Interview: Timeless Music Company - Sister Janet Mead
Timeless Music Company have released a fresh remix of the iconic 1970s hit The Lord's Prayer by Sister Janet Mead. Louder Than The Music spoke to Marko Srdanov-Miletic from the label to find out more.
For those who haven't heard of Sister Janet Mead before, can you tell us a bit about her?
Sister Janet Mead was Catholic nun from Adelaide, Australia who had an unexpected hit in 1974 with her rock rendition of “The Lord’s Prayer”. She was a trailblazer in developing the concept of the ‘rock mass’ in South Australia. This began when she was 17 and formed a group called ‘The Rock Band’ to provide music for weekly Mass at her local church. She studied piano at the Adelaide Conservatorium before joining the Sisters of Mercy order and became a music teacher at two local Catholic schools. Despite her international fame and chart-topping success, Sister Janet Mead stayed away from the spotlight and remained dedicated to helping the homeless and disadvantaged throughout her entire life.
Tell us about the background to her iconic single 'The Lord's Prayer'?
The whole story is almost hard to believe. Who would have thought that a nun from Adelaide would record a Christian prayer from the Bible, musically innovate it as a pop-rock version, and go on to reach No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Then on top of that to be nominated for a Grammy. The original version was the first Australian recording to sell over a million units in the US.
The story behind it is directly linked to two people, the producer Martin Erdman and the composer Arnold Strals. Martin produced the original hit with the composition done by Arnold. Then with the help of Festival Records the song took off. It went on to sell over 3 million copies worldwide which was a phenomenal achievement by an Australian Indie label.
Why did you decide to release a new dance remix of this song?
We acquired the du Monde Music catalogue and as soon as we heard the original, we knew there was something worth pursuing with this remix.
Can you tell us more about DJ Hai-Dook and how you got them involved in the project?
He is somewhat reclusive and works out of London and was recommended by one of our partner labels.
As a label behind this release, what do you hope this remix will do for the legacy of the song?
We would like to see a new generation of people who enjoy faith music to get into it and become aware of Sister Janet Mead’s amazing success in pioneering something that was completely original at the time.
Which other artists does the label work with and what other release are planned in the near future?
A lot of our business is related to back catalogue. There is potential to do more remixes like we have done with The Lord’s Prayer.
As someone who works in the industry, what is your favorite album of all time?
That is a difficult question to answer especially as my taste in music ranges from Rammstein across to pop acts such as Prince and Queen and over to classical - plus everything in between. Aside from the mood I am in I tend to look at it also in terms of what kind of impact the artist had in a given moment in time. There is also the consideration of genre and how it impacted people in their era. For example, Elvis Presley stands out as a force of nature in the way his brand and music created a tidal wave still being felt today. But at the same time even niche artists like Nick Cave have in their own way created an impression. To be honest, it’s an impossible question for me to definitively answer.
You’re stuck on an island, it’s hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your phone. What track is it?
Conan the Barbarian Theme haha.
What does the next year hold for you personally?
Looking for new projects to develop.
