Connor Flanagan

Becoming a hip-hop artist was a childhood dream of Connor Flanagan, who is now a 32-year-old dad of three little girls. He and his wife, Katie, belong to St. Pascal Baylon in St. Paul.

Q) What’s it like being on tour?

A) It’s a breath of fresh air. You get to meet amazing people. I played a show in the middle-of-nowhere Kansas a couple weeks ago, and man, the Kansas plains are beautiful. After the show, I stepped outside, and I could see more stars than I’d ever seen in my life. I’m dumbfounded by the places God takes me. I buy a coffee cup from every city I go to — whether I’m in the fanciest hipster coffee shop or at a roadside diner where I’ll ask the waitress if I can keep a mug for $5. My wife and I built this homemade coffee mug rack that holds close to 30. There’s a story attached to each one.

Q) You and two other local musicians founded Dayton Avenue record label almost a year ago. How does building up other musicians make you better?

A) If we’re not using our gifts to encourage others, then what are we doing? There’s no competition in the kingdom of God. There’s so much room for our gifts, and for me to think that somebody else succeeding will somehow inhibit my ability to succeed is a lie. Once a week I’m on the phone with someone who found me on Instagram and asks about my career.

Q) Do you, in turn, receive help from more established musicians?

A) Sometimes you see that turnaround real quick, but it’s more of a long play. Generosity always wins. One of my favorite prayers is the Ignatian prayer of generosity. It’s such a freeing thing to pray.

Q) I love the spirit of your song “Fulltime Dreamer.” What are your wildest dreams?

A) In some ways, I’m living the biggest dream I’ve ever had. I’ve opened for some of my heroes in Christian music — David Crowder, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes. I’ve played at some of my favorite festivals that I went to as a kid. One of my wildest dreams would be to go full-time, to run Dayton Avenue with my buddies and have music be my sole focus. I would love to be able to invest locally in the Twin Cities on the real estate side, in an event center or some kind of place where we could influence the city with live music. My wildest dreams are just the continuation of the seeds we already have planted.

Q) What gives you the courage to chase your dreams?

A) It’s lonely. I’m finding there are not a lot of people built the way I’m built. But on the flip side, I’ve been given a gift to lead and to drive, and I’ve seen how much it can galvanize those around me. At the end of the day, this is for my kids. If I don’t get accolades or the record sales, I basically want to create a public diary for my kids, so when they’re 30 or 40, they can look back and say, “Wow, look what he tried to do!” If it gives them permission to dream, then I’m a success!

Q) You remind people not to quit dreaming when they grow up.

A) There are stereotypes that you get married, have kids and then your dreams die. But the more committed I am to my vocation, the more God has breathed life into my dream — and the more convicted I am to do this music thing, because I want my girls to see their dad fighting for this. Your dream can be a side project. It doesn’t have to make money. I still have a 9-to-5 that helps the family as I’m building my music business.

Q) Are people surprised that you’re a devout Catholic who does hip-hop?

A) Everybody. I don’t lead with it. I think marketing myself as a Catholic hip-hop artist is just cheesy. But when it comes out, it opens up amazing discussion, and I have this opportunity to witness to the charismatic side of the Church and what a joyful life the Catholic life can be.

Q) You don’t fit into a tidy category.

A) My heart resonates with tradition so much, which is weird. They seem so contradictory: I love banging hip-hop, but then I’m so filled by Gregorian chant and the Eucharist. The Church has so much to learn about how to engage culture and show they’re not mutually exclusive.

Q) Is Scripture conducive to rap?

A) One hundred percent! Many of my songs are Scripturally based. I just wrote a song called “Be Not Afraid” that culls all these Bible verses about battling fear. One of my favorite ways to pray is to pray a psalm a day. That whole book is literally a songbook! The way they’re laid out, I pull from them for hip-hop songs.

Q) To quote your song “I Believe,” what helps your unbelief?

A) Any time I’m struggling with belief, I do two things: “Let’s go to your word, God, where you can speak to me divinely, and then let’s go to my story, where you have authored it from the beginning and I can see your goodness played out.”

Q) After a concert, are you exhausted or revved up?

A) I want to keep going! I’m like, “Give me the video footage!” I film every concert, and I treat it like game film. I watch it, “OK, that didn’t feel off. How did the crowd relate to this?”

Q) What helps you compose music?

A) Inspiration rarely strikes. It’s a muscle you have to work out. I write every day. I do writing exercises. After a year of regular practice, I’m starting to see the fruits of that. Ideas are coming quicker. Songs are coming together faster.

Q) Two of your records debuted on the top 10 on iTunes.

A) That was surprising and awesome. It was an affirmation that this is working. And it was just fun! It’s like, “God, you are for us, in the big things and in the little things.” Sometimes I can experience God in the first sip of coffee on a cold morning just as much as I can in hitting the top 10 on iTunes.

Q) We think of fun as something effortless that happens to us, but the fun you’re describing comes from effort.

A) When you pour in so much time and energy and you have a vision and then it comes to life — whoa! That is fun!

Q) A sense of place informs your music. You shoot videos in St. Paul, showing a gritty urban landscape. How does the Ohio farm where you grew up influence you today?

A) It gave me a work ethic. We had chores, and we worked hard and we loved playing in the woods. Growing up on that farm gave me an imagination. We’d grab a backpack and go play for hours and come back at dinnertime. Imagination and work ethic — I recognize that being a big differentiator in me.

Q) How do you try to recreate those experiences for your daughters, living in the city?

A) We’re doing it our own way. It comes down to a sense of adventure. When there’s a massive thunderstorm, we take off our shoes and dance outside. We build a massive snow luge off the back deck in the winter to go sledding on. I put them in a cardboard box and take a flashlight and we go out at night, and I fly them through the backyard like they’re in an airplane.