Kenny Lewis
Stryper Soundman / Mixed Emotions Studio
by Brett

With Stryper 7 Weeks Live In America debuting May 18, the waiting for the first ever Stryper live CD is over! Produced and mixed by Michael Sweet and Kenny Lewis, this is the first release on the record label Fifty Three Five Records. Kenny took time out of his busy schedule to sit down and chat about his involvement with Stryper, the tour last fall, and the new CD:

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Stryper.com: How did your studio, Mixed Emotions, come about?

Kenny: Engineering has always been a first love of mine, as I’m also a drummer. I’ve always been interested in engineering ever since I was a little kid. I’d set up tape decks and speakers, ripping things apart. So when I went to college, I went for an engineering major. About 4 or 5 years I took on a partner, and we actually built a studio. He has since left the business last Christmas. He wanted to move on and do something else. 

Stryper.com: So how is that working for you now?

Kenny: Now I see the inside of this room a lot more hours than I want to some weeks! (laughs) It stays busy, but I also realize that I can take vacations when I want.

Stryper.com: To Puerto Rico!

Kenny: Exactly, there ya go!

Stryper.com: Your path to Stryper first started out with Michael and his solo work. How did you meet Mike?

Kenny: That was definitely an act of God! I also work as a house engineer at a Christian college. One of the students had a mutual friend with Mike, but I didn’t know any of that at the time. One night a friend said that he heard that Michael Sweet moved to the area and that he wanted to get in touch with him and maybe play bass for him. My reaction was that was almost like stalking the guy. If it’s God’s will it’s just gonna happen. He gave me a lecture that you have to make things happen, that he’s (Mike) not going to just call up and say he’s looking for a bass player or a drummer. Well, that was a Sunday night and Monday night I had a message on my machine saying “Hi, this is Michael Sweet, I need a drummer, a bass player, and a place to record.” (more laughs) That Friday Mike came up for the first time, and we started working on the first version of Truth. One thing led to another, and I then ended up doing sound on Mike’s Truth tour. In that run, I ended up mixing the Stryper expo 2 and the Stryper show at Cornerstone. Mike and I continued to work on more solo songs, and Hollywood (Records) came along asking for some new songs for the best of. All of a sudden, I started working on that too.

Stryper.com: How did Mike come to contact you out of the blue?

Kenny: As I was talking to the bass player about Mike, I had a mutual friend that knew Mike who was playing him some stuff that I worked on. Mike liked what he heard, and gave me a call.

Stryper.com: Were you ever a Stryper fan before meeting Mike?

Kenny: Absolutely!

Stryper.com: So when you get this call from Michael Sweet, you must have been doing a back flip!

Kenny: At that point I had worked with some other artists that are known. Anytime you get a call from somebody who you’ve grown up listening to their music, it’s definitely a trip. All of a sudden it’s an opportunity to work with someone who you’ve respected. Once you’ve worked in music for awhile, it’s not so much being a fan as you’ve developed a respect for their art. And to be a part of it is amazing.

Stryper.com: How far back to you go being a Stryper fan?

Kenny: I remember trying to get tickets to a Stryper concert back in the 80’s, and I wasn’t too successful at it. I was really mad at my buddy because he got tickets to it.

Stryper.com: So you went from not getting tickets to pretty much having the best seat in the house every night! Are you still in contact with your friend?

Kenny: Oh yeah. It’s funny; I hadn’t mentioned to him that I was working with Mike. So one night I told him that we should go out for coffee after I finished a session.  So he came walking in and almost had a heart attack when he saw Mike! (laughs)  It’s really funny being on this end of it now. They guys are like my brothers now; it’s really fun to be apart of. It’s great working with people that talented, it makes my job that much easier. It’s also great being able to server the Lord every night, and that’s huge. One thing that was really impressive with Stryper is what you see is what you get. Those guys are real, on and off the stage. 

Stryper.com: Looking back at last fall’s tour, what are your thoughts overall?

Kenny: It was awesome. Everything was on pins and needles until the last minute for me. I had to make sure that the studio was going to be ok while I was away. Obviously I couldn’t have clients here, but God provided.  It was a great experience.

Stryper.com: Do you recall your favorite night on the tour or one that sticks out in your head?

Kenny:  I had a lot of favorite nights for a lot of different reasons!  We had a lot of great shows and I met a lot of nice people.  For me, what made a lot of nights good or bad were the people that you encounter.  A couple nights we were swimming for it technically.  But that’s par for the course when you’re walking in and using the house sound, you’re mixing on a different rig every night.

Stryper.com: Let’s talk about the live CD. Which shows is it taken from?

Kenny: It’s pulled from the shows in Atlanta and North Carolina, most of the CD is from Atlanta. We had a drive crash on that show, so a couple of the songs actually were pulled from the North Carolina. But those are the nights that we had mult-track rigs out with us.

Stryper.com: So what made the overall determination on which shows where picked?

Kenny: Some of the venues we played would have charged us pretty heavily to record the CD there. And with other clubs we didn’t know what we were walking into, so it wasn’t worth the risk. There were nights were we walked in and the gear did not meet what was on the rider.

Stryper.com: There were some songs that were played live that are not on the CD. Why is that? 

Kenny:  Most of the songs played live are on the CD, but the two new songs (Something and For You) are not.  That’s because of an agreement with Hollywood, where we can’t record those for a period of time.  We also had limitations on the length of the disc. The set was an hour and a half, so we shaved off whatever didn’t feel good on the nights we recorded.

Stryper.com: Fans and critics have hailed the fall tour as one of the best rock tours of 2003. Does it surprise you how popular the tour was?

Kenny:  Well, the exciting thing is that the band has been playing great. They sound good and they definitely don’t sound tired!  I’ve had a lot of people tell me that on this past tour the band played better than ever, so I think it was a tour that definitely pleased the fans. And that’s what we’re all out there working for.

Stryper.com: What are your hopes for the future?

Kenny:  My goal for the future is to stay were God wants me. 

interviewed by
Brett Christensen