Runaway City is one of my fave new bands of 2010. Influenced by some of my fave artists like Switchfoot, Daughtry, and needtobreathe, how could I not love these North Carolina rockers, whose debut album, Armored Heart is getting some serious play on my iPod? Lead singer, Josh Edwards, who is a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do (don’t mess with him!), took the time to “Take 5” with Backseat Writer, even thou
gh he would have much rather been cudding with his beautiful wife, Keisha, and adorable baby, Layla. But he’s OK with it because after answering these questions, he had to run off to band rehearsal.
The name of your band, “Runaway City” comes from the Old Testament concept of a city of refuge. Please elaborate on how you chose this band for your band.
As far as choosing the name of our band, it was a grueling process. We had thought and thought about a name to finally come up with Runaway City. You are already aware of the story and concept of the cities of refuge, so to further elaborate, we simply want to be a refuge for the listener–in any way we can. Everyone who listens to our music, or meets us in person, or hangs out with us has a past. We all need a place to go for escape, some encouragement, or even some kind of guidance. We want to be that place. We want to be the city of refuge for anyone who needs it.
Let’s talk about the first single from your album, “Fade.” What inspired you to write this song?
Our guitarist Tyler is the one who wrote “Fade”. Without a doubt, this is a love song. It speaks of a focused love. What I mean by this is that if everything around me was taken away, none of it would matter but people that I treasure. It is a song written to let those people know that they matter more than anything else in this world. This is a great picture of how God feels about us! I think it is amazing how God can love us all with such a focused love.
So my fave song on the album is “Longing.” Tell me about it.
“Longing” also happens to be my favorite song on the album as well–simply because it is the most directly connected to me. I wrote this song at a point when I personally felt inadequate of the love that my wife gave to me. I am very human and make mistakes. Sometimes I would just think “How can she love me through this?” or “Why would she love me despite how I fail?”. But she did, and she does. This is a great picture of Christ and His unconditional love for us. So many people won’t come to God because they feel inadequate. They need to know that God loves them no matter what!
Runaway City is about being authentic with listeners about its corporate and individual struggles. What is something with which you struggle? (And how can we pray for you?)
I think that I, along with the rest of the guys in the band, struggle most with wanting to be the best at every aspect of our lives. What I mean by this is that I am a husband, father, singer, friend, co-worker, teacher, and all of these roles require me to be an example to someone. In some cases, an example to maybe even the world (hopefully). It is extremely hard to be the best at all of these, all of the time. Runaway City, as well as I personally would love for you guys to pray for us that we will be everything we are called to be.
Now for a lighter question—what was the last thing that made you laugh so hard you almost cried? (Or maybe you did. I like men who admit they cry.)
Honestly, Jace, our lead guitarist, makes me laugh until I almost cry often. We seem to have the same sense of humor and laugh so hard at the dumbest things. For example, we have this ongoing joke about a completely fabricated person. We talk about his life, family, friends, and even what he has been up to. Everything about it is ludicrous, but for some reason we laugh so hard.
She is Beloved 