Interview: Planetshakers
LTTM caught up with Australia's Planestshakers to talk about their new album 'Legacy' and their thoughts on still making innovative new music after so many albums.
Tell us a little bit about this new album of yours, Legacy?
Legacy is our live recording of Planetshakers conferences held in Manilla Philippines, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Melbourne Australia. It endeavours to capture the passionate atmosphere of praise and worship at these 3 conferences whilst also sharing the encounters that we had with God so that others can have that same experience all around the world, wherever they may be. It marks our 20th anniversary as a ministry thus the name Legacy.
Which is your favourite track on the album and why?
I love the track "You Call Me Beautiful." Last year as we were heading into our women's conference I was really wanting to have a song that articulated the theme of the conference… “You make all things beautiful.” After sitting down with one of our young songwriters and sharing this desire with him, he went away and came back with this track. It was perfect! In a world where people can hear a lot of negative words spoken over their lives, this song speaks the words of God over us - He calls us beautiful and not just the women! It is for everyone to sing. I especially love the line "I am not my mistakes, I am a child of God.” This is how our loving God sees us. I know this will bless so many people. I've already received messages from people who have this song on repeat because it really does minister life to you.
Planetshakers have released so many albums, does making albums get harder?
I think making albums has become easier really. Our team continues to grow, as with our church and because the albums are always made up of songs that have ministered to our own congregation the difficulty lies in choosing which songs should go on an album and which ones we should leave out! I think when something is your passion, there is always inspiration and motivation that continues to push one forward.
If you could work with any songwriter, who would it be and why?
I love the songs of Jon Foreman from Switchfoot. His melodies and poetry are amazing. I am always impressed by his creativity. I would love some of that to rub off on me.
Do you prefer playing live or working in the studio?
I love playing live because that always means an encounter with God on a corporate level. I am so inspired and blessed to see others receiving from God while we worship. Even though I might give of my energy and strength during a night, I am always energised as I see God move. I also love the feeling of his presence in a corporate setting. While I have had encounters personally when writing songs, there's something so powerful about coming together with other believers. It's miraculous really.
How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?
I think our music is a fusion of all different styles… dance, pop, rock and even rap sometimes. It's because we have many different songwriters who contribute to our albums, thus giving us a variety of expressions and sounds but we are also appealing to a wide audience. We really believe in speaking the language of our day in order to reach everyone for Jesus. Just like Jesus did. When He was speaking to fishermen about the kingdom of God, he told stories about fish so they could understand and connect. When Jesus was around tax collectors he talked about money.
What is your favorite album of all time?
That is a really hard question to answer! I change my mind all the time but in most recent times I would have to say either Loopified by Dirty Loops or True Colors by Zedd.
You're stuck on an island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your mp3 player. What track is it?
“You Call Me Beautiful”
What does the next year hold for Planetshakers?
Another album, more conferences all over the world, more tours, the expansion of our church, the continued spread of the gospel with all that we do, basically all that we are doing now to a greater extent.
