Keeping the faith

Gospel band G-sus wants to reinvent the genre and take it to a broader audience.

In times of death metal and EDM, here’s a band that is trying to touch hearts and change lives through their trippy music. G-sus, a contemporary 11-member gospel band formed by composer Rupert Fernandes loves to make their audiences groove, but not without sending out a strong message of positivity through their upbeat numbers.

“Gospel music is evolving in a big way. Today, it is progressive and combines many genres. In fact, I was shocked to discover that there are several techno and heavy metal gospel bands in the west. Our band plays pop, rock, soul and RnB. The only thing that makes us unique is that we play music that carries a meaningful message,” says Fernandes, who plays lead guitar in the ensemble.

Holy notes
G-sus, which was formed in 2008 by a motley group of working professionals and musicians from across the city, comprises a line-up of seven vocalists and four instrumentalists. The name itself is a curious wordplay between the chord G-Suspended or G-sus and Jesus. The songs they sing feature distinctive vocal harmonies and mostly talk about living a better life.

Ask Fernandes how difficult it is to strike a balance between performing music that caters to the youth and at the same time, sending out a meaningful messages through songs and he says, “We try not to give an overdose of religious messages. Most of our songs are medium and fast-paced numbers, which tend to have univerisal appeal. The melodies we choose have a positive vibe and we try to keep it as peppy and energetic as possible. Currently we sing in English, but would like to incorporate Hindi too, to increase our audience base,” he informs.

Christian rockers
Not limiting themselves to a niche audience, the band is looking forward to performing at the popular live music venue, Blue Frog soon. “We have been invited to perform there, but we haven’t been able to work out a schedule, since most of our members are working and their plans tend to clash sometimes. But we shall be playing there soon,” he adds.

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Watch G-sus perform tonight, 7pm at Victoria Church, Mahim (W)