and a Gretsch duo jet, as well as a number of acoustic guitars. His choice of Amplifiers include the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Tremoverb, the Gerlitz Revelator, the Marshall JTM 45, the Orange AD-30, and a Vox AC-30. In the USA, however, he only uses up to two of those amps at one time, due to cargo limitations.

Tim Jupp

Timothy Simon Jupp, b. (1966-01-05) January 5, 1966 is an English musician who plays the piano and keyboard for Delirious?. Tim Jupp and Martin Smith became friends while working together at a recording studio. There they decided to form a band. Before that, he released an instrumental cassette-only album titled "Hooked On Ishmael". Following the band's manager Tony Patoto decision to leave his position and return to his native Seattle, Tim assumed the position of band manager. He is married to Becca and they have four children.

Jon Thatcher

Jonathan David Thatcher, b. (1976-07-01) July 1, 1976 is the bass guitarist of the band. His involvement with the band began as their merchandise salesman, selling tapes at the end of their shows. He began playing with the band on Sunday evenings as part of a youth event known as "Cutting Edge" in Littlehampton, England. Jon uses Fender basses and Ashdown amps.

Jon Thatcher was the youngest member of Delirious? (before Paul Evans joined), and each of his three sisters married another Delirious? member (Martin Smith, Tim Jupp and Stew Smith). Jon is married to Kristen and has 3 children

Paul Evans

Paul Nathan Sanderson Evans, b. (1980-04-23) April 23, 1980 is the new drummer for Delirious?, following Stewart Smith leaving the band. Since the age of 17 he has been a session player. Paul grew up in the band's hometown and goes to the same church. He has played with Cathy Burton and has previously played with Delirious? before when Stewart Smith couldn't make a tour. Paul Evans was trained at the Academy of Contemporary Music and features prominently as a drum teacher on the Musicademy Worship Drum Course DVDS.

Former members

Stew Smith

Stewart John Smith, b. (1968-01-27) January 27, 1968, also known as Stew Smith and Smeezer, is the former drummer for Delirious?. Stew is endorsed by Premier Percussion and Zildjian Cymbals. He regularly competes in triathlon events. He is left-handed.

Stew Smith announced on February 1 2008 that he will be leaving Delirious, and his final performance with the band took place on April 27 2008 at Hillsong Church - Sydney, Australia. He gives the reasons to leave as "I have found the touring an increasing pressure on both me and my family. We function better as a complete unit than when we are separated for so many months of the year, and I wish to be at home, to be around and be far more local." Stew is now running a graphic designing company called Smeezer///Designologist. He says that he's having a great time with the wide range of designing, from album packaging to stage design etc.

Other former members

During the 'Cutting Edge' era, several other musicians played and recorded as part of the band before Stu Garrard and Jon Thatcher joined, including:

Dave Clifton - Lead Guitar (1993)
Jim Bryan - Bass (1993)
Les Driscoll - Bass (1994)
Dudley Phillips - Bass (1995)

Band members timeline

References

Further reading

• "Delirious". 7ball (20). 1998. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

External links

• Official site
• Informative fansite
• Delirious? MySpace
• Delirious? Lyrics
• Delirious? on The Mag
• Review of Cutting Edge from Christianity magazine
• NewReleaseTuesday.com Interview with Martin Smith
• Premier.tv Interview with Martin Smith