CHC’s Indonesian church band launches its first album Unto You next week, and tells City News all about it.
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| PHOTO: Lydia Isnanto | |
In this sunny island state of Singapore, the name “3PM” might make you think of something “hot.”
“Hot” is a good description for 3PM, the new band formed out of City Harvest Indonesian service. The 14-member strong group is fully equipped with its own guitarists and bassist, drummers, keyboardists, and vocalists.
Why 3PM?
The name holds extraordinary significance for the band members: the original City Harvest Indonesian worship service at Jurong West used to start at 3 p.m. every Sunday. It was at this very worship service that the band members first met one another. The weekly service, led by CHC’s Indonesian pastor, Aries Zulkarnain, touched their lives so significantly and added so much value and purpose to their lives, that the group could think of no better name to represent themselves.
Says Charles Halim, vocalist and guitarist, “We wanted to choose a name which would best show who we are, why we are here, and what we want to bring to the world.”
The vision for the band was first birthed forth years ago in the hearts of Zulkarnain, and musicians Raymond Sigarlaki and Caroline Tjen. In the early days, musicians in the Indonesian service were few and far between, but eventually as the service grew, many talented musicians came. Soon, 3PM was formed.
Only a handful of the band members are full-time musicians. The rest of the band members hold occupations that range from financial planners, banking relationship managers, to flight attendants, designers and housewives; others, students.
Though such an eclectic mix isn’t the usual stuff of bands, 3PM has shown unwavering commitment and passion to its vision.
One such example is vocalist Monica Farah who is the wife of drummer JJ Simkoputera. The couple is expecting their first child. In spite of the pregnancy, Farah willingly flew back and forth from Jakarta to Singapore for the recordings. She explained, “The presence of God has impacted me very strongly in City Harvest, and the passion of the people has been a great blessing to me. Because of this, I am willing to give back my best, as I have been so blessed.”
Halim also shares, “To us, holding a full-time job is not considered a problem. We have a common passion and vision that fuels this dream and unites us as a team.”
Band manager Simkoputera also testifies, “We want to exemplify the cultural mandate taught by our senior pastor Kong Hee, to penetrate the marketplace, and at the same time, use our God-given talents to creatively bring the message of God’s love to the world through our music.”
The Album’s Name
Unto You, the much anticipated first album by 3PM, is the product of this powerful vision. It is a title specially chosen to bring across a message that in the midst of turmoil, the key for release is to leave all unto God and continue to trust in Him. Unto You represents a personal message from the band to God, the album itself being a gift from them unto Him.
Unto You offers a mix of contemporary Indonesian and English songs, and one instrumental track. Written and produced by the band members, every song has a special meaning.
The final recording of the album was done over two weeks in Jakarta. The band had the opportunity to work with the top worship music arranger, Steve Tabalujan.
Since its early production stages, the band has been gathering fans. The album has already received rave reviews from fans on the demo tracks released on their official website.
Unto You is scheduled for release on April 10 to 11 in City Harvest Church, and the band hopes to release the album in Indonesian cities such as Manado and Surabaya in June and July.
3PM has a vision to rise up as a role model exemplifying the cultural mandate, and to reach out to Indonesia with their music.
Says guitarist Sigarlaki, “When you have a God-given dream, don’t be afraid to take a step of faith and just do it. You will see that many people will be blessed as a result of your obedience!”
