Switch Discusses Worship Ministry to Students, Songwriting & Their New Album

Switch is a collective of worship leaders from Life.Church, a multi-site church meeting at 32 physical locations in 10 states and globally at Church Online. Following Life.Church's mission is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ, the collective is passionate about creating modern music that encourages listeners to pursue a relationship with Jesus.  Switch's new album titled Symphony (DREAM Records) will be available on February 8th. 

Q:  Thanks for doing this interview with us.  Let's start with yourselves, who is Switch?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share about our new album, Symphony, releasing Friday, Feb. 8! 

Switch is a collective of worship leaders from Life.Church, a multi-site Christian church meeting in 32 locations across the U.S. We're passionate about creating songs with a modern sound that will encourage listeners to pursue a relationship with Jesus.

Q:  Why do you call yourselves Switch? What are the goals of Switch?

The name began with our student ministry at Life.Church, which is also called Switch. It comes from the idea that at some point, students and young adults will have to grapple with what they believe and make the switch to owning their own faith. It's a privilege that we get to be a part of leading people through that process. 

We've worked to write culturally relevant content that bridges the gap between Pop and Contemporary Christian genres because we want to create hope-filled music that people want to listen to. Ultimately, it's our desire to make music that people can connect with and be encouraged to grow in their relationship with God.

Q:  In ministering to middle and high school students, what are some of the challenges there?

Our world is full of digital content to consume-not just for students, but for all of us-so we're constantly asking ourselves the question: "When everyone has access to an endless amount of content in the palm of their hand, how can we help them want to pursue a relationship with God?" Our ministry leaders are constantly working to create fresh and unique content that grabs people's attention. We want to do the same with our music, so we're passionate about creating music that rises above the noise in people's everyday lives.

 Q:  How do you write songs with these students in mind?  What kind of songs work for them?

When we sat down to write these songs, we knew we wanted to write about the kinds of struggles that would resonate with a large number of students. But we found that students are struggling with a lot of the same issues as adults. For example, struggling to trust God's plan amidst the chaos, pain, and frustration of life, or believing that God will love us, even when we mess up. We've noticed that songs of hope and declarative truth tend to catch on quickly with our church. People are constantly inundated with discouraging and negative messages, so from what we've seen, there's a real hunger for messages of hope and truth.

Q:  Talk to us about "Symphony."  How would you describe your style of your songs? 

Our songs are essentially faith-filled pop songs. The sound is intentionally influenced by Top 40 music so our melodies sound familiar to anyone who listens to that kind of music. In fact, for this album, we worked with Louis Biancaniello who produced albums for some of the top pop artists. We really tried to create a sound we felt like hadn't been done before, and it was a lot of fun. 

As far as lyrics go, writing for young people gives us a lot of freedom because we can say exactly what we're thinking. For example, a lyric from the song "Obsession" says: "In the end, what they think doesn't matter. I refuse to stress about status." We've seen people respond really well to messages that are so direct and relevant to what they're dealing with every day.

Q:  How did you get to work with the folks at DREAM?

Our church has partnered with DREAM since 2016. When they heard we wanted to create a new sound, they were excited to work with us on this new project. We're so grateful for their partnership.

Q:  What are some of the songs you are super excited about?  And why?

We're excited about the whole EP, but we're especially pumped for the songs "Symphony" and "Obsession." Both songs tackle important issues like identity, value, worth, and purpose. These songs will help people drown out what doesn't matter so they can focus in on what does-like rooting their identity in what Jesus says about them and not in what the world says. Our hope is that people can play these songs in the moments where they feel out of control and be reminded of God's grace. 

Q:  How do you wish these songs would impact the lives of your listeners?

Our hope is that these songs encourage anyone who hears them. We know God is moving through this music because He has changed our hearts through it, and we want everyone who hears it to be filled with fresh joy and hope.

Connect with Switch:

Website | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

 

Tags : switch symphony switch switch interview life church switch new album switch news dream records