Interview and Q+A with Ernie Haase {Of Ernie Haase and Signature Sound}

hello everyone welcome back to the vlog today I am so honored to have mr. aney Haas of Ernie Haase and signature sound on the blog with us today and he has become a dear dear friend and I am so so thankful that we got to get him on and you were going to learn so much about the group his history and then we just cover a myriad of topics and I know that you guys are going to enjoy it so without further ado let's get into it hello everyone welcome back to the vlog today I am so honored to have mr. aney Haas of Ernie Haase and signature sound here so thank you for being on today hey thanks for inviting me hey and thanks for coming this last weekend it was good to see you this is my mom and my sister with me so yeah we had a blast as a fun night so uh for those people who don't know who you are I don't know how I couldn't know who or anyhow and signature sound are but you have been traveling and singing for a long long time and you have made a huge huge mark gospel music industry so I want you to go back to the start of how you got your strong gospel music and just kind of explain um how you begin you know so how are you Victoria 15 I'll be 16 in less than a month so okay so that was that was about the age that I heard my first southern gospel harmonies and that was the cathedrals they came to my hometown at Evansville Indiana and I was 15 years old I went with a buddy of mine and and I was just blown away I was raised in church I went to a Southern Baptist Church there in Evansville and topped the Bible and we sang hymns but I didn't know anything about quartet music or seven Gospels that summer our youth camp we went on a bus trip to Turkey Run State Park and my counselor and he put up these speakers and his old beat-up bus that we had and he was piping in some music that I had never heard I said that's awesome what is that because that's a quartet called the Cathedral quartet so I'm all about trying to find out courses and I went bottling the records and then found out they were coming to Evansville so what to see them and so at 15 you know it's hard to know even at 25 I've but you know I thought maybe I would be a baseball pitcher because I played sports you know I thought it might be in heating air-conditioning cuz my dad did he but that night I'm like mmm music's a big part of my life I could see myself doing that years later that door opened up and I got to sing with those guys my heroes the Wow that's awesome that's amazing story and then I like I love to ask this question for people who have traveled with different groups um what is your favorite memory from traveling with the cathedrals wow there's so many I think I think just watching those guys night after night and how professional they were and how they treated every crowd as though it was their the best performance in possibly their last performance they always gave 100% and I know in Christian circles in the ministry you don't like the word performance but uh you you give it your best you perform your ability that's what I'm trying to say mm-hmm trust the Holy Spirit to do what only he can do and I watched those guys for the last ten years of their career do exactly that so yeah we had some highlights singing in the Billy Graham crusade in Cleveland in front of 82,000 people that was that was a highlight singing it yeah in watching that crowd react to the cathedrals my first night singing with cathedrals at the Tennessee Tennessee Performing Arts Center with the Gators mm-hmm but the highlight for me was watching them give it their all and give it off for Jesus everything mm-hmm and that's so important too because I feel like sometimes it's hard to remember that even if it's just a small crowd or it's just it's still important and you still are ministering to people even if it's not a lot of people so I think that's really important so um George Johnson bloom pane there were legends and gospel music and you can still see their marks today in just music so what's the most important thing that you learned from them faithfulness faithfulness to the call doing business the right way let your yay be a your nay be nay is the Bible and people people all the time they see the talent and you gotta have you know whatever profession you choose you got to have a love and a passion and a talent for it so that but then we get you so far and so and how you pay your bills on time mm-hmm you do what you say you're gonna do mm-hmm sometimes do a little bit more nevertheless so those are those are the marks that they left on me can I try to try to do that that's great and um one thing that I want to cover is after the cathedrals you know after they retired and you created your own group that is just phenomenal that I've been a fan of since I was four years old watch the group for many many years and I love y'all so what inspired you to create signature sounds well that whole experience with the cathedrals definitely planted some seeds mm-hmm and and I think when everybody you know steps back from it takes a real good look at it um you've got to take your personality mm-hmm your vision and then you got to not try to copy something but just allow your personality and your calling you know the the old saying every single flake has a different mm-hmm shape and form you've got that with snowflakes I mean every personality has its own shape and form and so that's what I try to do the cathedrals