The Futures on Their New Christmas Song, Creating Hope-Filled and Relevant Music, and More

The Futures, formerly known as the Influencers, are back. Their song "Thank God It's Christmas" will be a feature track on the fifth volume in the DREAM Christmas series. Releasing on October 23rd, "DREAM Christmas Vol. 5" will also feature new and classic songs from Switch, Royal Company, Branan Murphy, 29:11 Worship, Matthew Parker, Joel Vaughn, Life.and Church Worship. The 8-track EP follows of their most successful album to date, DREAM Christmas Vol. 4. With the announcement the team is debuting the artwork from the album for the first time.  

The Futures is the worship ministry of the Influencers Worship. Influencers Church is a multi-generational, multi-cultural word faith organisation for all ages and stages of life with 6 locations in South Australia and 4 locations in the Southern United States. Influencers Church Atlanta started in November 2012 and was the first International church plant for Influencers Australia. 

Q: Thank you for doing this interview with us.  I believe you were formally named Influencers Worship, why did you change your name?

As a team, we are all a part of Influencers Church & when we were first beginning this music journey, "Influencers Worship" was a functional and appropriate name for who we were. Over the last 4 years, as we've developed and spent more time together playing & writing, we felt like we were continually discovering a deeper layer of identity in God. It was a real maturation process and we began to find our voice and sonic signature as a Worship Artist. Everything was changing in a positive way & it felt only natural to reflect what God was doing inside of us in our brand identity. 

Q: Why did you pick the name "Futures"?

We really prayed hard about this. It was so important to us that our new name wasn't just a "cool" name but a name that really meant something. Back at the beginning of the journey as Influencers Worship we received a significant prophecy that really rocked our world. We knew we had to write about it and it soon developed into a song that we called "Futures". The lyrics are, "I will believe every word You have spoken. Your promise in motion awakens my soul to life. Heavens secrets; in our hearts You whisper. Vivid pictures; promise of tomorrow. Fearless dreamers; we will live forever. Futures, Your Futures." The idea came from the incredible feeling it is to get a glimpse of the plans, or as we like to say, the futures that God has for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

The name Futures also speaks to legacy and continuing to evolve and invest in reaching each generation. We believe that in order to truly see each generation encounter God in a personal way, worship needs to sound different. John Wesley believed this. When he would take pub / bar tunes and write God-centered lyrics to them, hymns were born and with them, a great awakening! The possibility of being a part of the next great awakening, is more exciting than we could ever express. This is what "Futures" means to us. 

Q: Who makes up the Futures? Tell us a little bit more about the team.

From Adelaide, Australia, to Atlanta, Georgia, to Soldotna, Alaska, to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, we have a group of amazing people from all over. We've all somehow found a home at Influencers Church; we are all separately unique but at the same time uniquely together in this. Whether we are away on a writing retreat in Nashville, LA, or North Georgia, or we're playing a worship service for thousands or just for 50, or we are trying to get new band photos - we're always laughing, annoying each other, doing silly things and making great memories. We believe that collaboration is key and that unity is everything. We believe that it's about the Kingdom & not the castle; that God opposes the proud & that there is only one person that deserves any kind of fame and glory... Jesus Christ the King of all Kings. 

Q:  How did you get to partner with DREAM Records for this new Christmas song that you have recently recorded? 

I think the best partnerships begin as relationships. We've been talking to Lance at Dream for a couple of years now. The more we got to know the team at dream it became really clear that we share the same dream (pun intended) to bring modern, relatable, parables with a compelling new sound to the world. Lance reached out about the upcoming project he had in mind and so I called our writers and basically said "let's do it". We wrote and produced the first demo just a couple of days later. I always think the best songs come easier, like they already existed and we were just allowed to discover it.

Q:  Tell us what is the story behind this new song "Thank God It's Christmas."

When we started talking about writing a Christmas song we immediately knew we wanted to write an original. We wanted to write a song that was exactly how we felt about Christmas especially THIS Christmas. To say that 2020 has been a tough year for so many, feels like an understatement. When we began to talk about how we felt about Christmas 2020, all we could say was "Thank God It's Christmas" which ultimately became the anchor line of the Chorus. "Thank God It's Christmas" is all about the relief, the nostalgia, the excitement, the memories and the joy that Christmas brings. It's that feeling when we all have permission to take a much needed break, a deep breath and let go of the year. This is a time we focus on what's important. No matter what Christmas looks like this year, no one can take away the joy in the air and the feeling that Christmas brings. 

Christmas is something that brings people together; families, friends and communities. After everything that we have been through this year, we wanted to write something that would bring people together & bring joy. We hope people feel that when they hear it. 2020 has been a lot of things - but thank God it's almost Christmas!

Q: Speaking about Christmas, what do you enjoy most about the season?

Family time! Also, that almost magical and intangible joy in the air! Those of us from Australia grew up experiencing Christmas is in the summer time with scorching heat. So to be living in the USA with the chance of SNOW at Christmas time and to go and pick out a REAL Christmas tree and to sit around a fire, drinking hot chocolate... we get a little excited about that stuff!!

Q: Besides this new Christmas song, are you guys working on any new music right now? If so, what can we be expecting?

Yes! We feel like we have so much new music to share with the world. There are about 40 songs that we've been working on and are in the process of curating into a studio album for release early next year. The new stuff is a huge improvement on our releases as "Influencers Worship". I wish you could hear this new sound. We're most excited about the direction of this next season & we hope you hear it in our music. It's hard to describe but I would say that it's more about doing what Jesus did than it is about repeating what Jesus said. We want to write modern parables for a hurting world.

Q: How do you hope your music will continue to advance the kingdom of God?

One of the most important aspects in all of this is that those who don't know the love of God would find Him and know that He is the ONLY way, the truth and the life. Album releases like "Hollywood's bleeding" from Post Malone inspire us to write songs for the many people that have more pain and questions than answers. We believe that our world needs hope-filled & relevant music that will help point them to Jesus so we're doing everything we can to be a small part of that! 

 

 

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