About Telecast

Telecast started when Josh White (vocals, acoustic guitar) moved to Spokane and led worship at Calvary Church . While there, he met guitarist Brian Ortize. The two started jamming together, creating a sound that would be developed further with the arrival of Adam Breeden (guitar), Marquis Ashley (bass), and Nick Tibbetts (drums). Wanting a group that would enable him to express his Christian beliefs while being accessible to a secular crowd, White took worship music into a new arena, sounding more like bands on commercial alternative radio than anything on Christian stations. With a pretty, atmospheric style inspired by David Bowie, the Verve, and Coldplay, Telecast released its debut album, The Beauty of Simplicity, on White's own BEC Records label in 2003.

After settling into a service position as worship pastor for Calvary Chapel, he eventually forged a friendship with BEC Recordings’ Brandon Ebel, who courted the singer/songwriter with a solo deal.

“I had given music back to the Lord at that point, so when I signed with Brandon, it was to write songs to bless the church,” Josh relates. “I had no intention of touring, but basically met a group of guys, formed Telecast and began making worship music along the lines of what I loved- Coldplay, the Doves, Travis and that realm of music. The major thing for us, because there was no Christian music background and I had come out of a hard, pagan lifestyle, was to avoid the over vagueness happening within Christianity today. It’s all sort of relating to God, but the main thing in Telecast was to put Jesus in the centrality of the lyrics.”

And that’s exactly where the eleven stirring selections lie throughout the duration of Eternity Is Now (2005). With ethereal undertones, Brit-pop leanings and engaging originality, the guys are able to reach beyond the church’s walls with their resourceful displays, while also reaching believers with an unconventional palette.

“The title is based all around Scripture and the fact that from the second we put our faith in Christ, we should be practicing a moment by moment reality of living in His presence,” White contends. “It’s a heavy concept but it’s really practical. To put it very simply, life is about knowing God, loving who He is and doing what He says.”

It all kicks off with the guitar driven crunch of “Saturate,” a song set in straightforward Brit-pop influence that encourages all to break the chains of apathy within their Christian relationships. “Face To Face” follows suit, adapting a sparser and rootsy rock pattern akin to the likes of Damien Rice, Wilco or Ryan Adams. The latter speaks of a conversion period and the strength that comes from having the veil removed from one’s eyes after encountering Christ on a personal level. Additional variety and assertive attitude are strewn throughout the dreamy “Release the Deep,” the electrically assaulting “Absolution” and the Smiths styled “Fade Into You” (complete with joyous lyrics of salvation a la Bob Dylan).

In 2008 Telecast released their album Quiet Revolution in collaboration with John Mark Comer and Brook Mosser, fellow pastors and friends of Josh from Solid Rock, a church in Portland, Oregon.

Credit Telecast for approaching worship with a strong alternative pop/rock sound and simple words of worship that are rarely clichéd; they succeed at improving upon everything modern worship bands set out to do.