Interview: New Hope Oahu
New Hope Oahu is listed as one of the top ten most innovative churches in America, known for redeeming the arts and technology with thousands attending services each week. Their new live album, 'Kingdom', showcases the worship experience from their prior album's more popular songs. LTTM spoke to the group to find out more.
Tell us a little bit about this new live album ?
The heart behind this EP is to capture what it was like to be in worship at our Easter services, and share that experience with everyone.
Which is your favourite track on the album and why?
We love You've Won My Affection. Our senior pastor, Wayne Cordeiro, has been leading our congregation into worship with this song for years and he never fails to bring it to life!
If you could work with any songwriter, who would it be and why?Â
David Hanley from Press Play! The hits he writes speak for themselves!
Do you prefer playing live or working in the studio?
We love playing live, because the reward of seeing our church family in worship is instant. But the process of bringing an album to life in the studio is such a beautiful thing too!Â
How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?
We look at our style as a pairing of both Gospel Rock and Modern Worship; Hillsong United, Jesus Culture and Anthony Evans are three of our major musical influences.
How would you define success in your career?
Seeing hands go up in worship, and hearts impacted by our music is good measure to us that we have been successful in what God is asking us to do.Â
What has been your career highlight so far?
The opportunity to collaborate with so many different groups like Paradox Church, the makers of the movie The Case for Christ, Foursquare Conference, and even our own church's 22nd anniversary this year are just a few highlights we have enjoyed over the course of our careers.
What is your favorite album of all time?
The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin! It's life changing.
You're stuck on an island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your mp3 player. What track is it?
I wouldn't play a song, I'd use the battery power to start a signal fire!
What does the next year hold for New Hope Oahu?
We are so excited about our fifth release with Dream Records, and believe this is our best album yet. Our heart is to ratchet back to simple worship songs that bring people's hearts back to God!
