The Church in India is thriving, and the sound of worship is getting louder by the year. Yeshua Band are making a lot of the noise...
WeAreWorship: Can you give us a little history about the band... when did you form, where, how, what was the spark?
Cameron Mendes, Yeshua Band: In the year 2001 God gave a vision to form a team of musicians who would travel all around the world and lift up the name of Jesus in our language - Hindi. And since then we have never turned back. Our only spark is that I write songs that are melodious and simple to understand.
WAW: Describe the Yeshua Band sound.
CM: I would say that we are more of an Indi-Pop band that uses fusion as a part of many songs. The band sounds western and the songs keep the Indian touch.
WAW: Why does what you do matter?
CM: It matters because we not only focus on producing good music with a blend of high praise and intense worship but also because we believe in living a lifestyle that is holy unto our God. We want to be a generation that worships God in spirit and in truth.
WAW: Can you give us some context - how does your music connect with the wider Hindi culture?
CM: The only reason we can connect with the Hindi or rather Indian culture is because our lyrics are simple and our tunes are melodious. We prefer to use language that is spoken on a daily basis and that is what connects with our audiences.
WAW: What do you sing about in Indian churches that we don't sing about here in the West?
CM: I don’t think we sing anything different from the West. It is just that we sing songs that are more intimate and that helps a lot of Indians to connect with God. People out here are broken, lost and searching for hope and our songs, to them, are like a light at the end of the dark tunnel. Writing songs can be done by anyone but writing songs that touch the heart of God and His people is not an easy job but when you are connected with God, words come from your heart. That is what connects with Indians.
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