What would you think if you were told your favorite band was Christian?
Would you like them more, or less? Would this association change your interpretation of their lyrics? Even their name?
Do these issues raise a need for a separation of Church and Band?
The reality is, that in most cases, once this label is put upon a band, people’s interpretation of them does change.
Being slotted into the Christian Music genre tends to be viewed as a negative thing to many, however for some artists it has proven to be quite lucrative.
Just this past week, TobyMac’s album Eye On It became the first overtly Christian music album to reach #1 on the Billboard charts in 15 years. His lead song from the album ‘Lose My Soul’ has received over 1.5 million views on YouTube and has sold over 60,000 copies in the US.
The song features everything from Mac’s family friendly rapping, to the even cleaner rap-rambling of Kirk Franklin, building to a soulfully sung verse by the sassy ‘Mandisa’.
The song is ‘lite’, poppy and harmless with the chorus proclaiming, “I don’t wanna gain the whole world/and lose my soul”, in a sound similar to early naughites Black Eyed Peas (think ‘Where Is The Love?’).
While the last overtly Christian artist to reach number one was LeAnn Rimes in 1997, with “You Light Up My Life”, according to Billboard Editor, Keith Caulfield, “Christian music has been very successful on the Billboard 200 chart for a long while now, but TobyMac’s Eye On It just happened to be the first album since 1997 to hit number one.”
The fact is that although artists of the genre rarely grab the top spot on the charts, Christian artists have a very strong and loyal following that ensures the long-term success of their career.
Closer to home, in 1983, two New Zealanders, married couple Brian and Bobbie Houston formed a brand new church at the Baulkham Hills Public School hall.
Named the Hill’s Christian Life Centre, the couple began with an initial congregation of 45 and soon expanded, merging with the Sydney Christian Life Centre at Waterloo. The church moved from its base in a warehouse, to the Hills Centre.
Today this church is known as Hillsong, and hosts a congregation of 20,000 each week.
Their mission is: “To reach and influence the world by building a large, Christ-centered, Bible-based church, changing mindsets and empowering people to lead and impact in every sphere of life.” However Hillsong does much more for its congregation than this simple mission statement.
Since the early 1990s, the church has been writing and releasing music. One of their first releases, ‘People Just Like Us’ was the first ever Christian album to go Gold in Australia. This marked the beginning of a longterm trend, with all of Hillsong’s subsequent albums achieving Gold status on our charts.
Their influence isn’t just limited to Australia either. ‘Shout to the Lord’ was Hillsong’s first widely recognised song, gaining international prominence as a worship anthem.
Yet despite their success, the organisation doesn’t want to be seen as much more than your everyday church. In a post for website ‘Hillsong Collected’ last April, co-founder Brian Houston claimed, “we don’t see ourselves as a ‘megachurch’ but rather, a little church, with a lot of people.”
However, your average Church doesn’t have a multi-million dollar record label that distributes globally.
Hillsong Music and Hillsong Music Australia respectively, are the music and distribution companies that the church collective have built to manufacture and release their music. Each year a new worship album and Christmas album is released, and consistently go Gold on Australian charts.
The Hillsong Music label also supports a number of solo artists, albeit in a quieter sense. Nowhere on its website or information is it referred to as a music company. Looking online for resources and information on the artists Hillsong supports, the results are often limited. Yet there is no denying that Hillsong is indeed a company that makes most of its money through music creation and distribution. In fact, you may have bought an album released through them without even knowing.
The church has sold over 12 million records around the world, and with Hillsong churches now established in France, the United Kingdom, United States and even South Africa, signing a deal with the Hillsong Music label has become just as good as signing to a major label. But Hillsong is not the only church to follow this model.
Guy Sebastian, the famed winner of the first Australian Idol, began his career in music by attending the Paradise Community Church in South Australia, the second-largest church in the country, going on to become one their main worship singers. He played weekly at sermons and church events, singing at conferences and recording the albums Adore (2004) and Set Me Free (2005).
During the original 2003 season of the TV talent contest, Guy Sebastian was a hot favorite to win the competition. He was young with a great voice, had an afro – and though it was kept quiet during the competition – was a popular figure in the Christian music community. Although not a member of the Hillsong church, it is well documented that Sebastian received a major boost in voting support by the church group, based solely on his religion.
