Charlo Brodersen of Californian rockers SMITHFIELD answered some questions.

Where does the name Smithfield come from?

Charlo: The name Smithfield comes from Foxes Book Of Martyrs where it talks about how many of the reformers were taken to Smithfield in London and burned at the stake for their faith in Christ. So we want to be imitators of that great passion that they had for the Lord and we also want to have that same passion in our lives.

So how did you get into music?

Charlo: My father (Pastor Brian Brodersen) gave me an electric guitar as a Christmas present and then taught me some power chords and I have been playing ever since. The band started after a group of us were asked to go on a missions trip to England and Hungary to play music. We wrote four or five songs and practised a bunch of worship songs and then went over there and played them to death. That was the start. When we got back, we started playing at different events and made a little five-song EP. We have been playing ever since.  

How long did it take to put 'The Song That Died Away' together?

Charlo: This is our first full length album and we spent about the last six months just writing songs and preparing for it in the studio and put a lot of heart into it. We really wanted to have a strong message of the Gospel in it. We didn't want to water it down because we determined from the beginning that if the band ever became anything but ministry, then that would be the time to break up.

Tell us about a couple of the songs on the album.

Charlo: In the title track of the album we liken the Christian walk to a song, a melody. We say that it is very easy to sing along to a song, but when we harden our hearts and walk away, we quickly forget where we have come from. It comes from that verse in Hebrews which says, "Therefore we have to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip or drift away." We have another song called "Call" which talks about the call that God has on our lives. We go to these different places and just want to encourage young people that the Lord has a specific call for their lives. We have so many friends that have totally thrown their lives away and not necessarily for the world, but just for that half-heartedness and we want to show that you can slowly drift away. That's just the beginning of a life of complacency.