Collin Slaughter - Interview

In this interview I had a chance to speak with my long-time friend, Collin Slaughter. He’s a worship leader, production, and overall music LEGEND. You may have seen him involved with a number of churches around the Southeast Texas area, from Calvary, to Praise, to Encounter, to Trinity, and a few in between. Collin’s allowed God to work through him all over the map. You may notice a more lax feel in this interview, that is because Collin and I have been friends for 7+ years, so our conversations have a very laid back, almost familial tone. I hope you enjoy reading.

There is a lot of discourse between worship leaders about the purpose of high production value versus just 1 person with an acoustic guitar and every variation between, do you see an inherent value in the environment you lead in? 

I would say it’s all very highly circumstantial. I’ve been involved in services with pretty much every level of production value. There are some parts of a high production value service that I love, but there is a level that it can become the focus and begin drawing focus AWAY from the worship. It should all be dependent on whether or not it will be pleasing to the Lord. I don’t think we should try to make things look “professional” just for the sake of looking that way. Whatever a church does, it needs to be sure that is brining people closer to God.

There seems to be much disagreement between churches on the purpose of spontaneous worship, do you see a greater value in either planned or spontaneous worship services? If so, what? 

I think the answer is very middle of the road. The best I’ve experienced is right in the middle. Plan your setlist, and know the songs, of course. You, however, should allow space if God wants to do something. Don’t over-plan or under-plan so much that it becomes bad stewardship. Prepare for spontaneous moments, but don’t expect that to dictate your entire setlist. 

What’s one thing you think worship teams focus on too much and what’s one thing they don’t focus on enough? 

My answer is two sides of the same coin. I think worship leaders focus too much on leading and engaging the congregation. I don’t think that, in and of itself, is bad, but if that becomes the sole focus, I think it can turn out poorly. I think worship leaders don’t focus enough on actually worshipping. We can get so focused on calling out the next words to the crowd that we completely forget what we’re doing.

So on your instagram, you posted a picture in 2015 of going to see Hillsong live 

Haha, you do your research.

when you see giant worship artists like that perform, is there anything you take away from that, and if so, what? 

Yeah from that one specifically, I took away that they had great production value and leadership but they walked all the lines we’ve talked about extraordinarily well, I think. You could just see their genuine love of God. I think the only thing I was disappointed in was that “Good Grace” hadn’t come out yet, so I didn’t get to hear Joel Houston say, “It’s about to get rowdy in here”. That’s my only negative takeaway.

So in September of 2015, you and I performed ‘Say Something’ for our youth group at a lock-in, 

Oh, that was THAT long ago? 

when you first started to get into singing, what’s something you learned that you still use to this day? 

Literally everything, haha. Is that an adequate answer? I think that year was the first year I was taught how to sing from my diaphragm, and that’s so important for vocals. You can warm up your vocal cords every day, but without good diaphragm control, it won’t mean much.

So I can’t interview Collin Slaughter without mentioning your experience with sound design and music production, has there ever been an instance where you heard something at another church or musical event that made you want to rip your ears off? 

*wheeze laugh* first I’d like to direct everyone to instagram @worshipfails for good examples... I’d say just mixes that are really really bad. I’ve been places where all you can hear is the drums or the vocals. Or there might be a bass player and I literally hear no bass. That’s not just a dig at bass players, if Sam (Beard) reads this, I wanna say, “Sam, you suck.” Not really, don’t publish that, haha. Anyway, just the mix. It’s very specialized, I feel. It’s not that hard to get it right, but it’s very easy to get it wrong. Also, I don’t like it when the opener is the same tempo as the worship songs, but that’s just a pet peeve.

Do you think there’s a genre of music that contemporary worship music could take some notes from? 

I’ve thought long and hard about this very topic. Yes, very much so. I don’t know if I can list all the genres worship could take some notes from, but I can give a few examples. It circles back to the heart, I would say somewhat. I think worship songs could brach out more with their chord progressions. There’s an Elevation song called “Never Lost” that has some really jazzy chord progressions, almost some R&B vibes. There’s a Hillsong song called “No One But You” that uses a chord called the “Flat 7th” that makes it really cool and tasteful. I think CCM music could stand to be a bit more creative sometimes. There’s a YouTuber called Adam Nealy, he does a lot of music theory videos. He did a video examining CCM music and his main criticism was that he thought it all started to sound the same to him. He said he wished they would branch out. I think CCM could take some expression from things like Hard Rock or Fusion.