high in had some big seeds in me in between the cathedrals and signature sound I got to travel with my father mom and Jake s old friends quartet and being a quartet fan traveling with Jake for two years and hearing all those stories about the statesmen who were in the trip she basically put this kind of music on the map I wanted to see which after they after they wore down they said we can't go anymore and Georgia's mandate to me exactly was this he said we we're tired we wore out take this music that we love so much and take it and do it in places that we never get a chance to do because we got more you know ones with signature sound that was been my mandate and we've been able to do a lot of things and so those seeds from the cathedrals the seeds from The Statesman the seeds of creativity from the Gaithers monastic are in me and and every night I just try to say Lord how does that come out using my unique personality and gifts and drive and passions and it's turned into signature sound I'd like everybody says old man he's got a lot of marking it is I honestly I'm just doing what I love mm-hm and I see something that connects with people like you um then I'm like let's try that again and let's try to make that something that we do every night and so a lot of stuff wasn't planned what I feel like it was just all of those seeds starting to bear fruit and growing and I'm glad because you know we we get letters and emails every day what the music means to them and I know it's it's not us I know we're just vehicles that's a legacy yeah that's a great legacy in talking about that actually a a thing that y'all do so well is merging the generations so getting young people interested in gospel music and I'm wondering what keeps you inspired to do that because if you'll notice in y'all's audiences there's always young people that are huge fans that signature sound because y'all are different and y'all put that different spin on it while keeping that same gospel feel to it so what keeps you all inspired to keep young people interested in well I have to go back Who I am in my heart that that youthful heart is still in there although I'm not young anymore you know so it's when the music starts that's how I respond and I think maybe it took people back a little bit because I wasn't that way with the cathedrals you know I was the guy on the end I stood and hit the high note so yeah we know when I had a chance to be able to express my personality mom it I always go back to you know my upbringing and what happened to me when I was fifteen when I heard the good deed they weren't young at that point mm-hmm but they had some young guys in the group Kirk Talley and then time mark Trammell and I just always keep that in mind and no matter what we do stay true to who we are and I really feel like it will have that appeal to a younger generation you know it man I love it I look out there and I see three generations I see yes grandkid I see that the mom and the grandma oh yeah there and I'm like that's that just arose because what other artful and what other thing can you do that you could take three generations and that's true yeah I know that that's what happened to me my grandma was huge fans y'all then my mom grew up listening to the cathedrals and then I remember being like four years old watching y'all so it just it's gone down from generation to generation that's why I'm such a huge fan of you guys so the new clear skies project let's talk about that it's so good so what was main inspiration behind the album uh well here we are in my home we're sitting here and if you look back there in the can you see back there yeah there's my piano room yeah actually I'm going to be leaving here in just a few minutes pick up Wayne Hawn and and we're gonna go sit around this piano and write music and so that's awesome so the creation of clear skies just came from sitting around here and I told the guys I know he wrote that song almost two years ago so whatever we today may not be heard for another two or three years the whole creation of clear skies was this I told the guys I said hey we've got signature sound it's over 15 years old now mm-hmm we don't need to reinvent anything it's a it's pretty good it's pretty good brand or whatever I just need to put some good stuff in it and I want to say it eternal things in a new way and so would you start looking at scripture weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning mm-hmm and that scripture I said how do we say that in a new way and then the musically how do we say it in a way that's not always at the top of our lungs singing is high and low as we must so you know there's a place for that and I enjoy it I think of quartet music and so I just I wanted to create an album that was more the heart mm-hmm instead of worrying about the style of signature sound and what people were hoping it would be I just wanted to be easy heavy on the heart and but light on the ears and so that that was the vision for the whole project yeah and I know it's gonna take off there's several songs on there my hallelujah I know that one charge of writers oh that one's gonna go so well I know that one and then um there's just so many good songs obviously the title clear skies and then sailing with Jesus they're just they're also so good so y'all did a great job on that thank you so much so throughout the years you've remained I know that the subject is super important to you and it's important to me as well