A blaring mix of alternative rock, punk and heavy metal rocked the Segunda Bautista Church, where the final of a Hispanic Christian band contest was held in June.
“This is not the style of music that I like, but they played very well,” one of the judges told the members of the Instituto Canzión band, in front of about 300 people on the day of the final.
“And remember that you are playing in the name of God,” said another of the judges to the young men dressed in black, with rocker hairstyles, wristbands, and torn jeans.
Four bands were selected from a total of 12 that participated in the Battle of the Bands. The winning group will participate in City Fest, an international music festival to be held in Houston in October.
The band Canzión played a style of music that for many could be out of place with religious life: a mix of punk and heavy metal. Also, in his lyrics you rarely hear the name of God or Jesus Christ. Still, they were the winners of the contest.
“Our style is aimed at young people who see church as something boring,” said Julián Pizarro, bassist and leader of the winning band. “To bring God’s message to these young people, it has to be in non-religious language.”
His aggressive musical style did not seem to be the favorite of a part of the Christian public, which was evidently surprised by the judges’ decision. But in the ruling weighed the way in which the band transmits the message to the general public, not only to the Christian.
“The judges are also Christians, so don’t get angry,” one of the presenters of the final ceremony told the audience.
The lighting on the stage, the distorted guitars, the volume of the drums and the shouts and jumps of an audience, made up mostly of young people, created the atmosphere of any rock concert and not religious music.
Each band played a couple of songs and then received critiques from the judges.
«The singers lack energy and presence, the sister of the choir lacks a little more spirit, they went out of tune a little». Those were some of the comments that the judges made to the other finalist bands: Semper Fi, Intino and Llama de Fuego.
secular influence
In Christian circles any style of music that does not have a message related to God is called secular music.
“I only listen to Christian music,” said Álex Cisneros, lead singer and leader of Llama de Fuego, who hasn’t even listened to The Beatles. Neither did Coldplay, a band with which some musicians compared him. “We don’t need influence from other means not related to God.”
For him, secular music is not worth listening to, because it almost always has a negative message. Furthermore, within Christian music there are styles of all kinds: from rancheras to hip-hop.
But it became clear that the finalist bands draw secular influences from rock, pop, heavy metal and punk. But how do Christians receive this influence from secular music?
“Not all Christians cut the connection with secular music,” explained Andre González, leader of Semper Fi and pastor of a church. «There are excellent musicians not only at the Christian level. I do listen to secular music, but it’s not my everyday music.”
Pizarro, from the Instituto Canzión, can be a good example of how secular genres influence the Christian. Since 15 years ago, when he became a Christian, he no longer listens to secular music. But his ear and musical tastes are already influenced by all the music he heard before.
For González, perhaps the secular term is not the most appropriate, since «God is the creator of all music and words. Therefore, it is not correct to say that there is music that is not from God. The messages that some musicians convey may be negative, but music is always from God.”
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