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  Stampley spoke with GOSPELflava.com about his family, writing with his wife, his lead single, "War Cry" and a range of other interesting issues.  GOSPELflava.com:
How did you hook up with well-known producer, Cedric Thompson? Micah Stampley: That was through [producer and friend] Marcus Dawson. I've heard Ced's stuff through the years with a group that he started with his wife Lejuene, called The Promise. I've heard quit a bit of his work. It was great working with him. GOSPELflava.com: Israel and Meleasa Houghton are one of only a few husband and wife songwriting teams that people are familiar with. You wrote most of the songs on your album along with your wife, Heidi. Tell us how the two of you write together. Micah Stampley: It's another dimension of that oneness. A lot of times you see husbands and wives that start looking like each other. Heidi was always been a poet, and I have the musical side. So God joined it together, not only for the purpose of us being husband and wife, but for ministry purposes as well. God had all of this stuff in mind long before we knew any of this stuff would happen. We've been married for about six years now, and it's to the point now where we finish each others' sentences. On the music side, it's been phenomenal to see how God would take the lyrics. Now we just kind of swapped sides. She’ll come up with a melody in a minute, and I began writing the lyrics. It just goes back and forth like that and God pulls these melodies out of us. It's been a phenomenal experience to see God work in us like that.
Micah Stampley: Every time that I sing that song, I get the same response. I was at a concert in Atlanta called "Ray Of Hope" and Bishop Eddie Long was preaching. I don't mean to be deep, but I think that the song is a wake-up call to our spirit man. We've been lacking so long for the true manifestation of God's power. I that the song is a cry for the real worshippers, for the real soldiers. It speaks not to the fleshly man, but the spirit man. It's a call. Our spirits are connected to God. When God speaks to our spirit, we can't help but to answer the call. I think that's why every time I sing that song, that's the response that I see. GOSPELflava.com: As you testify, you have been in the valleys and you've been on the mountains. You've been through many different things in your life. What is the key to staying faithful to God through it all? Micah Stampley: To be honest, the one thing that I always run back to is intimacy. I look at [King] David as a role model. He did so many things wrong. He committed murder. He took another man's wife. We could just go down the list. God still said that David is a man "after my own heart". Why? Because he was intimate with God. That's getting to the point where you say, "OK God. I am born in sin and shaped in iniquity and I need your help. You know my flaws, faults and downfalls. I am laying it all on the table, and I want you to love me in spite of [that]. I love you just for loving me." Becoming intimate with God is what He wants. We are his children. He wants us to talk to him about anything. That's the one thing that I harp on now.  GOSPELflava.com:
You are husband, and a father of FIVE children! What are some of the challenges that you face?Micah Stampley: Whew! There are so many challenges. One challenge is to stay balanced. My kids don't care anything about me being an artist. At the end of the day, I'm still daddy. People will pull at you. They want you to come here. They want to go there, but it is up to the individual to say no, I can’t do this or I can't do that, because these three or four days are for my children. I won't take more than four days out of every week. The rest of it is for my family. You need that balance. There are constantly dates that are coming at you that really want to do, but you just have to stay balanced. The other challenge is on the financial side. Wisdom is the principal thing. If you take God's wisdom, there is absolutely no challenge that He puts on you that you will not be able to bear. The solution to all of these issues is Godly wisdom, because if you get His wisdom, everything else will fall into place. His creativity will come out of you. His passion will come out of you. When he breathed Himself into Adam and we then had the mind of God. He's taking us back to that wisdom the way He originally created us. When we take on that wisdom, all the trials will pass and we will have victory over any situation. GOSPELflava.com: "At Your Heart's Door" is a poignant song that is very well written and obviously speaking to the psalmists, worship leaders and musicians. How did you come up with the idea behind that song?  Micah Stampley: Man, I was so frustrated. Hmmmmm. This is a problem with the church as a whole. Whether you are charismatic or whatever. The Levites, the singers, the ministrels —I think that we can hold a church in control or in captivity when we live [just] any [old] kind of lifestyle. We stand before God’s people, saying "Come on, let's worship Him. Let's praise Him." The problem is, you can't lead where you are not qualified to go (because of your lifestyle). You’re telling me to go to the Holy of Holies, but you have to be sanctified, set apart, holy and righteous to get beyond the veil. In the Biblical days, when they sacrificed animals, those animals couldn't have any type of defect or God would reject the offering. These days we bring God anything. You have folks molesting kids. You have all sorts of stuff going on. Them they will still right in the pulpit or right before God's people and try to lead them into the presence of God.That song, "At Your Heart's Door" was written out of my frustration with the church, because I believe that miracles can't really go into full fruition at the churches because of the music. The music is just that. It is a song without the anointing. I've seen musicians come right out of their car from smoking weed, and go right into the church and play. Folks are just shouting. They are tore up and full. Where do we draw the line? God says "Be ye holy for I am holy." That's where that song comes in. "Give Him your heart. Let God take control. He'll free you from your sins. He'll make you completely whole. Don't give Him a song. He's heard it all before. Repent unto Him. He's at your heart's door.” GOSPELflava.com: What pressures do you face as new artist? Micah Stampley: There are some pressures because of the message that I preach. All eyes are on me. “"s he really what he says that he is?" I get the questions. I get the sarcasm. I get all of that stuff because people are trying to feel me out. A lot of people say one thing with their mouths and their lifestyles are totally different. That is one of the pressures.  Another is I want to connect with other artists, but it is kind of difficult to do unless [established] artists show themselves friendly to a newcomer. I think that we need to become more unified in the body. At the end of the day, we are all pressing for the same thing, and that's to try to get to heaven. I think that we should be more conscious on how we treat people, especially new artists. We are all in the vineyard. We are all working this thing. We are all (we are supposed to be) winning souls for Christ, for kingdom building. If our goal is something other than that, then I think we need to reevaluate our walk with Christ. GOSPELflava.com: You are passionate singer who is not ashamed to show emotions and your love for God. Can you explain your passion? Micah Stampley: I just love God. I just love God so much. I want to show Him love. I'm like that at home. Every time I sit on my keyboard, I get real passionate. I am passionate about Jesus. He literally gave His life for me, and the very least that I can do is offer Him pure worship. Not give Him my leftovers. We need to give him our first fruits. We need to give Him our best at all times, and that's what I try my best to do. I want to give Him everything I have every time I open my mouth. Email This To A Friend
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