I remember that, for a time, you were a small group leader for a group of young men, when you were doing that, what were some unexpected challenges, if any, you faced beyond distractions and disruptions? 

I would say dealing with issues I didn’t expect someone that young to be going through. One of the kids in my small group, I remember a story. We were at camp and there was this worship moment, I went up and I talked to him and asked how I could pray for him. Then he told me that his grandfather died and he didn't know how to handle it, and it shocked me a little bit, because you don’t expect a 6th grader to have to process such complex emotions that early. I also remember some different boys talking about lust and pornography addictions, like pretty serious stuff. Bullying, self-harm, eating disorders. Very heavy, hard-hitting issues that you might not expect a 6th grader to be dealing with

So I attribute your time with Praise Church to myself, because I invited you way back when and it took you 3 months to finally say yes; is there a Winter Retreat/ Summer Camp story that stands out in your memory? 

One from Winter Retreat is when I was a student. It was the last night and me and some other guys went out near the lake and slept the night in our hammocks. We didn’t sneak out, or anything, we cleared it with leaders. It was very peaceful and scenic. Then I remember waking up to the most disgusting mass of sweat I’ve ever experienced in my life. It was humid, hot, muggy, disgusting, mosquitoes were everywhere. I woke up completely miserable. I don’t know if I’ve had a worse morning. Quite the duality. Then from Summer Camp, I remember a time where Aaron was just onstage by himself and just leading worship during a prayer moment. I remember being in just this mass of voices crying out to God in worship. It was truly amazing. It literally sounded like an angelic choir. I think that’s a glimpse of what Heaven will be like.

How do you think your taste in music has shifted over your life and what do you think contributed to that change? 

I remember a shift when I was probably 13 or 14. I was playing music with a family friend and someone requested “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra, and he played it and it blew me away. I could not fathom what he was able to do with that guitar. Afterward I was like, “You HAVE to teach me that.” And you can probably attest, I play that song at least 3 times every time I pick up a guitar. You play that so often and use that so much when you teach guitar lessons. The reason I know that is cuz anytime Little Cat, Luke Garza does a sound check, he does the riff from “Fly Me to the Moon” That’s my boy. He’s easily a better guitar player than I am. Anyway, after I learned that song, I got way into Swing Music and Big Band Music. I started listening to a lot of that, and I still do occasionally, when I’m not listening to worship music. That really developed a skill for hearing more complex techniques in guitar and vocals. It really informed a lot of the practices and warm-ups I still use today.

You mentioned your Sinatra influence, I also know your Muse-influence is pretty clear from the fact that you used to play the “Hysteria” Bass line all over your homeschool co-op, 

I should’ve known you would bring that up, haha 

Is there any other band that’s been that influential to you and if so, who? 

Much like probably any other worship electric guitarist might say, Coldplay. I feel like I play very melodically, which I feel like is very Coldplay. Outside of worship, you hit it on the head with Muse. But there have been a few others in the indie area. Daniela Andrade is one, she had an album that influenced a lot of my acoustic playing. There’s a band called Sid Matters that inspired some of my more docile acoustic side.

So I know Guitar has always been your primary instrument, and I remember you used to talk about how much of Eruption by Van Halen you could play. Where do you see your rock influences affecting other parts of your musical career? 

I’ve honestly seen it in worship. There have been times in a song where it’s building and I’ll just get really low on the neck and just start chugging power chords. It really adds to the musicality in those moments, I think. I won’t do anything that’s distracting, I’ll only add little bits of tasty-sauce if it helps build and doesn’t distract. The main way I see it is in little improvised choices I make. Like I might not decide to take a song a certain way if I hadn't heard classic rock bands like Van Halen way back when. It affects a lot of the subtleties of my playing, I think.

So you have the fortunate position to be personally acquainted with a lot of talented musicians, what’s one piece of music advice that has helped you outside your musical career? 

That’s a really good question. A few come to mind. “Don’t overthink it”, “Less can be more”, I remember playing something for somebody and they complimented me and I responded saying, “Yeah, I’m trying” and they looked at me and said, “Don’t say that when someone thanks you because it can come off as disingenuous or prideful. Don’t downplay a compliment by self-deprecating.” I think that’s helped me be more genuine, or at least make the effort to let people know how much I appreciate them.

