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ZOEgirl: Getting the Message to Generation Y

  • Updated Feb 28, 2002
ZOEgirl: Getting the Message to Generation Y
After releasing Sparrow Records’ fastest-selling debut, the members of ZOEgirl return with their sophomore project, Life. I was able to speak with ZOEgirl member Alisa Girard about the group's new CD, their ministry, and the group's upcoming tour with Plus ONE.

J MAN: The group’s accolades include recording Sparrow's fastest-selling debut album and Dove award nominations. How do you feel about the way ZOEgirl has been received?

Alisa: I'm incredibly excited about how we've been received. Looking into the eyes of so many young girls makes it all worth it. It's just been incredible.

J MAN: The music on Life seemed to be more guitar-influenced rather than electronic. What brought about the change?

Alisa: Rather than looking at it as a change, the way we look at it is like this. When we wrote the first record, we'd only been together for about a week, we were thrown in the studio to write this record, and we hadn't gelled as a group yet. Being on the road for two years together, getting to know each other so well, praying together, meeting all the fans and hearing where they're coming from, I think we had a clearer vision of where we wanted this record to go. It's more of a compilation of the three of us and that's why we're so excited about it.

J MAN: So you didn't know each other before the group formed?

Alisa: No. Kristin and I had known each other a couple of months before we met Chrissy. [Kristin and I] were introduced by our manager and then through a mutual friend of ours we met Chrissy. From the time Chrissy joined the group, we headed immediately into the studio.

J MAN: How did being involved in the writing, arranging and producing affect the final product of Life?

Alisa: A lot of people don't know this, but we actually wrote the whole first record as well. We were more involved in the production of Life. Chrissy engineered some of the vocals, which was a fun thing. We recorded a lot of the vocals in her bedroom in her apartment. I think it gave us a lot more freedom to create. The times that you’re given a more creative atmosphere, I think cool things are going to come out of it.

J MAN: What's your favorite track on the record and why?

Alisa: My favorite track as far as where ministry can go is The Truth. It means so much to me probably because I wrote it. I went to church one day and there was this girl and her face was completely beaten up. My church is an inner-city church, and they do a lot of work with gangs and things like that, so I asked someone what happened to her. They explained that she had received Jesus on Sunday and she had to go get "jumped" out of her gang, where they all physically beat her up. Yet she had this big smile on her face, singing her heart out at choir rehearsal, so glad to have this new life.

So I wrote The Truth from the perspective of the people who look at a kid like that and think they'll never be anything. But when I look at them I see the potential and all that God has planned for their lives.

My favorite fun song is Nick of Time. It's really groovy.

J MAN: Was getting on the Plus ONE tour a shock?

Alisa: It was somewhat a surprise. We were so excited because of all the people we've been on tour with, this is the first time we’ll be in front of our audience. I would think that people that buy Plus ONE would be the same kind of people that would buy ZOEgirl.

It's been great to be on tour with Avalon, Carman and Clay Crosse, but, in essence, we felt like we were playing to their group. I think on this it will feel like it’s our people that we can touch, so we're excited.

J MAN: After someone listens to the CD, what would you want them to walk away with?

Alisa: I think the message that is most pressing for the three of us to convey is the message of salvation and that if someone walks in without Jesus, they'll walk out knowing him. Second to that would be to encourage the ... Christian kids in the issues and struggles they're dealing with. Overall, we hope our concerts will be a life-changing night for everyone.