INTERVIEW: Joth Hunt of the Worship Band PLANETSHAKERS Shares on New Live Album/DVD ENDLESS PRAISE and 2014 Touring Plans

 

INTERVIEW: Joth Hunt of the Worship Band PLANETSHAKERS Shares on New Live Album/DVD ENDLESS PRAISE and 2014 Touring Plans 

Melbourne, Australia's popular worship band Planetshakers, from Planetshakers Church, released their new live album, ENDLESS PRAISE, on March 11, 2014.  Recorded at Planetshakers' annual Awakening event in Melbourne, the CD / DVD is an anthemic, joy-infused collection that gives honor to the One who makes all things possible. This was their 26^th live recording and will be released through Integrity Music. 

ENDLESS PRAISE was produced by Planetshakers Band's worship leader Joth Hunt.  The album is 14 original tracks that continue to push the creative envelope with new melodies that celebrate life fully awakened by worship.

We would like to thank Joth Hunt of Planetshakers for taking the time to speak with us. 

 

Planetshakers Band, Joth Hunt - Hallels Q&A:

Hallels: How have you felt about the response to your new album Endless Praise?

Joth: "We are humbled by the response we have had to Endless Praise.  It's amazing to think that God uses us in this way.  We are a Church praise and worship band, bringing our best each meeting to God and out of those times, these songs are birthed.  I was surprised to hear that in Singapore and Malaysia Endless Praise was #1 on iTunes' mainstream chart!  Then we started getting iTunes reports from other countries about reaching #2 and other top 10 charting positions on their mainstream iTunes charts etc.  For us the important thing is that our music connects with people and draws them closer to God.  That's why we record our music - to create an atmosphere where people can encounter the Presence of God, because it's in those times that our lives can be changed for the better.  As the Planetshakers team, we feel really blessed to have our music connect with people in such a global way."

 

Hallels: What are a few of the biggest influences that help create your sound musically?

Joth: "As a group we have a wide variety of musical influences.  We have over 300 people in our creative team, so that's a lot of individual playlists floating around on our team's music devices!  The Bible talks about God being creative and unique, so we want our ultimate source of inspiration and influence to be and come from God, because through Him all good things are made and come into existence.  But on the other hand, I guess we are also influenced by music already out there.  Anything that sounds great, that is produced well, is something that catches my ear. No matter what the style."

 

Hallels: What is the biggest challenge and reward with recording a Live Album?

Joth: "The biggest reward is the thought that our praise and worship touches God's heart and blesses Him.  We have an audience of One and if we can bring others along on that journey of worshiping Him, we feel like we have had a great time.  One of the biggest challenges would be the logistics of creating an album and working within a set time frame.  Because our team is so big and so many things need to come together, it can get a little overwhelming sometimes, but I guess that's when we realign our perspective and things come together."

 

Hallels: Can you tell us more about your upcoming "Night Rally" Events?

Joth: "Planetshakers core mission is to empower generations to win generations.  We are doing that in our home Church in Melbourne Australia and then also our Awakenings (conferences) and "night rally" events, which we call "Night of Fire" in other areas around the world.  It's where we take the band and one of our Pastors to have the biggest praise party followed by a time of worship, teaching and a ministry time.  Then at the end we break out into another praise party. It's a really impacting time.  Last year we held a Night of Fire in the Philippines and saw over 16,000 attend, it was such a powerful night - we are still getting testimonies of what God did in different people's lives."

 

Hallels: If you could collaborate with any artist, who would you choose?

Joth: "I would say Jon foreman from Switchfoot. I love his writing and creativity."

 

Hallels: What is a scripture that has been on your mind or a good book you have been reading lately?

Joth: "Ps Russell (Our senior pastor) just released a book called "The honour key." This is a fantastic book that brings revelation on honour!"

 

Hallels: If you guys could each play professionally for any sports team for one day, who would you guys pick?

Joth: "Miami heat! :)"

 

Hallels: What are your touring plans for the rest of 2014?

Joth: "the rest of 2014 is going to be Huge!  We have ministry dates in Asia, USA, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific and Australia - playing songs from our latest album Endless Praise.  There's just something on these songs that draws people into worship, and we want to do our part to share those songs with as many people, because at the end of the day God is not going to ask us how well we played or what songs we wrote, but instead did we fulfill the Great Commission, did we help our neighbors and did we do the best we could with the talents God has given.  We want our answer to be a big "yes and amen."

 

 

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