In 2007, contestants Matt Corby, Ben Mackenzie and Daniel Mifsud also received major support from the Hillsong community to the point that the church was accused of vote stacking.
In Hillsong’s defence nowhere in the rules of voting for Australian Idol is organised voting illegal. But with all three contestants in the finals and a back catalogue of Christian contestants from seasons gone by reaching the top ten, the sheer force of Hillsong was clearly felt.
Now, Hillsong is planning to expand further, having recently announced plans for an expansion into Melbourne. In the absence of a dedicated venue, the church will be moving into some of the state’s most beloved venues including The Forum, booking the building’s 540-seat upstairs theatre on October 19 for a church service – the first of an ongoing set of masses before they find “a more permanent base”
With Melbourne in its sites, some of you may be panicking that you will no longer be able to approach the forum on a Sunday morning amid the huge gathering of worshippers, but regardless, the move does represent an opportunity for local musicians. Religious or not, the idea of playing a gig to 540 people on a Sunday morning woud be considered a great move for a struggling singer trying to get noticed.
Like it or not, the Christian influence on our culture is strong. Australian Christian Media operates over 34 full time community radio stations around the country, as well as the Vision Radio Network which has over 450 relay stations. These stations express Christian views and promote and play Christian artists on a consistent basis.
And it’s not just the Matt Corbys of the world who have gained from their Christian background.
Justin Bieber has a very strong Christian following, as does Katy Perry who – little known-fact – originally started out as a Christian artist.
The Fray are openly labeled as a Christian rock band, rock fusion band MuteMath use their strong Bible Belt upbringing as ‘a texture’ in their songwriting; while Creed’s dour preaching has led to storming success, with lead singer Scott Stapp recently named amongst the ‘The Richest Lead Singers In The World’, pulling in a tidy $30 million last year.
That’s before even mentioning the religious underpinnings of one of the world’s biggest bands, U2.
Another key example is Bryce Avary, the American singer-songwriter behind pop punk act, The Rocket Summer (last in the country for the 2010 Soundwave festival), who is a devout Christian. Although his songs aren’t explicitly religious, there is a general sense of positivity in his lyrics, with some songs focusing on his relationship with God.
Although Avary is popular, his faith creating a strong base of Christian fans who have followed him since his early days; his outward Christian image and lyrical links to his faith tend to alienate fans of his genre. Meaning he’s never quite achieved the popularity of similar artists like Jack’s Mannequin or All Time Low.
However, for the release of his sophomore record, Avary partnered with S/R/E Recordings to release Hello, Good Friend to Christian music outlets. From there his popularity grew and for his next album, Do You Feel?, he was able to sign with a major label, namely Island Records.
Although his association with religion has limited his appeal somewhat, he’s still been able to make a comfortable living off the basis of his Church associations.
It’s done nothing to hurt the widespread success of P.OD. either. When singer Sonny Sandoval caught up with Tone Deaf late last month to talk about the band’s success, with their latest, eighth studio album charting at #1 on Christian Rock on iTunes, he discussed the band’s eclectic mix of hard rock, metal and reggae, with a heavy Christian influence.
“We weren’t ever really considered Christian enough because our music was ‘too heavy’ or we ‘all had tattoos’ so we never targeted Christian venues only,” says Sandoval. “We were happy to play wherever we had the opportunity.”
While still considered a Christian band, they’ve managed to play to some enviable crowds, supporting the very un-Christian values KoRn on their first ever European tour, playing to a crowd of 17,000.
While there are many artists who balance their Christian influence with their mainstream appeal, there are others who fully embrace their Christian audience.
‘Lite’ rock acts such as Matt Redman and Matthew West are topping the Billboard Christian Music songs chart at the moment, and are easily selling albums and selling out concerts thanks to the Christian community. And with TobyMac making his way to #1 on the Billboard albums chart, the Christian music industry may be becoming the healthiest of our changing musical landscape worldwide.
Here in Australia, Hillsong successfully caters to a market of believers, but it’s been able to create its own market of alternative and contemporary artists with more subtle Christian influences.
The Church’s expansion into Melbourne represents not only a change in our culture and the way Christian music is viewed, but a new platform and an emerging audience for artists to take advantage of, if they so choose.
Whether or not you agree – or a believer yourself – there’s no denying the increasing power of the Christian music community, that may one day become the key difference between a best selling single, and a flop.