I I love anything to do with health and fitness and I know you've remained active sports and health and fitness and I know that is a very important subject to you so what keeps you motivated to stay active uh you know the scripture says to train a child the way he should go and he's old he will not depart I think that's not only true for Scripture spiritual things but my dad I mean it was he get home from work it was pitch in baseball and he was catching or it was throwing the football it was batting cages it was even him hitting golf balls and making me chase him you know it was with always sports activity you know and back then there was before even game boys and Ataris there wasn't before either thing we had to make up our own entertainment something sports is a big part of my life in you know I'm 53 yesterday I was just I mean to be able to go and sing and hit the high notes and you know and still be able to do it not have to wake my body up every day form the way you know I want to perform and thankfully yesterday I was able to go out play basketball for an hour with a bunch of guys um and so you know I don't think it's everybody's thing but for me if I don't if I don't sweat whether working in the art or working out at least once a day it's weird I don't feel like me mm-hmm exactly I did - yeah it's stress relief for me majorly like I love it so much so um I'm glad to hear that that's good so switching gears just a little bit to songwriting what is your favorite song that you've ever written or co-written in one well yeah I was just you know typically when I'm in interviews the first thing that comes to mind at heart is typically want to go with news as only you know the most pure thought um I had to say he made a change it was the last song that the cathedrals ever recorded that went number one for them and but the number one was a big deal but it was it was it was I've been writing before that you should know my mom has saved all my little books and my rhythms and rhymes and all that stuff and they're just so i mean i mean i've been writing rhymes in poems and songs since I was a kid yeah so you know if you add it all that there's probably 200 of those things but no one occurred amar never really but you got to start somewhere that's that he made a change was the one I had I've had some cuts from some other grooves even a casinos recorded a song but he made change was and when people said I'll never forget we were cutting the track and mr. Gaither walked in he was gonna come in and produce a couple songs on that record he made change was not one of them and when he walked in he could just see his his ears when he goes what is that so that's a new song I helped write and I wrote that book I wrote that with Joel Lindsey so the bowline I connected back in 1994 and we started writing and so man he's been through cancer two or three times and he's just become a dear dear friend of mine and so he made a change would probably be the one because it allowed me to catch people's eyes and ears and say hey he might be a writer mm-hmm any times that quit and um Joel would say hey man what you working on I'm like I'm not no unacceptable you got to go right and then my one of my mentor Squire Parsons who I traveled with for the cathedrals one of the greatest songwriters in Southern Gospel ever he wound up just strategically he would call and say hey Ernie what'd he write like what I haven't in a while and he says unaccepted you know just I had all those guys cheering me on and then but that you know what speaking of cheering on so he made a change would be the one man a beacon of cheering on let me show you this so writing the song is one thing and then I drew a sketch above something I wanted over my fireplace and this mm-hmm lady in New Jersey to paint this picture can you see this painting behind me oh wow yes it says a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on and so the painting you can see there's three angels and what a Miss George oh wow and of course the quartet and so that is a beautiful picture I just want to I want to encourage everybody who has a chance to to to create you know don't create just because Italy accepted you know mm-hmm always always create always look for an opportunity to to make the world a better place yes you're taken from it or you're given to it you know so that's one thing I'd encourage and then another song from the signature sound catalog then will help I would say reason enough favorite ones and then um sometimes I wonder would be another one yes and then on this new record clear skies record huh you know clear skies sailing with Jesus give me Jesus meaning crosby lyric we got to finish but the ballad love took his breath away no I'm so good new songs we're entering into the holy season the crucifixion and Easter and sometimes we just we don't listen to the story because we know the ending you know true even but in hey you know do you have your favorite movie that you've seen more than once mm-hmm no no but the ending bother me and cuz I know it I just exactly we and the same thing with this song I wanted to people to realize what it took to purchase and redeem us that's one other story in a way that if they heard it again it would shake them that's good yes cause tears to flow not because of our singing good because story yeah in talking about going back to the song ready talking about that I feel like as I love to write songs and stuff like that I've written