Interview: Planetshakers
Australia's Planetshakers Church have just released their 'Glory Part One EP'. Louder Than The Music spoke to Planetshakers' Rudy Nikkerud to find out more about their new music, and how they think the music world has changed in recent years.
Tell us about your latest release Glory?
This EP was recorded live at our church during the latter part of 2019.
Which is you favourite track off this new EP?
My favourite song is “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” From the first time I heard the demo, then experienced it live in our church, it led me to a powerful encounter with Jesus. I love the bridge of the song, “From glory to glory, from healing to healing, from breakthrough to breakthrough…” It speaks to the nature of God, that He always has MORE for us. No matter the encounter we had last time, there’s more God has for us in His Presence right now!
As with the release of Rain in 3 parts, is there a reason behind releasing the new music from Glory in a similar way?
We wanted to get our music into people’s hands as quickly as possible. Across the year, we’re still releasing our music as a complete album - it just comes out in three parts.
This has also allowed us to capture our songs in different locations: overseas in Asia, at our own home conference in Melbourne, Australia, and live in our own church. We love the opportunity to capture the worship of all these different crowds.
In your opinion, how has the music industry changed over the years?
We have observed that many people are streaming music song-by-song these days, rather than purchasing entire albums. New digital platforms have enabled people to access music this way, and this is one of the reasons we have wanted to release our songs throughout the year. It means more new music, more often!
Does it get harder writing fresh new songs?
We’ve never found that. As we encounter God, He always has a Word for us. He always has vision for us. He always has more He wants to do in and through us. By putting ourselves in His Presence, we can access all the inspiration we need for new songs.
How would you define success in your career?
The reason we first started releasing music was to glorify God, and to empower people to encounter God wherever they were. This is still the reason we release music, so I guess as long as people are encountering God through our music, that’s a success.
We believe that in God’s Presence, anything is possible. We get testimonies regularly of people who have been healed, and received their breakthrough while encountering God through our music. Our heart is to lead more and more people to encounter the breakthrough power of God through a worship encounter.
What does the next year hold for Planetshakers?
We have our events throughout Asia to start the year, with conferences and events in Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Then we will be focused on our Australian conferences in April. Following these events, our touring will take us to South Africa, Europe, Israel, USA, and South and Central America. It will be a full calendar, but above all, we’re believing for the Glory of God to be released throughout nations, and to help millions more people encounter His power.
