for KING AND COUNTRY Reveal the Inspiration Behind Their Band Name and Love for Music
By Movieguide® Staff
For KING & COUNTRY singers Joel and Luke Smallbone recently revealed insight into their band’s name and how they decided to pursue music together.
While on The Bobby Bones Show, Joel and Luke revealed that their first experiences of singing together was traveling around as a road crew for their sister.
“Our sister was sort of a gospel Christian artist and Dad managed her and needed cheap labor,” Joel said. “We all homeschooled, he saw he had five sons and so we became the road crew and incidentally started doing background vocals together at some point for her.”
However, Joel added that he and his younger brother, Luke, did not get along in their teenage years.
“We didn’t get on in our teenage years,” he said. “He’s my younger brother, he grew taller than me, he was a better Sportsman, all the things that an older brother really dislikes.”
Luke said that after he tore his ACL playing basketball at the age of 19, that is when they started to pursue music together.
“Joel mentioned I tore my ACL playing basketball and I kind of was you know wanting to figure out what was next for me if that makes sense, sports was my thing up until that point,” Luke recalled. “As I was rehabbing my knee [Switchfoot] had just released their album, The Beautiful Letdown, and I remember thinking to myself I wonder if I could write songs that mean as much to me, like their music does to me.”
Now for KING & COUNTRY has millions of fans around the world, but the sibling duo said that it took some time before they landed on their current band name.
“We had a lot of bad ones,” Luke said.
But eventually, they landed on for KING & COUNTRY, inspired by the old British phrase before entering battle.
“We kind of thought well that’s a cool phrase and then I think there’s that great overtone of like why do we do music like you said, like God, people, country,” Joel said.
“This was 12 years ago or so and he came in with the name ‘All the King’s Men’ which was a cool name,” Luke added. “Our producer at the time spun around and he said, ‘What about the old British Mantra that they used to chant before going into battle?’ We’d always wanted something that felt like it had purpose… The other big thing was it was available on MySpace.”
Joel and Luke also hinted at their upcoming movie, which tells the true story of how their family immigrated from Australia to the US.
Movieguide® previously reported:
For King & Country band members Joel and Luke Smallbone recently revealed new details about a new movie project.
“I felt so loved and cared for by you over the last few months,” Smallbone captioned a recent post. “I know some have been concerned that I’ve been ill or even in rehabilitation. Thankfully, neither have been the case. In fact, Luke, the whole team and I have actually been working tirelessly on a feature film.”
His post shows a poster for the upcoming movie, called UNSUNG HERO. The poster features a large family standing in front of their car.
“A 90s true story, the film circles around a powerful Australian Mum, her six kids, financially ruined husband, and their miraculous journey across the ocean to start a new life in the United States,” Smallbone’s caption continued.
“That ‘Mum’ is mine, and the story belongs to my parents. The movie is about family, motherhood, parents sticking together through thick and thin, it’s about immigrants, and it’s for you…” he went on. “There will certainly be more news to come. And if you’re joining us on the road this Christmas, you might just get the chance to see a sneak peek.”
Smallbone ended his post by revealing that he is playing his father in UNSUNG HERO.
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