a couple and the I feel like a lot of people sometimes they feel like when you're songwriter you just pull things out from thin air and it just becomes and a lot of times those songs are crafted from our personal struggles and from stories that you guys hear that people come up to you and tell you you know something and you use that as inspiration to write and I love that that sometimes what those songs are crafted and I feel like that's what makes them so relatable and powerful for people is because they can actually feel and it's coming from you know real emotion so that's that's great you know so what advice would you give to other songwriters out there to get their music or to get their music out there or any tips that you have for songwriting what would you give them well I would definitely have your weather lit up what device you use your iPhone or your song and I would definitely have an app where you can just write down and Lisa just walked by and she says you're a normal thank you you know just write and there's no I mean nothing's too silly nothing's you know you just don't don't critique yourself write it down if you wake up the night write it down and and somebody's talking to you with the inspiration you know don't take your attention away from them but make a mental note and write it and then that so that would be my number one thing and then I would I highly recommend getting together with other writers to co-write um you know I'm not I'm not too proud to say had Squire Parsons who helped me with my writing and Joel Lindsay not helped me and co-wrote with me and Wayne Honsou Smith co-written with Benji Gator um I don't know that you'd ever hear anything that I've done I mean I you'd hear it but it would have connected with you people so you look back at the great songwriters like Jerome Kern awesome and they always wrote with somebody um Lennon and McCartney know uh uh billing over a decade I mean even crop she only wrote lyrics always had somebody that would write the music so doesn't maybe my two things I would and then when you find that person that it clicks with you know protect that relationship and and always talk about your life experiences because out of those life experiences Carlos songs when we sat down to write sometimes I wonder we didn't even sit down to write that my my father all had just passed away mm-hmm Joel's mother had just passed away really what we're not in a mood to write because we were really heavy hearted just like right now with Terra's passing I don't know I don't know what's gonna come out of this but I remember saying to Joe on like the last thing George said to me was I'm not afraid to go I'm just afraid to leave you all behind and I said George we'll be okay it won't be the same but hmm we'll be okay well laughing and we'll go to dinner he was worried about leaving us behind and so there's a line and song says standing at your bedside you were so afraid mmm leave us all behind you worried that we would be okay has heaven eased your mine mm-hmm and and then Joel said my mom used to be afraid of storms she when she'd see a stolen blowing in across the field she was just started shaking you know she's afraid of storms still in heaven well that's silly because there's no storms so those lines are all in that song Wow yeah and that just goes back to what I said that I mean those those times a lot of times um those bad experiences that happen are the things that we go through in life we can you know use those for good and to turn around and say okay what what can I get out of this that's good how how is God going to use this and turn it around you know so that's awesome that was so good Victoire that's how it goes I can tell you there's I've never became more christ-like because of of a triumph victory and those things are good to have because they keep you you know like this this weekend the video shoot I mean all that's been working for a couple years old there was a sense of relief so you got to have those but but those things really don't make us more like rice today it's it's the brokenness miss the missteps the mistakes the losses and all those things draw us closer to him and those are the experiences that everybody can deal with I relate to because exactly that's good that's really good okay so out of all the CDs that Ernie Haase and signature sound is produced which one is your favorite I know that one's hard again I will always say whatever the latest one is understate sell it it's just where my heart is right now but I'm you'd be you'd be interested to know that I don't listen to anything we do I just I'm really harsh on myself not very critical and I'm trying to be more loving to myself you know but um I just now started listening to cathedrals music and I go back and listen to it now and I'm like I can really enjoy it but here's why I said the newest CD for me because I listened to it a hundred times before it ever comes out because mmm make adjustments and fix it and then finally when I say yes to the master that's it this is it I'm signing off okay here we go and typically that's when I quit listening to her my music I'm like I'm done tired of it moving on this didn't happen this time what clears when I go and shoot basketball and I had my headphones in it and it's just me out there shoot basketball I still listen these songs and it and I can't explain why because it's not the voices and it's not the pride of it's me or my guys um these songs