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Todd Rose (left) and Van Rose
Click on each picture for individual profiles
Binding Force is a Christian band based in Waverly, Ohio - a small town 60 miles south of the capital of Columbus. Their sound is a mixture of progressive rock, pop and gospel. The members of the group openly profess their faith and believe the music they play is a ministry ordained by God, used to win souls for Him.
History
It all started in 1993 when Todd and Dustin first met. Todd had been playing snare drum in the percussion section of the Waverly High School Band (in Waverly, Ohio) for the first two years of his high school education. When Dustin showed up as a freshman, Todd was forced to give up his prized position. He may have been upset at the time, relinquishing his job to a lowly ninth grader, but the long term effects were very positive.
Todd and Dustin developed a friendship after discovering they both enjoyed the music of the Beatles. Todd learned that Dustin not only knew how to play guitar, bass, drums and keyboard, but that he also had a studio in a back room in his house. Todd had learned how to play lead parts on a mandolin while laying it on his lap and later learned the same with a guitar. He was interested in what Dustin could show him. Dustin let Todd borrow his electric guitar and showed him how to play a few chords. He was later invited to Dustin's studio, and his brother, Van, and their friend, Julie Billings, went with him.
That night, they recorded several instrumental songs on a karaoke machine which, to the average listener, would probably sound pretty terrible. They had fun nonetheless, and Dustin succeeded in spreading the "recording bug" to his new friends. Todd and Van spent countless hours recording whenever they got a chance - with Dustin and with Julie, who bought a karaoke machine of her own.
Todd and Dustin first played in a band together while part of a southern gospel group called Kindred. They were chosen as backing musicians, with Dustin on bass and Todd on drums. Dustin left the group after several months and Todd did the same when he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.
Todd and Van both joined the Air Force and left for basic training a month after graduating high school in 1994. Todd was stationed at Kelly Air Force Base, in San Antonio, Texas. Van found himself at Mountain Home Air Force Base, in Mountain Home, Idaho.
While the two were away, Dustin's parents built a storage building behind their house and allowed him and his brother, Nick, to use it as a studio. Todd and Van came back home for two weeks every six months and would use their time to record at the new studio.
By this time, in late 1994, Dustin had upgraded to a Fostex analog 4-track recorder. The new equipment allowed the three to record their best songs yet, like "The Fuels Trilogy" and was the first glimpse of how well they worked together.
Todd and Van used their time in the Air Force to practice music and prepare for their trips home and subsequent recording sessions.
The instrumental songs were good, but many who listened to them told Todd, Dustin and Van that their music needed a message. This was attempted in a song called "Ship in a Bottle", recorded during the winter of 1996. The spoken lyrics told of a man who, while examining a ship in a bottle, was "magically transported" aboard a ship sailing 500 years in the past. Needless to say, this was not the message God intended for the band to convey.
Todd was progressing on guitar and surprised others when he showed them how possible it was for a left-handed guitarist to play a right-handed guitar. Van continued practicing his first instrument, the recorder, and picked up a bit of guitar as well. Dustin joined an alternative band first called Organized Chaos, but who later renamed themselves Slush and finally Deep End.
Van began playing bass in 1997 at his home church in Idaho and joined a nameless Christian band a year later. The lead singer encouraged him to start singing in order to strengthen the group. Van took him up on the offer. They became the house band at a local coffee house, playing three gigs before Van quit in order to return to Ohio for good.
Todd and Van were honorably discharged from the Air Force in the summer of 1998. Dustin quit Deep End shortly before their return and began working on new songs with them. The three wrote and recorded 12 songs over a one-year period. Van was providing the vocals to the new material but still, the message lacked the most vital element.
In April 1999, they contacted Shannon Newberry, a Christian drummer from the neighboring village of Piketon, with hopes of taking their songs out on the road. It was at this time they could actually consider themselves a band. The lineup at that time was: Todd on lead guitar; Dustin on bass; Van on rhythm guitar and vocals; and Shannon on drums. The four found that their repertoire consisted of more cover songs than anything else. That left a bad taste in the mouths of Todd, Dustin and Van, who had planned to have a playlist of predominantly original songs.
Practices were missed and gigs fell through. It was obvious that the whole thing was not going to work out. Shannon felt the band needed to accept the fact that they would eventually have to play in bars in order to get anywhere. The others were adamantly opposed to that idea, holding to their Christian morals regardless to the fact that their type of music did not reflect them. The band never played a single performance during this particular incarnation.
Shannon decided to leave the band at the beginning of 2000, dashing all hopes of playing live shows. The failure of the band was not the fault of any member but rather because God's blessing was not upon it.
The remaining three worked on rerecording four of their songs and making a demo CD. A search for a new drummer was not seriously pursued and the band seemed to be headed nowhere. Todd started performing with Portsmouth musician Steve Free whenever possible in an effort to fill his void.
A big change came in the fall of 2000 when Dustin and Todd were contemplating the future of the group. Dustin, Todd and Van felt God pulling them to take the band in the right direction and begin playing music for Him instead of for themselves. This was obviously the best decision they had ever made because they were blessed with new songs right away. The dreaded "rebuilding process" associated with their crossover was aided by the hand of God.
Getting a new drummer was not a problem. Dustin gladly took the position and Van moved to bass. Todd stayed on guitar, now handling both rhythm and lead parts. Dustin's wife, Della, lent her voice to the music too.
Dustin and Della both left the band in 2002 to devote more of themselves to their church. Todd and Van, faced with this dilemma that could hinder the future of the band, decided to use a drum machine and continue their ministry.
With a growing repertoire of original songs, Binding Force strives to bring forth a positive, Biblical message that will touch hearts and change lives by God working through them. The goal, as always, is to win souls for the kingdom of God above all else.
Special thanks go to Tracy Langdon, Van's friend from Newfoundland, Canada, who never stopped praying for the band and always had faith that she would one day hear them playing Christian music.
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