This article is part of a series on worship music, in which I cover four modern churches and their influence on the genre: Bethel, Planetshakers, Jesus Culture, and Hillsong.

Photo by Planetshakers / gospelmusic.org

Planetshakers

"LET’S GO!"

Planetshakers is a Pentecostal church based in Australia. Like the other members of The Big Worship Four (Bethel, Jesus Culture, and Hillsong), it has its own music department that produces and releases original worship music. Since 2000, Planetshakers has released more than 30 records.

The church primarily targets younger generations through a carefully designed ecosystem of accessible theology, modern visual presentation, and activities such as large-scale conferences filled with music, sermons, and creative workshops.

The Planetshakers band regularly tours around the globe.

How the worship bands operate

I’ve been to their shows three times, and each time the band lineup was slightly different. This is actually very common among music-producing churches, as their collectives often give space to new artists from within the church. Typically, the touring band includes a few key musicians complemented by up-and-coming talents, some of whom later become regular members or even start their own projects (such as Planetboom, another Planetshakers band).

Most of these big churches run mentoring programs to support their members’ education in music, sound engineering, and creative areas such as design or video production, as well as PR and event management. As a result, the churches have a solid manpower capable of managing key activities in-house at a professional level.

Design

I’ve always liked how these modern churches approach graphic design. The education and mentoring system allows young creatives to develop and test fresh ideas. And because church media communication sits slightly outside mainstream channels (meaning they can afford more creativity than typical commercial projects), they often produce striking designs. Especially 5–10 years ago, some of their work was far ahead of mainstream trends. For one of my favorite examples of this creative design, take a close look at the album cover of Hillsong United’s Zion.

The Pumped-Up Church

Planetshakers have developed a juicy modern sound, built on a combination of rock guitars, synths, and tight rhythms.

Simply put, Planetshakers’ music kicks ass - and it’s their party-like energy that sets them apart from the other worship collectives, which are more focused on intimate worship experiences. They’re definitely the most pumped-up church of The Big Four.

Modern worship bands’ music is usually a mixture of works by many authors and artists. In the case of Planetshakers, however, most of the songwriting and music production - including sound engineering and overall musical supervision - comes from Joth Hunt, a multi-instrumentalist and the band’s lead singer (in this genre, singers are usually called worship leaders). In my opinion, Hunt’s talent and contribution are comparable to some of the most respected music producers of this era.

As a new listener, you might get the impression that Planetshakers’ music is simply a straightforward crossover of EDM and rock aimed at younger generations. And yes, nothing wrong with that; it works well on this level.

But as a musician, you’ll quickly notice the great amount of precise care put into the songwriting and instrumentation. Besides Joth Hunt, the main brain behind the music, bassist Josh Ham anchors the sound with highly technical yet exceptionally tasteful playing. I should also mention the outstanding drummers Mike Webber and, especially, Andy Harrison.

Highlighting individual musicians in worship collectives is actually not very common, since the primary goal of worship music isn’t to showcase musical skill but to create space for spiritual experience. By design, the songs are kept relatively simple so that listeners can intuitively follow along with ease. The fact that Planetshakers manage to combine this listener-friendly approach with outstanding musicianship is truly something to appreciate.


Unfortunately, the main advantage of Planetshakers’ music - having Joth Hunt as their musical director - can also turn into a disadvantage. In recent years, his dominant role has led to some repetition (understandable, given that he has written dozens of albums by now).
Yet if we choose to call it “consistency,” it is exactly what gives Planetshakers their instantly recognizable sound and keeps them among the most influential voices in modern Christian culture.

Recommended albums: Endless Praise (2014) Overflow (2016) Heaven on Earth (2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHPht8UrPWM&list=RDeHPht8UrPWM&start_radio=1