Growing up in The Salvation Army, Australia natives Joel, Luke and Jess make up the Christian Electronic trio, “Verses.” Today, the trio lives and breathes Christian music in Music City, aka Nashville, and are currently working on new music to release in 2020. They were thrilled to sit down and share their story with Peer.

PEER: Was music always a part of your lives growing up?

VERSES: We [Luke and Joel] grew up around music, Mum is an amazing piano player and Dad was an old school rock-and-roll guy, so we grew up listening to the Rolling Stones and all those kinds of bands, which had more of a musical influence on Luke than me but I did love growing up with music always playing in the house. Jess also grew up with music all around, as her Mum was a worship leader and her dad a guitarist. So, music was always part of our lives.

P: You’re Australia natives. How did you end up in Nashville?

V: It’s a long story as to how we ended up in Nashville, but to keep it short, I’d say the only way we ended up in Nashville was by God opening doors and us being willing to take a step of faith into the unknown and allowing God to lead the way! It makes sense why He would put us in Nashville, though. It’s definitely the center hub of Christian music in America.

P: How did growing up in The Salvation Army impact the band and your music?

V: Growing up in The Salvation Army definitely had an impact on us musically. It gave us an opportunity at a very young age to get involved with music. I [Joel] remember being very young and singing in church as well as Luke playing bass and guitar in the band. It also helped us on our faith journey—being a part of the church—and definitely influenced our lyrics. We are definitely thankful for the Salvos! 

P: What is it like being on tour with your family?

V: Being on tour with family is great!!! I’d say it is 98 percent awesome, 2 percent not as awesome. There’s nothing better than being able to travel and see the world with family.

P: How would you define worship?

V: These days, it’s very easy for us to define worship as a 30-minute set at the beginning of a church service that has to involve music and singing in a congregational setting, however, I think worship is so much more than that. Worship is a daily act, it’s something that we should be constantly doing throughout each day! Worship in our lives reminds us that Jesus is King!

P: What do you believe God’s calling is on your lives?

V: We believe God’s calling on our lives is to love people in a way that draws them to Jesus! Music is just one avenue of how to do that. Go into the world and make disciples—that’s the great commission. That’s the calling.

“Always say yes to Jesus! This is sometimes easier said than done, but it will always leave us in a much better position than we were before.”

P: Our audience is Gen Z, primarily 16- to 22-year-olds. What’s the biggest piece of advice you want to share with them?

V: Our biggest piece of advice that we would give the readers is to always say yes to Jesus! This is sometimes easier said than done, as saying yes to God often leads to times of stretching and growing which can hurt but will always leave is us in a much better position than we were before. Let go of your plans and say yes to God’s plan! What He has for you is far greater than you could ever ask, think or imagine! We know this Bible verse from Ephesians 3:20 to be true! Nothing is better than living in obedience to God.

P: You’re on your second US tour. Got anything exciting in the works?

V: We do, we always have new music in the works, as we are heading into our fourth year as a band. We believe that we will release the most music we have released, next year in 2020! And we are very excited about that! If you want to keep up to date with all releases, make sure to follow us on socials and streaming platforms @versesmusic.

P: What excites you about being a Christian band for this upcoming generation, in 2020?

V: We believe that there is a shift happening in culture that is leading people back to Jesus! To be involved in the Christian music scene is exciting; to be able to encourage people across the world with music that is full of love, hope and joy is a great honor for us!

P: Quick question: what’s your favorite Bible verse?

V: Ephesians 3:20 as mentioned before—“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us” I love how it gives us a picture of how Jesus works, He doesn’t push us around and control us like puppets like the world wants us to believe, but He works in us and guides us through love into all that He has for us! We just have to be willing to go where He leads.