Lisa and I had some friends living with us during the pandemic who also grew up in church, and sometimes we would all reminisce and sing these weird old worship songs together that we used to sing as kids. At first, we were just joking and playing around, but there was also something sort of sweet and sad about it because deep down, we all missed the good parts of worshipping with other people.
When I say “worship,” I’m not talking about the shamey, homage-paying to some other being somewhere else, but the experience of love and connection that can happen when people get together and sing to their Source. For me, the truest worship is simply and fully loving what is. Worship is allowing every breath, sensation, and experience of life to become a sensuous, embodied “Hallelujah!” Worship is saying “yes” to your life, to your Source. And with that lens, I don’t think worship should just be for church folks. It shouldn’t just be for those who believe this thing or that. Worship is for everyone.
So we decided we wanted to try making some worship music again that would be enjoyable for people who might not fit the traditional religious boxes like us. Worship for the heretics and the outcasts. The questioners and the mystics. I think we need some good worship music too. And the more we talked about it, the sillier it felt to try to start a new band to do this. Everyone we talked to about it was like “you should just do this under Gungor.” So here we are––back for a “worship” project that we are calling “Revival.”
Who’s the we? We’re still figuring that out. Gungor started as me (Michael) as a solo artist trying to make more of an artistic collective, and by the end it was more of a duo with Lisa and I. Moving forward, Lisa and I would both really love it to move more towards the collective thing again. Lisa will be involved still, but she also has her own music and other various projects she’s working on. And with this idea of “worship for everyone,” we just think it would be really fun to find some different voices from across the spectrums to co-create with.
For years, the idea of worship had been tinged with shame for me. I ran from it so hard. Spent so much time, energy, and money trying to be seen as someone who was not just a worship leader. But as hard as I tried, I could never actually run away from my very heart. “If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, you are there.” Who else could I love but God? To whom could I sing but God?
So Gungor’s coming back, baby. It’s revival time!
You can stream our first two singles “Feel The Moment” (with TRISHES) and “Everything Is Hallelujah” tonight at midnight.
Link to pre-save is in our bio.
We hope you’ll join us.
