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Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Out Of The Boat (2) : Walking On Water Writer : Dawn FungThis is part 2 of the interview with Walking On Water (WOW), the unabashedly Christian, professional music outfit fronted by Audrey Tang, Ruth Ling, Mylene Ng and Christine Sham. To view the first part of the interivew, please click on the article, Out Of The Boat (1) : Walking On Water, at the side column.  From left : Audrey, Mylene, Christine, RuthDawn : Every musician is an integral part in the group. Sometimes it's difficult to see the subtle changes as you grow together in a band, yet you know that WOW itself has matured in terms of sound and team relationship. Could you comment on each one's significance in relation to the work/music and as a team mate? Audrey : Chris mentioned that she is a work in progress. In fact she has come to see everyone as a work in progress. For me it has been a real encouragement to see each one's lives being moved by God. When I try to make something happen or push them in a direction, nobody wanted to move. When I left it to God, he made it happen. In that sense, the progress for myself is letting God take over. That makes me happy. Mylene : Everyone is tempered by the other personalities in the band. Like while Audrey tends to move ahead, Ruth and I are still at the starting line! Audrey : When I first suggested doing the CD and giving it away for free, nobody was onboard. Then Mylene joined in and then Ruth and Chris, especially after God spoke to Ruth. Now I see the investment of time and energy in this particular project as quite even. Everyone has invested in it, which I feel is heartening. I am really glad. Dawn : Let's single out Mylene...how would you guys comment on her progress in the band? Ruth : In 2005, Mylene's spiritual growth rose exponentially (Ruth demonstrates with her hands) and I think that she really wanted to embrace God and everything that He wanted to give her. (Pause) She really started to walk on water. She knew that she did not naturally jump into the things God meant for her to go into like I did. However, I see that Mylene has grown more trusting of the Lord for simple things like daily provision when she was not working. Music wise, we force her to play more rock. (laugh) Audrey : Longer notes and very noisy! Mylene : You'll hear it on Into Our Faith. I'm a funk groove player and I don't play rock. Personally, I like to hear something different from the usual Hillsongs because I relate to worship music that sounds like Israel Houghton. I suppose the songs I wrote always gravitate towards those kind of sounds. Dawn : The thing about starting a band is the expectations of how each member might want the band to sound. Christine : We all basically liked the same sound. That is why we don't really fight. And when we write our songs, the elements of the music from each other fit in. Dawn : Could you describe some of your influences or the sounds that you veer towards? WOW : Israel Houghton, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire. Jazz, R&B, soul, funk. Audrey : Could I continue on Mylene? I was very encouraged when Mylene started writing because she had never done so before. She has now three songs to her name - "Reflections", "World Falling Apart" and "Pray" - Ruth : And they are good songs - Audrey : The past thirteen years that I knew Mylene, I've always known her to complain about her health. But on one Sunday while praying for each other's health, she put up her hand and declared, "I am not going to fall sick!" I was like, "Wow!" Dawn : Why wait till now, when Mylene is leaving, to release your original music on CD? Mylene : On October 16th 2005, we decided that God wanted us to compile this CD. I think my having to leave compressed the time that we had to do something. Audrey : In other words, panic! Ruth : I think that we were still finding our songs. A lot of events had happened to aid the project. Our mission trip to Nongkai last December opened our eyes experiences that we could not have in Singapore. We were busking on the streets on my guitar, I gave my testimony in front of the Yamaha store to teenagers. We sang in front of the governor's house to fifty tables of officials... Christine : We had a vinyl speaker shared among four of us and there was no way we could turn it up to hear ourselves. Ruth : And yet there was so much joy. That kind of experience made us want to replicate the God-centric performance. Dawn : Did that affect your music? Audrey : We sang the first song that we wrote, New Each Day, at a house church. We had sung the song so many times yet at that time as we sang it again, we felt the Holy Spirit minister the song right back at us. It was as if we sang it for the first time. It was very moving. Today I was reminded of that incident and realised that I needed that - although we did not have anything materially (not having a drum set was a weird experience) God's awesome presence still worked through our lives despite lacking equipment to minister the way we were used to. Dawn : So you're saying that the trip made to Nongkai helped you in a deeper revelation of the ministry of your music for Into Our Faith? Christine : That and also our bible study. Audrey : Quite a few times before we rehearse, we would do bible study. Recently we used the book, Knowing The Heart Of Jesus by Max Lucado. We learn a lot about ourselves, and opening up honestly to one another. And we are also doing John Ortberg's If You Want To Walk On Water, You Have To Get Out Of The Boat. We wrote a few songs inspired by his books. Ruth : Back to your question on the impact of the Nongkai trip. If we focused only within the Christian community, we would have missed out on the evangelistic work of the Lord drawing men to himself, of salvation and ministry to WOW itself. The Nongkai trip helped us see how God made us relevant to the lost. Audrey : Also I think God's hand on us at Nongkai was very merciful. You know, we are not showy, dancy people compared to the Thai people who enjoy drama and dance. So God brought us there alongside the YWAM-ers doing DTS that included drama and dance, to complement what we were doing with our music. Dawn : My pastor once said that every generation needed to build the church for themselves. That seems to be the case when we write new songs. So I suppose you might see WOW's songs as a part of church building? Audrey : Right, because some of the songs sung by Sandy Patti and Steve Green stylistically will not apply now. Dawn : After Mylene leaves, the rest of you will still be involved professionally in the music scene. During this two year break, what would you be training or working on until you get together again? Mylene : I think this is a time for God to work in us separately, so that when we meet again, we can see each other with a revelation of how God has grown us into the person He had wanted us to be. Audrey : God definitely put us together to sharpen one another like iron, to encourage one another, but you cannot always stay in that nest. Mylene : I will still be practising. Audrey : This time will challenge me to make a bigger commitment to improve on my craft. There are no upcoming projects and so my practice cannot be dependant on preparing for the next event. Christine : I was still telling Audrey that even though Mylene will not be around, I will look forward to meeting up with the rest of the band once in a while. We could come up with new songs, send them to Mylene and receive back the bass tracks. Ruth : I have no clear idea for the band. I am looking foward to developing my gift as a songwriter and looking more into worship leading and prayer intercession. Worship leading is something that ushers in God's presence. I only just started enjoying personal worship time. I do not like singing but I realise it is a gift that God allows me to enjoy. Audrey : For me, the whole band agrees that I need to rest. I have received many words from different people over the last six months of so to rest. Christine : The break is a time for me to evaluate my spiritual growth. Like Ruth said, I want to craft my songwriter skills. Also I do not like singing and only just discovered that I could sing when I joined WOW. Dawn : Yes...(in bewilderment, because Christine actually sings very well) Christine : I intend to take singing lessons. For more information, please email walkingonw@gmail.com
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