Talented students form musical collective called ‘Prone to Wander’

“Prone to wander,” is a phrase taken from the hymn, “Come Thou Fount,” and encompasses the human fallibility in one’s relationship with God, eventually pointing towards the steadfast assurance of Christ’s promise throughout life.

Evoking this idea, several OBU musicians formed “Prone To Wander,” a collective of individual artists collaborating to bring glory to God through their endeavors as a group.

The group is comprised of five OBU artists, Brandon Handy, Xavier, Iveth Luna, Graham Griffin, and Emmalee Ewbank.

Xavier, sophomore music major, guitarist and vocalist, described the group as a “collective.”

“It is this idea that we’re each five artists, five individuals that help each other out,” he said. “We support each other and we grow together.”

Iveth Luna, senior business major, explained her heart behind the project.

“After coming back from the summer in England, my eyes were open to a more genuine side of living out my faith,” Luna said, explaining how this impacted her as a musician.

“I had this desire to share that at OBU and the only way I could think of doing that was by bringing in a group of people that had that same mission.”

Both Luna and Graham Griffin, sophomore Bible major and pianist, wanted to spend time with other talented musicians, and saw Prone To Wander as an opportunity.

“We’re a team,” Griffin said. “We’re five people who each have a very specific talent and individual calling in the world, but we’re using them together.”

The collective has been working on several songs and music videos. It is apparent through the production process that each artist will be representing a unique style.

“If it’s Iveth’s song, you’re gonna know it’s Iveth’s song,” Xavier said. “It’s not ‘Prone to Wander’s’ song, it’s a little piece of Iveth, right here, with her story.”

Luna discussed how the collective was in the revising and editing process.

“We listen to our songs and make sure it is saying what we want it to say,” Luna explained.

“So we go from adding extra instruments to changing lyrics. We’ve gone to our recording site to check out the specific spots we want to record to have logistics and visuals in mind. We’ve recoded our rough draft versions of our songs and we are now finalizing.”

Xavier elaborated on what the editing and writing process entailed for the group as a whole, saying that Prone To Wander isn’t writing songs from scratch together, under the label of a unit.

“We came with our own set of lyrics, melodies, ideas or sometimes full songs that we’d already completed,” he said.

“We all focus on one person’s song, ask about their approach, and then try to help them with it. Then we focus on the next person’s song, and then the next.”

Xavier described the recording and editing process as a gift from God for its efficiency and cooperativeness.

“We worked non-stop on songs for five hours straight, and at the end we just looked at each other, and thought, ‘Wow. I think we did it,’” he said.

Ewbank discussed the divinely appointed opportunities for the band to practice working together.

“God has provided through the open doors that we’ve had,” she said. “We’ve gotten to lead for chapel four different times in the month and a half that we’ve existed as a collective. And the last time we were asked, we were specifically asked as a group—as a collective.”

Ewbank also discussed the future of the collective.

“I think we’re all big dreamers,” she stated. “A lot of it is having to take a step back and recognize, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but the Lord does. We want to take it step by step and walk through the doors He opens, one open door at a time.”

Luna echoed Ewbank’s statement about the power of God.

“Anything and everything is possible,” Luna said. “So it all depends on God’s will but I hope to spread God’s love through this music in a way that people can enjoy it too.”

Xavier also concluded that the collective was comprised of huge dreamers, but that at the moment they are focusing on the project as an introduction to the group and what they stand for.

“It’s taken all semester to form and get started, but once we get that ball rolling, we’re hoping to make videos more frequently, and see what happens.”

While the future is uncertain, certainty is found in the fact that all the artists will grow into their skills as they work side by side, and God’s provision will continue to carry the musicians forward within His will.

“My big picture for it is that it’ll help us find our specific voices as musicians,” Griffin said.

“I’d love someday for us to be recognized as a group, but at the same time for this group to project us out into the music world—whether that’s together, or as separate artists. Specifically, it’s training us up to learn how to do music, not for us, but for God’s glory.”