are it's like a soundtrack to our lives and I know I know we've been through so if you've ever listened to a soundtrack of a musical that you know like recently I'm listening to the greatest showmen live that whole movie because that soundtracks so good these songs are the soundtrack of our behalves this that's that's why it's still my favorite but man get away Jordan record our self-titled record the dream on record when we did and not just my recordings but our videos you know that's been a big part of yes I am too one day one day one day in this room with my friends and family we might have a little signature sound partying and think back of all the things we've done and maybe go yeah but no I'm still building oh alright well we have one more question the end but right now we're going to get into the speed round so these are just a little bit more fun questions that don't take up as much time so talking about when was it Sunday night this past Sunday night what was your favorite moment of the live taping during the live taping what was your favorite moment actually the impromptu moment right after I saying longing for home mm-hmm there was just a little moment there that my heart just overflowed and and you should know that I know they're supposed to be lightening around I'm sorry um you're okay okay everybody every video we do there's always excitement mm-hmm that kind of energy so that's what probably turns you towards signature sound but I've always I've always regretted that we've never been able to record our heart and in that moment in time I felt was the first time our heart ever made it to tape and so that's what was one of my favorite moments I remember what it happened I'm like finally I was able to the videos out of my mind and the crowd out of mine it'd just be me it happened without oh that was that was my moment okay so this one's kind of funny we know you love ketchup so what's one thing that you put ketchup on that's weird that people don't do a Karelian cheese what on earth good Victoria says what oh my goodness that's crazy Heinz ketchup too high yeah I was wondering I was wondering okay all right so then a couple of weeks ago you guys sing the national anthem after a races at the car races or whatever so give me one word to describe that experience breathtaking breathtaking I mean you look at all that crowd 100,000 plus and you can't hear I mean listen just echo and yeah it was breathtaking Wow y'all did phenomenal y'all killed it okay what is your favorite dessert Oh yo cookie hmm oh yes Oh double stufs yep that's the bear that's the only kind of get and I have to you know I have to dunk them in milk uh-huh yep not 2% not skim whole milk the whole thing yeah I'm a detail person oh okay what is a favorite city that you've done a live recording in on your person um Wow I love Chicago I know you're gonna say that brother but I'm an Indiana boy so I'm very thankful for all the videos we've been able to recording in my great state of the Hoosier State in the end and Paducah all of them in great Texas and in Louisiana I mean who goes to who goes to Shreveport Bossier City Louisiana doesn't video but exactly we brought it south and so we've been everybody's been screaming you know come down south to do so but but Chicago yeah that had to be one of my all-time faves and then maybe one day in the Big Apple who knows no but that would be awesome yeah okay what is your favorite thing to do in your spare time I love to read I mean you may think work out is that the other but you know I'm very quick I'm very quiet when I'm home I'm beep and I've got all these books I got like like looking in there right now my little in 1 2 3 not counting my Bible there's five books in there and they're all half-wave read you know I'm just you know I'm in that morning s come on I've got five Cleveland Cavalier games taped in them rewind and watching that's awesome it's good to just kind of de-stress and get home and just kind of relax oh that's good all right y'all have done several videos four songs in different countries and then y'all saying everywhere in different countries so what's your favorite country that you visited I love them all they never want to give me a whole new experience but we people in Northern Ireland you know they're just great then but just I remember when we went to India the whole nother experience it just you know you just you think how blessed we are here in America so all of them are great I love them more special but I love the little island of Northern Ireland I love I love everything about it and the people are so sweet and that would be I'd be on to the top top of the five all right and then um the Broadway album that y'all did a couple years ago that has been one of my favorite albums to date so what's your favorite song off that album well the first musical that was ever in in high school that might be a subject that people don't know I'm I was the only guy on the football baseball basketball team that was actually in the cool horse mine in the physical sense oh I love musicals I love stories you know that to music so fit on the roof was one of the first ones I was in so sunrise/sunset probably one of my favorites on that record bring him home you'll never walk alone I get to sing nad from the musical carousel so all of those that record was a lifelong bucket list kind of thing to do sing those songs it's opened up a lot of doors for us too and people are surprised that when they