By Ryan Sparks

When Neal Morse announced his decision to leave Spock's Beard in 2002, many people thought that his conversion to Christianity meant that he was giving up life as a musician. In fact nothing could have been further from the truth, as here we are almost ten years down the road and Neal has six solo records firmly under his belt. Throw in another handful of independently released worship CD's, his continued involvement with progressive rock super group Transatlantic and the Beatles tribute Yellow Matter Custard, and I think most would agree that Neal has had himself a very good run over the past decade.

In 2003 he released his debut album Testimony, an ambitious double album that documented his early struggles as a musician in Los Angeles, through to the events that led up to him becoming a Christian. At the conclusion of that album, some things were left unfinished or were only touched upon briefly, but now with the release of Testimony 2 Neal has tied up those loose ends and brought the story right up to date. For example on the song "Jayda", one of the most compelling tracks on the record, Neal recounts how his daughter was miraculously healed from a serious birth defect and how that miracle drastically changed the course of his life. Once again utilizing the core musicians from the first Testimony album, which includes drummer Mike Portnoy and bassist Randy George, Neal has delivered another stellar double album that takes him further into uncharted territory both lyrically and musically.

In the following interview, Neal reveals how much of a challenge it was to weave the rest of the story together, as well as what it was like to pen his autobiography, which accompanies the release of Testimony 2 and delves further into his personal and professional life.

Neal: I remember having some ideas about Jayda's healing when I was doing the first Testimony album. I realized that was such a big part of my story that I hadn't told. I talked about it at the live shows and on the DVD. I remember having something in my mind about that, but it never seemed like the right time to do a Testimony 2. I didn't really have anything in my mind, except for these vague things . Then I had a bunch of ideas come to me after the summer tour with Transatlantic was over. I came home from that and felt that I had to write a book. During the time that I was working on that, which from around July to September of last year, some music was coming to me. Particularly in October there was a lot of music floating around in my mind so I started putting things down on a hand held recorder. Towards the end of October and the beginning of November I began to try to organize it, but I had no idea what it all wanted to be. Then I got an e-mail from a friend of mine in Holland who suggested I make a Testimony 2. That was the catalyst that made me think that maybe it was time. So I started praying about it and it felt like it was time, so I started working on it like crazy .

Neal: Right. I did have a thought that I would do that at some point.

Ryan: Obviously the first album wasn't the complete story.

Neal: That's right. There were some things that were left out. Every time I tell my story, which I do quite a bit because I travel around, visiting churches and give my testimony, which is kind of the Christian term for it, but every time I do it's always a little different. You bring out things that you didn't bring out before or certain things are accented that weren't before, so it's a little bit different every time. People who have heard me give my testimony have told me quite a few times, "You know I never heard that part". For example I've never really written or spoken much about my departure from Spock's Beard. That gets slightly touched upon on the album and I go greater in depth about it in the book. There's always new areas to cover.

Neal: That is a good thing. That's a very good thing.

Neal: [laughing] Right.

Neal: I think the shortest album I've made in the last ten years would probably be...

Neal: It could be, but I think ? is like sixty minutes. Lifeline might be a little longer. The funny thing is, that for someone who does such long pieces of music and long albums, my attention span isn't that long [laughs]. I call my music, music for people with a really long attention span, because it changes up a lot. I don't stay in any one area for more than a few minutes, so there's a lot of changing. Sometimes I think maybe it needs a little more space and more breathing room you know?

Neal: Yeah.

Neal: Well, it's always a challenge to try and figure out what's important. What to say, what not to say, how to say it and how to fit it all together. One of the hardest things I had to tackle on this record was trying to describe how I felt about my daughter in five syllables and have it rhyme with the word 'whole'. I just laboured over that for three or four days because I wanted it to be something poetic. So I finally came up with ' A song from my soul' which I felt really said it for me. The sweetness of a song and the depth of the soul. All of those things are really a challenge though, to try and make it all fit together. That's the task of writing and I felt like the Lord really helped me on this one.

Neal: You know I haven't, but you never know. You could be the catalyst for my next project [laughing]. That's kind of how it starts a lot of the time. Someone will say "Hey have you thought about doing this or that?" It could be something really neat and maybe it will stick in my mind. At first I might think it's crazy, like I thought when you said what you just said. That would probably be just too much to take on.

Neal: [laughs] All right, well I will pray about it.

Neal: Yeah. What I did on the first record was that I fast forwarded basically from 1995. Then I became a full on Christian and jumped in with both feet in 2000. So I had cut to the chase on Testimony. I had left out Jayda's healing and how God helped me get off the road and all kinds of other things. So Testimony 2 is a real in depth look at the period from I would say 1996-2001.

Neal: Not at the time. Here I was in the middle of the second disc on Testimony and I was just at the point where I was getting married. I didn't have much time left [laughs].

Neal: Yeah, I mean everybody's different. I think some people feel like maybe because they prayed once or something happened to them once and then nothing happened to them for awhile, that maybe they get discouraged. I think it's important to show the time of growth and how God deals with us over years and years. It isn't always a flash of lightning. You'll have those moments, but it's a walk. It's really about walking in faith. It's something you do every day and you grow in and you discover new territory all the time. That to me is exciting. I don't know about anybody else, but I always want to be feeling like I'm drawing myself closer to God. The fact that there is more to discover is such an exciting thing.

