Why did for King and Country write priceless?

Australian contemporary Christian duo For King & Country have summed up a wealth of emotions and biblical principles in a simple word: priceless.

That's the name of the recording artists' hit song from their 2014 album "Run Wild, Live Free, Love Strong" and the name of a new faith-themed film that will debut in theaters Friday.

For King & Country is made up of brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone. While the singing siblings have seen their song "Priceless" climb the charts, their older brother Ben plays a key role in the "Priceless" film as the movie's director. Joel Smallbone portrays lead character James Stevens.

In a recent telephone interview, Joel Smallbone discussed the popularity of the song "Priceless," which he and his brother will sing among other songs at a For King & Country concert set for Oct. 29 in Shawnee. He also talked about the anti-human trafficking message behind the movie and his foray into movie making.

The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: What can fans expect from the “Priceless” concert?

A: To us, in some ways, it's probably the most exciting tour that we've ever put together as a band, for a few reasons. One, just because we're in our second album now. When we finished our first album, we didn't have enough music to actually do a tour properly, so we were pulling Christmas songs into the set, trying to make up for the fact that we didn't have enough music.

There's the King & Country side of this (concert) — ladders and lasers and the curtain falling from the ceiling. There are 42 or 43 instruments on stage, so it's very theatrical, hopefully very inspirational, and lots of stories are shared.

But the other half of it that we're really thrilled about is the people we're bringing out with us. Jordan Feliz is sort of a newcomer to the music industry but is a great writer and has been a good friend. KB is a hip-hop artist, and we love him dearly. Us being Australian and him being in the hip-hop genre, he brings a real great diversity and a kind of excitement to the night as well. We'll kind of integrate and back him up on a few songs, and he will rap on a few of our songs, so it's just a charming night.

And then, lastly, obviously, with the title of the tour being “Priceless,” there's the message we feel is culturally very timely, which is about really celebrating a woman's worth and charging us as men to be chivalrous in how we love. That's something that we've been moved to share for years now, and it has become a song, it has become a movie, it has become a book, and so there will certainly be a part of the night that will be a celebration and a charge to us as part of that message.

Q: Why do you think the song “Priceless” has resonated with fans?

A: It's sort of equally thrilling that it has been received so well and equally alarming. Alarming because this idea should really be built into every human being, but ceaselessly, people come up to me after the show, just sort of beside themselves, particularly young ladies. They say, “I needed this.” We make these necklaces available that have this Australian 1-cent coin on them, and they're sort of this oxymoron that a woman is worth more than all the money in the world, and the 1-cent coin obviously is the lowest denominator of price.

Last night, I had a young man come up to me after the show, and he's working to be a police officer. Obviously, in the climate that we find ourselves right now, this is doubly commendable. One of the things he said to me is, “I'm going to wear this necklace. This message has really fired me up to always love a woman gently and beautifully.”

In the culture, we're at a crossroads where young men are saying, where am I finding my worth? Is it in this strong sexual instinct that I have, or is it in protecting a woman, committing to a woman and loving a woman? And then for women, am I finding my worth in my figure or the kind of guy that I have on my arm, or am I finding my worth through God? There's so many muddled messages, if you look at a lot of the films, a lot of the music and the arts. A lot of cultural modern messages are kind of pointing to this oversensualized variation of men and women.

Q: How did the movie come about?

A: We started talking about this message really simultaneously with some personal things going on in our lives. Luke had just gotten married, and I had met the woman who is now my wife at Luke's wedding. Two years ago, we went to our brother Ben, and we said, Hey, there's something going on here. This message (within the song “Priceless”) really resonated. We said what if we take this message to the silver screen. He came back and he said I love that. He recalled a documentary that he filmed a few years prior. He culled some of the true stories from that documentary, and we married it with this “Priceless” message.

James Stevens, the character that I play, he's American, so I had to lose the Aussie inflections, if you will. But he's a pretty normal American whose had tragedy hit him. He lost his wife in a tragic accident. As a result, he's been in and out of prison; his daughter was claimed by protective services, because he couldn't look after her anymore. So, in an effort to get his life back on track, he takes an under-the-table transportation job driving a truck a great distance across America, no questions asked. Midway through the trip, he falls asleep at the wheel, ends up in a ditch, and he hears crying in the back of the truck. He realizes shortly afterward that it's not what he has in the truck, but who. When he gets to the drop-off point, he really senses that something is awry. It's a drama, but it's a bit of a thriller as well. Part of the way we constructed it is that we wanted him to see that this is a very American issue, this issue of slavery and trafficking, as it is worldwide. We wanted to portray this story, too, that we're all just, depending on how we handle it, one step away from being this guy. He didn't come from a terrible background or anything else; he just had some really tragic circumstances.

Q: What is your ultimate goal with the film?

A: One, we often say with the arts, there's a way to go straight to the heart, so we hope this message of chivalry and this message of celebrating a woman's worth really makes its way into men's and women's hearts and that men will walk away going, What is my responsibility as a man to the woman I love, to my mother, my sisters, to those around me? And then we hope young ladies will wonder, Who am I after God? Where am I finding my worth? Those are some internal questions that we hope a lot of folks ask. And then there's this broader scope of it, this sort of grand question about what's my global responsibility in an age of slavery and trafficking? What's my responsibility as a global citizen to actually do something about this great evil it's (the world's) facing?

Q: What was it like for you making a movie?

A: Going back to when we were teenagers, Ben the director, and Luke, who makes up the other half of For King & Country, there were two kind of themes. One was I would make short films and videos with Ben, and Luke would as well. We'd make these films, and then I would do music with Luke. So I had that background. I was very fortunate before this to get my feet wet. I was involved with two feature films, one a period piece and one a country piece where I played opposite Billy Ray Cyrus as Billy's son.

But I have to tell you, there's a lot of apprehension, particularly as a young actor, coming into this. The other more seasoned actors in this film — David Koechner from “Anchorman,” Jim Parrack from “Suicide Squad” and Bianca Santos from “The Duff” and even the producer, Steve Barnett, he produced “300” and a host of other great films — they all really rallied around me and really built me up and believed in me. That, coupled with my brother being in the director's chair, really lifted me up and enabled me to carry out the task.

Q: Does your character sing?

A: He doesn't, not a peck!

Q: Can you share about your new Christmas song coming out soon?

A: We have been working on this song since the beginning of the year, on and off. It's a very focused effort, and it's an original. It's a song called “Glorious.” We love the Christmas season, and we're super thrilled to be going out on our first real national Christmas tour. It will be the most expansive tour we've ever done, as far as the venues we're playing and the production. It's so fitting for that great celebration that is Christmas to write new music. We've invited Lauren Daigle out on the road with us, and we're super thrilled with that partnership. There are a lot of exciting things happening there.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share?

A: One of the big items that remains heavy on my heart is that we feel like there's an opportunity with this film to take a great message to America and even around the world. Those first few days (from the premiere date) are really important in the life of the film, so we really encourage those that feel drawn to this story and drawn to this message to come out that weekend and bring someone to help support this message that every woman's, really every human's, life is priceless.

What is the story behind priceless for king and country?

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When did the song priceless come out?