GOSPEL DIGEST
SOMETIMES, music groups take time to go public, but when they do, the do it with a bang and are remembered for a long time to come.
Pretoria gospel outfit, 3 C Live, are one such group. Coming out of their church, 3 C, the group form part of the praise and worship team, but they also have commercial aspirations which appear to have paid off. Sitting on their first album, Redemption, 3C Live are well on their way to becoming a group to be reckoned with in the music industry.
“Redemption is our first recording as a group and we completed it in February. It was a live recording at our annual church conference. We had about 4 000 people in attendance,” said Richard Mtsweni, the group’s representative.
The album might only have been completed this year, but it took a while to get it right.
“We have been writing for years and the oldest song is from 2009. We have been putting things together since then which meant waiting for the right producer and getting the right sound. We did not want to rush it; we wanted to capture the sound and culture of our church,” explained Mtsweni.
This could also be because they were pushing for a sound that was different and this meant that there were several trials and errors along the way.
“We have a local sound with a global appeal. The album has five dance tracks and five slow ones. It’s designed to worship God and bring the experience of our church into your home,” Mtsweni said.
This risk was worth it because from the overwhelming responses that 3 C Live are getting, they seem destined to stay on the scene.
“We have been overwhelmed with the response. We did not see a market for our sound in South Africa. We were not even bothered by it. We knew that our young people in the church would like it. We listened to what they were listening to and used that model to sound like that and place our message in there. The US, Germany and the UK have been showing us great support,” remarked Mtsweni.
Even the industry has given them the nod, a thing few acts can achieve with a debut album.
“We have been nominated for six Crown Gospel Awards and were quite surprised at the appeal our music had locally. I think people are tired of hearing someone who sounds like someone else. We were not trying to be something that we were not. We are young and funky and we like that to come out in our music,” said an elated Mtsweni.
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