come to the the inspiration of Broadway concert even though they don't get to hear oh what a savior hmm they feel like they've been to church and God has used us so many places and opened a lot of doors for us so thanks for thanks for bringing that up because that you were talking about big Cortines that's probably one of my favorite recordings too yes I know I love that one my favorite song is uh sit down you're rocking the boat from which musicals from but I loved that one that arrangement yes that arrangement so good alright so the last question that I always like to ask people that I have on is what advice would you give young people or even used adults just what advice you want to minister to others and want to make a difference what what is your main advice that you would give them follow your passion are one wakes you up in the morning yeah you know whatever you decide to do a night there's going to be it's like a coin it's it's a paradox there's it's heads and tails mmm it's one of the other and so whatever you choose in life there's going to be the other side that's that's and there's an who aggravates you in life more than anybody somebody you love you know and so there's that tension but to get past the newness and the excitement of a new relationship or a new endeavor there has to be passion that will carry you through those times when it's aggravate she yeah when it makes you mad and when it makes you sad and it makes you angry and so for me I can't think of anything else that's holding Lisa to cuz I don't like traveling anymore I was linked up I used to love traveling but I love being home now I love when I'm on the stage I love when I'm there is like the traveling's mm-hmm but I told my wife it's still the thing that wakes me up in the morning is that's the next way to say it next way to ride it the next way to perform it I still think even though I got a lot of mileage on my voice I still think maybe I can sing better one day I can you know so victory you know follow your passion and yeah we live in in a in a commercial area of life where where things have to be made with money and perfect but you know what if you if you follow your passion I think the money and the funds will come for you to be able to live a comfortable life because that's the thing that wakes you up in the morning and that thing's gonna keep you going so and I think honestly I went in with this I honestly think God puts that passion in you he may do uniquely his and he also gave you talents and gifts and personalities and just gotta find that passion I know a lot of people who have made millions who are miserable I just love what they do I know who don't have much but they are the happy yes they are doing what they love to do my dad's heating air conditioning you know I know people who are preaching a little country church in North Dakota mm-hmm 250 barely getting by but they're thrilled to death every morning they wake up with a new passion so I see it in you I see it in you and what you're doing with your blog and where that makes aq heaven knows and and how it will flesh out you know 10 years from now but you keep that passion thank you God God will steer the ship they really will thank you well this was so good I am so honored that I got to have you on today I enjoyed this so much and I'm give the people the website your website so that they can get tour day and merchandise CDs all that mm-hmm well just my name Ernie Haase calm and I still spell my last name because people still it's H a a to a B that's the easiest way to find everything with Ernie Haase and signature sound and I just thank you for for inviting me I hope these seeds get planted deep in your heart and something we've added to so taken away I think we have yes it means so much to to be you know friends with you guys it means so much to me just like I said because I've been fans of you guys for years so it means a lot to me so thank you so much for being on today so I will leave links for everyone down below so that they can go check out everything so thank you so much huh what was your favorite signature sound recording or so my that's so hard I love the mom I love this new it newest record just because it's phenomenal and then um definitely the Broadway album I mentioned that one and then um dream on that one was my favorite I love that one so awesome I can see why cuz I can see that you're a dreamer no thank you okay will you will you have a good day thank you so much for being on bye but thank you guys so much for watching this video I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed doing it make sure you subscribe to my channel click that big red subscription button if you're on my channel and if you're on my blog click right over there enter your email in that box and you'll get a notification every single time a new interview or post comes out it'll get sent straight to your inbox I hope you guys have a great day be sure to give this video a thumbs up and I will see you next week bye [Music]

Channel: Focused - Fabulous

Views: 2,183

Rating: 4.9183674 out of 5

Keywords: ernie, haase, and, signature, sound, ernie haase and signature sound, interview, q+a, interview and Q+A, interview and Q+A with ernie haase, interview with ernie haase, interview with signature sound, ernie haase and signature sound interview, focused-fabulous, with

Id: EJ90c_-_CTs

Length: 38min 2sec (2282 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 12 2018