Two20.G: Redefining ‘soul music’

Sunday Mass will never be the same again. Not with a band like Two20.G tearing down church walls with their own brand of soul music.

After all, whoever said Christian music was anything but solemn and boring? Even long before Whoopi Goldberg’s Sister Act set a trend for enterprising televangelists, many of them had already traded their sleep-inducing routines for the more rousing, foot-stomping gospel music marathons – plaid suits and gaudy outfits notwithstanding.

Amen? Amen!

With ifs cyberslang overtones, Two20.G could easily be mistaken for another trendy website or Internet domain. It’s a band all right, but it’s not the typical pwesto band that pays its dues doing nightly gigs at yuppie-infested watering holes.

"Somebody once told us," narrates singer Joanne Pe-Hernandez," the world doesn’t need another show band. And we want to emphasize that we’re a band with a purpose."

"We want to be an alarm clock for people," adds Leo Hernandez, worship pastor, songwriter, singer and Joanne’s better half. "We want to wake people up to another kind of consciousness – but not necessarily by shoving our religious beliefs down people’s throats."

As Leo explains, Two20.G has its origins in a Biblical verse found in Galatians 2:20. "It goes, ‘It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.’ We just played around with the words and came up with the name. We want to live up to that name and be the first ones to experience that kind of life. You could say we stand for the 2:20 generation."

The band started out as the house band of the relatively-new NuComm (New Community Global Ministry). "We’ve been together for seven years, together with our co-singers Mark and Beth Atendido-Juane," Leo elaborates. "We were all with another church before we started NuComm. Then, the Lord spoke to Mark to start a church, so I joined him, and the other people followed."

Unlike other church-based groups, NuComm adopts a less-regimented approach to worship. "We’re a cell-based church," chants Joanne. "NuComm has around 240 members, and we meet in houses, but we celebrate in a bigger venue during Sundays. Some of our musicians are session players, such as our guitarist Ardie de Guzman, and Pete, regular drummer of the Passage Band."

Together with keyboardist/musical director Xander Dayo and bassist Jaydee Juane, Two20.G recently invited the entertainment press to their concert launch at the Music Museum.

Surprisingly, for a Christian band, Two20.G breezed through almost three hours of refreshing, original pop-rock with an élan uncommon to most of their contemporaries. "Sounds like U2!," remarked a colleague.

"Mark, our pastor, is very much into rock," Leo remarks. "But my influences are more into pop, jazz and reggae – Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, James Ingram, and Al Jarreau."

If his face looks familiar, it’s because Leo used to perform with the third-generation Music Making Company – together with equally-talented singer Pinky Marquez and Jinky Llamanzares. "I started with that band in Nov. 15, 1982," Leo beams proudly.

He also worked as in-house A&R for Praise Inc., was promoted to house producer and eventually became Praise and Worship Division manager.

Though still childless, the couple – and the entire band as well – are proud of their new baby: their debut album titled My Heart Waits, released under the Praise Music Inc. label.

"A lot of the originals in the album were songs we’ve been singing in our church," adds Joanne. "And we’re thankful Praise Inc. gave us the chance to do the album to reach out to more people. Surprisingly, a lot of other churches are now singing our songs, even before we made the record."

The Music Museum record launch, Joanne clarifies, wasn’t their public debut. "We’ve already done front acts for foreign worship leaders such as Bob Fitts and Steve Kuban at the ULTRA, Araneta and Cuneta Astrodome.

Even when Leo and Joanne do their spiels, they make sure they don’t come across as too preachy or hand-sell. "Ours is a pretty down-to-earth approach. We don’t want to speak Christianese," Leo elaborates. "It’s still basically Christian, but with a modern flavor. Let’s face it, if Jesus Christ were alive today, he’d probably be doing something more radical. We should remember that He was pretty radical even during his time."

Unlike other groups eager to get their first crack at stardom, the Two20.G members would rather stick to their noble goal of setting a new religious consciousness for today’s Filipino youth. "We’re not ashamed to love the Lord and have fun while doing it," Joanne muses. "The most rewarding thing about what we do is not hearing the clapping or cheering, but it’s really seeing lives changed. We’ve heard stories about how people’s lives were touched after hearing us play."

Having been part of the music clique for almost half his life, Leo ponders, "Sometimes, I tell my wife I miss it… the applause, the fame… but now, it all depends.

Whatever happens to the group… isn’t my will anymore."

Amen, brother!