Neal: My reaction was fear. First of all I was afraid to believe it, because I think in that song I say "I'd rather just grieve than start to believe". Sometimes we'd rather just stay in the bad news than start to believe some good news, so we won't be disappointed twice [laughs]. I felt cautious and somehow threatened.

Neal: Well yeah, both things. I was afraid that it wasn't true and if it was well then wow! That was something else you know? That was going to change my life somehow.

Neal: Yeah. When it turned out that she really was healed and as I began to soak it in and believe it over the following weeks...I'm still so grateful. What can you say or do to show your gratitude for something like that?

Neal: I love that part in the record when they show up and start singing. It's cool because it feels like you're watching a movie about somebody and then they show up in the movie [laughs]. I'm so grateful that they were willing to do it. Of course I love their voices anyway, but for me it brought back a lot what I call warm fuzzy's [laughs].

Neal: I wouldn't be telling the truth if I said there weren't times that were kind of strange, particularly not long after the break up. Family gatherings were a little weird for awhile. We didn't have words or anything, but it was awkward. The Lord helped us through that and I feel that we're really past that now. My brother calls me and we talk all the time and we kind of council each other. My relationship with the other guys has always been pretty good and Dave Meros gave me the kindest quote for my books. It brought tears to my eyes. So I think our relationship is better than ever now.

Neal: Yeah sure I've always known what they've been doing and I continued to sell their CD's on my web store, so I've always kind of known what they've been up to. Now I just seem to be talking to them more these days, so it's all good.

Neal: Right. I won't comment on any of that except to say that I think they're going to do great with Ted (Leonard). I get asked all the time if I'm going to reunite with Spock's. I love the guys and I'm open. It would just have to feel like it's the right time and the right thing and I don't know if that's in God's plan or not.

Neal: Yeah. That was really another big stepping stone for me in giving my life over to God. That's what the bible tells us is that "We love him because he first loved us". He healed my daughter and he answered my prayers to get off the road, but I do say in "Road Dog Blues" that "Now like God has shown his hand, but now I've got to choose". I like that line because God will reveal himself to us, but that's why it's called a walk of faith, because at some point you have to choose and it always involves risk. You've got to step on out [laughs]. That's the exciting thing really. It's scary, but it's exciting. I was reading a book by a friend of mine named Mark Mittelberg, he wrote a book called The Unexpected Adventure and it's about adventures in evangelism. There was something he said that I really like. He said how much he likes to go mountain bike riding, but he said "If I just wanted to go ride my bike around the church parking lot a bunch of times it would get really boring and I'd probably quit". Instead he likes to go careening down steep slopes and around tight corners and all that kind of stuff. It makes things interesting, so that's the thing about walking in faith with the Lord, is that it keeps things really interesting [laughs].

Neal: Yeah it's great. "Seeds of Gold" I wrote, I don't know probably around two years ago or maybe even longer. When I first started talking about doing something with Steve , I wrote "Seeds of Gold" and I originally thought that maybe we would do it on the album that we did together with Mike and the other guys. We wound up doing other things and we didn't do that one, so I figured I'd put it on the second disc of this album. Those three songs on the second disc are pretty much unrelated concept wise. They're just songs that I felt were good pieces to put out there. It's kind of like Tarkus where side 1 was "Tarkus" and side 2 was other stuff.

Neal: It was a completely different process.

Neal: Much more difficult for me. I spent about three months working on it just as far as the writing was concerned, before I handed it off to the guy who helped me edit it and put it all together. It was tough, I had to make myself do it. I felt like God wanted me to do it so that's what was making me get up in the morning , but I was definitely sleeping in later during that time [laughs]. When I'm working on a record or getting ready for a tour I'm usually up at like 4 am. I can barely sleep because I'm ready to go. During the book period I was sleeping until 7 or 8 because I just wasn't as excited about working on it. I had to make myself do it. Not all the time. It was a real roller coaster, because there were times when I was really inspired and I felt like it was really flowing and then there were other times where it kind of felt like pulling teeth.

Neal: Oh yeah I'd much rather have people let it bounce off of them and that's what it's for. I enjoy talking about aspects about it, like what was going through my mind or my experience of it. I particularly enjoy talking about God and how I feel he's helped me with things, to me that's always the most exciting part. So I enjoy it, but other peoples experiences, that's the main thing.

Neal: I guess the short answer to that would be I don't know. It was just what I felt in my spirit and what I felt inside. I felt like I couldn't be a part of it and that God wanted me to separate from Spock's at that time. Getting to do another album with Transatlantic is basically a whole other testimony. In around 2009 or whatever it was God started to deal with me through many different conversations about doing another Transatlantic record, so I ended up doing that. So the answer is pretty much that's just what I felt was God's will. We do see in the bible that God's will can and will change. For example he tells the Jews to be separate from the Gentiles many times and then in the book of Acts he tells Peter that the Gentiles are coming in and that they are to be one people. So everything changes and we need to be ready to change with God. That's my story on that.　

Neal: That project would be the main thing, along with my book, the new disc and the tour, plus that project, whatever we're going to call it. There will also be a Transatlantic release of the Tilburg and Manchester shows, Tilburg video and Manchester audio. That's just because we have it and they're both very, very good, so those will be released in the fall sometime. I don't know what I'll be doing in August when the dust settles from all of these things, but I'm sure you'll hear about it.