Interview: Brittnee and Doyle Hinkle
Brittnee and Doyle Hinkle are a husband and wife indie Christian band from North Carolina. The duo have released 'Worship is my Weapon' and Louder Than The Music chatted with Brittnee about the five song EP and how they started out making music.
For those who haven't heard of you before, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved in making music?
We are a husband and wife indie Christian worship band from Asheboro, North Carolina. We met through a local classic rock band when we were both around 18 years old. Doyle played guitar and I (Brittnee) would guest sing with them sometimes. We’ve both been playing music since very young ages.
Tell us about your EP 'Worship Is My Weapon' and what the inspiration behind it was?
The inspiration behind our new ep “Worship is my Weapon”, spiritually, is boldness and confidence. The enemy becomes so fearful when we life up our voices and declare that God is powerful. So our worship can become a very powerful weapon against the enemy! And we want to encourage others to be bold and confident in their faith.
Which is your favorite track on the EP and why?
Our favorite track from the ep is “Thunder”. Musically, it’s very 80’s- modern Christian music meets Stranger Things’ vibes. The lyrics say “the thunder of Your power is just a whisper we hear. The lightening flashing through the sky is just a glimpse of Your strength”. To us, these words give such a vivid visual of how powerful God is, yet He chooses to love us. It is hard for us as humans to fathom.
What message would you like people to take from your music?
We want to bring attention to the fact that spiritual warfare is real and it needs to be a topic that is discussed. As followers of Jesus, this is something we will face. The enemy will try his best to attack us from every angle. But if we are already armored up and prepared, we will be able to see him coming and know how to fight.
How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?
We both come from a vast mix of influences. We both grew up on bluegrass and Gospel. Brittnee sang in a Western Swing band and yodeled. Doyle played classic rock. Then we both started expanding our interests and we became fully invested in our love for contemporary Christian music. Our style now is a modern Christian worship sound meets an underground, indie rock sound.
If you could work with any songwriter, who would it be and why?
John Mark McMillan. Because HE’S JOHN MARK MCMILLAN. Lyrically, he speaks so much depth and truth. He is a deep thinker. And his lyrics show his authenticity and his realness. Musically, he is the father of indie Christian melodies. We were in awe seeing him play live recently. We would love to tour with him.
How would you define success in your career as an artist?
To us, success is when someone tells us that someone loves our music and that it encouraged them. Sure, we’d love to be able to tour, and travel, and live out our dreams- but what really matters is the reason we are doing it- yes, because we love music, but most importantly, we love Jesus and are here to point people to Him.
What is your favorite album of all time?
We have two: John Mark McMillan’s “Live at the Knight” album and Hillsong’s “Zion”.
You're stuck on an island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your phone. What track is it?
We are really into Lucious right now. So it would have to be “Next to Normal”.
What does the next year hold for you?
We’ve played a good amount of live shows, but this year we will have our very first official Brittnee and Doyle concert with our band at our church, Journey Church. (P.s. We are looking for openers!). We will continue to play with our worship team at church on Sundays, maybe shoot a new music video or two, set up a small tour, and continue writing.
