Christ and Creativity: An Interview with Sam Thomson from The Praise Project

A Profile of a Local Christian Creative (No. 1)

Hey friend,

I’m excited to introduce you to Sam Thomson, a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and music teacher from Perth, Western Australia. Sam is married to my beautiful friend, Rachel, and they have two children, Ruby and Levi.

I’m often tempted to think that creative pursuits, especially those by Christians, are not happening in Perth, so when I heard Sam was putting together an EP of songs for the church to sing with a band called The Praise Project, I awkwardly flagged him down and asked to interview him. He kindly agreed.

I was so encouraged by what he shared about creativity, faith, process and blocks, particularly because this is a passion project he has pursued amongst raising a family, serving in the church, and full-time work. I thought this applied to many of us creating in the margins of motherhood.

How did you start playing music / writing music?

I can recall a season when I was around 13 years old, I’d been learning to play the guitar for a few years, and I desperately wanted to quit. My teacher was far too mean, and I was far too sensitive, a disastrous combo. My parents, classic Dutchies, wouldn’t have a bar of it. Skip forward 20 odd years and now I’m a full-time music teacher who always finds some crazy way to fit the guitar into the boot whenever we go on a family trip. My two young kiddies get to bring their toys, it’s only fair!

There have been a lot of factors that God has used to build my desire to write songs for the church. The biggest thing that made me jump in and have a proper crack at it is that I get this niggling sense that an infectious brand of ‘me-centric’ Christianity is spreading like black mould throughout Perth. Tim Keller said, “if you want to know a church’s theology, look at their music.” God has put a deep desire in me to see these churches, with people I love, singing music that is richly God centered. Beautiful music saturated in truth about his nature, attributes, and works that causes us to look outside of ourselves and steadfastly on things above.

So, with this hope front of mind, we’ve already released one single and we’re holding a concert to launch an EP of 5 songs on the 25^th of May. Our band is called The Praise Project.

How did the idea for the current album develop?

Nearly three years ago, I was at dinner with some family and friends. One of the guys, a bloke who has faithfully clocked 25 years in pastoral ministry, had recently taken a new job that meant he was between churches. He spent several months going to lots of churches throughout Perth, gaining a bit of insight into their ethos and culture. During dinner, this man I admire, expressed bitter sadness as he lamented a growing trend in local churches towards ‘me-centric’ Christianity. It’s really subtle, hard to spot, but it often just feels a little bit off. Like a gospel which is all about me, rather than primarily about Jesus and the immeasurable glory due his name.

I went on to express my already well-known concerns about music in the church, eye rolls did abound, until someone said to me, “Maybe you should shut up and do something about it.” So, I am. Trying to at least. I’m working with a big team towards releasing an album of overtly and distinctly God-centered worship songs for congregational singing. I hope it might cause people to orient their hearts to God and find themselves swept up in the joy that comes with loving Him rightly.

What are the greatest barriers/hurdles to your creative work and what helps you get around them?

Although I’m a confident guy, I haven’t had a lot of confidence in my song writing. Heaps of self-doubt. Even as we release the music, I still don’t know if my work is at a standard that people will consider playing in their churches. Dealing with that lack of confidence has been a big challenge and it’s new to me. In the end, I just want to be faithful and trust God to bring any fruit from it. If it’s just me and my Mum that come to our launch, so be it! Mum and I will whole-heartedly worship Jesus together.

The other barrier is that I’m painfully and ever aware of my shortcomings. I’m not your squeaky-clean poster boy for model Christian living. I’ve considered giving up lots of times, I don’t want to be a hypocrite. But a while back I was struck by a thought that I’ve held on to; maybe someone who is deeply sinful, earnestly repentant, and desperately grateful for grace, maybe that’s exactly the kind of person that should be writing music for the church to sing. God is somehow not sick of me yet, incredible! My heart is full of praise.

How does your faith impact your creativity?

My creativity explodes out of my heart. Sometimes I sit down to do some song writing, and if you were a fly on the wall, you’d think I’m a total noob. Other times music pours out of me like a river. The difference is usually that my heart is either engaged or disengaged. Nothing stirs my heart like God’s unfathomable goodness to me, revealed in His word, and constantly evidenced in my life. How extraordinary, that because I trust in Jesus, I will never see the bottom of God’s storehouse of kindness. As C.S. Lewis said, praise is the consummation of joy. My joy in the Lord Jesus often overflows into song. In this way, without my faith, I think I’d be about as creative as a brown clay brick.  

Who is another Christian creative who is making work you love? 

I reached out to Bob Kauflin at the start of this year. He runs Sovereign Grace Music over in the U.S. He has written a lot of music, and a few cracking good books, that have had a big impact on me and my understanding of music in the church. I really admire him and his work. I basically sent him a kiddy fan-mail, totally embarrassed myself, but he replied! With such pastoral grace and kindness. I was really encouraged. What a dude! That he can operate in the most elite of global standards musically, and still have the humility to reply to some random nobody from nowhere and offer encouragement. If I ever become a somebody (I say that tongue in cheek) I hope God keeps me humble like that.

The Praise Project EP launch is on Saturday 25th May, 7pm at Gosnells Baptist Church. It’s a free event, so you can just rock up on the day. The EP will be released on Spotify and Apple Music on the same date but you can listen to the first single, You Are now. Find out more at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

THE SUNDAY MORNING SNUGGLE is for you, the tired and overwhelmed woman in Perth. I want you to feel seen and encouraged, and it is too hard to trawl endlessly online for beauty. All my favourite publications, Coffee + Crumbs, Ashlee Gadd, Katie Blackburn, Risen Motherhood, women writing about faith and motherhood, or fun women’s lifestyle websites like Cup of Jo, are American. This is for us. One fortnight you’ll get a deep-dive essay essay musing about motherhood, faith, creativity, deep connection, or whatever God is teaching me (probably patience, again). On the alternate fortnight, you’ll get a collection of poetry. Find out more here.

Tell me in the comments:

1. What are the greatest barriers to your creativity?

2. How do you get around them?

3. How does your faith impact your creativity?

4. Tell us about a Christian in Perth who is doing creative work you love and why!

I’ll be back in your inbox next fortnight with another profile of local Christian creative: Mariah Hlatywayo, and then back to poetry and essays 👏👏