Firebranding Music
(c) Puja Goyal
Bangalore has seen a new breed of musicians cropping up off late. Once there was a trend of rock and metal lighting up the Bangalore stage; now distinct ones have emerged. They are ones who have been consistently working behind the scenes to spread love, hope and spirituality.
These musicians have converted conventional music into "hip" compositions. One such band who calls themselves the "Firebrands" has been around for the past six years. The publicity shy group likes to sing in churches and other venues because they feel that there music will be understood much better there. There first break came in 2002 when they performed at the Guru Nanak Bhavan on the 12th of February before an audience of over a thousand people. Says Lawrence, "In an age where being religious is not the ‘in thing’, we believe that it is cool to love God and Worship Him."
Firebrands consists of Lawrence G, Santosh J, Anand S, Mark, and Shiju T, as a vehicle to facilitate collaboration with other inspired artists in a quest to bring fresh original music to the gospel music fraternity in India. Over the past few years, Michelle Peters, Mark Rowlands, Esther C, Sunny Prasad, and Ebby have constantly supported them. "They have always been there to help us and support our music. They deserve special mention because they have always come in whenever we called them at short notice", says Lawrence.
A band that started of at the Garden City Assembly of God has grown with the support of Rev. Ernest George to produce two albums, "It's all about Him" and "All for love". "The albums have done quite well and we have been a success in Dubai," says Lawrence. Dubai is the only international space they have presently released the album at.
Unlike other gospel music bands, Firebrands wants people to know that subjects like love and worship need not be boring. "People normally associate Christian music to the church and Christmas, but it is not like that. It is like having any other subject for your muse. It is not boring and that is what we want people to know," adds Mark.
Even then, there are no takers for this type of music as far as music companies in India are concerned. It is still very limited to a select crowd. There is a serious misconception amongst people that any music related to the church has to do with conversion. The idea of conversion is passé. People are now smart and know good music when they see it. They also listen to it without being insecure about their religious status.
The truth is there are no takers for this sort of music and the musicians end up producing and distributing the albums themselves. "We are a little annoyed with music companies. They feel that there would be no profit margin for them therefore they do not venture into signing bands like ours," adds Lawrence.
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Bangalore has seen a new breed of musicians cropping up off late. Once there was a trend of rock and metal lighting up the Bangalore stage; now distinct ones have emerged. They are ones who have been consistently working behind the scenes to spread love, hope and spirituality.
These musicians have converted conventional music into "hip" compositions. One such band who calls themselves the "Firebrands" has been around for the past six years. The publicity shy group likes to sing in churches and other venues because they feel that there music will be understood much better there. There first break came in 2002 when they performed at the Guru Nanak Bhavan on the 12th of February before an audience of over a thousand people. Says Lawrence, "In an age where being religious is not the ‘in thing’, we believe that it is cool to love God and Worship Him."
Firebrands consists of Lawrence G, Santosh J, Anand S, Mark, and Shiju T, as a vehicle to facilitate collaboration with other inspired artists in a quest to bring fresh original music to the gospel music fraternity in India. Over the past few years, Michelle Peters, Mark Rowlands, Esther C, Sunny Prasad, and Ebby have constantly supported them. "They have always been there to help us and support our music. They deserve special mention because they have always come in whenever we called them at short notice", says Lawrence.
A band that started of at the Garden City Assembly of God has grown with the support of Rev. Ernest George to produce two albums, "It's all about Him" and "All for love". "The albums have done quite well and we have been a success in Dubai," says Lawrence. Dubai is the only international space they have presently released the album at.
Unlike other gospel music bands, Firebrands wants people to know that subjects like love and worship need not be boring. "People normally associate Christian music to the church and Christmas, but it is not like that. It is like having any other subject for your muse. It is not boring and that is what we want people to know," adds Mark.
Even then, there are no takers for this type of music as far as music companies in India are concerned. It is still very limited to a select crowd. There is a serious misconception amongst people that any music related to the church has to do with conversion. The idea of conversion is passé. People are now smart and know good music when they see it. They also listen to it without being insecure about their religious status.
The truth is there are no takers for this sort of music and the musicians end up producing and distributing the albums themselves. "We are a little annoyed with music companies. They feel that there would be no profit margin for them therefore they do not venture into signing bands like ours," adds Lawrence.
ALBUM COVER SHOTS:
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