| Jesus was a Capricorn and a carpenter and there’s no question that he was a rebel and champion of lost causes, but was he punk?
The current face of faith has changed and some would say for the better.
Ideas have shifted from more traditional messages of cloistered churches and faith has been brought out of the house of worship and into the mosh pit. The job of spreading the word has fallen onto the shoulders of some unlikely preachers and the ministry now includes doctrines of emo, hardcore and punk rock.
Christian bands such as P.O.D. and Evanescence have gained heretofore unheard of mainstream popularity for Christan-rock artists, and they
have made the mainstream music industry more tolerant of Christian music. They have also, however, brought out cynicism in some listeners who accuse them of simply using rock music as a cover for their proselytizing.
I’ll admit it, I’ve always found Christian rock a bit unsettling. It always seemed like a pretty subversive way to mould the minds of today’s youth. Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash managed to separate their faith recordings from their mainstream releases without isolating fans of either. In the ’80s, the Christian heavy metal of Stryper was just too clean and inauthentic to be anything but obvious preaching.
The mainstream success of bands like Creed seems to mean that line between secular and religious music has been crossed, or at least blurred. But does that mean Christians are using the Devil’s music to swarm the masses, or are Christian musicians simply using their medium to explore life’s big questions like every other artist out there?
Pedro The Lion’s David Bazan is the reluctant face of Christian music. Bazan is an established musician in both the secular and Christian indie scene. His lyrics are often direct and sincere about his own personal struggles with faith. While Bazan admits to being raised in the Christian community, he is often puzzled to hear Pedro The Lion referred to as a Christian band.
"I used to have stronger views about how I wanted to be perceived," Bazan says. "I do like the idea of different groups of people finding the music interesting. I guess the Christian part of it is a little weird. About half the Christians I run into really irritate me."
Bazan takes his faith seriously, but feels most Christian rock is more interested in selling the idea of Christ and turning the message into cheap, religious propaganda. Bazan believes the most compelling religious music is the kind made by people who are antagonistic towards Christianity. He uses skepticism in his songwriting and doesn’t shy away from singing about Christian hypocrisy.
"(For) the song ‘Rapture,’ I was looking for something really dirty and I was going down this path of using expletives," Bazan explains." In the end, I realized by using this sort of sacrilege – the guy in the song using bible terminology as an expletive – was about the dirtiest and most appropriate thing I could come up with."
Bazan understands people’s trepidation about Christian music and their reluctance to accept songs about faith. However, he doesn’t feel that people should exclude exploring art of a religious nature altogether.
"There has been so many people of a particular kind of faith, that have tried to use their music to convert other people, that there is a distrust of the subject matter," Bazan admits. "It’s understandable. I wouldn’t say it’s valid. I think people should examine pieces of music or art on their own merit, in their own context, rather than just labelling it as something based on a whole history of things."
Michelle Crouch agrees. Crouch is a voice instructor at the Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta – one of the oldest evangelical schools in North America. Crouch sees a discrepancy between Christian music and the way people conceptualize it.
According to her it’s unfortunate that many people, both professing Christians and non-Christians, feel that Christian music is about positivity.
"This is deeply inadequate to me and my colleagues," Crouch says. "The Bible is not light reading and there are parts of the Bible that are definitely not rated PG. Life doesn’t suddenly become squeaky clean and perfect when one becomes a Christian."
Crouch believes that in order to express the full human experience in Christian music, an artist must be open and accepting of all available musical genres.
"If one understands Christian music to be music created by people who confess Christ as their saviour, one can be sure that if those musicians are honest to the word of God and honest with themselves, it’s not all going to be positive," she says.
The Bible isn’t always pretty and Christian punk rock is a good example of this.
Guitarist Ryan Malabuyo is a member of the Christian punk band Public Unrest and hails from Vallejo, California. They play fast and loud. Their lyrics are unintelligible and fierce – just what you’d expect from spiky haired musicians who play punk rock. Except Public Unrest is on a mission to spread the word of Christ.
Public Unrest opposes the traditional ideologies of secular punk rock – the trinity being anarchy, nihilism and rebellion. The band has taken criticism from people who argue that opposing the very foundation of punk rock dismisses any credibility.
"Punk is a lifestyle, but if you live that lifestyle you will become nothing," Malabuyo says. "Christianity is true rebellion because of what Christ did before he was crucified."
Malabuyo is uncomfortable with people thinking that his band are militants, recruiting soldiers for a Christian army. He sees Public Unrest as an effective way to relate to individuals who would never set foot in a church. Malabuyo explains that the inspiration for the band came from the bureaucracy of churches today.
"Most of us had tough times keeping up with our faith with God and some of us got tired and gave up," Malabuyo says. "We struggle to be right with our lord, Jesus Christ."
Their clothes, hair and musical preference have made it difficult for Malabuyo and his band to be accepted by the more conservative parishioners at their church.
"But hey, I can’t blame them," Malabuyo says candidly. "We do play loud music and some of our looks can be a bit outrageous. But one thing that they can do is to read the lyrics of our music."
Local Christian hardcore band Nikola Tesla define themselves by the culture they are a part of – the Calgary punk community. But aligning yourself with God sometimes means alienating your music from a secular fanbase.
"Just because all of us in the band have chosen to follow Christ doesn’t mean that we have any interest in segregating ourselves from people who don’t believe the same thing," says guitarist John Gerrard.
Sometimes when Christian musicians break into the mainstream, they feel pressure to downplay their affiliation with Christ. A recent example is Chevelle. Before signing to Sony, the band shared the same label as Christian popster Amy Grant. In recent interviews, the band has made a point of separating themselves from their religious past. A person can’t help wonder if most Christian bands wouldn’t sell out their God for a bit of fame.
"It is dreadfully unfortunate that most popular musicians have to compromise anything, lyrically or musically, to make it," Gerrard says. "This trend exists in both the secular and Christian industry. If we get fans or get signed, it won’t come at the cost of someone telling us what or how to do it."
The mainstream means radio. Ben Jeffery, the assistant music director for local rock station CJAY 92 says with the current onslaught of crossover Christian artists, Jeffery bases his decision on a band’s popularity – not their beliefs.
"Does it fit the format? Is the band selling? Are they on tour? How are they charting? These questions outweigh lyrical content," he explains. If one band leans toward a religious message, the media seems to pick up on it and build a story. I think the reason it stands out today is because the artists have loud electric gear, tattoos and long hair."
The profitability of crossover bands like P.O.D. and Evanescence has made the industry more tolerant of Christian music. Given the fact that mainstream radio seems indifferent to the message contained within the music, it is no surprise that Christian artists would want to capitalize on that. If non-secular artists could find a way to smuggle the word of gGod to the masses, with hundreds of watts of power behind them, why wouldn’t they? Recent years have seen Christian artists finding inspiration in all types of music and while the message of Christ remains the same, how these musicians choose to express their belief is of personal taste.
"I’m reminded of a recent article in which a programmer was trying to explain to a guest at a party the different types of music available," Jeffery says simply. "‘There’s Rock, New Rock, Alternative, Gold, Classic Hits, etc.’ To which the guest replied, ‘I just know if I like the song.’" |
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