A new name to many visiting this year's Cross Rhythms Festival will be indie rock team THE GLORYHOUNDS. Geoff Howlett spoke to vocalist and guitarist, Dan Harris.

The Gloryhounds

The current line up has been together since the end of last year," says the multi-talented Dan Harris. "Three of us came from a noisy, punk band called Strange Behaviour who did a lot of things in Europe and played Greenbelt over here. When that ended, I kept on writing and eventually put The Gloryhounds together, completing the line up with two guys from my church."

Recently recorded at ICC are two separate demo tapes because Dan and the guys believe that they have a two-pronged strategy. "One is to play in pubs and clubs, and make people think," he says, "and the other is into leading worship like a Delirious? concert." Indeed, worship is very much at the heart of the band's ministry. Dan oversees this area at the Kettering Praise Community Church and two of the other members are leaders in their own right. Some of that music even crosses over into the pub situation. "Celtic Night Prayer," Dan enthuses, "people just love it." He concedes that seeing the expressions on people's faces during that song has been one of the highlights of the last six months and the way it has opened up conversations afterwards. "They find it hard to believe that we're Christians, but are interested about our relationship with God."

Another popular song in the current set is the Brit pop style "Looking For The Light". As the main songwriter, Dan explains how he came to write it. "Sometimes, when the time is right for something, doors open. But everything we tried, as a band, found that doors would shut and one of the hardest things for me was to wait. Eventually, when the time was right, God opened the doors and gave us stepping stones so we could cross and get to the goal."

Six months through those doors the learning curve continues, resulting in some well-crafted songs. We're writing some really strong material now," Dan continues, "and, in the worship side of things, we're learning to follow the Holy Spirit more. I call it surfing. Just to go where he wants you to go and to encounter him more. Singing songs isn't the be-all and end-all. The reason we're doing this is to meet with God. What we don't want to happen at one of our gigs is for people to say that The Gloryhounds were great, even though that would be nice, but to say 'Wow, we met with God.'"

The band long for the day when they are playing in a pub and the presence of God falls on the place. But whether The Gloryhounds succeed through Brit pop or worship music, one thing's for certain. It will be God's choice, and one they are ready to follow.