I know alongside your prolific music career, you’re also a pretty experienced gamer, is there a game whose original music you particularly like? 

I can’t pick just one Legend of Zelda game, so I shall pick them all. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to the 3d Zelda soundtracks. Also, the composer, Koji Kondo, has been a big influence on the way I write music. Cuz I read an article where he said, when writing a song, he’ll put it on loop for hours to make sure it doesn’t become annoying. I think he also said when you have a few chords in a song or a piece, make them interesting chords. Instead of A Minor and F, make it A Minor 9 and an F Major 7 11. Something that keeps the feel of what you want.

How much do you think music contributes to a movie/gaming product? 

So much I think. Let’s continue thinking about Legend of Zelda. Link doesn’t talk. So you have to have music to convey all those emotions. Think about the Pokémon franchise. Music is such a huge part of those. Everything from the overworked theme to the sound effects when you run into another stupid Weedle in Viridian Forest! *Collin is visibly angry* Also think about the Dead Space games, I don’t think the main guy talks. There is music and it’s terrifying which adds to the horror of the game immensely. And as far as movies go, there’s a movie that has very little music but does it well is “A Quiet Place”. There were a lot of times where there was just no music, but it communicated suspense very well with all of its sound design separate from the score. There’s different ways to do it, for sure. So I think it adds quite a bit.

So your dad is a figure I’ve heard you speak about before, is there a nickname he’s given you that particularly stands out? 

Why would you ask me this... Yes. One is “Monkey Pants” the other is “Stinky Pinky Bobbalinky”. He constantly comes up with weird stuff. He would constantly make up diseases for Ted and I, like I would sneeze and he would say, “Ope, you got snuffeluppalitis”. I love it. It’s endearing now. Another fun nickname is “Hector and the all-blue monkey jazz band” I think.

So you’ve had the privilege to find yourself in a lot of work environments throughout your life, and I’m curious, is there any life experience you took away from working the cash register at Chick-Fil-A? 

Haha, yeah. Keeping calm under pressure for sure. Rushes can be hard to deal with if you’ve never done it before. Also learning to work with others. There were plenty of times I didn’t specifically enjoy working around certain people. Like maybe they had a foul mouth or were being very difficult. I learned that I needed to love them as well. And when I was working at a computer store, there were days would dread coming in. Like, I didn’t want to deal with certain co-workers or a specific type of customer, or whatever it was. But I listened to a podcast by a guy named Todd White, he’s an evangelist. He was basically saying that Colossians 3:23 applies to everything (“Work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men.”). Your daily routine needs to be done unto the Lord. He expounded on that saying, “I literally cannot open a door or pump my own gas without Jesus. And I cannot do it unless it is unto Jesus. I pump my gas, I open this door, as if I’m doing it FOR Jesus.” He talked about when he was an ice deliverer or something. He talked about getting dejected in the job, but eventually adopted the mentality of doing it as if he was literally delivering ice to Jesus. Once he started doing that, it gave him opportunities to love on people and pray for people. I think that’s a part of worshipping the Lord in and of itself. So I think that’s something I learned: doing something as if it’s unto the Lord. Not pretending it’s for Jesus, cuz it is. Everything I do is for Jesus. I don’t think I’m great at that, but I do my best.

So just a bit before you stopped using your twitter account, you tweeted, ”The Lord has been showing me that His peace is not something you have to seek out or acquire. It is something that His spirit gives you freely, and we are able to exist in it. It does not have to come and go with the flow of life, His peace can be our constant reality.” Do you remember what headspace you were in around the end of 2019 to put you there? 

The headspace I was in at the end of 2019 was a lot of anxiety and fear. I didn’t have peace about a lot of things. I got that quite from a Michael Todd sermon. He mentions that peace is a fruit of the Spirit. If the same Holy Spirit that lives inside of us, then we have peace at all times. It’s not something we have to strive or beg God for. It’s a fruit of the Spirit, so all we must do is stop, wait on the Lord, and say, “Lord, thank you for the peace that is already inside of me because of your spirit.” That’s what happened when I was dealing with anxiety. Jesus is the prince of peace, he set us free from that. Peace rushed in and flooded out the worry and took the place of the fear that lived in my heart. That’s the headpiece I was in at the end of 2019.

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Thanks so much for reading this interview, I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please check out some of the other interviews I’ve done. Have a wonderful rest of your day.