Artist Feature | Tribe & Tongue

In this weeks artist feature, we sit down with songwriting duo Allison Schult and Brandon Li who record as the band Tribe & Tongue.

Tell us a bit about how Tribe and Tongue began.

At a young age, we were both inspired by music, and had played around with writing songs. Allison always kept these songs generally to herself, so it was a surprise when I (Brandon) found out she enjoyed writing songs as well. We started to share our songs, melodies, and ideas with each other as we explored what it was like to write together, which was a new experience for the both of us.

One day we found ourselves writing a worship song together called “Defender”. Our friend Chris Wichmann, who produces our music, took notice of our interest in writing songs together and planted the seed that we could record an EP with the songs that we had written. Up until then, we were just enjoying writing songs together and hadn’t thought to record them, but we felt that maybe the Holy Spirit was nudging us to share these songs that he had given to us to write. Once we felt confident with our five songs, Chris produced our EP featuring some of our closest friends that we led worship with while we were in college.

Can you give us a window into your writing process? 

The summer that we began to write more, we were living in different states. We would text each other voice memos of melodies and share lyrics from our notes apps whenever we had small ideas. Usually, one of us is inspired by scripture, a sermon, an experience, or a melody, and then we would bring it to each other to see ideas the other would have. Often times we just have a section of a song or even a line, so we come together to discover what the song wants to be and what God may be trying to say through it. Our strengths in songwriting complement each other, Brandon leans more into melodies and harmony whereas Allison is more drawn into lyricism. Sometimes Brandon finds a melody or chord progression we jive with, then we open our Bibles together and start singing the thoughts that come from that or even the words that are on the pages.

What inspires you to create? 

Allison: One area I often feel very inspired in, are people’s experiences in their lives, and how God shows up in those experiences. “Defender” was written when a dear friend of mine’s brother was diagnosed with cancer for a second time. I remember just crying with her as she told me, how defenseless we as humans feel in those situations, and all I could do with that emotion was turn to creating and write a song.

Another area I often find myself inspired to create is when I cannot find a worship song for a specific moment, concept, or experience. Last Easter I spent so much time looking for a strong contemporary Good Friday song. I wanted a song that just kind of sits in the sadness and magnitude of Christ’s death. So, I was inspired to create and write one.

Brandon: For as long as I can remember, I’ve had deep desires to create things with my own mind and hands. When I was a little kid, my dad bought me an electronics kit from Radio Shack that I used to make little toys and gadgets. In high school, I took to YouTube to learn how to make videos and record music. Later, electronics became interesting to me again and I learned how to make my own guitar pedals. When I became a Christian in middle school, I discovered that I connected with God very strongly in music. Then I started writing songs and it quickly became a way for me to communicate with God — I was singing my prayers, but God was also revealing His love for me through my songs. Today when I write, I want to draw others into those moments with Jesus and to lead them in responding through worship.

What or who has had the biggest influence on your writing? 

Allison: Audrey Assad is a worship artist that honestly kick-started my interest in music, worship leading, and songwriting in its entirety. My first big solo at church was a song written and sung by her called “Winter Snow”. It is one of the most creative and beautifully written worship songs I know. She gave me my worship voice with that song. Fast forward a few years, I was on internship at Risen Savior Pheonix under Joel Endicott, and he introduced me to the song “Little Things With Great Love”, which also was written by Audrey. The song is so poetic and unique. That summer happened to be when I really started to take songwriting more seriously. I admired her creativity with language, and her very open and floating melodies. My songwriting usually comes out very simple lyrically, but I often try to work the poetic muscle to create something that is linguistically and poetically powerful the way she does.

Brandon: As a new Christian and young worship leader in high school, I remembered being really impacted by Tenth Avenue North and devotional videos that their frontman Mike Donehey would make about their songs. He had such a tender and personal way of helping people see life, hope, and forgiveness in Jesus that showed me how to just be a worship leader and songwriter who can get people to sing songs and craft creative lines about Jesus, but to be one who deeply knows and loves the Jesus and the Gospel that scriptures reveal and to be passionate about helping people know that same Jesus and Gospel through music and the Word.

We’ve both been deeply moved by quite a few of the worship songs that Brooke Ligertwood has written since we were probably teenagers. In the recent couple of years, we’ve been really enjoying how she draws out such richness and depth with how she draws out the Gospel story in her lyricism and marries it with melodies that are simply singable yet piercing to the soul. Some of the songs she’s written that we often go back to are, “What A Beautiful Name”, “King of Kings”, “O Praise The Name”, “Who You Say I Am”, and “Authority” from Elevation Worship

How has COVID-19 affected the way you create if at all?

When the pandemic hit, one of the first things that we noticed God was doing in our own lives and in our church communities was slowing down the pace of our lives from the fast-paced intensity that is the norm for most people here in Silicon Valley. In our personal lives, this meant more time spent at home to be introspective and reflective, and turning those thoughts into musical ideas.

At the same time, having to put worship services online created an enormous opportunity for young church leaders like ourselves and so many of our friends to shape what Christian ministry can look like in a digital era. What we found most exciting was seeing people do more virtual collaboration than before. We had the opportunity to collaborate with friends’ projects and videos, other church’s worship services, and a virtual mass choir singing of “The Blessing” with worship leaders all around the Bay Area.

Inspired by the virtual collaboration that was happening on the internet, we began putting together our own collaboration project that would include our close friends from college. We partnered up with our friend Chris, who now lives in Texas, to arrange and produce a cover of “Another In The Fire” by Hillsong United. Because of the wonders of the internet and modern recording technologies, we were able to have our amazingly talented friends capture high-quality audio and video from various parts of the country. For us, this project was a chance to come together and to celebrate friendship, our passion for music and worship, and to give hope and encouragement to our communities.

You write songs primarily for use in worship (I think this is true at least from your recordings). Why is it important to write songs for your local congregation?

Our first passion will always be for congregational worship — to write songs that will first draw people nearer to Jesus and the Gospel and then lead them to respond in worship. 

God can do big things through worship leaders writing songs for their local churches and communities. One of the coolest moments from our songwriting journey together was when Brandon received a call to be the music director at Redeemer in Redwood City. In his first year, Brandon dug through some old notebooks and found a song that he had written in high school that was also titled “Redeemer”. The first time we sang that song for our church was when our pastor was casting a new vision. At that moment, the song “Redeemer” served as Redeemer’s testament of God’s presence and providence in our lives, and it still does to this day. It also reminds us of God’s hand and the Holy Spirit in the lives of creative people in the Church — that He will use us, creativity, and art which He has given us, for His glory and His purposes.

Tell us about what you are working on right now, and where we can go to learn more about your work?

We are currently dreaming up some new vision for Tribe & Tongue. We want to grow and evolve in new and different ways. Right now one of those ideas is collaborations. Our video collaboration of “Another In The Fire” is going to drop in early September on YouTube. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates. We also encourage you to follow us on any major music streaming platform to listen to our music!