WRIT2011 Interview – Religion in the Media and Music
Patrick Keady interviewed by
Madeleine Gardner
Both religion and music exhibit
emotive and transformative elements. It is no wonder then that music plays a
dynamic role in religion and the perpetuation of this is facilitated through
modern media. Birgit Meyer (2012) talks about this through the term sensational
forms while Rupert Till (2010) addresses the pop-cultism of religion and
music. Both of these were discussed and will be used to frame the opinions of
interviewee, Patrick (Pat) Keady, Director of Emmanuelworship within the
Emmanuel Community in Paddington, Brisbane. Pat has always had a passion for
music and the education, travel and spiritual experiences he has encountered
throughout his life have led him to the position he holds today. He aims at
promoting contemporary Catholic music to the world “for the Church of the
future” (emmanuelworship - About).
Pat grew up in the small town of
Coonamble, NSW, where he attended the local Catholic primary school. Music was
always encouraged in his family and Pat found great solace in exploring the
piano and learning by ear: “Every song I wrote was like a new diary entry”. Music
played such a pivotal role in his life that he went on to study music at Southern
Cross University before travelling to LA on a composing and arranging
scholarship. It was here that Pat, over a period of 3 years, became
evangelised, straying from his Catholic upbringing towards the more charismatic
nature of Christian Evangelicalism. Among his later travels to Ireland, he
converted to Protestantism, before coming back to the Catholic Church which is
where he now calls home.
The great power of music to
influence the mind is not a new concept. Quite often it is the group mentality
of music that exerts such an influence (Till 2010, 1). Naturally, when this is
combined with religious rituals there is an ability to interact with the
transcendental. Through the work of Emmanuelworship, individual religiosity is
brought about in a community setting through their weekly presence at Fuel and
annual presence at The Ignite Conference (emmanuelworship - About). This group
setting, as Till suggest, is often associated with the term ‘cult’. These
‘pop-cults’ of modern popular music stem from musicians’ claim of a special
gift which links them to the divine (Till 2010, 7). Pat believes that if you’re
a Catholic and you have a calling to a particular area of culture, like music,
“that you need to use your gifts to be a channel of your belief”. Pat did not
reach this conclusion initially, having to explore other denominations to feel
comfortable with his eventual decision. This is the same for members of
pop-cults who strive to find their own niche or genre through spending time getting
to know the scene and its inner workings (Till 2010, 7). Ultimately, Pat wanted
to be knowledgeable about his faith for if he was truly meant to be a Catholic,
he wanted to know if it was a cult.
Music has the power to be evocative
and spiritual. As Meyer describes, music is a sensational form of society;
meaning it can be used within religion to experience the presence of the
transcendental (Meyer 2012, 160). Music has always had an influence in the
Church as a vehicle to connect with God, from the Gregorian chants of the early
Catholic monks to the modern worship music of today, such as Emmanuelworship. Pat
not only believes in the use of worship music in order to connect with God, but
also recognises the power of all styles of music as there are many cultures God
wants to reach people through. The sensation of music “helps people get in
touch with what they feel,” and when it helps one get in touch with an
important figure, for example God, Pat believes it is “doubly powerful”.
Media also plays a pivotal role in promulgating
the message of Christianity. Modern media, in particular, have an increasing
reach to audiences through the advancements of the internet, social media and
television. When asked about the role of the media in religion, Pat agreed the
media have a strong hold over how religion is portrayed in society where there
is a “battle for ideas, battle for a culture and a battle for the way to think”.
There is politically correct and politically incorrect spirituality the media
portrays. For Pat, there is a general message that is not pro-Catholic. In
order to overcome this problem he believes Christians need to be authentic. In
his words, “I want to be the voice of Jesus…and so be a part of the solution…to
be a voice of Grace, not law”. Music and media are a channel for religious
practice as the experience of the transcendental is a mediated process through these
sensational forms (Meyer 2012, 161-2). I asked Pat about other communities like
Emmanuelworship and the extent to which media is used to display the message of
religious groups and he replied that, “I don’t think the media is taking it too
far” as “the Gospel is meant to pervade all of society… to be the leaven in the
dough of society.” Modern media influences cultural religious practices, of
which music is a part of, as opposed to traditional teachings in order to be
relevant in society today (Till 2010, 4). Pat strives to keep the Catholic
Church relevant through his work by using his call to write and record songs.
By doing this, he is “promoting original Catholic music which is contemporary
in style to try and reach the language that I felt like would have reached me
if I’d have heard it as a teenager”.
“Without particular social
structures, sensory regimes, bodily techniques, doctrines and practices that
make up a religion, the searching individual craving experience of God would
not exist” (Meyer 2012, 159). This is facilitated through the media and use of
music to enhance sensory experiences in religion. Pat Keady strives to promote
the message of the Church in his community through his engagement with
Emmanuelworship. Media does not only shape sensational forms, says Meyer, but
sensational forms like film and social media, mediate themselves (Meyer 2012,
162). Pat sees that “where there the good, beautiful and true, then there is
God,” and that film and music exhibit these elements. While not explicitly
being religious he says they “convey the true message of what religion is all
about”. Pat believes that music “is a powerful medium that should not be
ignored lightly…because music moves the soul”. For that reason, the promotion
of religion is enhanced by not only media but music because of the great power it
has to influence society
.
Emmanuelworship.com. "emmanuelworship - About."
2013. Web. 17 Apr 2013. <http://emmanuelworship.com/about.cfm>.
Keady, Patrick 2013. "Interview on Religion, Music and
Media." Personal interview. April 16 2013.
Meyer B. 2012. Religious Sensations: Media, Aesthetics, and the Study of
Contemporary Religion. In Lynch G. and J. Mitchell with A. Strhan. Eds., Religion,
Media and Culture: A Reader. 159-170. London and New York: Routledge.
Till, R. 2010. Pop Cult: Religion and Popular Music. London: Continuum
International Publishing, Ch. 9, Do You Believe in Rock
and Roll. Musical Cults of the Sacred Popular. 168-192. Ebook.
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