by Farrin Foster

The bass fades out and with a final cymbal crash, the crowd pulls out a last pitchy scream of appreciation. As the band file off stage the crowd follow suit, dispersing into clusters throughout the club. I head to the bar, just managing to beat the inevitably enormous queue.

An hour, and several drinks later, I wander over to see my mate on the merch stand; he’s selling for his band which played in the opening slot. When I politely enquire about sales he seems pretty happy, “Yeah, it’s good, we’ve probably got around $500 so far”. I nod; there are probably only four hundred kids in the room so this seems like a pretty good figure, until he continues: “…the other band, the headliners, has pulled about twelve grand or so though”. A mouthful of Pale Ale finds the wrong side of my throat but I manage to make some kind of amazed splutter.  “Yeah, they’re Christian; the kids go crazy for them”.

Some might say singing Christian songs is not just a motion of faith; it’s a clever business move

The kids, it seems, do more than go crazy for the band. They go crazy for their merch, their lyrics, their personalities, all of their songs and all of their shows. Sing Christian songs and you get a Christian crowd. And the Christian crowd know how to worship; they know how to follow, even when they’re not following God. Some might say singing Christian songs is not just a motion of faith; it’s a clever business move.  

WONE is a local Christian band playing the dirty local Adelaide scene. I headed out to the Jade Monkey to see their live set and see if they’re swimming in the riches of the faith.  Lead singer Andrew laughs at the idea but admits a small amount of success is automatic for them: “As a Christian person you always have a certain subculture which is going to follow you regardless, even if you’re not that good”.

It seems like if you were Christian it would make both financial and spiritual sense to include your beliefs as a part of your music. But Andrew’s adamant that this didn’t influence his decision to write faith into his lyrics.

“I think it happens naturally and there’s almost an air of expectation for me to do it as well, when you do have strong faith it underpins everything that you are….it wants to be a part of everything you do”.

Taking money for something so close to your heart has got to be a risky business, but Andrew’s conscience is pretty clean. I ask him if he feels guilty and he frowns saying “Not really…in some cases yes and others no”. Although he’s certainly happier when the message being sold is one he thinks can “enhance the lives of the people you’re selling it to”.

But really local Christian rock bands are just like any other struggling local band; poor and, well…struggling, so begrudging them a little merch money to pay for guitar strings seems somewhat pedantic. The problem starts when the big money starts flowing in and the big business boys get involved.

“Anyone can take advantage of people who are lured into any kind of following…but hopefully those people who are from a religious background practice what they’re on about and do the best for those people who are coming along to support them” says the ever optimistic Andrew.

It seems this scenario may not ever present itself as a problem though, because in reality Christian rock, no matter how good, usually only goes so far in Australia. The commercial benefits of Christianity are high at the local level but once you reach the national industry level God apparently stops smiling upon your fortunes.

Local music biz legend, founder of Scorpion entertainment and former national booking agent for Christian rock legends Anitskeptic, Craig Armstrong, says the industry is historically anti-faith. Record labels have been unwilling to sign Christian bands because it runs against their too cool for you reputation and rock festivals won’t book Christian bands for fear of backlash from their too cool for you audiences. Christianity inspires fans but those fans don’t always inspire record labels.

appreciation as artists is hard

to come by

The Christian scene does seem to be making some headway at a national level recently though. The annual Christian rock festival – Easterfest (formerly AGMF) – is steadily puling bigger and bigger crowds and tickets sales are happening faster and faster. Josh Kiff is the business development manager of new revolutionary ticketing service Moshtix and former manager of Christian band Angela’s Dish. He says the Australian scene is on the up.

“I do think that having a healthy Christian scene is a good thing, and the fact that acts like Antiskeptic crossed over to the mainstream is great in breaking down the barriers that used to be apparent. In the US labels like Tooth and Nail have definitely helped cross bands over to the mainstream. Anything that gets people out and watching bands is a great thing, no matter who or what the band are.”

Craig agrees with this sentiment, but he is dubious about the kinds of fans attracted to the Christian rock scene. “I guess the question that I want to ask is if they took the faith out of their music would the fans still be there?”

“I really respect those bands who have Christian members and others, mixed members, but don’t use it to their advantage”

He says the bands with a Christian message have a hard time with their fans because they are fickle. They’ll “…go to gigs where other Christian bands might be playing, so it’s a must see event, but if there are other secular bands on they might not show”.

Checking out the millions of fan messages left on prominent local and international Christian bands’ websites I can begin to see Craig’s point. The Easterfest website has been heavily hit by punters eager to influence next year’s line up. While there are plenty of comments about particular bands there are also comments which push message above music.

 “Whoever you guys get they will be great”

 “They were amazing…lots of the girls in our youth group bought their CDs and were really inspired by the songs…no more dating, I’m just waiting…AWESOME!!!"

And even the Myspace sites belonging to specific bands have a tangible tendency toward God above technical or artistic brilliance.

 “I really wanted to go to your concert tonight...but i didn't have a ride...
i guess it wasn't God's plan for me to go...”

 “…your conferences in Orlandooo (sic)... were amazing…I was truly touched by it all. And of course you guys already know but I'm going to reiterate it... you have a special anointing that is to change the way things are viewed, the way the worship is done, and the way people are helped”

 “....the moment you stepped onto the stage God's presence became soo (sic) powerful and tangible to me...”

 “…the heart of God shines so brightly in that song”

 Artists, Christian or otherwise, want to be appreciated for their art. The music business has always been a struggle for artists because of the enormously pressurized mix of creativity, business savvy, celebrity status and lifestyle. Add strong faith into the mix and you’re bound to see some egos, beliefs and lives start crumbling. Despite this, Andrew from WONE believes the complexities of mixing rock and roll with God’s intentions are worthwhile.

 “There’s…that air of you want to let everyone know about your faith, in this time when it seems like there’s so much chaos going on you want to hopefully bring a message that is something people can make better decisions in their own life about.”

 Dear though it may be to their hearts, and useful for merch sales, I’m starting to think that being a faith-based band can just make life harder. It seems that while music might be the first love of the band members the rest of the world, be it fans or the industry, is determined to view them as preachers or guides, but appreciation as artists is hard to come by.